Quiz Show
Dir. Robert Redford
Long before we became accustomed to oxymorons like “scripted reality” shows, there was a time when viewers could expect to…
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Dir. Andrew Dominik
Robert Ford is an aspiring gangster who idolizes Jesse James, leader of the notorious James gang. When that admiration reaches…
Sexy Beast
Dir. Jonathan Glazer
In his debut feature, Jonathan Glazer masterfully subverts our expectations of heist movies to thrilling effect: what should be a…
sex, lies, and videotape
Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Remarkably, Steven Soderbergh was only 26 years old when he directed this coolly assured debut, the searingly candid script of…
Belfast
Dir. Kenneth Branagh
Belfast stars Outlander’s Caitríona Balfe as the mother of a working-class Northern Irish family during The Troubles. Religious tension and…
Garden State
Dir. Zach Braff
Written and directed by Bambi from Scrubs himself, Garden State is one hell of a directorial debut. It is one of those…
Short Cuts
Dir. Robert Altman
Raymond Carver’s short stories don’t just come to life in Robert Altman’s poignant adaptation of middle-class malaise: they intertwine seamlessly,…
Bad Education
Dir. Pedro Almodóvar
There’s a cyclical tragedy at the heart of Bad Education, that starts with love, then continues in separation, and ends…
Notes on a Scandal
Dir. Richard Eyre
Acerbic diary excerpts provide the narration for this taut psychological thriller, but don’t be fooled: as Notes on a Scandal…
Uncut Gems
Dir. Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie
A crazy, anxiety-inducing thriller that turns Adam Sandler into a thrill-generating machine, which in its own speaks volumes about the…
Midsommar
Dir. Ari Aster
You may have heard about this 2019 critic-favorite from clips like this one of a kid running to flee the…
Sexy Beast
The 2000s film Sexy Beast, is already a niche entry in the crime comedy genre, so if you’re going to…
Bad Education
Dir. Kai Ko
With its wildly different shifts between the film’s chapters, Bad Education feels like it doesn’t know what to do with…
500 Days of Summer
Dir. Charles de Lauzirika & Marc Webb
An unusual romantic comedy about a woman who doesn’t believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for…
Sense and Sensibility
Dir. Ang Lee
In the 1995 adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Sense and Sensibility, Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet play Dashwood sisters…
The Color Purple
Dir. Blitz Bazawule
With the tried-and-tested music and lyrics of Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, this film adaptation of the Color…
Hannah and Her Sisters
Dir. Woody Allen
What was deemed Woody Allen’s most commercially successful film, Hannah and Her Sisters seemed to mark a turning point in…
Up in the Air
Dir. Jason Reitman
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a corporate axman, he comes in a fires people when the managers are too afraid…