Sinister (2012)
[5] Ethan Hawke stars as a true crime novelist who moves into a house where a family was mysteriously hanged from a tree in their back yard. He finds 8mm home movie reels in the attic, each a snuff film…
Thumbsucker (2005)
[4] Lou Taylor Pucci stars in writer/director Mike Mills' adaptation of Walter Kirn's novel about a nervous high school student afflicted with thumbsucking. Once he's prescribed ritalin, Pucci's character starts to feel more confident. Unfortunately, the drug also turns him…
Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
[6] Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas, The Karate Kid) stars as a high school senior who resigns herself to babysitting when her date cancels at the last minute. But when her friend runs away from home and makes a panicked…
Strange Days (1995)
[8] Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett star in this tech-noir thriller from director Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark, The Hurt Locker) and writer James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar). It's late in the year 1999 (four years into the future for when the…
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002)
[7] Emile Hirsch and Kieran Culkin put in great performances in this odd coming-of-age film about best friends who are constantly rebelling against their Catholic school teacher, a one-legged nun played by Jodie Foster. I like that the characters, even…
Chained (2012)
[7] Director Jennifer Lynch (Boxing Helena) explores the relationship between a serial killer (Vincent D'Onofrio) and a young boy he kidnaps and raises to follow in his footsteps. Lynch keeps the film anchored in a dual character study and, despite…
Jurassic World (2015)
[9] I enjoyed the hell out of Jurassic World and I don't care who knows it. I don't know who the director is (Colin Trevorrow, anyone?), but I thought this was easily the scariest and most entertaining Jurassic Park flick…
Ed Wood (1994)
[10] I doubt Tim Burton will ever make a finer film. Armed with a powerhouse screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (The People vs Larry Flynt), Burton turns the biography of Hollywood's most infamously bad director into a poignant…
The Player (1992)
[9] Director Robert Altman made his post-Popeye comeback with this biting takedown of the film industry. Tim Robbins (Jacob's Ladder, The Shawshank Redemption) stars as Griffin Mill, an unscrupulous studio executive who's paranoid about being replaced by an up-and-coming rival…