Anthony Adverse (1936)
[6] In 18th century Italy, an orphan boy comes of age with the help of nuns and a kindly mentor, falls in love, gets embroiled in the slave trade, and fights for his inheritance in this adaptation of Hervey Allen's…
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
[8] Rami Malek stars as Freddie Mercury in Bryan Singer's (X-Men, Valkyrie) biopic about the formation and explosive success of rock group Queen. The film centers primarily around Mercury -- his estranged relationship with his family, his homosexuality, his drug…
The Hurt Locker (2009)
[7] Kathryn Bigelow (Strange Days, Near Dark) won the Oscar for directing this suspense thriller about three soldiers who disarm bombs in Iraq. The movie also won Best Picture, maybe just because nothing better came out during the year (except…
The Social Network (2010)
[8] A movie about corporate betrayal and litigation is normally not my idea of a good time, but The Social Network turns out to be a well-made, voyeuristic look back at the birth of a now-ubiquitous product that many users…
Dunkirk (2017)
[7] Christopher Nolan serves up a wartime survival flick about Allied soldiers stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk, France, while the German army surrounds them. The water was so shallow, warships couldn't pick up the troops, so loading the hundreds of…
The Deer Hunter (1978)
[8] Close-knit friends from a mining community share a harrowing experience during their tour of duty in Vietnam. Michael Cimino's three-hour long film focuses primarily on the aftermath of the ordeal, now one of the most famous scenes in movie…
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
[7] Sidney Poitier plays a black Northern detective who reluctantly aides a white Southern sheriff (Rod Steiger) in solving a murder case. The mystery itself is a bit thin, but it's bolstered by good performances from the leads and a…
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
[6] Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara star in the second adaptation of the Stieg Larsson novel about a journalist and a computer hacker who work to solve the mystery of a missing woman. Is there perhaps something wrong with the fact…
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
[9] George Miller has stopped making talking pig and dancing penguin movies (Babe, Happy Feet) long enough to give us another installment in his seminal apocalyptic Mad Max series. The result is probably one of the greatest non-stop action movies…
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
[4] Around the World in 80 Days is a three-hour-long, episodic adventure that's high on spectacle and low on story or character. I wager it played better to a 1950s audience interested in seeing a cliche-ridden "It's a Small World"-like…