Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Notes on a Scandal (2006)

[7] Judi Dench plays a cranky old teacher who befriends a new, younger teacher played by Cate Blanchett. Blanchett quickly confides in the older woman and thinks she's made a new friend. But Dench's aims are more sinister than that.…
Sex in Chains (1928)

Sex in Chains (1928)

[7] William Dieterle (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Devil and Daniel Webster) directs and stars in this transgressive German silent film about a married couple who endure prolonged, maddening abstinence after the husband (Dieterle) is sentenced to three years…
American Psycho (2000)

American Psycho (2000)

[6] Christian Bale (Empire of the Sun) plays a homicidal Wall Street playboy in this Bret Easton Ellis adaptation directed by Mary Harron. By day, Bale's character, Patrick Bateman, engages in banal chit-chat with other yuppies. They compare dicks --…
The Damned Don’t Cry (1950)

The Damned Don’t Cry (1950)

[5] Joan Crawford plays an impoverished woman who leaves her husband after a tragedy claims the life of their young son. Determined never to be poor again, she sleeps her way through a string of men to reach a higher…
I Care a Lot (2020)

I Care a Lot (2020)

[7] Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) gives a powerhouse performance as a ruthless, court-appointed legal guardian who preys upon her elderly wards, draining their savings and selling off their assets for her own financial gain. But she finally meets her match…
Black Friday (1940)

Black Friday (1940)

[3] Boris Karloff stars as a doctor who transplants the brain of a gangster into the body of a dying professor (both played by Stanley Ridges), then tries to get the convalescing professor to remember -- with his new brain…
Night Nurse (1931)

Night Nurse (1931)

[8] Barbara Stanwyck stars in this pre-code drama about a scrappy young nurse trying to save two sick children from an evil chauffeur (Clark Gable) whose poisoning them so he can marry their drunk mother (Charlotte Merriam) and steal their…
Murder! (1930)

Murder! (1930)

[5] Alfred Hitchcock's first sound film is emblematic of his usual content, if not his his trademark style and suspense. Murder! centers around an actress (Diana Baring) found in a fugue state next to a bloody fire poker and a…
Twilight (1998)

Twilight (1998)

[5] Paul Newman stars in this L.A. detective story from director Robert Benton (Kramer vs Kramer), about a down-on-his-luck P.I. who lives with two movie stars (Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman) who are married to each other. Newman starts to…
Set It Off (1996)

Set It Off (1996)

[7] Four struggling women successfully rob a bank, but push their luck with additional robberies while the L.A. police is on their tail. Director F. Gary Gray (Friday, Straight Outta Compton) doesn't glorify the crime in Set It Off. Instead,…