Next of Kin (1989)

Next of Kin (1989)

[4] Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing, Ghost) stars as a hillbilly-turned-Chicago cop who holds his Kentucky relatives at bay after the youngest sibling (Bill Paxton) is killed by a mobster (Adam Baldwin). When one of the brothers (Liam Neeson) sets out…
Excalibur (1981)

Excalibur (1981)

[9] Director John Boorman (Deliverance, Zardoz) mounts an ambitious pastiche of the entire Arthurian legend with Excalibur. Nigel Terry plays King Arthur from his naïve youth to his death and departure for Avalon, guided nearly every step of the way…
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

[7] Director Ridley Scott and screenwriter William Monahan take us back to the Crusades, during a time of fragile peace between Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem. Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings) stars as Balian, a French blacksmith and…
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

[4] George Lucas's much-anticipated return to the Star Wars universe after sixteen years affords the writer/director the advanced technology needed to bring his vision to life, yet there's little life to be found in the story or characters of his…
Krull (1983)

Krull (1983)

[7] In the wake of Star Wars, all the Hollywood studios were scrambling to replicate its success with similar big-budget sci-fi/fantasy epics. Krull was Columbia Pictures' effort, released the same summer as Return of the Jedi, and destined to box…
K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

[7] Kathryn Bigelow (Strange Days, Near Dark) directs this Cold War-era true story starring Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson as Soviet officers aboard Russia's first nuclear-powered submarine. Moscow orders the ship to launch a nuclear missile to let America know…
Taken (2008)

Taken (2008)

[6] Liam Neeson stars as an ex-CIA operative who pursues sex traffickers in Paris to rescue his kidnapped daughter. Taken opens with twenty minutes of clunky, expository screenwriting before Neeson is allowed to kick things into high gear. He single-handedly…
Breakfast on Pluto (2005)

Breakfast on Pluto (2005)

[6] Cillian Murphy stars a young trans-woman who leaves Ireland in the 1970s to find her birth mother in London. Along the way, she has flings with a singer (Gavin Friday) and a comic magician (Stephen Rea), rough encounters with…
Love Actually (2003)

Love Actually (2003)

[8] A bunch of British people fall in love, out of love, and do lovey-dovey things in the month leading up to Christmas. Now, if you're like me, that's a description that will keep you from ever wanting to watch…
Widows (2018)

Widows (2018)

[7] Steve McQueen (Shame, 12 Years a Slave) brings Lynda La Plante's novel to the screen. Widows is about a woman who rallies the girlfriends and wives of her deceased husband's gang of robbers, all of whom died in a botched…