Darling

A gorgeous, shallow woman goes from bored housewife to Italian princess, literally screwing her way through London high society to the top, and burning all her bridges along the way. Julie Christie is phenomenal in her Academy Award winning performance, delivering a spot-on portrayal of a complex, frustrating character. John Schlesinger's British New Wave film, which he also helped develop the story for, is unexpectedly inflammatory for its time and uniquely directed, giving life to a cold and ugly story. On top of Christie's whirlwind performance, she is given great support from Dick Bogarde and Laurence Harvey, playing two of her stepping stone lovers. "Darling" is an excellent example of a directorial vision in addition to a tour-de-force performance.

Far from the Madding Crowd

A beautiful, provocative, and bull-headed country girl (Julie Christie) inherits her uncle's farm and insists on running it herself, while inviting the affections of three suitors, a noble shepherd (Alan Bates) , a bottled up landowner (Peter Finch), and a roguish British soldier (Terence Stamp), and falling in love with the most inappropriate one. John Schlesinger's "Far from the Madding Crowd" is a sumptuous screen adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel, that features splendid cinematography from Nicolas Roeg. The film is supposedly faithful to the book, and successfully captures notions of independence, repression, unrequited love. Its superb cast is uniformly excellent, with Christie running a gamut of emotions amidst her three powerful male supporters. "Far from the Madding Crowd" is not only well-realized and brilliantly acted literary treatment, but also a modern and relatable cinematic fare.

Pacific Heights

According to Wikipedia, Pacific Heights is located in one of the most scenic and park-like settings in Northern California, offering panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz, and the Presidio.Into this idyllic setting move Patty (Melanie Griffith) and Drake (Matthew Modine), a struggling yuppie couple who fudge the numbers on their home lone application of a large Victorian home, where they hope to rent out the two ground floor rooms. After a barrage of questionable applicants, the couple finally decide to rent to an Asian couple and a slick, seemingly genuine tenant (Michael Keaton), who turns out to be a vicious scam artist who seeks to take the house from Patty and Drake and destroy their personal lives. John Schlesinger's "Pacific Heights" is an effective thriller based on a flimsy plot which the filmmakers try their darndest to seem authentic but still comes off as entirely implausible (I don't believe a tenant can move into an apartment without paying rent, and not be swiftly evicted). Yet on this shaky foundation, and along with Schlesinger's firm direction, the film is greatly aided by the performance of its cast. Griffith is extremely appealing as the stronger partner compare to Modine's weakling, and Michael Keaton, who must have been in high demand to play another home eviction character following "Beetlejuice", is genuinely creepy in his role.