The Lost Weekend (1945)

The Lost Weekend (1945)

[6] Maestro Billy Wilder directs Ray Milland as a drunk writer circling the drain in the multi-Oscar-winning The Lost Weekend. Milland's character is supposed to begin recovery on a long holiday weekend with his brother (Phillip Terry) and gal pal…
A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

[7] Writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir) won his first two Academy Awards for writing and directing this drama about three wives who reflect on their marriages when they learn a fourth woman has…
The Shape of Water (2017)

The Shape of Water (2017)

[7] Guillermo del Toro serves up a fantasy love story set in the 1960s in which a mute janitor at a top-secret research facility falls in love with... well, a fish man. Sally Hawkins plays the janitor and Doug Jones (a…
Platoon (1986)

Platoon (1986)

[8] Oliver Stone's Platoon was one of the first major motion pictures to deal with the Vietnam war. Charlie Sheen stars as an infantry volunteer who finds himself in a moral quandry, torn between two sergeants of differing philosophies. Tom…
The King’s Speech (2010)

The King’s Speech (2010)

[7] Colin Firth plays the stuttering King George VI, who never wanted to be king for fear of his speech impediment bringing shame to him and his family. The King's Speech focuses on the antagonistic relationship between the king and…
The Graduate (1967)

The Graduate (1967)

[8] Dustin Hoffman plays Ben Braddock, an aimless college graduate who stumbles into an affair with the older Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) before falling in love with a girl his own age... Mrs. Robinson's daughter. The Graduate was groundbreaking for…
The Hurt Locker (2009)

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…
A Beautiful Mind (2001)

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

[7] Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly are at the top of their game in A Beautiful Mind, Ron Howard's Oscar-winning biopic about John Nash, the brilliant but haunted mathematician who overcame schizophrenia and received the Nobel Prize. These are the…
The Deer Hunter (1978)

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…
The Godfather Part II (1974)

The Godfather Part II (1974)

[7] An unusual sequel of sorts, The Godfather Part II spends equal time in the past and the present, exploring the early life of Vito Corleone (with Robert DeNiro taking over the mantle from Marlon Brando) while also following the…