Excalibur (1981)

Excalibur (1981)

[9] Director John Boorman (Deliverance, Zardoz) mounts an ambitious pastiche of the entire Arthurian legend with Excalibur. Nigel Terry plays King Arthur from his naïve youth to his death and departure for Avalon, guided nearly every step of the way by the…
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

[3] Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) plays a younger version of the character Charlize Theron played in 2015's brilliant Mad Max: Fury Road in this prequel co-written and directed by series creator George Miller. We learn Furiosa's backstory -- how she was kidnapped…
In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

[7] Director Ron Howard tackles the (more or less) true story that inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick. Chris Hemsworth stars as the determined first mate of the New England whaling ship Essex, which is destroyed by a mammoth white whale…
Apollo 13 (1995)

Apollo 13 (1995)

[9] Ed Harris, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton star as the astronauts of 1970's ill-fated Apollo 13 mission to the moon, one in which their vessel suffered an exploding oxygen tank that threatened to leave them stranded in space forever. Losing power,…
Creatures the World Forgot (1971)

Creatures the World Forgot (1971)

[3] On one hand, I admire Hammer Films for their ambition. Creatures the World Forgot contains not one word of discernable language and follows a bunch of half-nude prehistoric cave people running across beautiful locations (filmed in Namibia and South Africa). On…
Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (2011)

Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (2011)

[5] Brad Bird (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) picks up the directing reigns for the fourth Mission: Impossible movie and delivers an entry on par with the series' mediocre track record. This time around Cruise and yet another new ensemble of co-spies…
Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

[5] Tom Cruise makes his Mission: Impossible franchise a trilogy with this installment directed by J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Super 8). This time out, Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) plays the villain, an arms dealer looking to acquire a mysterious, presumably dangerous item…
Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

[6] Well, at least it's better than the first one. Tom Cruise returns as secret agent Ethan Hunt, tasked with apprehending a fatal new virus called "Chimera" before the bad guys (led by Dougray Scott) unleash it upon the world. Mission: Impossible…
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

[7] Writer/director Steven Spielberg follows up his immensely successful Jaws with this tale of extra-terrestrials and government conspiracy. Richard Dreyfuss stars as a family man whose encounter with a UFO brings him into contact with a grieving mother (Melinda Dillon) whose young…
Mission: Impossible (1996)

Mission: Impossible (1996)

[4] It's a testament to Tom Cruise's raw charisma and screen presence that I was able to make it through director Brian DePalma's boring big screen upgrade of the '60s television show Mission: Impossible. Because despite having a script co-written by lauded…