The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

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…
Contagion (2011)

Contagion (2011)

[6] Steven Soderbergh directs what is probably the most believable, realistic approach to a deadly epidemic movie that I've ever seen, but that doesn't necessarily make it the best movie. The building action is the film's strong point, and primarily…
Mimic (1997)

Mimic (1997)

[6] Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Josh Brolin, and Charles S. Dutton star in this creature feature about evolved cockroaches that threaten to overtake New York City. Director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) admits that the film's narrative was watered down…
Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall (2012)

[8] It's so refreshing to watch heroes and villains who are over the age of 40. Skyfall repeatedly suggests that sometimes older is better, and I couldn't agree more. Daniel Craig's third turn as James Bond is at least as…
Footsteps in the Dark (1941)

Footsteps in the Dark (1941)

[6] This light-hearted murder mystery isn't likely to stick in your memory, but should satisfy Errol Flynn fans well enough. Flynn plays an author who writes under a secret identity -- so secret even his wife and mother don't realize…
Cry Wolf (1947)

Cry Wolf (1947)

[6] Barbara Stanwyck shows up at Errol Flynn's doorstep claiming to be the wife of his late brother. While he suspects she is a gold digger, she suspects he is abusing his young niece (Geraldine Brooks) and may be hiding…
Blood Simple (1984)

Blood Simple (1984)

[8] The Coen Brothers broke onto the film scene with this claustrophobic mystery/thriller featuring Frances McDormand, John Getz, and Dan Hedaya in a murderous love triangle. M. Emmet Walsh complicates matters for all of them as a hitman for hire.…
The Drowning Pool (1975)

The Drowning Pool (1975)

[5] Paul Newman returns as private eye Lew Harper, hired by an ex-flame to solve a blackmail case involving adultery and oil-rich land. As with the previous Harper film, the stakes are never high enough and no one's quite worth…
The MacKintosh Man (1973)

The MacKintosh Man (1973)

[4] Paul Newman stars as a British agent posing as a jewel thief who gets embroiled with Russian spies, goes to prison, gets broken out of prison, and lands in the hands of a secretive organization that drugs and kidnaps…
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

[8] A young man's soul is transferred to a mysterious portrait that bears the decay and debauchery of his lifestyle. The most interesting thing about this Oscar Wilde tale is that you are never told what Dorian Gray's sins are,…