The Big Heat (1953)

The Big Heat (1953)

[8] In this disturbing film noir piece from director Fritz Lang (Metropolis, Fury), Glenn Ford plays a police detective who uncovers a crime syndicate involving the police department and the district attorney. After investigating the unlikely suicide of a fellow officer, Ford…
Star Wars (1977)

Star Wars (1977)

[10] Writer/director George Lucas (American Graffiti) surprised the world with this unassuming and unheralded matinee-style fantasy adventure that, by all industry standards, would be dead on arrival at the box office. But then word-of-mouth catapulted Star Wars to the highest echelons of…
The Rules of Attraction (2002)

The Rules of Attraction (2002)

[8] Roger Avary, Oscar-winning co-writer of Pulp Fiction, adapts Bret Easton Ellis's novel about drunken, drug-addled college students reaching for meaningful human connection. We experience The Rules of Attraction primarily through three lovelorn characters: a virgin named Lauren (Shannyn Sossamon), a sociopath…
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

[9] Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist, Requiem for a Dream) stars as a widowed mother who suddenly finds herself having to start a new life in this engaging comedy/drama from Martin Scorsese that became a popular TV sitcom (Alice). The feature film begins inside…
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

[8] Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund) returns for a third film that's just as good as the original. Heather Langenkamp's Nancy also returns, now a psychologist who specializes in dreams, hired on at a hospital where suicidal teens are being terrorized by Freddy.…
No Country for Old Men (2007)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

[8] Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin star in this Southwestern chase movie that doubles as a meditation on man's perpetual but futile attempt to make order out of chaos. Brolin's character, Llewelyn Moss, stumbles upon the bloody aftermath of…
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

[8] Tom Holland gives his best performance to date in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, a film that should resonate with nearly everyone, but especially Gen Z. The fourth film in Holland's Spidey series (not counting his appearances in other Marvel movies) picks…
Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall (2012)

[9] It's so refreshing to watch heroes and villains who are over the age of 40. Skyfall repeatedly suggests that sometimes older is better, and as a middle-aged film fan, I couldn't agree more. Daniel Craig's third turn as James Bond matches…
Ben-Hur (1959)

Ben-Hur (1959)

[10] Charlton Heston stars as Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince whose life is thrown into years of soul-crushing turmoil after being betrayed by a childhood friend. That friend, a Roman soldier named Messala (Stephen Boyd), turns against Judah after he refuses to…
Aliens (1986)

Aliens (1986)

[10] Writer/director James Cameron accomplishes a rare feat with a sequel that doesn't shame the original and succeeds on its own merits. Aliens is so different in tone than the original Alien, I think of it as a sequel only in name…