By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –@tvanswerman

Amazon today has added 168 new movies to its Prime streaming lineup. Here are the four best, in my humble opinion:

Blazing Saddles
Mel Brooks’ brilliant and delightfully politically incorrect 1974 spoof of Westerns stars Cleavon Little as Sheriff Bart but the real stars are Gene Wilder as the sheriff’s alcoholic, fast-drawing sidekick and Harvey Korman as the snidely Hedley Lamarr, a wealthy land-grabbing businessman. Both are as funny as it gets. Trivia: Brooks wanted Richard Pryor for the Sheriff Bart role, but the studio vetoed it, concerned that Pryor’s reputation for on-set (and off set) mischief would be trouble for the production. Pryor, one of the writers of the screenplay, would later get his chance to team with Wilder in four films, including 1976’s Silver Streak.

Dog Day Afternoon
The 1975 movie reunites The Godfather’s Al Pacino and John Cazale as real-life bank robbers whose caper goes horribly askew. Based on a real-life story, Dog Day is a showcase for two of the finest actors of their generation. Brilliant performances. And great story telling from New York auteur Sidney Lumet.

Glory
The powerful 1989 drama chronicling the important role of African-American soldiers (played by Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman, among others) in the Union army during the Civil War. Directed by Edward Zwick, a stickler for realistic detail, Glory puts in the middle of a war that took the lives of hundreds of thousands.

Mississippi Burning
The 1988 crime drama was based loosely on the real-life murders of three civil rights activists in the 1960s Jim Crow South. The film captured an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture as did Gene Hackman for Best Actor. While director Alan Parker took significant liberties with the real story, Hackman is the reason to watch. His performance is part Popeye Doyle from The French Connection and part Coach Norman Dale of Hoosiers. A total force of nature as he corrals the people responsible for the murders.

Honorable mentions to Bananas, Creed, The Apartment, Silver Linings Playbook and Philadelphia.

Here is the complete list of new films added today to Amazon’s Prime Video service, which is free with a Prime membership:

1984 (1985)
12 Years a Slave (2013)
2 Days in New York (2012)
2 Days In The Valley (1996)
3:10 To Yuma (2007)

A Woman Possessed (1958)
Above the Rim (1994)
Arrival (2016)
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
Baby Boy (2001)

Bad Teacher (2011)
Bananas (1972)
Billy Madison (1995)
Black Dynamite (1980)
Blankman (1994)

Blazing Saddles (1974)
Boyz N the Hood (1991)
Breakin’ All The Rules (2004)
Brokeback Mountain (2004)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

Clockstoppers (2002)
Code of Silence (1985)
Concussion (2015)
Creed (2015)
Creed II (2018)

Cry Freedom (1987)
Daddy Day Camp (2007)
Dangerous Exile (1958)
Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990)
Devil In A Blue Dress (1995)

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Eraser (1996)
Exodus (1960)
Flawless (1999)
Getting Even With Dad (1994)

Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow (1959)
Glory (1990)
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
Green Zone (2010)
Guess Who (2005)

Happy Anniversary (1959)
Happy Gilmore (1996)
He Who Must Die (1958)
Henry V (1989)
Higher Learning (1995)

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Hot Cars (1956)
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Hot Rod Gang (1958)
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)

Huk! (1956)
I Am Ali (2014)
I Am Bolt (2016)
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1989)
In My Country (2005)

In Time (2011)
Intersection (1994)
It’s A Pleasure (1945)
Jungle Heat (1957)
The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Lady Of Vengeance (1957)
League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Little Women (1949)
Live and Let Die (1973)

Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)
Look Who’s Talking (1989)
Lost Lagoon (1958)
Love, Rosie (2014)
MacArthur (1977)

Machete (2010)
Man In The Net (1959)
Megamind (2010)
Miles Ahead (2016)
Mirai (2018)

Mississippi Burning (1989)
Mo’ Money (1992)
Money Train (1995)
Muscle Shoals (2013)
No Escape (1994)

Notorious (2009)
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
One Way Out (1987)
Open Range (2003)
Over The Top (1987)

Pariah (2011)
Peanuts: Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (1980)
Philadelphia (1994)
Purple Rain (1984)
Reign of Fire (2002)

Rejoice and Shout (2011)
Rent (2005)
Repo Men (2010)
Riders To The Stars (1954)
River’s Edge (1987)

Robocop (1987)
Run For The Sun (1956)
Saved! (2004)
School Daze (1988)
Sea Fury (1959)

Self/Less (2015)
Shadow of Suspicion (1944)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
She Hate Me (2004)
Shoot First (1953)

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Sliver (1993)
Soul Food (1997)
South Central (1992)
Stargate (1994)

Stomp The Yard: Homecoming (2010)
Switchback (1997)
Ten Days To Tulara (1958)
The Apartment (1960)
The Call (2020)

The Color Purple (1986)
The Danish Girl (2016)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
The Four Feathers (2002)
The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981)

The Gift (2001)
The Gospel According to Andre (2018)
The Hot Chick (2002)
The Longshots (2008)
The Love Letter (1999)

The Malta Story (1954)
The Missing Lady (1946)
The One That Got Away (1958)
The Rabbit Trap (1959)
The Relic (1997)

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
The Scarf (1951)
The Spanish Gardener (1957)
The Time Machine (2002)
The Transporter (2002)

The War of the Worlds (1953)
The Wild Wild West (1966)
The World’s End (2013)
The Young Doctors (1961)
Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)

Three Can Play That Game (2007)
Timbuktu (1959)
To Sir, With Love (1967)
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie
Newmar (1995)

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019)
Too Many Crooks (1959)
Top Of The World (1998)
Transamerica (2006)
Transporter 2 (2005)

Triple Deception (1957)
True Lies (1994)
Two Can Play That Game (2001)
Tyson (2009)
UFO (1956)

Uncommon Valor (1983)
Van Wilder 2: The Rise Of Taj (2006)
Venus and Serena (2013)
Vice (2018)
Walking Tall: The Payback (2007)

Walking Target (1960)
What to Expect When You’re Expecting (2012)
Without a Paddle: Nature’s Calling (2009)
World’s Greatest Dad (2009)
Wuthering Heights (1970)
You Got Served (2004)

You Have to Run Fast (1961)
Yours, Mine & Ours (1968)

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman