Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

[7] Gregory Peck stars as a widowed magazine reporter who spends six months pretending to be Jewish while researching for an article about anti-semitism. He's startled to discover the ways bigotry manifests in his undercover life -- openly at 'restricted'…
Anthony Adverse (1936)

Anthony Adverse (1936)

[6] In 18th century Italy, an orphan boy comes of age with the help of nuns and a kindly mentor, falls in love, gets embroiled in the slave trade, and fights for his inheritance in this adaptation of Hervey Allen's…
All the King’s Men (1949)

All the King’s Men (1949)

[7] Broderick Crawford plays a small-town hick who attracts a populist following that takes him all the way to the governor's mansion, even though his ascent is riddled with corruption and crime. All the King's Men is really about Crawford's…
I, Tonya (2017)

I, Tonya (2017)

[8] Margot Robbie is Oscar-calibre as disgraced Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding, who was stripped of her titles and banned from the sport after her husband spearheaded an assault on her competitor, Nancy Kerrigan, in 1994. I, Tonya paints the picture of a…
None But the Lonely Heart (1944)

None But the Lonely Heart (1944)

[6] Cary Grant plays a wandering Londoner who's reluctant to settle down. This changes when he discovers his mother, played by Ethel Barrymore, has terminal cancer. Poverty and loneliness drive Grant and Barrymore to desperate measures, and just when you…
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,…
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…
Airport (1970)

Airport (1970)

[6] This star-studded best picture Oscar nominee is credited for kicking off the boom of disaster flicks that plagued (or bedazzled?) the 1970s. It's entertaining enough, though I much prefer The Towering Inferno. All of the Airport movies (there would…
The Fighter (2010)

The Fighter (2010)

[8] David O. Russell directs a top-notch cast in this story of a Massachusetts boxer who tries to get out from under the influence of his crack-addicted brother and domineering mother. If those character descriptions sound like Oscar-bait, indeed they…
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

[7] Director Sydney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Network) takes on Agatha Christie and delivers a light-hearted soufflé of a murder mystery. I always tend to enjoy ensemble films within a claustrophobic setting, so being trapped on the Orient Express during…