Rango (2011)
[7] A pet chameleon named Rango (voiced by Johnny Depp) gets lost in the desert where he stumbles upon a drought-stricken town in need of a sheriff. He fakes his way into the job and enjoys playing the part until…
Tender Mercies (1983)
[7] Robert Duvall earned the Best Actor Oscar for his subtle but moving performance in Tender Mercies, the story of a divorced, alcoholic country singer who hits rock bottom before slowly rebuilding his life. A single mother (Tess Harper) hires…
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
[9] Here we have a horror film so well executed, it swept the Academy Awards. Anthony Hopkins (The Lion in Winter) and Jodie Foster (The Accused) each deliver career-defining performances as cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter and neophyte FBI agent…
Apollo 13 (1995)
[9] Ed Harris, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton star as the astronauts of 1970's ill-fated Apollo 13 mission to the moon, one in which their vessel suffered an exploding oxygen tank that threatened to leave them stranded in space forever.…
Promising Young Woman (2020)
[8] Carey Mulligan (Shame, Never Let Me Go) is equal parts sympathetic and terrifying in writer/director Emerald Fennell's psychological thriller Promising Young Woman. Mulligan stars as Cassandra, a medical school dropout whose life was derailed after the sexual assault of…
One Battle After Another (2025)
[3] It's possible I'll see this movie again in the future and understand it better. I have to assume this is possible, because I love several other Paul Thomas Anderson movies, including Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, and…
Sinners (2025)
[7] In this period horror film from writer/director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Black Panther), twin Chicago gangsters named Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) return to their Depression-era Mississippi home town to create a more legitimate life…
Tootsie (1982)
[7] Dustin Hoffman stars as Michael Dorsey, a struggling New York actor so desperate to land a job that he transforms himself into a woman to win a part on a daytime soap opera. As Dorothy Michaels, he challenges the…
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)…
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…