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Anthony Hopkins does not merely portray Richard Nixon as a cheap caricature, as Frank Langella did in Ron Howard's pointless Frost/Nixon. He creates a living, breathing human being that we can all relate to, while still adopting the notorious president's signature speech patterns and mannerisms.

Oliver Stone's direction is nothing short of a miracle. As in his 1991 masterpiece, JFK, he has a lot of different characters to bring to life on the screen. He helps his actors fashion their performances with miraculous accuracy. Paul Sorvino is dead-on as Henry Kissinger, as is Joan Allen as Pat Nixon, and Bob Hoskins as the mysterious, mean-spirited J. Edgar Hoover.

The writing is also represents a triumph. Stone and co. are able to synthesize entire pages of historical prose into digestible chunks of dialogue. Aspiring screenwriters should seriously take note.

Although 1995 also saw the likes of Casino, Seven, Heat, and The Usual Suspects, Nixon is the ultimate champion. History on screen has rarely been this exhilarating.

Giant is approximately 201 minutes long, and yet only less than a quarter of it is watchable. The moments I am referring to are the ones when James Dean is on screen.

Here he gives his strangest and riskiest performance, playing the Howard Hughes-esquire character, Jett Rink. The sequence where he confronts his former employers while covered in crude oil is spellbinding.

The rest of the movie suffers without his presence. The story is slow and curiously involving.

Still, you should see it for Dean's performance alone.

Rebel Without a Cause contains James Deans' most influential performance. He plays the deeply tormented teen Jim Stark, who cannot stand living in a superficial society that refuses to show him any love. Of course, Jim's social criticisms are as true to life today as they were when the film was originally released. This is what maintains the film's elemental power. Writer/director Nicholas Ray shows how sometimes rebellious teens understand the world better than their clueless parents.

Nicolas Ray's use of color is nothing short of spectacular. Each character is dressed in clothes that express their heartfelt emotions. Jim's immortal red jacket is the perfect symbol of his fragile nerves and restless heart, which spends the entire movie searching for love and acceptance.

As is the case with his other two films, East of Eden and Giant, James Dean is the movie. He posses the rarest of acting gifts - you simply can't take your eyes off of him. How many young actors today can even hope to have the same affect on audiences?