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)…
Shane (1953)

Shane (1953)

[8] George Stevens (A Place in the Sun, Gunga Din) directs this Western morality tale based on the novel by Jack Schaefer. Alan Ladd plays the title character, a drifting cowboy who wanders into a sprawling Wyoming valley in the…
Life of Pi (2012)

Life of Pi (2012)

[7] Director Ang Lee (The Ice Storm) brings Yann Martel's novel to vibrant, cinematic life. Suraj Sharma plays the teenaged Pi, whose family is traveling by sea from India to Canada with all the animals from their family zoo. When…
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

[8] Russell Crowe stars as a British naval captain pushing his ship's crew to the breaking point in pursuit of the Acheron, a stealthy French vessel he's been ordered to track and destroy. The plot of Master and Commander isn't…
Legends of the Fall (1994)

Legends of the Fall (1994)

[8] Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Aidan Quinn star in this sprawling, family melodrama set in early twentieth century Montana, where the Ludlow family works their ranch in the untamed wilderness. Hopkins plays the patriarch, a pacifist and single father…
Oppenheimer (2023)

Oppenheimer (2023)

[6] Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later) stars as the physicist credited with inventing the atomic bomb in this sprawling, rapid-paced, three-hour Best Picture Academy Award winner from director Christopher Nolan (Interstellar, Inception). The first hour of Oppenheimer focuses on the…
Mank (2020)

Mank (2020)

[7] Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) makes a socio-political hero out of Herman J. Mankiewicz in this biopic that chronicles the boozy screenwriter's tribulations writing Citizen Kane. Gary Oldman plays 'Mank,' who we first meet laid up in bed…
The Defiant Ones (1958)

The Defiant Ones (1958)

[8] Socially-conscious filmmaker Stanley Kramer (Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg) made an impact early in his directing career with this dramatic chase story of two escaped convicts evading authorities while chained together at the wrists. The twist? One prisoner's…
Dune: Part One (2021)

Dune: Part One (2021)

[5] Director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049, Arrival) takes a stab at delivering Frank Herbert's dense, complicated science-fiction novel to the big screen. Dune centers around a teenaged royal named Paul Atreides (Call Me By Your Name's Timothée Chalamet) whose…
West Side Story (1961)

West Side Story (1961)

[8] Tension between rival New York City gangs the Jets and the Sharks is wound to a tragic snapping point after one young Jet falls head over heels for the sister of the Sharks' leader. West Side Story is based…