It is with great sadness that I report that one of my favorite actors (and certainly one of the best ever) has passed away.

Paul Newman was 83.  The man acted in some of my favorite movies, both new and old, and was acting at an ability some only ever dream of.  From Cool Hand Luke to Road to Perdition and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to The Hudsucker Proxy, Newman made the theatre a better place to be.

It is with a heavy heart that I recomend a few movies for you to watch this weekend in honor of one of the most charitable actors the world has known.

1) Check out The Sting. It’s brilliantly written and funny and Newman is a blast to watch.  Seeing him go head to head in a battle of wits and con-artistry against Robert Shaw (Quint from Jaws) with Robert Redford by his side is a helluva ride.

2) Watch The Color of Money.  Newman working with Scorsese at his best next to Tom Cruises first time actually “acting.”  Reprising his role as Fast Eddie Felson from The Hustler, Newman lights up the screen.

3) The Verdict.  Sidney Lumet’s classic film about a burned-out ambulance chasing lawyer played brilliantly by Newman.    It has a script by David Mamet and Mamet’s words coming out of Newman are a joy to watch.  The film is surprisingly relevant in today’s world of legal maneuvering and medical malpractice.

4) Torn Curtain.  Some people say this is a “lesser” Hitchcock film, but those people are clearly idiots.  Paul Newman stars opposite Julie Andrews in this taut suspense thriller about a mathmetician (Newman) who defects behind the Iron Curtain, but ends up in an espionage oriented game of cat and mouse.