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…
Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

[6] A young boy in Hitler's youth army (Roman Griffin Davis) finds himself in a moral dilemma after discovering a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) hiding in a secret space behind his bedroom wall. This film written for the screen and…
The Human Comedy (1943)

The Human Comedy (1943)

[7] Mickey Rooney headlines this slice-of-life picture about a New York town maintaining the home front during WWII. Rooney plays a highschooler working as a telegram delivery boy to help provide for his family while his older brother is in…
A Star is Born (1937)

A Star is Born (1937)

[6] Janet Gaynor and Fredric March star in a love story so good, they've made it four times now -- most recently with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in the roles. Gaynor plays a small-town girl with dreams of becoming…
BlacKkKlansman (2018)

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

[7] Spike Lee directs the stranger-than-fiction true story of a black Colorado police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. John David Washington stars as Ron Stallworth, who struck up a relationship with local KKK members over…
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 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…
Precious (2009)

Precious (2009)

[7] Precious is the kind of movie a studio exec must dread hearing a pitch about: "So, there's this girl, and she's really sad, her daddy raped her, she named her down syndrome baby Mongo, her mother violently abuses her,…
Panic in the Streets (1950)

Panic in the Streets (1950)

[6] Elia Kazan makes a concerted effort to be less 'theatrical' and more 'cinematic' with Panic in the Streets, a New Orleans thriller about a policeman and a doctor searching the streets for a killer infected with pneumonic plague. Richard…