Jean Renoir inherited his acute feel for the poetry of landscapes -- from the famous Impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir, his father. Emotive impressions of place, captured by a slowly panning camera, underlie the movement of his narratives. Renoir's genius lay in fusing environments and narr

Dramatic, Epic, French impressionism, Parody, Pastoral, Witty

And now for something completely different. It's 1969, love and social criticism are in the air. Throw together five well-educated Britons and one American (that makes six cross-dressed men all together), add a dead parrot and a wicked sense of the absurd, and "Monty Python's Flying Circus" is born.

Absurd, Clever, Funny, Parody, Surreal, Witty

On Christmas Day in 1908, a child born in London's drab suburbs was given the incredibly ordinary Christian name of Dennis Pratt. But this child knew right away that the ordinary was not for him. In due time Pratt would give himself a new name, one that befit his true persona: Quentin Crisp. Cr

Bright, Charming, Ebullient, Feminine, Queer, Solo performance, Witty

Many British directors have, by choice or necessity, turned to Hollywood. Filmmakers from Ridley Scott to Alan Parker and David Puttnam left their native land for the financing that would land their most ambitious visions on screen. Some might call this a sell-out, but it's arguable that some of thes

Eclectic, Elegant, Pathos, Pop, Witty