East of Eden (1955)
[10] James Dean received the first posthumous acting nomination from the Academy Awards for his riveting performance as the troubled Cal in East of Eden, his first major film role. (He died in a car accident just a few months…
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)
[6] The 28 Days Later zombie franchise continues with Ralph Fiennes, Alfie Williams, and Jack O'Connell reprising the roles they established in 2025's 28 Years Later. Williams' character, Spike, has fallen in with a murderous cult of teenagers led by…
The Sting (1973)
[7] Robert Redford and Paul Newman play Chicago con artists who team up to bankrupt a crime boss (Robert Shaw) who authorized the killing of Redford's grifting partner. Several other con artists join in on the elaborate betting scheme, which…
Frisco Kid (1935)
[4] James Cagney (The Public Enemy, The Mayor of Hell) stars as an aimless sailor who makes a name for himself in 1850s San Francisco, running bars and casinos on the notoriously violent Barbary Coast. He falls in love with…
Sunshine (2007)
[8] Before winning the Oscar for directing Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle teamed with The Beach author Alex Garland (Annihilation, Ex Machina) to give us this underseen and under-appreciated sci-fi thriller. As the Earth's sun dies and sends humanity into an…
Striptease (1996)
[4] Demi Moore received a whopping $12.5 million to appear topless in this film about a woman who starts strip-dancing to make ends meet after a judge grants full custody of her young daughter (played well by Moore's real life…
Fantasia (1940)
[7] Walt Disney was somewhat ahead of his time experimenting with music and animation in Fantasia, an experimental achievement of artistry, craftsmanship, and innovation in animation. It's essentially a series of MTV-style music videos -- some narrative, some more abstract…