Signs (2002)

Signs (2002)

[8] Mel Gibson headlines this M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable) sci-fi thriller about a single father (Gibson) of two young children and his younger brother (Joaquin Phoenix) who discover mysterious crop circles in their fields. Signs unfolds like…
Waterworld (1995)

Waterworld (1995)

[7] Even when a movie doesn't quite come together, I sometimes admire the effort and ambition so much, that I have to give a little extra credit. Waterworld is one of those movies, especially after viewing the extended 'Ulysses Cut'…
Dante’s Peak (1997)

Dante’s Peak (1997)

[6] Pierce Brosnan (Goldeneye) and Linda Hamilton (Terminator 2) star in this old-fashioned disaster flick about a volcano that's about to wipe a small town off the map. Brosnan plays a volcanologist who, in Jaws-like fashion, warns the town of…
Outbreak (1995)

Outbreak (1995)

[6] Dustin Hoffman and Renee Russo star as an estranged married couple both working government jobs in the area of infectious disease control. When a fast-acting deadly virus begins spreading in America, the two find themselves working together to control…
Batman Begins (2005)

Batman Begins (2005)

[7] Christopher Nolan successfully reboots the Batman franchise by taking a cue from Bryan Singer (X-Men), who showed the world how much better a comic book movie could be by taking its subject matter seriously. While the approach works for…
Grand Canyon (1991)

Grand Canyon (1991)

[8] This ensemble drama from Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan is perhaps the most metaphor-laden movie I've ever seen. The screenplay (cowritten by Kasdan and his wife, Meg) gets pretentious and overreaching at times, but a well-meaning message and a…
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

[7] J.K. Rowling takes a more firm hand with her franchise moving forward, both screenwriting and co-producing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The new movie takes place 70 years before the events of the other Harry Potter movies,…
The Village (2004)

The Village (2004)

[6] A small, isolated village of puritan-like people come under siege by a killer in their midst, as well as woodland monsters that may not be what they seem... Whether or not you like M. Night Shyamalan's The Village ultimately…
Maleficent (2014)

Maleficent (2014)

[7] Angelina Jolie headlines in this pleasantly surprising revisionist version of Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Jolie plays Maleficent, the dark fairy villain of the original fairytale. But in this new version of the story scripted by Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the…
My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

[9] Julia Roberts stars in this devilish romantic comedy from director P.J. Hogan (Muriel's Wedding) and writer Ronald Bass (Rain Man) about a jealous woman who tries to stop her best friend from marrying another woman. Dermot Mulroney plays the…