The Big Sleep: one of the great serpentine plots to ever be shot. Of course, the plot is simply part of the greatness of this film; there aren’t many better examples of tough-guy dialogue out there, all of it read to perfection; also, and more importantly, the screen chemistry is off the charts (and it is one of the great examples of mid-flight course corrections). Needless to say, acting and directing are top notch. (Full disclosure: if anyone ever wondered about my e-mail address and signature, there’s no need to wonder much further.)