FILM FORUM UPDATE. There's still time to catch the latest great revival of "French noir" at the Film Forum. More than forty years after its 1960 release, CLASSE TOUS RISQUES still comes across as risky and exciting, swinging dramatically between sympathetic and appalling depictions of its underworld characters. It'll play through December 1.

Next comes one of the great war movies I've ever seen: Stanley Kubrick's PATHS OF GLORY. Based on actual events during World War I, the 1957 movie features some eccentric casting that accentuates the nightmarish workings of the war machine.

And then it's time for Essential Hitchcock. Looking over the schedule, I realize I still have a lot of Hitchcock's "lesser known" movies to see, so I'm going to limit my recommendations to the ones I know best even though they are likely to be familiar to you already. I decided to limit them even more, to nine programs plus some notes. So here, without any further ado, is my list of Selected Essential Hitchcock:

December 9-12
REAR WINDOW (1954) w/PSYCHO trailer.
There's something about seeing Rear Window on a big screen that heightens the grotesquerie of its blend of romance, comedy, voyeurism, and homicide. I consider that a good thing.

December 20
SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)
Joseph Cotten plays Uncle Charlie in this creepy drama, which the Film Forum says is "[o]ften claimed as Hitchcock's own favorite."

December 21-22
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
One of the most loved Hitchcock flicks, it's best known for the plane attack but a big part of what makes it great is the sinister air that permeates it. And it's got Long Island, too.

December 23-24
PSYCHO (1960)
Back in the day, I had to steel myself to watch this shocker. Once I made the leap, I loved the double entendres in the script as well as the set design. Around my eighth viewing, I grew tired of it. So I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it more than six times.

December 25-26
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956)
The twisted behavior of Jimmy Stewart's Dr. Ben McKenna and the singing of Doris Day's Jo McKenna makes this a compelling journey into the bizarreness of banality.

January 1-2
THE BIRDS (1963)
Have you noticed my penchant for the weird Hitchcock? This is one of the great ones.

January 4
ROPE (1948) w/THE WRONG MAN (1957)
Rope is a fantastically taut one-set drama, but The Wrong Man is a dud. (Anyone disagree?) So I strongly recommend that you see Rope first if you plan on staying for the whole double bill.

January 6-7
VERTIGO (1958)
I still remember when this genius film, rightly considered to be Hitchcock's most artful, was finally re-released after years of underground screenings. Did everyone in the theater gasp at the same time, or was it my imagination?

January 10
FRENZY (1972)
Perhaps no Hitchcock film is more brutal and shocking — and vital — than this one.

So what did I omit? I feel bad about leaving out Lifeboat (1944), which has a crackerjack cast including Hume Cronyn, Walter Slezak, William Bendix, Tallulah Bankhead, and Canada Lee, about whom you can learn more here. Spellbound and Notorious are fine but they don't excite me like the ones above. I have nothing at all against the quirky Marnie (1964) and the charming To Catch a Thief (1955). I'm actually fond of The 39 Steps (1935), a classic Hitchcock that happens to be paired with The Lady Vanishes (1938), which I don't like. Other popular Essential Hitchcock pix that I don't especially favor are Rebecca (1940), Dial M for Murder (1954), and Strangers on a Train (1951). I think I hear some of you gasping in shock and I can easily see myself changing my mind at some point, but that's how it is at present.

Feel free to quibble with my picks and offer your own recommendations!