GREAT MOVIES YOU PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF
                                                                Part 2

Here’s another batch of wonderful films you may never have even heard of. (Yeah, ending with a preposition again...) Any you haven’t seen are sure worth a look.
The Company Of Strangers (1980) is a quirky but greatly satisfying Canadian film about a group of eight women on a bus tour. The bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere and they are stranded in a deserted cottage. While waiting for help, each tells some of her life story. These are not professional actors and they worked with a minimal script, then padded it out with improvisation. If you don’t like this movie, don’t tell me!
Day For Night (1973) is a movie about making a movie. It is directed by the French icon Francois Truffaut. The title is the movie term for shooting a night scene when it isn’t night. The film shows how this is done. But the fun part is all the alliances and problems that develop among the cast and crew. Jacqueline Bisset and Jean-Pierre Aumont head the cast. And Monsieur Truffaut himself has a big part in this, one of his best films.
Diabolique (1955) is simply one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. There is not one drop of blood. Michel runs a second-rate boarding school owned by his wife Christina. The main teacher is Nicole. Michel is hateful to both women and the children. Nicole and Christina decide to murder him and hide the body. But the body somehow disappears. Then a group picture of the school seems to reveal Michel standing in the back row. That’s all I’m telling, but I will say the 1996 remake is a pale imitation. Don’t watch this one if you have a weak heart!
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) is a Taiwanese film directed by the great Ang Lee before he came to America to make such films as Live Of Pi (2012) and Brokeback Mountain (2005). The main characters are a very traditional Chinese father, who is a master chef, and his three very non-traditional daughters. Every Sunday he prepares a magnificent meal for his children, who then vent all of their problems and prospects. They annoy him but he loves them. The culture-clash is very entertaining. 
Educating Rita (1983) is, I think, the best film ever made about women’s liberation. Julie Walters is a clever working-class wife who wants to better herself through education. Michael Caine is her sodden professor. Her rosy personality and enthusiasm starts to pry him out of his funk. Ms. Walter is just luminous in this part and the film has a wonderful ending you will not see coming!
All of the films in this column are available on DVD and for streaming and all are for grown-ups. Do I have more of these? You bet!