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…
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…
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
[10] James Dean gives one of the most iconic performances in movie history as Jim Stark, an angst-ridden teenager who quarrels with his parents almost as much as he tangles with high school bullies. I normally hate tough guy movies,…
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
[7] Michael Rooker (Slither, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) gives a chilling performance in this gritty, 16mm film based loosely on the confessions of convicted murderer Henry Lee Lucas. As Henry, Rooker lives in a dingy apartment with a…
Missing (1982)
[7] Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek star in this true story about the disappearance of American journalist Charles Horman (John Shea) who went missing during the U.S.-sponsored 1973 Chilean coup. Spacek plays Horman's wife and Lemmon plays his father. When…
Backdraft (1991)
[6] Director Ron Howard (Cocoon, Apollo 13) delivers peak-level pyrotechnics wrapped in corny melodrama with Backdraft. Kurt Russell and Daniel Baldwin co-star as quarreling brothers who follow their late father into firefighting careers. Baldwin plays the younger brother, embarrassed by…
10 to Midnight (1983)
[7] Charles Bronson (The Magnificent Seven) headlines this above-average low-budget thriller about a veteran L.A. cop in pursuit of a serial killer who stalks women in the nude. Early in the film, Bronson tells his boss (Wilford Brimley) that the…
Kes (1969)
[5] I put off watching Kes for many years because, as a 'bird person', I knew the title falcon died at the end of the movie. I finally gathered the courage to see the film, and I'm surprised to report…
Hugo (2011)
[8] In 1931 Paris, an orphaned boy named Hugo (Asa Butterfield) lives in a train station and gets caught up in a mystery involving a broken automaton and a cranky old toy-maker (Ben Kingsley). With the help of an adventurous…
Invisible Stripes (1939)
[7] George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden star in this better-than-average gangster flick. Raft and Bogart play convicts just released from prison. Raft reunites with his mother (Flora Robson) and younger brother (Holden) and tries to start a clean,…