Narrative works of fiction and nonfiction alike have always been a strong device when it comes to examining the many facets of warfare. A subject that can be both personal, but also wide reaching, there’s so many lenses one can use to tell a story about the various armed combats the people of the world have experienced. It’s because of this that today, we’re here to honor the best war movies that make up the canon, from movies about Pearl Harbor and Vietnam to great films about World War I and  World War II films set around the world, and that's just breaching the surface. 

Whether on the battlefield, or at the homefront, tales such as these can help us better understand one of the most complicated impulses of humanity. Some of the movies highlighted are even based on fictional characters/conflicts, but those entries aren’t any less effective for it. Some of the best action movies even qualify for this feature as a result. With that in mind, please enjoy CinemaBlend’s rundown of the best war movies of all time. 

30. Dunkirk (2017)

Leave it to Christopher Nolan (Inception, Tenet) to take the fairly straightforward concept of a war picture and filter it through three intersecting time frames, which all converge on the key battle that’s mentioned in the title. 

You don’t quite pick it up at first. But as Nolan – and, by extension, the audience – follows the events of the Allied forces trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk during WWII, we see the timeline of a soldier (Fionn Whitehead), a pilot (Tom Hardy), and a civilian boat captain (Mark Rylance) all intersecting while the narrative unfurls. Dunkirk delivers a thinking-man’s approach to the brutality of combat, an intelligent dissection of combat as seen from the land, the sea, and the air. 

29. Ben-Hur (1959)

Few movies are more befitting of the word “epic” than William Wyler’s masterpiece, Ben-Hur. Oh, and fun fact, but Wyler also won two more Oscars for two other war films, those being Mrs. Miniver, and The Best Years of Our Lives. But back to Ben-Hur, which stars Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince who becomes a slave, but then ultimately rises up and becomes a respected charioteer during the Roman Empire. This sprawling movie has some of the most impressive scenes in cinema, like when the Roman fleet is attacked by pirates, or of course the groundbreaking chariot race. But the real war is more of a personal battle between Ben-Hur and his former friend, Messala. All of this is set to a story of the Christ, which ultimately makes Ben-Hur’s quest for vengeance really a quest for redemption. It’s a film for the ages!

28. Valkyrie (2008)

While most World War II movies focus on the action in the major battlefields, director Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie pays tribute to a piece of history that’s more localized. One of the great Tom Cruise movies you may have never seen, the action star plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a key figure in an attempt to overthrow Adolf Hitler from within his own military.

Heading up an all star cast, including Terrence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, and Kenneth Branagh - among others, Cruise commands the picture as its dramatic anchor. A portrait of people who rejected their own government’s cruelty by using its very machinery against it, Valkyrie’s plot skews away from traditional war stories. Opting to show a more clandestine battle, the action is mixed with a climate of tension and personal stakes that makes this more confined tale as thrilling as one told with a more open battlefield.

27. Lincoln (2012)

Though Lincoln probably isn’t the first title that comes to mind when thinking about the best war movies, it’s more than deserving of a spot on this list. With the American Civil War in the background, Steven Spielberg’s historical drama follows U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he attempts to accomplish two major goals: bring an end to the bloody military conflict, and ban slavery once and for all.

Again, there’s not much in terms of battles (the only major sequence is in the opening minutes of the film), but Lincoln does a masterful job of capturing the attitudes and fears of a nation torn in two as well as the impact it has on the country 150 years later.

26. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

When Brad Pitt’s Lt. Aldo Raine looks down upon the carved forehead of Christoph Waltz’s Hans Landa at the end of Inglourious Basterds and remarks, “I think this might just be my masterpiece,” it’s A) hard not to read it as a meta sentiment from Quentin Tarantino, and B) hard not to agree with said sentiment. The writer/director has made some phenomenal films, and there is an argument to be made that his 2009 contribution to the war movie genre is his greatest.

It’s gnarly and awesome to see the titular collection of commandos execute their mission to start up a collection of Nazi scalps, but the genius comes in with the integration of the fiery revenge plot unfurled by Mélanie Laurent’s Shosanna Dreyfus. With the sinister, slimy Landa slithering through both stories, it’s a movie that shocks, thrills, and delights with a killer vision of alternative history.

25. Gladiator (2000)

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator is more about the aftermath of a war, and a power struggle that ensues when the Emperor’s son murders him in order to prevent losing his right to the throne to a successful war general. Scott is a master when it comes to directing historical films, and he really knocked it out of the park pitting established star Russell Crowe against a young but phenomenal Joaquin Phoenix. 

The film won five Academy Awards after its release, and was nominated for a whole lot more. Russell Crowe received his Best Actor Oscar, though Joaquin Phoenix would have to wait longer before finally getting one of his own. When it comes to modern gladiator films, there’s really no better option to choose from. 

24. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

“Please Lord, help me get one more.” Repeated variations on that plea are heard throughout director Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge, as combat medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) tries to save as many of his fellow soldiers. The story of the first Medal of Honor recipient to be a conscientious objector, it’s a cross between a more traditional, combat heavy picture, and a moving biographical drama.

Through his dedication to protecting and saving as many lives as he could, especially during the Battle of Okinawa, Desmond’s career as a World War II combat medic is brought to life through an intense performance from Andrew Garfield. Producer Bill Mechanic once remarked on the reason Hacksaw Ridge resonates with audiences is due to how the story affects people. Basing its message on the universal belief that true heroes can rise to the darkest of occasions, it’s not hard to agree.

23. The Deer Hunter (1978)

While the famous “Russian roulette” scene is the most iconic image of The Deer Hunter, what makes the movie great, what makes it important, is the metaphorical Russian roulette of three friends who go to war, and come out of it in very different ways. Many war movies deal with the terrible cost of war, but few do it in quite the same way as The Deer Hunter. 

The movie ultimately spends little of its three-hour runtime on the Vietnam War itself. This is a story about the men who fought in it, both before and after their time there. By spending so much time with Mike (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken) and Steven (John Savage) before they ever go to war, we understand who they truly were, and therefore we understand the loss of those men that much more.

22. The Dirty Dozen (1967)

What do you get when a group of colorful criminals-turned-commandos are sent out on a top secret, high risk mission to disrupt German command ahead of the D-Day invasion during World War II? If your answer is one hell of a movie, you’re 100% right. With legend Robert Aldrich at the helm, The Dirty Dozen sports one of the best ensemble casts of any movie from the 1960s – including Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Sutherland, George Kennedy, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, and more – and their mission as expendables soldiers risking their lives for a pardon is a blast.

Not just a great movie unto itself, The Dirty Dozen also happens to be hugely influential. Number 26 on this list wouldn’t exist without it, not to mention the Suicide Squad blockbusters and the comics on which they are based.

21. Black Hawk Down (2001)

There are two major aspects of warfare that Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down commits to displaying in its adaptation of author Mark Bowden’s account of the Battle of Mogadishu. On one hand, the picture shows the importance of tactical awareness, as what seemed like a “routine mission” for UN peacekeepers during the Somali Civil War turned into what was known as the “longest sustained firefight” since the Vietnam War. 

Adding to the masterfully claustrophobic feel of that very war zone is the atmosphere of personal valor. Black Hawk Down’s cast boasts actors like Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, and Sam Shepherd; all playing the peacekeepers who unexpectedly find themselves in harm's way. Rather than merely showing the battle as a lesson of preparedness, Ridley Scott and writer Ken Nolan also dig into why we fight, especially when the battle becomes greater than we could have ever anticipated. 

20. The Hurt Locker (2008)

Where has director Kathryn Bigelow gone? After bursting onto the scene with Near Dark, Blue Steel and Point Break, the searing action director settled into a groove of gripping combat features with the back-to-back releases of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, winning Best Picture and Director for Locker. Bigelow has only made one movie since then – Detroit in 2017 – and when you watch The Hurt Locker, you realize how much we, as an audience, are missing. 

The Hurt Locker goes deep behind enemy lines during the Iraq War, following bomb technicians (Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner) as they tackle fresh waves of devastating new threats. The film put human faces on a war that played out in our nation’s headlines, while also remembering to be a riveting and suspense-filled action thriller. 

19. Born On The Fourth of July (1989)

The second movie in Oliver Stone’s Vietnam trilogy (the first film being the Academy-Award winning, Platoon, and the third being Heaven & Earth), Born on the Fourth of July may just be the most potent and personal of the three. In one of Tom Cruise’s best movie performances, the talented actor portrays real-life figure, Ron Kovic, a proud American who was itching to get into Vietnam, but returned home broken and disillusioned. 

The film chronicles his change, from gung-ho soldier, to wounded veteran, to activist, and it never shies away from the message that war is never kind to anyone, especially those who go into it thinking it’s noble or glorious.

18. Beasts Of No Nation (2015)

Beasts Of No Nation is not an easy movie to watch. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s unflinching look at the story of a young boy in an unnamed West African country who finds himself forced into a warlord’s army of children is brutal, horrific, and completely brilliant. 

The boy, Agu (Abraham Attah) is enlisted into the Commandant's army after most of his family flees his village in the midst of a civil war and his father is killed after telling Agu to run into the jungle as the village is attacked. The Commandant, played exceptionally by Idris Elba, is remorseless and cruel with his child soldiers and the movie pushes the emotions of its viewers as far as anyone would want. It’s well worth the sacrifice, but maybe not repeat viewings.

17. M*A*S*H (1970)

While M*A*S*H is mostly famous for the television series that lasted years longer than the Korean War itself, that show owes its existence to Robert Altman’s excellently subversive film. It’s not a shock the movie translated well to television considering the film is fairly episodic, following Hawkeye (Donald Sutherland) and Trapper (Elliot Gould) from one wild situation to the next, with each story having little to do with those around it. 

Still, M*A*S*H does a fantastic job of looking at the Korean War (as well as the Vietnam War), which was raging alongside the film’s release, with a hilariously dark sense of humor, something the men in the actual conflict likely had to do to make it through.

16. Enemy At The Gates (2001)

Few war movies are as riddled with the tension that Enemy At The Gates provides, as two opposing snipers look to kill the other during the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. Jean-Jacques Annaud does a phenomenal job of building the tension between Jude Law’s Vassili Zaitsev as he takes on Ed Harris’ Major Erwin König. 

This movie delivers both the massive battles that other great war films feature, and does a great job at showcasing some of the key minor battles that were fought, and how just a couple of key players could play a massive role in the morale of an entire army.  

15. Patton (1970)

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and co-written by Francis Ford Coppola (another filmmaker known for a brilliant war movie), Patton features one of the best depictions of a military leader in the medium’s history with George C. Scott’s portrayal of U.S. General George S. Patton. This epic war movie, which starts with one of the most iconic speeches of all time, spends 172 minutes dissecting the man, the myth, and the legend of the decorated military mind.

A Best Picture winner, Patton took home an impressive seven Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor, though Scott refused to accept the award.

14. Starship Troopers (1997)

For sci-fi fans, it might be hard to pick which is the best Paul Verhoeven movie: Total Recall, RoboCop, or Starship Troopers, but for the sake of this article, we’re going to focus on Starship Troopers, which is definitely worthy of being in consideration as one of the best war movies of all time. On the surface, this might not seem right. Here we have a movie about soldiers fighting giant bugs, which wasn’t in any textbooks that we remember growing up. 

Underneath the pulse-pounding action, however, is a satire that is definitively anti-fascism. In fact, many of our “heroes” are dressed like Nazis, and when our protagonists capture the enemy species, they rejoice in the fact that “it’s afraid.” So, yeah. It might not be the first movie you think of when it comes to great anti-war movies, but it definitely is once you think about it.

13. The Thin Red Line (1998)

Released the same year as Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan and set during the same conflict (World War II), Terrence Malick’s 1998 epic war film, The Thin Red Line, couldn’t be any more different than the Tom Hanks-led spectacle. Set during the Battle of Mount Austen in the Pacific Theater of WWII, the movie largely consists of a series of internal monologues by characters played by Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, and others, as they contemplate their respective roles in the war and what fate has in store for them.

Malick’s first movie in 20 years, The Thin Red Line is less of a straightforward portrayal of war and more an artistic exploration of the internal struggles soldiers face while staring death in the eye.

12. Spartacus (1960)

Spartacus, which is the story of a slave-cum-gladiator who becomes a leader of men and leads a revolt, is one of Stanley Kubrick’s most underappreciated gems. Starring Kirk Douglas (who also starred in Kubick’s anti-war masterpiece, Paths of Glory), the film is as epic in scope as you’d want it to be. 

Set during the Third Servile War (also known as the Gladiator War), the film follows the rise, and ultimate fall of its titular character. But along the way, we get stirring speeches, and excellent scenes of combat – most notably a gladiatorial fight involving a man using a net and a trident! Yes, at over three hours, it’s a bit long, but the voyage along the way is rewarding as all hell. I am Spartacus!

11. Platoon (1986)

Oliver Stone’s Platoon is considered to be one of the top war movies to win Best Picture as well as one of the most realistic military films of all time. Centering on Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), an idealistic young soldier thrown into the meat-grinder that was Vietnam, this harrowing drama is as disturbing as it is decorated with its depictions of heroism, human depravity, and a battle between right and wrong on the battlefield.

Remembered for its unflinching examination of one of the bloodiest conflicts in American military history, Platoon also gave the world one of the most emotional and cinematic scenes in movie history with Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe) being chased through the jungle set to Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings.”

10. Glory (1989)

One way to guarantee success in a war movie is to assemble an all-star cast and tell an inspirational, if little told, story of a war. That is exactly what director Edward Zwick did with 1989’s Glory. Telling the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment in the Civil War, one of the few all-Black outfits to fight for the Union, Zwick put together a cast of serious heavyweights to show all the emotion, the glorious highs and the heartbreaking lows of the regiment. 

The movie stars Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington (who won an Oscar for his performance), Andre Braugher (in his first film role), as members of the unit, and Matthew Broderick and Cary Elwes as their commanding officers. It’s a powerful film that is as true to history as a movie can be, but also as inspiring as a film can be. It was nominated for five Academy Awards and won two –  Best Cinematography as well as Washington’s win.

9. 1917 (2019)

In 2019, Sam Mendes gave audiences one of the best World War I movies with 1917, a blistering and grueling thriller about two young British soldiers – Will Schofield (George MacKay) and Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) – as they try to reach the frontline and deliver an important message that could save scores of lives. But this proves to be no simple task, as the pair has to cross enemy lines where they encounter attacks on land and from the air before they can reach their destination and call off a doomed offensive.

The winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Cinematography for the legendary Roger Deakins, 1917 is presented as two extended takes, a decision that creates a sensation of being right there in the trenches and on the battlefields with its stars. This chaotic, fast-paced, and intense delivery of a story of survival and hope created a war movie like no other, and one we’ll probably remember for years if not decades to come. 

8. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket is almost three movies in one, with each act being very distinct from the others. The first, and most famous, is the Marine boot camp for new recruits. R. Lee Ermey steals the show with his amazing performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. Still, it’s the intensity of Vincent D’Onofrio as Leonard “Gomer Pyle” Lawrence that leaves the most haunting impression. 

The second act details the futility of war, particularly the Vietnam War that it depicts. Joker (Matthew Modine) travels the combat zone and sees just how pointless the whole war is and how no one seems to care, they are just doing what they are told. The third act takes on a horror-movie vibe as the platoon attempts to take out an unseen enemy sniper in the spooky, bombed-out town of Huế. Fear, death, and hopelessness consume the latter third of the movie. The film is a masterpiece by one of film’s greatest directors.

7. All Quiet On The Western Front (2022)

It seemed pretty impossible that the modern version of All Quiet on the Western Front could actually be superior to the groundbreaking 1930 movie that won Best Picture back at the third Academy Awards (making it one of sixteen war films to take home the prestigious statue), but 2022’s version manages to do it. It’s the grand scope of it all, but also the fact that it feels extremely personal. By focusing mainly on one soldier — an enthusiastic 17-year-old who can’t wait to get into the trenches of World War I, but also featuring a subplot involving officials working toward armistice, the dual plots really add layers to the people on the ground, but also the people who worked toward ending the war. 

The movie is grueling, and our once plucky hero sees firsthand that war is hell. Director Edward Berger got the best performances out of his actors, while the cinematography by James Friend is top notch, really putting us in the heat of combat. It’s a powerful film that spotlights the horrors of combat, making it a modern masterpiece, and one of the greatest anti-war movies ever made.

6. The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

“What have I done?” Alec Guinness’ horrified line delivery as he realizes the extreme consequences of his abetting the construction of the titular structure is perhaps the most iconic part of The Bridge On The River Kwai, but it’s really just a part of the immense power and drama of David Lean’s 1957 epic. It’s both one of the all-time great war movies and one of the all-time great prison movies – something it shares in common with other entries on this list.

An adaptation of Pierre Boulle’s novel, the branched narrative follows American and British prisoners of war building a bridge to connect Bangkok and Rangoon (aided by Guinness’ tortured/Stockholm Syndrome-afflicted Colonel Nicholson) and the efforts by escapee Navy Commander Shears (William Holden) to return to the camp and sabotage the work. It’s magnificent and gripping throughout, and yes, the film’s ending packs an incredible punch.

5. Master and Commander: Far Side Of The World (2003)

Perhaps the reason that co-writer/director Peter Weir and co-writer John Collee’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a brilliant war movie is because, frankly, it’s not totally a war movie. Adapted from selected texts out of author Patrick O’Brien’s Aubrey-Maturin series, the Russell Crowe/Paul Bettany-led ensemble drama cares just as much about its mythic characters as it does its Napoleonic Wars setting. Nowhere is that better shown than through the camaraderie of the HMS Surprise’s crew, most notably through the friendship of the vessel’s captain Jack Aubrey (Crowe) and his ship surgeon Stephen Maturin (Bettany). While Aubrey’s orders border on obsession, we don’t totally see Russell Crowe’s protagonist lose himself in the fog of war, carefully walking between protecting his crew, while also recognizing when and how to strike. 

Master and Commander also uses a handful of intense, expertly crafted set-pieces to depict the era of warfare the story occupies. Naval battles of close proximity and great destruction are shown, which are only heightened by getting to know the HMS Surprise and its proud sailors. With great warmth, humor, and action, it’s a true shame that this attempted franchise never sailed far from port.

4. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

I’m not sure if there’s any movie that can truly give viewers the full scope of what invading allied forces felt when storming the Omaha beach in Normandy during World War II, but Saving Private Ryan does a damn good job. In fact, veterans who actually were present at D-Day told Time that Steven Spielberg’s opening battle featured very little Hollywood embellishment, to the point that it may be painful for those who were there to experience. That’s truly horrifying to hear as a viewer, and a great scene to showcase the brutality of war. 

Many would call Saving Private Ryan Steven Spielberg’s best movie, and that’s hard to argue with the amount of care that went into crafting it. Even if the story is only loosely based on the rescue of paratrooper Fritz Niland after the death of his two brothers, it is a wonderful story that works to give the audience a fairly solid depiction of the most brutal war in human history. 

3. The Great Escape (1963)

We often see World War II depicted on-screen on a massive scale, it was a world war, after all. And yet, part of what makes The Great Escape such a wonderful movie is how it tightens that focus onto a relatively small group of soldiers located in one place at one point in time. It humanizes the scale of it all in a real way and tells a story of true bravery and heroism. The only way for a group of men to fight the Nazis is to try and escape from them.

The events of The Great Escape are broadly embellished for the sake of drama, to be sure, but the story of a massive jailbreak from a POW camp is exactly the sort of exciting story that works well as a blockbuster movie. While it made Steve McQueen a star, The Great Escape has one of the best ensemble casts in movie history, and one of the most iconic movie themes ever written.

2. Paths of Glory (1957)

The first war movie that springs to many people’s minds when somebody mentions Stanley Kubrick’s name is Full Metal Jacket, which makes sense, as Jacket is definitely the more popular war movie. However, Paths of Glory is probably the better one, mostly since its anti-war message is much clearer and more pronounced. Based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb, the story centers around a commanding officer, played by Kirk Douglas, who defends three French soldiers against being court-martialed and shot. 

In this war movie set during World War I, Douglas delivers a powerful performance, and the film gives a more nuanced look at the closed-door machinations that occur in offices while soldiers go off to die. The film also gives a fascinating look at the effects of shell shock, and does an admirable job of showcasing the hell that was no man’s land. It’s definitely one of Stanley Kubrick’s very best movies.

1. Apocalypse Now (1979)

War is hell. As Apocalypse Now proves, making a movie about war can be hell, as well. Francis Ford Coppola’s masterful interpretation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness addresses the physical and mental toll that combat has on soldiers, as a platoon of Special Forces troops are ordered to head upriver in Vietnam and deal with rogue commander Kurtz (Marlon Brando). Turn up “The End” by The Doors, and lose yourself in Coppola’s disturbing haze.  

The story of the making of Apocalypse Now is almost as famous as the finished movie, which boasts a commanding cast (Martin Sheen, Brando, Robert Duvall, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Scott Glenn, Harrison Ford) in service of a filmmaker renowned for his two Godfather features. But it’s Coppola’s unflinching approach to the horrors of overseas conflict, and the psychological damage it does to our soldiers, that keeps Apocalypse Now atop virtually every list made about iconic war movies… this one, included.  

While there are certainly other great, impactful and intriguing movies that depict battles and the inner workings of military conflicts in a variety of ways, these are our picks for the thirty best war films. 

Many incredible movies created by women are available to watch now, and today, we will discuss the game-changers. Throughout the history of cinema, many notable films have come out that have changed the course of history. From the best fantasy films to the best horror films to so many others – I could talk about them for hours. 

However, today, we will focus on a specific group of fantastic women who have directed game-changing movies. Barbie was released in 2023, directed by Greta Gerwig, and along with this blockbuster, we’re going to go down the list and talk about 12 films that have changed lives forever, some older and some new.

Barbie (2023, Greta Gerwig)

First up on the list is Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. If you haven’t seen Barbie yet, I’m unsure what you’re doing because it’s been everywhere the last few months. The film follows Barbie as she enters the real world when she realizes she needs to make the girl playing with her happy again for her to remain a normal Barbie. 

The movie received stellar reviews and became the highest-grossing movie ever directed by a woman, with over $1 billion documented at the box office, it broke major records at Warner Bros. Now, I’m pretty sure everyone wants to be a Barbie. Me included. 

Wonder Woman (2017, Patty Jenkins)

Wonder Woman was released in 2017. The first movie follows the story of Diana Prince, a female warrior known as an Amazon who takes on the role of Wonder Woman when the Amazonian's lives are threatened by outside forces that might be caused by Ares, the Amazonian’s long-time enemy, and who just might be causing World War I.

Wonder Woman is not only one of the few female-centric superhero movies, but it was the first superhero movie directed by a woman, Patty Jenkins. She returned to direct the second film, but it’s unclear if Wonder Woman 3 will happen since the shakeup at DC with James Gunn. Right now, it’s not in the works, but who knows what will happen. 

While the third installment might be in question, there's no denying the power of 2017's Wonder Woman. 

The Hurt Locker (2008, Kathryn Bigelow)

Kathryn Bigelow directed The Hurt Locker. It was an intense and gritty war movie that detailed the journey of an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, from their time in combat to how it affected them afterward and their PTSD. 

With The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director in 2009. Since then, there have been two other winners – Chloé Zhao (who we will talk about next) and Jane Campion, who directed 2021's The Power of the Dog. Even so, Bigelow was the first ever to win, and that in itself is a huge accomplishment. 

Nomadland (2020, Chloé Zhao)

Nomadland tells the story of a widow who travels around the United States in her van, living her life as a nomad. Chloé Zhao directed the movie, and she was the second woman ever to win Best Director at the Academy Awards.

This film is impressive for so many reasons, but for me, it’s always been the fantastic cinematography that stands out as a true highlight. Zhao put in some tremendous work when making this 2021 Best Picture winner and it shows through its gorgeous imagery and wonderful performance from Frances McDormand.

American Psycho (2000, Mary Harron)

Directed by Mary Harron, American Psycho was a satirical psychological horror film starring Christian Bale. It told the story of an investment banker who spent his nights as a serial killer while keeping it hidden from his everyday life of working in NYC. 

Harron created a classic with American Psycho. Not only is Bale’s performance considered one of the best in horror, but the story itself is full of hilarious black comedy that looks at themes such as yuppie culture, capitalism, and the need to consume the best of everything. There are also some awesome American Psycho behind-the-scenes facts you should check out too that make the movie even better.

Lady Bird (2019, Greta Gerwig)

Of course, I’m putting Lady Bird on here. Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut was a solid coming-of-age movie that detailed the life of a young girl trying to live her life, and her complicated relationship with her mother. 

I love this movie. I have for a long time. Gerwig delivered something so raw and perfect with Lady Bird that I find it hard to discover another coming-of-age film close to its greatness. It perfectly details the transition of becoming a young woman and the complex feelings that arise with not only our family but within ourselves. 

The Woman King (2022, Gina Prince-Bythewood) 

The Woman King was released in 2022 and was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. The movie is based on a real group of warrior women in Africa called the Agojie that existed between the 17th and 19th centuries, and mainly follows a general as she trains the next generation of warriors against their enemies. 

This film was a snub at the Academy Awards, and it deserved much more recognition. The Woman King cast is stunning, but Viola Davis was the big star. And Prince-Bythewood brought an incredible historical-action film that showed badass women refusing to back down in the face of their enemies. I love it. 

The Babadook (2014, Jennifer Kent) 

Arguably, The Babadook, directed by Jennifer Kent, began a trend of psychological horror movies taking over at the box office years later, such as Ari Aster’s Midsommar or Hereditary. The film tells the story of a single mother dealing with her son seeing a humanoid monster in their home, but it soon turns their lives upside down. 

The movie is just utter perfection in terms of horror. Truthfully, it’s one of the best horror movies of the last 20 years, and I would re-watch it again. Kent built suspense in such a way that now, it’s imitated in many other psychological horror movies that have been released. 

The Farewell (2019, Lulu Wang)

Released in 2019 and directed by Lulu Wang, The Farewell follows the story of a Chinese American family who discovers that their grandma does not have long to live. So, they decide to schedule a family gathering for everyone to celebrate her one last time, instead of telling the older woman of her fate. 

The Farewell is one of those movies that comes once in a lifetime where everything fits perfectly. The film accurately depicts the lives of Asian culture. It features a stellar leading Asian cast, and it highlights Awkwafina's talents as a dramatic actor. She’s going to be in a new movie called Quiz Lady soon, but in my mind, this movie is her best so far.

Marie Antoinette (2006, Sofia Coppola)

Sofia Coppola has been making some headlines for her new film, Priscilla, which will be released later in 2023, but my favorite of hers has always been Marie Antoinette. Released in 2006, the film depicts the life of the famous Queen of France, especially in the years leading up to the French Revolution. 

Not only did the movie win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, but Coppola gave audiences a movie that had some of the best cinematography for a period piece. Marie Antoinette was a visual spectacle for the eye.

Clueless (1995, Amy Heckerling)

Clueless, directed by Amy Heckerling, was a coming-of-age teen comedy that was loosely based on the Jane Austen novel Emma and took place in Beverly Hills. The movie follows a teenager who decides to start doing more good deeds, but in doing so, she starts to learn more about herself and how much she can change too.

The film has been labeled as one of the most epic teen films ever. You can’t meet someone nowadays who doesn’t at least know a few quotes from the movie. Not to mention, Heckerling also gave audiences a great take on Emma in a hilarious, modern way. 

Women Talking (2022, Sarah Polley)

Lastly, we have Women Talking. The movie, directed by Sarah Polley, is based on the 2018 novel of the same name, and it follows the story of a group of Mennonite women who discuss their future when they find out that the men of their colony have a history of sexually assaulting their women. 

The movie was not only nominated for Best Picture but won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Sarah Polley, who wrote and directed it. The film talks about some serious topics, and it is considered one of the best movies of 2022. It's also pretty funny that Polley's daughter played a prank on her mother, saying that the Academy was asking for her Oscar back -- thankfully, Polley still has her win for this incredible film.

There are so many other notable films that you should watch that women directed, but these are just some that come to mind for me. If you haven’t seen any of them, check them out. 

There’s no single CinemaBlend opinion on anything. Through countless arguments over the years, I’ve learned we’re not even on the same page about how to define the word best, from our choices for the top 100 '90s movies to our picks for the best horror movies of all time. What makes a movie the best is impossible to nail down from one person to the next, though it's perhaps easier to consider when thinking about a decade of movies that came and went and can't be added to anymore. But for the most part, it's all about what you like.

It’s because of those clashing perspectives that this Best Movies Of The 2000s list is unlike any list that a single person from our team could have crafted, taking into account both Oscar-worthiness and popcorn-friendliness. The list accounts for movies that have aired 5,000 times on cable, and movies that have been shared lovingly from generation to generation. It’s a retro-hodgepodge of what we loved then and then, from Adam Sandler's raunch to Daniel Day Lewis' aplomb.

This list is CinemaBlend’s collective celebration of the 2000s, in all its neon-hued glory, and we hope everyone will find plenty to love, though a few disagreements and good-natured debate never hurt anyone. Let the arguments begin…

100. Avatar (2009)

While it's the last on this list, there's no denying Avatar's impact on the film industry back in 2009. The movie is a sci-fi masterpiece that features incredible visuals, mainly following the tale of Jake Sully, a human who finds love and acceptance within the world of the Na'vi, the native people of Pandora.

The film takes the audience on a wild ride for two and a half hours. While the story of saving a planet from foreign invaders could be more groundbreaking, the unique visual effects that fans get to see are. And now, with a successful sequel out more than ten years later, it's the perfect chance to revisit the original.

99. Erin Brockovich (2000)

Julia Roberts had established herself as one of the most beloved actors in the world in the 1990s, and as calendars flipped over to the year 2000, she didn’t waste any time starring in yet another critically acclaimed box office hit. Hitting theaters in March 2000, Erin Brockovich tells the story of the titular lawyer who started a landmark case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company for groundwater contamination, and it’s a stellar work that further cemented the clear talents of director Steven Soderbergh. It’s thrilling and dramatic, but also funny and fun – in large part due to Roberts’ charm and charisma.

98. The Hangover (2009)

The Hangover is part travelogue and part comedic shitshow. It races its characters through what feels like an entire TV season’s worth of odd locations and ridiculous scenarios, somehow finding time for hospital visits, naked gangsters, weddings, Blackjack heaters, stolen tigers, missing babies and stun gun demonstrations. It sounds like way too much plot for an hour and forty minute movie, but the key to a good comedy isn’t the situations the characters find themselves in, it’s the rapport and natural chemistry between the actors/characters going through those situations. And Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms are fantastic together. Their clashing vibes, energy levels and comedic sensibilities somehow blend into a perfect cocktail, and with Oscar-nominated director Todd Phillips stirring the drink, The Hangover is able to turn its B-movie premise into one of the funniest comedies of the 2000s.

97. Cloverfield (2008)

The first decade of the Aughts saw one word playing into many of its most cherished cinematic successes: reinvention. For director Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield, two different types of genre favorites were mashed together to create a wildly new, very mysterious product: monster movies like Godzilla and found footage pictures such as The Blair Witch Project. 

Amping up the scale of what a handheld camera could cover, Cloverfield’s ingenious marketing campaign kept audiences guessing about what its true intentions were. In the wake of a mysterious/title-free teaser, it was anyone’s guess what writer Drew Goddard’s movie was about. To live up to the hype after stoking such anticipation for an unknown quantity only cemented Cloverfield as a certified success. In a market where it felt like the trailers gave everything away, a major studio movie broke with the norm, all in the name of a monstrous triumph. 

96. National Treasure (2004)

The race to steal the Declaration of Independence was on in 2004 as Nicolas Cage and his team of treasure hunters went on a high stakes mission to find the greatest treasure. This story sweeps across American history, and is held together by Cage’s protagonist and his drive to find this great prize, and protect the Declaration of Independence by stealing it, of course.

This Disney staple is a family classic, and an action adventure bound to entertain just about anyone. It was such a success that a sequel soon followed, and maybe, someday, National Treasure 3 will happen. However, let us not forget the majesty that is the original National Treasure. 

95. The Notebook (2004)

There’s a reason that when one thinks of the genre “romance” The Notebook instantly comes to mind. The 2004 Nicholas Sparks adaptation is nothing short of a timeless classic that gracefully dances between being a forbidden and second-chance love story. It’s the movie that made Ryan Gosling a Hollywood hunk matched by a passionate yet grounding performance by Rachel McAdams. Together they are a firecracker of chemistry who left a generation longing to kiss in the rain. Cliché and mushy as The Notebook can be, when the music swells on the final scene, it never ceases to remind us why it’s one of the most endearing and cathartic love affairs we’ve ever seen. 

94. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Though it's been nearly two decades since its release, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy still stands as one of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s greatest collaborations. The 70s-set movie marked McKay’s directorial debut and, with it, he masterfully injects humor and social commentary into a satirical workplace comedy set within the world of broadcast news. His screenplay is funny and occasionally, downright hilarious, but the cast truly makes the movie shine. Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell and more are just flawless. And of course, it’s Ferrell’s portrayal of the titular character that really puts it over the top.

93. Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Anyone angling for a great sports drama that not only delivers sheer emotion but also captures the spirit of the pastime it’s tackling should check out Million Dollar Baby. Director Clint Eastwood’s Best Picture-winning film tells the story of an aspiring boxer (played by Hilary Swank), who teams up with a veteran trainer (Eastwood) in the hopes of achieving in-ring glory. The result is an emotionally affecting – and sometimes brutal – story about resilience and parental bonds. This boxing flick won Swank, Eastwood and co-star Morgan Freeman all Oscars and, when you see the movie, you’ll understand why.

92. Saw (2004)

2004's Saw revitalized the horror genre years ago, thanks to James Wan and Leigh Whannell, with its shocking twists and equally astonishing violence. But while the movie did include some truly grotesque “games” for Jigsaw’s victims, this was more than the mere “torture porn” that plagued the aughts. There was intention behind Jigsaw’s pain — making people think about the lives they’d led before forcing them to, “Live or die, make your choice.” 

The audience was along for the ride, trying to figure out why Adam (Whannell) and Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) were chained up in a bathroom and how they could escape before it was too late. Thanks to some brilliant misdirection, the ensuing plot twist was truly gasp-inducing. These days you might not be able to get away with that ending, but don’t say you saw it coming back in 2004.

91. Super Troopers (2001)

Super Troopers From a plotting and acting perspective, Super Troopers isn’t exactly The Departed. Its basic premise, and even many of its specific scenes, are just nimbly bimbly excuses for the cast to make raunchy jokes about the natural absurdities of being a cop. That works, though, because the movie understands what we want as an audience: non-stop jokes and shenanigans about liters of cola, littering and smokin’ the reefer. From cat game to syrup fights to biker confusion, Super Troopers has its own vibe and unique sense of humor. It’s just out there, doing its own thing, and that’s why, more than two decades later, fans are still pulling over to watch it… even if they’re already pulled over and they can’t pull over any further.

90. War of the Worlds (2005)

Steven Spielberg wouldn’t be the first to adapt H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds novel for the screen, nor would he be the last. But his modern-day take on the 19th Century sci-fi novel certainly made an impression. From the main characters — led by Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier, father to Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin) — to the various settings, to the unnerving sight (and sound) of the tripods emerging from below the ground to decimate or capture any humans in their path, War of the Worlds made its mark as an epic sci-fi action movie about survival and the choices a struggling parent has to make to protect his children from a worst-case-scenario. In true Spielberg fashion, the movie is thrilling and occasionally chilling, but also offers that added layer of a family element to keep us invested from beginning to end. 

89. Sin City (2005)

Most comic book adaptations aim to reimagine the characters and events of the source material in a way that more closely resembles reality. However, when director Robert Rodriguez teamed up with famed author and illustrator Frank Miller (acting as co-director) to bring his graphic novel series, Sin City, to the big screen, they did more than just adapt it. They brought it to life.

This anthology-style collection of three interconnected stories — all of which take place in the same hopelessly down-trodden, crime-ridden metropolis — is a masterclass in noirish storytelling (the razor sharp dialogue is straight out of a Raymond Chandler classic), astonishingly unique visual design (every beautifully grayscale frame resembles a comic book panel), and flawless acting from the entire Sin City cast, including Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Mickey Rourke, and so many more amazing A-listers. When it comes to non-superhero-related comic book movies, this might be the best of them all.

88. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Anticipation for the feature adaptation of Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary — itself a reinterpretation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice — was high, to say the least, for those of us who adored the book, when it finally made its way into theaters in 2001. Renee Zellweger’s mix of charm, determination for romance and occasional awkwardness alone are reason enough to love the adaptation. Then factor in the excellent chemistry she shares with both love interests — Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver and Colin Firth as Mark Darcy — not to mention the fantastic supporting cast, well-timed bits of hilarity and genuinely heartfelt moments of romance and what’s not to love about Bridget Jones’s Diary? 

87. Taken (2008)

Taken isn’t the most emotionally complicated or the most realistic movie, but it has a really good sense of its own strengths and leverages that particular set of skills perfectly. Liam Neeson might not be the prototypical action star, but he’s an Oscar-nominated actor uniquely good at portraying single-mindedness and determination. Taken is able to harness the badass fatherly intensity of a desperate man searching for his daughter and pair it with ruthless action sequences that rely more on craftiness than brute strength. The result is one of the best and most rewatchable action movies of the 2000s, a tight 90 minutes that’s so much fun it produced two sequels, a TV series and an unexpected late career resurgence for Neeson.  

86. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Before Will Smith earned his third Oscar nomination for King Richard, and after his nomination for Ali, he received his second Academy Award nod for The Pursuit of Happyness. Based on the real story of Chris Gardner, the movie follows Gardner's struggle to find a job to provide for his son during a year when they are homeless. 

The movie is inspiring for anyone, featuring an uplifting and memorable story. That, paired with an incredible performance from Will Smith and his son, Jaden Smith – who made his acting debut in the film – makes this the perfect movie to watch on any given day. 

85. The Bourne Identity (2002)

Before Daniel Craig came along and ushered in a new era for the James Bond movie franchise a few years later, Doug Liman’s The Bourne Identity welcomed audiences to the 21st century with this fresh, unique, and action-packed spy thriller. Matt Damon, who had already shown a great deal of depth in movies like Good Will Hunting and The Talented Mr. Ripley a few years earlier, became a bonafide action star with his portrayal of Jason Bourne, a trained killer with no recollection of his dark past.

There are few early 2000s action sequences as memorable as the movie’s iconic car chase through the streets of Paris. Audiences, used to seeing spies and assassins whipping around in souped-up sports cars were in for the ride of their lives with Bourne behind the wheel of a weathered Mini Cooper.

84. Love Actually (2003)

Love Actually has become annual holiday viewing for many since its premiere in 2004. Renowned rom-com filmmaker Richard Curtis struck gold with an A-list cast, as ten loosely connected plotlines each portray a different kind of love. Everybody’s sure to have their favorite stories within the movie, but they all strike an emotional chord, albeit in different ways. 

As these characters navigate the holidays, Love Actually tackles themes of grief, infidelity, unrequited love, workplace romance and more, while never losing its charm and eliciting tons of laughs. Throw in infinitely quotable dialogue (“Let’s get the shit kicked out of us by love!”), an infuriatingly hilarious cameo by Rowan Atkinson, and one absolutely iconic dance from Hugh Grant, and you’ve got yourself a classic.

83. (500) Days of Summer (2009)

In a decade greatly defined by bubblegum romantic comedies where audiences can take comfort in the same three act structure often ending in wedding bells, (500) Days Of Summer flipped the genre on its head. Romance and love can be a tricky, complicated thing that not only may be finite, but clouded by one’s fantasies, projections of potential and manic pixie dream girls. Marc Webb’s indie rom-com announces up front that it is “not a love story” and cleverly plays with structure as Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom falls for Zooey Deschanel’s Summer. Between its stunningly memorable soundtrack, creative use of mixed media against its gorgeous L.A. backdrop, (500) Days Of Summer is a dark horse of a romantic comedy that tackles the expectations vs. reality of love with a sharp wit. 

82. Knocked Up (2007)

Most romantic comedies try a lot harder at one of those two things. They’re either romantic movies with a few solid laughs sprinkled in or they’re clearly comedies that shoehorn a romance in there as an afterthought. Knocked Up works so well because it tries really hard at both. It succeeds a little more as a comedy, given it has Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Craig Robinson, Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd, but it also takes a lot of time and care with its love story and has many thoughtful things to say about relationships and parenting. It never takes the easy way out or betrays itself for a cheap, inauthentic laugh, which lets the natural chemistry between Rogen and co-lead Katherine Heigl grow into a budding relationship you actually root for. 

81. Dawn Of The Dead (2004)

As proven decades ago by George A. Romero, slow zombies are quite scary – but in 2004, director Zack Snyder and screenwriter James Gunn teamed up to show us just how freaky fast zombies can be. Dawn Of The Dead is a movie that stays true to its source material, gathering a bunch of strangers in a shopping mall as the dead come back to life, but it has its own energy and no shortage of standout moments. The beginning is a terror, the ending is deeply unsettling (including the material in the end credits), but the baby is where this one hits its peak.

80. Remember the Titans (2000)

Remember the Titans will make you laugh, cry, cheer and feel a whole range of emotions as you go on a journey with newly integrated T.C. Williams football team to win the state championship. This incredible movie about bringing a football team together is led by Denzel Washington, and it’s not only regarded as one of his best movies, but it’s also widely known as one of the greatest sports films. 

Washington and Will Patton lead the stacked cast of Remember the Titans, which includes Wood Harris and Ryan Hurst as the team’s leaders. Along with them, the movie also features Donald Faison, Craig Kirkwood and Ethan Suplee as well as a very young Ryan Gosling and 10-year-old Hayden Panettiere, among many others. Overall, it’s an inspiring and moving movie about acceptance and determination. Let’s just say Remember the Titans always has us saying “We want some more!” 

79. Juno (2007)

While Elliot Page was an actor at a young age, Juno was the movie that made him into a household name. And for good measure, as Jason Reitman’s quirky 2007 flick delivers in both comedy and heartfelt, human moments. Page earned an Academy Award nomination at the time for his performance, which surely feels justified. 

2007's Juno centers around its title character, a teenage girl who accidentally gets pregnant. She decides to carry the baby to term, arranging an adoption with a married couple (played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman). After being filled with plenty of funny moments (and a killer soundtrack) the ending provides an emotional catharsis that puts Juno above many movies around its time.

78. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

It’s no wonder that Disney has been trying for 20 years to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Inspired by a theme park attraction, but blazing its own trail, Pirates created one of modern cinema’s most iconic characters in Captain Jack Sparrow. But the rest of the cast, including Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, and a scene-stealing Geoffrey Rush, is no less compelling. From sword fights to ship battles, Black Pearl’s action is near perfect, with the Johnny Depp vs. Orlando Bloom duel a textbook example of how to tell a story with an action scene. It set a bar so high that even its own sequels were never going to clear it.

77. Ray (2004)

Cinema lovers have been graced with plenty of great biopics over the decades, and Ray certainly stands as one of the best. Directed by Taylor Hackford, the movie chronicles the life and career of the great Ray Charles. James L. White’s screenplay effectively tells Charles’ story, chronicling his professional and personal highs and lows in the process. And of course, the production is (appropriately) infused with incredible music. There are plenty of great performances on display, but it’s Jamie Foxx’s uncanny – and Oscar-winning – turn as the titular musician that really makes this period drama worth a watch or two.

76. Unbreakable (2000)

M. Night Shyamalan had an unenviable task in 2000 – following up his overnight sensation, The Sixth Sense. Was that movie a flash in the pan? Or would Shyamalan live up to the billing he was receiving in the press as, “The next Spielberg?” Remarkably, Shyamalan came up with a deeper, more meaningful film that also started the bandwagon for superhero-movie fascination, only with a meditative origin story for a strong man (Bruce Willis) who doesn’t recognize his invulnerability. Pulp Fiction co-star Samuel L. Jackson tapped into his fiendish side to play Willis’s nemesis, a man plagued with brittle bones who assumed that his opposite had to exist in the world. But it was Night’s ability to generate an intense mood that boosted Unbreakable. We rode a wave of increasingly suspenseful tension until the moment Willis donned his raincoat and embraced his destiny. Unbreakable started a trilogy, but also guaranteed that Shyamalan was here to stay as one of our most original and effective storytellers. 

75. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall occasionally gets overlooked as being just another rom-com from the aughts – specifically the rom-com featuring the oddball pairing of Mila Kunis and Jason Segel, but I can’t imagine that anyone who’s lumping this movie into just another group of rom-coms has seen it recently because it is profoundly and consistently weird. 

Segel’s TV composer main character dreams of creating a Dracula musical featuring puppets called A Taste For Love. He also wants to get over his titular ex-girlfriend - hilariously played by Kristen Bell, who somehow ends up in the hotel room next to him having loud sex with her new rock star boyfriend. That messy journey of acceptance and moving on, amidst all its weirdness or maybe because of all its weirdness, never feels like a cliche. It’s consistently funny and has so many thoughtful things to say about relationships, break-ups and finding yourself. Don’t write it off.

74. School of Rock (2003)

Jack Black was many things in 2003, though many wouldn’t have considered his comedic stylings family-friendly until School Of Rock. Black’s musical abilities from his band Tenacious D paired with the wholesome story of teaching some kids how to rock, was fun for everyone and really skyrocketed him further into the mainstream and into more roles for younger audiences like Kung Fu Panda and Nacho Libre. Sure, he’d still do raunchier stuff like Tropic Thunder, but this movie was imperative to show the range he had as an actor. 

Let’s also not forget this movie boasted other celebrities who are notable talents in 2023, like Miranda Cosgrove and The White Lotus showrunner Mike White. Oh, and the music is still as great as it was then, even decades later. There’s a strong message here about the importance of teaching children about music and helping them follow their passion, and it’s that message that will keep this movie relevant for decades to come. 

73. Up (2009)

Pixar Animation Studios, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, has always been known for its films that have reached a broad audience, starting with their debut full-feature film, Toy Story. However, in 2009, the studio released Up, the first Pixar film to receive a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Up is mainly about Carl, an older man living a lonely life, and to fulfill his promise to his late wife, he travels across the world in a floating house to South America – with the help of a local wilderness explorer who tags along for the ride. 

A lot can be said about Up, from its stunning animation to the beautiful soundtrack, but nothing beats the story. It's a tale of a found family and of finding love and compassion in places you would never expect. And you must always remember – the wilderness must be explored!

72. District 9 (2009)

Coming in at 72 on the list might just be an indicator of how underrated District 9 is, considering it’s one of the best science fiction movies of the 2000s. Neill Blomkamp’s feature walks the line between messaging about the various mistreatment marginalized groups are subjected to, to how humanity would respond if aliens were really discovered to be on Earth. Given recent reports at government hearings, it isn’t all that unbelievable that it wouldn’t take long for humanity to get back to normal after finding a bunch of alien refugees on Earth. 

Perhaps the best compliment to pay District 9 is that it’s a phenomenal standalone sci-fi movie with no sequels or prequels. This could be why it’s typically lower on the sci-fi lists as there may be a community of people that simply forgot about it as the years went on. Now is the time to revive the credit it deserves and maybe bump it up a few notches on future top lists. 

71. Shrek (2001)

Think of every DreamWorks Animation movie you can think of – I bet Shrek is one of the first that pops into your head. 

Shrek was a momentous occasion for DreamWorks Animation when it was released. It was a huge box office success, received rave reviews, and was even the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature winner. The movie mainly follows Shrek, an ogre whose swamp is suddenly overrun with fairytale creatures, and to get them out, he must save Princess Fiona from a tower guarded by a dragon on a mountain of lava and bring her to Lord Farquad. 

The DreamWorks Animation film created an empire of Shrek success. With numerous sequels and spinoff movies, Shrek is one of the most successful animated franchises ever. The first film featured some great CGI animation for 2001 but also had the hilarity of adult jokes that parents would get while their kids enjoyed the fantasy, animation, and love story. Besides, who wouldn't love listening to Eddie Murphy crack jokes as Donkey for an hour and a half? 

70. Mulholland Drive (2001)

There are two sides to David Lynch: the fairly normal filmmaker who wants to tell a linear story in a somewhat straightforward manner (examples include The Elephant Man and The Straight Story), and the absolute bonkers off-the-wall batshit fever dream of an avante-garde video artist (examples include Eraserhead and Inland Empire). What makes Mulholland Drive such a beautiful film, is that it’s the perfect balance of these two sides of the iconic writer/director. In fact, without spoiling anything, the film even has a pivotal moment where it completely changes tonally, effectively showing these two distinct sides of Lynch. Perhaps more importantly, this tonal switch is expertly pulled off by the film’s star Naomi Watts, who, between this and 2001’s 21 Grams, was at a point in her career where she was showing off her chops with an authenticity that was hard not to notice. Mulholland Drive will show you the full range of skill you need to see from both Watts, and the legendary auteur that is David Lynch. 

69. Watchmen (2009)

“Unadaptable” is a word that’s been used when approaching the most ambitious literary adaptations. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark graphic novel Watchmen was one such project, earning that brand after decades of potential adaptations failed to tackle the ambitious superhero narrative properly. 

Even in light of multiple cuts, and the ending being substantially altered from what was depicted in the 1985 source material, Watchmen is a miracle to behold. Somehow, the complicated narrative told through various mediums in that graphic novel was streamlined into a product that didn’t water down the full story. 

Only Zack Snyder’s third directorial effort, Watchmen is a powerful statement of the man’s developing skills in that point of his career. Arriving in the wake of Iron Man and The Dark Knight, it proved comic adaptations could be more than market-driving crowd pleasers. In the case of Watchmen, such movies could also be masterpieces.

68. Sideways (2004)

How the hell did Sideways, a dialogue-driven dramedy about a schoolteacher who loves wine, become such a mainstream pop-culture phenomenon? Try going wine-tasting without hearing a joke about drinking from the spit bucket, or somebody saying, “I am not drinking any fucking merlot!”

Sideways’ writer and director, Alexander Payne, has always told stories that are rather grounded in reality. Aside from Downsizing where he literally shrank Matt Damon, these are movies about common issues that most folks can relate to. The Descendants is about grief, About Schmidt is about aging, and Sideways is about letting go. With the script came Payne’s first Academy Award, a life-changing role for Paul Giamatti, and one of the best films of that decade. The bleak nature of the ending with just a dash of hope is a testament to real-life, and relatable for the average person. That is how a movie about a failed middle-aged writer with a drinking problem managed to cement its place in film history. 

67. Lost In Translation (2003)

Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is an American actor past his prime. Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) is a young, married, recent college graduate. Both are in Tokyo — Bob to shoot promos for a Japanese whiskey and Charlotte to follow her photographer husband (Giovanni Ribisi) on his latest assignment — and overcome with feelings of loneliness and disillusionment until a chance meeting at their hotel bar gives the unlikely duo a sense of fulfillment when they both need it most.

Lost in Translation is one of the first films produced by Focus Features and is still considered to be one of the production company’s best releases two decades later for the refreshingly unique — albeit, unlikely — love story that still manages to warm hearts from its unforgettable opening shot to its cryptic, much-debated final moment. The charming, invigoratingly honest dramedy also managed to be a major turning point for Murray (who earned his sole Academy Award nomination), Johansson (a breakthrough performance), and second-time writer and director Sophia Coppola, who earned a well-deserved Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

66. The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)

In the mid-2000s, big screen comedy underwent a titanic shift. Through the late ‘90s and the turn of the century, the genre was dominated by the so-called Frat Pack (Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson)… but then along came The 40-Year-Old Virgin, the directorial debut from Judd Apatow. The film is hilarious and sweet, with a collection of wonderful characters exploring the high highs and low lows of sexuality and romance in the 21st century – and while not everything about it has aged perfectly, it does a tremendous job at leaning into the talents of its stars. And it’s a game-changer.

While it’s Steve Carell’s movie, a huge part of its legacy is featuring the breakout performance by Seth Rogen. In the wake of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Rogen and Apatow became the biggest names in funny, with not just their own comedic voices becoming popular, but also their improvisation-heavy styles.

65. Hot Fuzz (2007)

Hot Fuzz is the kind of action movie where every second feels crafted by a team of action movie fans, as opposed to a cast and crew just going through the motions. Co-written by the A+ pair Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, starring Pegg opposite frequent co-star Nick Front, Hot Fuzz is mostly set far from metropolitan skylines and endless high-rises, and its quaint Wicker Man-esque village makes for a wildly unique setting for any story filled with this many Point Break references.

As the second film in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Hot Fuzz built on Shaun of the Dead's already stellar cast with a host of UK legends such as Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Bill Nighy, Edward Woodward, Billie Whitelaw, Olivia Colman, Bill Bailey, and the list goes on and on. (When you have Cate Blanchett making uncredited appearances, you're doing something right.) Unlike the other two Cornetto films, though, Hot Fuzz probably deserves another straightforward sequel set in this universe, with a new killer crime for Nicholas Angel and Danny Butterman to get crackin’ on.

64. Walk The Line (2005)

Music biopics might feel like they’re a dime a dozen, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t gems to behold in the genre, and one of those is absolutely James Mangold’s Academy Award-winning drama, Walk the Line. In it, Joaquin Phoenix portrays country music legend Johnny Cash through his tumultuous rise to fame, which includes his relationship with eventual wife, June Carter (Reese Witherspoon).

Sure, on one hand, we’ve seen music’s superstars descend into alcoholism and drug addiction on the big screen time and time again, but it’s how all the pieces of Cash and Carter’s story are put together that make the film a must watch. As such, the performances of the leads are everything here, and seeing June attempt to staunch her feelings for her married co-performer, while also trying to knock some sense into him as she watches his addictions grow and Johnny become more erratic, are some of the best parts of the movie. Witherspoon didn’t win a Best Actress Oscar for nothing, and Phoenix is at his peak here, as well.

63. Lilo & Stitch (2002)

With Walt Disney Animation fresh out of its renaissance after the ‘90s, the 2000s were a particularly experimental period for the studio which, looking back, found inspiration from numerous science fiction classics. The best 2D animated movie from the House of Mouse of the decade is a lively spin on E.T., but this mysterious alien is an intergalactic fugitive with a bad temper who falls to the Hawaiian Islands, becomes best friends with a young orphaned girl who teaches him the gospel of Elvis Presley. 

Not only is Lilo & Stitch an incredibly quotable, fun, family adventure, it’s one of Disney’s most authentic and original films that speaks to finding one’s ohana in unexpected places amidst great loss. Few Walt Disney Animation movies have felt as simultaneously intimate and commercial as Lilo & Stitch. Experiment 626 remains a gem that made Disney’s growing pains of the 2000s worth the while. 

62. Monsters, INC (2001)

Before Up, The Incredibles and even Finding Nemo, there was Monsters, Inc. Pixar’s decision to make its fourth feature a story about a company that generates scream-based power in a world inhabited by ferocious creatures may have seemed odd at the time. However, it ultimately turned out to be an inspired (and very) lucrative decision. Set in the world of Monstropolis, the film centers on two pals – both employees of the titular corporation – who must return a human child to her world in order to keep her out of harm’s way. And the result is a hilarious and heartwarming romp about loyalty and tolerance.

Pete Docter – who’d go on to direct Up, Inside Out and more – really proved himself as a filmmaker with this directorial debut. The flick is beautifully animated and populated with plenty of lovable characters. Speaking of which, John Goodman’s James P. “Sully” Sullivan and Billy Crystal’s Mike Wasowski still stand as two of Pixar’s most popular creations. The interactions between the two sometimes mirror the interplay of some of cinema’s best comedic duos. Monsters, Inc. would spawn a sequel and TV spinoff, but it’s the 2001 movie that’s truly an eclectic piece of storytelling.

61. The Hurt Locker (2008)

Best Picture award, but the voters got it right when it came to the prize handed out at the end of the 21st century’s first decade. Director Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker is a heart-stopper that tears down the wall between film and audience: when Jeremy Renner’s Staff Sergeant William James is suited up and defusing bombs, you hold your breath in fear, terrified to feel the heat of the fiery explosion that will result with one false move by the protagonist.

Screenwriter Mark Boal’s work puts us directly in James’ mind – a soldier who is incapable of leaving the battlefield behind – and Jeremy Renner’s turn is a career best. In retrospect, it’s wholly understandable why Renner’s performance changed the trajectory of his career and turned him into the Marvel-bona fide star that he is today.

60. Moulin Rouge (2001)

On paper, Moulin Rouge is a movie that just should not exist. The premise alone, a modern jukebox musical set in 1890s Paris, creates a level of cognitive dissonance on its own that suspension of disbelief should be impossible. It’s the sort of thing that only a director like Baz Luhrmann would even try, but somehow, he not only makes it happen, he makes it work.

Everything about Moulin Rouge goes hard. The performances, the songs, the sets. It creates its unreality so perfectly that it’s near-impossible to avoid being swept up by it and brought along for the ride. And the absinthe-infused magic is so far removed from reality that even 20 years later Moulin Rouge feels just as fresh. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor are perfect as the star-crossed lovers. We know how the story will end before it begins, but it doesn’t make any of it less heartbreaking. Luhrmann’s films can sometimes focus on style over substance, but there’s no lack of substance here. 

59. Elf (2003)

Elf is probably the most recent Christmas movie that became an instant classic. Jon Favreau crafted a delightful and bonkers story for the 2003 movie, with Will Ferrell offering one of his most iconic performances of all time. And it’s a movie that’s re-watched annually by countless families every Holiday Season… or other times in the year when you need a good laugh.

Elf’s concept is both ridiculous and simple; Buddy is a human raised by elves who eventually goes to New York City to find his birth father (played by Godfather icon James Caan). The juxtaposition between Buddy’s eternal optimism and the hard streets of the Big Apple is fodder for countless funny bits throughout its runtime. There’s also a touching story about family and the holiday spirit that makes Elf a true beloved Christmas movie. Plus, it’s got a pre-Game of Thrones appearance by Peter Dinklage. And of course, Santa (I know him!).

58. Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)

In the 1950s, few people were as outspoken about the threat of Communism than Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy, whose blacklisting of anyone he deemed suspicious was so notoriously frequent that “McCarthyism” — a term associated with fear mongering — was coined after him. One of the few people brave enough to take a stand against him was CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow, whose defiance of the politician and the Red Scare nearly cost him his career, but also made him into one of the most influential icons of his craft.

This monumental moment in journalism history is dramatized with nearly the same level of passion for truth and justice in Good Night, and Good Luck. — named after the famous concluding catchphrase of Murrow, portrayed here in an Academy Award-nominated performance by David Strathairn. George Clooney, who also plays Murrow’s producer, Fred Friendly, earned his first Oscar nominations as a director and co-writer for this riveting history lesson, made even better with Robert Elswit’s gorgeous cinematography and exquisite acting from the star-studded ensemble, which also includes Jeff Daniels, Patricia Arquette, Robert Downey Jr., and Frank Langella.

57. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Wes Anderson’s style is so distinct that it has become something of a joke in pop culture, frequently being parodied on shows like Saturday Night Live. When folks reference Wes Anderson, and the trademarks of a Wes Anderson film, they’re primarily lifting it from The Royal Tenenbaums. The point is, Tenenbaums is by far the most Wes Anderson-y film to ever Wes Anderson; absolutely jam-packed with quirkitude, a variety of eccentric characters and deadpan dialogue delivery. This is the quintessential hipster flick that helped to define a generation of indie millennial film buffs.

Aside from The Royal Tenenbaums’ effect on pop culture, it truly exists as a wonderful, honest, hilarious, and heartbreaking film. Over twenty years ago when the film was released, there wasn’t a lot like it in mainstream American cinema, with the somewhat privileged (yet painfully relatable) themes it explores being limited to conversations had by those gathering to watch Jean-Luc Godard in their NYU dorm rooms. With his first Oscar nomination, The Royal Tenenbaums introduced much of the world to Wes Anderson, and many still consider it to be his finest work to date. 

56. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Oftentimes sequels don’t measure up to their predecessor, but Spider-Man 2 is one of the exceptions. Director Sam Raimi and screenwriter Alvin Sargent kept the best elements from the first Spider-Man movie and improved upon them, with the follow-up doing an excellent job exploring how Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker handles the burden of heroism and trying to balance his web-sliding activities with his civilian life. However, Spider-Man 2’s MVP is Alfred Molina, whose more sympathetic take on Doctor Octopus quickly cemented him as one of the best superhero movie villains of all time. It’s no wonder we still have yet to see another actor play the tentacled antagonist in a live-action movie. As a bonus, I love how the movie recreated the panel from 1967’s The Amazing Spider-Man #50 of Peter Parker leaving his costume behind in the garbage. A touch like that is a great Easter egg for Marvel fans, but is also just a gorgeous shot for the casuals watching the tale unfold.

55. Ratatouille (2007)

Pixar Animation’s eighth feature film, Ratatouille, is as surprising as its premise. It came at a time when the studio was high on a winning streak, redefining how we looked at toys, bugs, monsters, cars, superheroes and fish. Sure, making an audience empathetic to rats feels like a stretch, but the 2007 movie had a fresh and quirky way in that kept Pixar at an all-time high. What if one rat was secretly a gourmet cook in Paris, France? The results are so charming. 

Fronted by a charismatic voice performance from Patton Oswalt as Remy, packed with decadent and often mouth-watering animation greatly displayed inside a top-tier French kitchen and beautifully underlined by an all-time great score from Michael Giacchino, Pixar told a hilarious underdog story with the creativity and wonder the studio remains beloved for. It’s one of those movies that has one doing a double take at every human and animal you encounter next time you walk outside in playful curiosity about the world thinking “Anyone Can Cook.” 

54. Superbad (2007)

Seth Rogen has touted himself as a “permanent teenager,” and never has that title been truer than in the 2007 teen buddy comedy Superbad. The movie — which he penned with Evan Goldberg and stars a number of the regular Judd Apatow players — carries the funky vibe of the 1970s throughout, but its story is timeless. The only thing more relatable than high-school seniors Seth and Evan (played perfectly by Jonah Hill and Michael Cera) trying to get to a party to impress some girls was their underlying anxiety over not knowing what would happen to their friendship after graduation.

The laughs come a mile a minute — some may say it’s the funniest movie of all time — with an impressive cast that also includes Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio, Emma Stone and, of course, Seth Rogen. But in the end it’s the friendship at the heart of the story that makes this one worth watching again and again. Superbad is also responsible for giving us “McLovin,” for which we should be forever grateful.

53. Catch Me If You Can (2002)

One of the most intriguing stories related to the crime of check fraud is that of Frank Abagnale Jr., who impersonated various professions, passed off millions of dollars worth of phony checks, and outran the FBI between the ages of 16 and 21. At least, that is what the fraud prevention consultant claimed in his memoir, Catch Me If You Can. The book inspired an excellent movie of the same name.

This 1960s-set crime drama stars future Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio as the young, elusive con artist, who enters an intense, enduring game of cat-and-mouse with two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks as a veteran FBI agent who will stop at nothing to bring him to justice, even if he becomes friends with him in the process. Following Minority Report, director Steven Spielberg completed his one-two punch of masterfully entertaining films in 2002 with this dazzling, devilishly charming, and even heartwarming tale. 

52. Cast Away (2000)

Everybody scream “Wilson!” with me! Now, let’s all break into violent sobs as we remember Tom Hanks losing his best friend… a volleyball with a face painted on it. Cast Away is a miracle. It’s essentially a one-man show that you can’t pull your eyes off of, because you root so hard for Hanks and want to see how he’s going to get off the deserted island on which he is stranded. Director Robert Zemeckis places us in Hanks’ sandals, so we feel frustration as he fails to get a makeshift raft over the incoming tide, and elation when he figures out how to start a fire. Hanks already was viewed as one of our greatest actors before he single handedly carried this survival story, but the gripping performance earned him his fifth Oscar nomination. (He lost to Russell Crowe in Gladiator.) Listen to this remarkable stat: Zemeckis filmed Cast Away’s first half with a chunky Hanks, then had to pause production while his leading man lost enough weight and grew enough hair to play his marooned self in the movie’s second half. During that pause, Zemeckis filmed an entire feature: 2000’s marital thriller What Lies Beneath, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford.

51. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

One thing to know about Ang Lee is that he keeps audiences guessing when it comes to his projects. And given his body of work leading up to the 2000s, not too many people might’ve expected him to helm a wuxia martial arts epic with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Yet movie lovers should be so glad he did. His seventh directorial effort is a masterpiece featuring beautifully choreographed fight sequences, impeccable production design, imposing performances and more.

Based on Wang Dulu’s 1942 novel of the same name, the highly ambitious production centers on a seasoned warrior and his equally skilled ally (and love interest), who aim to hunt down the former’s fabled sword so it can be delivered for safekeeping. Their quest ultimately leads them down a path neither could’ve ever imagined. Ang Lee assembled a highly formidable ensemble of actors led by Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi, who all give career-best performances. The martial arts genre features a wide array of movies, but few can meet the standard set by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

50. Legally Blonde (2001)

“What? Like it’s hard” to be one of the top 50 movies of the 2000s? It’s not for Legally Blonde, that’s for sure. Casually going to law school at Harvard to win back your ex-boyfriend is a far-fetched idea, but Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods doesn't just pull it off, she succeeds in grand fashion, obviously.  

Elle Woods is such an icon, she’s funny, gorgeous, and hyper-intelligent, and seeing her harness all of that to succeed at Harvard was empowering. Reese Witherspoon and the cast of Legally Blonde are also on their A-games in this movie, creating a hilariously smart and unique story. From Jennifer Coolidge’s “bend and snap” moment with our leading lady to the adorable rom-com subplot between Elle and Luke Wilson’s Emmett, the film is packed with memorable stories from fabulous characters.

Since then, Withersoon’s lawyer’s story has expanded into a sequel and a Broadway musical, because a world with more Elle Woods in it is “So Much Better.” 

49. Tropic Thunder (2008)

Tropic Thunder is a relentless and vicious commentary on the motion picture industry and all the absurdities associated with it. For two unyielding hours, Ben Stiller’s satirical action comedy mercilessly skewers the executives, the actors, the directors, the writers, the agents and even an explosives coordinator, painting them as deeply flawed and emotionally unstable people who will do anything to stay relevant and protect their own fragile egos. From blackface to stolen valor to exploiting the mentally handicapped, there’s no line they won’t cross in pursuit of their next award, their next paycheck or their next high.

Tropic Thunder shouldn’t work. From one angle, it’s a big budget, big studio action comedy filled with explosions, fart jokes and Tom Cruise dancing to Flo Rida. From another angle, it’s a deeply clever satire that repeatedly and without apology seeks out complicated and problematic subject matter. It’s a movie within a movie disguised as another movie, but instead of a disorganized mess, it somehow all comes together thanks to a fantastic script, an Oscar-nominated Robert Downey Jr. performance and the greatest little kid reaction shot in the history of movies.

48. Gladiator (2000)

Russell Crowe went on an absolute tear in the 2000s with a number of memorable movies, so it’s no surprise that the one he won the Best Actor Oscar for is on this list. Gladiator is an absolute triumph from start to finish, with knockout performances led by the direction of Ridley Scott. Maximus is an immediately likable character brought down to the lowest point of his life. He keeps fighting and survives solely because of the revenge he hopes to deliver to Commodus. 

And while Joaquin Phoenix did not win an Oscar for his nominated performance as Commodus, Maximus’ journey isn’t quite as sweet without him being every bit as unlikable as he should be. When the big scene finally comes for Maximus and Commodus to square off, how can you not be on the edge of your seat? Without a doubt one of the best gladiator movies of all time.

47. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

While not strictly a love story, Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire definitely owes a lot to the genre, as Jamal’s (Dev Patel) lifelong love for childhood friend Latika (Freida Pinto) drives much of what he does. The drama follows Jamal as he relays the events of his young life that have led him to correctly answering questions on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, after he’s arrested and tortured for cheating.

As Jamal takes us through the harrowing events of his childhood that led him not only to fall for Latika, but to compete on the show in an effort to find her again, we’re taken through an action-packed tale of survival under extreme circumstances, what a young man will go through to save the love of his life, and how we all probably know a lot more than we think we do. Definitely hard to watch at times, but inspirational nonetheless.

46. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

On one hand, Jonathan Daylon and Valerie Faris’ Little Miss Sunshine is one of the funniest movies of the 2000s, but on the other hand it’s one of the most tragic stories to come out of the decade. The “road trip from Hell” setup had been done countless times prior to the film’s 2006 release, but rarely had the subgenre been as effective, emotional, or laugh out loud funny.

Michael Arndt’s hilarious, heartbreaking, and nuanced screenplay, which earned him an Oscar, doesn’t play it safe by avoiding life’s tragedies (both major and minor), but instead faces them head-on, creating a cathartic experience for his characters and audience alike. Transformative performances by the late Alan Arkin (he also won an Academy Award), Abigail Breslin, Toni Collette and the rest of the Little Miss Sunshine cast make you feel their characters are family, which is the heart and soul of this outstanding film.

45. Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Keira Knightley’s Pride & Prejudice is hardly the first take on the novel of the same name, but the 2005 film arguably set the standard for modern Jane Austen movie adaptations. The love story between Elizabeth Bennet (Knightley) and Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) is beautifully told, and made all the more memorable for the cinematography, soundtrack, and chemistry between the stars. In fact, the cast was stacked with stars who either already had or would become big names, including Donald Sutherland, Judi Dench, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone, Carey Mulligan, and Kelly Reilly in addition to Knightley and Macfadyen. 

The world of the Bennet family in this Pride & Prejudice feels lived in and domestic in a way that adds a touch of modern realism to a Regency-era period drama and contrasts the more austere beauty of Mr. Darcy’s Pemberley estate. The film isn’t as faithful to the book as the beloved 1995 BBC miniseries, but it hits the important beats of the original Jane Austen story in just over two hours while also being completely accessible to viewers who haven’t read the book, with moments like the iconic hand flex of Mr. Darcy that fans far and wide know well. 

44. Adaptation (2002)

Adaptation is a book adaptation about the adaptation process. Understood? Wonderful. 

Nicolas Cage plays dual roles as the most neurotic possible version of screenwriter Charlie Kauffman, as well as his fictitious twin Donald Kauffman. Originally hired to write the film adaptation for Susan Orlean’s bestseller The Orchid Thief, Charlie Kauffman experiences a debilitating case of writer’s block, stemming from a slew of mental health issues including social anxiety, body dysmorphia and depression. This sends him on something of a tortured artist’s odyssey that leads him to write himself, and the experience, into his script. Thus, we get Adaptation, a hybrid of both the story of The Orchid Thief, and Kauffman’s experience adapting it.

These days, such a meta concept is somewhat commonplace, but over 20 years ago, this was the most bonkers script since Kauffman’s Being John Malkovich. Malkovich was even worked into Adaptation’s storyline, with John Cusack, Catherine Keener and the titular John Malkovich playing themselves. The point is, this film is WEIRD in the best of ways, yet still managed to grab Oscar nominations for Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep, as well as a win for Chris Cooper. Adaptation is perhaps the greatest cinematic insight into the creative writing process, and the effect it has on one’s psyche, ever made.

43. Love & Basketball (2000)

The best romantic comedies might get a lot of attention from fans of lovey dovey stories, but romantic dramas deserve our eyeballs as well, and Love & Basketball is one that really should be praised. This romance (which is also a fantastic sports drama) tells the story of Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps), two talented, basketball-obsessed kids who bond over their love of the sport, but have several trials as they attempt to take their relationship from friends to lovers in their high school and college years and, later, in their twenties.

Gina Prince-Bythewood’s feature-length directorial debut does an amazing job of showing how hard it can be for two people who are so dedicated to their craft to make time for one another, especially as the pressure to succeed in their sport pulls them in different directions. But, it goes much further than that, with each of their complicated family dynamics and emotional wounds taking this love story to the next level.

42. Minority Report (2002)

If you had the chance to predict and prevent a tragic crime, the choice sounds obvious, right? That is until you are faced with the possibility that the prediction is wrong and your arrestee was destined to be innocent. That provocative idea was the basis for a 1956 short story by prolific science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick, which was later adapted into one of director Steven Spielberg’s most exciting films of the decade, if not his full career.

Tom Cruise stars as John Anderton — the chief for a special police unit that uses a trio of clairvoyant siblings to detect future murders — who begins to question their seemingly “perfect” system when he makes the horrifying discovery that the potential perpetrator of his next case is himself, forcing him to go on the run. The truth behind this prediction revealed in the brilliant twist ending of Minority Report is one of the many fascinating and thought-provoking aspects of this astonishingly inventive sci-fi masterpiece that is not quite dystopian, but far from utopian either.

41. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Over the past few years, there have been great strides for representation and diverse stories in Hollywood. But back in the early 2000s, this wasn’t exactly the case. Which is why Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain was such a groundbreaking movie upon its release. Hollywood simply wasn’t telling queer love stories through major blockbusters, let alone honoring them with major Awards Nominations.

While there’s been some backlash about straight actors playing LGBTQ+ roles, Brokeback likely only got produced because of its bankable (and yes straight) lead actors. For their part, both Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger offer moving and complicated performances that still stand up today. Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway also really deliver, which is par for the course for those talented actresses. This quartet of performers tell their characters’ stories through decades of time, and to devastating results. And the acclaimed film is still so beloved that it’s being adapted for the stage on the West End, starring Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges. 

40. American Psycho (2000)

Author Bret Easton Ellis’ novel American Psycho is a shocking literary experience. There are scenes in it that will make even the most seasoned horror fan blanche – and reading it, you can understand why it was deemed unadaptable for a time after its publication. When it did finally get brought to the big screen, co-adapted by screenwriter Guinevere Turner and director Mary Harron, the material was understandably pulled back a bit, but the movie still remains a scary and biting satire that takes aim at the hardcore capitalism in the 1980s.

Years before he became a big screen legend playing Batman, Christian Bale became a horror icon with his performance as Patrick Bateman – a white, rich sociopath who enjoys torturing and slaughtering women… but who nonetheless blends in with all the rest of New York’s white, rich sociopaths. It’s a rich cinematic experience that manages to be both satisfyingly scary and surprisingly funny.

39. 28 Days Later (2002)

Certain movies can be credited as causing shifts so powerful, an entire genre felt its influence. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland’s 28 Days Later is one such film, as this lo-fi British horror-thriller would go on to see interest in movies like Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Shaun of the Dead being boosted. 

Revitalizing the zombie genre, while not calling its own creatures by the Z-word, the normal rules didn’t apply in this horror masterpiece. In the world of the previously coma-ridden Jim (Cillian Murphy), the vicious “infected” could come from anywhere, with blazing speed. Survival, in some situations, could be measured in a heartbeat, with a drop of blood or saliva making the difference. 

Stocked with a who’s who of actors like Brendan Gleeson, Christopher Eccleston, and Naomie Harris, 28 Days Later did for zombies what Scream did for slasher films. Challenging the status quo with relentless energy, the film is all at once terrifying, heartbreaking, and hopeful. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland resurrected the undead genre with stunning results.

38. Amelie (2001)

One of the most delightful stories committed to film. French ingénue Audrey Tautou was perfectly cast as the title character Amelie, who is believed to have a delicate heart condition and so is overprotected by her doting parents. As a result of her gently-imposed isolation, Amelie develops an overactive imagination, which leads her on a series of whimsical adventures. Amelie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet embraces magical realism as a style, with Tautou basically gliding through this giddy fantasy as she works to make the lives of everyone around her happy, and possibly find love on her own in the process. Amelie seems to transmit joy, and if you aren’t uplifted by Tautou’s effervescent performance, you might want to check to ensure you still have a pulse. Now, go borrow someone else’s lawn gnome, photograph it in front of a celebrated vacation spot, and spread the joy of Amelie with anyone who hasn’t yet seen this delightful gem. 

37. Donnie Darko (2001)

There may not be a more aggressively strange and maddeningly perplexing movie on this list than Donnie Darko. Yet, its mysterious and nearly off-putting nature may be the reason why — despite nearly becoming a cable TV movie (if not for Christopher Nolan’s praise) and ultimately bombing at the box office — it remains an enduring cult hit.

At its core, writer and director Richard Kelly’s feature-length debut is the story of an emotionally troubled young man (Jake Gyllenhaal) whose struggle to navigate adolescence in the late 1980s is worsened by visions of an apocalyptic soothsayer in a horrifying rabbit suit, but it is much more than that. It is a sharp coming-of-age satire on par with some of John Hughes’ films, a classic time travel movie, and a pervasively grim fantasy tale that serves as a perfect Halloween tradition, among other things. Above all, however, Donnie Darko is unique enough to defy categorization, resulting in a one-of-a-kind experience. 

36. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

If we’re only including one adaptation of the Harry Potter series on this list, it has to be Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The source material has our lead trio entering into their teen years with more studies than ever and higher stakes all around. New characters are introduced, major reveals transpire and there’s also that twisty bit of time travel. Oh, and let’s not forget the bone-chilling Dementors, whose powers include dredging up a person’s darkest memories and fears. 

Those things on their own give Prisoner of Azkaban an edge over some of the other books, but Alfonso Cuarón’s adaptation does more than just bring one of the best installments of the series to life. New layers of the magical world emerge on the screen thanks to the cinematography, not to mention Cuarón’s vision and patient approach to the pacing, which gives us the chance to really soak in the surroundings in any given scene. Whether it’s showing the change of seasons at Hogwarts or the stunning sight of Harry soaring over the lake on the back of a Hippogriff, it’s more than enough to set the film above its predecessors and raise the bar firmly for the adaptations that would follow. 

35. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

The Devil Wears Prada is already a classic. While the film quality itself is high, the movie has also become part of the fabric of pop culture, thanks to its quotable lines and the unbelievable performance of one Meryl Streep. Anne Hathaway is regularly transformed into a meme thanks to the scene where Annie shows up to work post-makeover in Chanel Boots.

Aside from the pop culture of it all, The Devil Wears Prada is a delightful movie romp. The fashions are aspirational, and the cast is truly on top of their game. Special points to Emily Blunt, who became a household name following her performance as Emily. And considering how light and frothy even the movie’s drama is, the rewatchability of this book to movie adaptation cannot be understated. If you haven’t watched Devil Wears Prada recently, by all means move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me.

34. The Lord Of The Rings Movies (2001-2003)

There are very few fantasy movie franchises out there that have been great all the way through. They have their dips and slides, but if there’s one major fantasy franchise to rule them all, it has to be The Lord of the Rings movies. 

The film franchise mainly follows Frodo Baggins as he travels with the Fellowship on a quest to destroy the One Ring in order to take down the person who made it, Sauron. But don't take that premise at face value – there is so much more to this story than meets the eye. 

The Lord of the Rings movies are perfect in every shape and form. From the battle sequences to the visual effects to the acting, there is much to love and adore about these films. The Lord of the Rings delivers in ways fans can't even imagine. There's a reason why the franchise is so popular years later – and how spinoffs, such as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, have been released in recent years. The love keeps pouring in. 

33. Casino Royale (2006)

When James Bond was given his iconic Walther PPK in Dr. No, Sean Connery’s initial incarnation is told the weapon has “a delivery like a brick through a plate glass window.” The same could be said for 2006’s Casino Royale, as the introduction to Daniel Craig’s James Bond movies wasn’t shy about changing things up, and surprising even the most experienced 007 fans with how it would depict Commander Bond’s exploits.

Director Martin Campbell’s franchise reboot was as lean and mean as they come. Casino Royale showed 007 getting his ass handed to him, and his heart broken. Such vulnerability didn’t weaken the character, but rather it humanized him and added a suspense that the Bond movies had lost for some time.

Daniel Craig stepped into the role of the modern James Bond as if it were a tuxedo perfectly tailored for his presence. Wryly funny, yet cold and calculating when he had to pull the trigger, Craig made the role his own from frame one. To see such an iconic series redefined so perfectly, after 20 movies and over four decades of history before it, is something that still astonishes as much now as it did upon initial viewing.

32. Batman Begins (2005)

One of the most notorious bombs in Hollywood history is 1997’s Batman & Robin — a movie that, despite having some fans, is so cartoonishly absurd and dismissive of the source material’s essential themes and tone that it would be the last we would see of one of DC Comics’ most important characters on the big screen for years. The Caped Crusader’s resurgence in cinema — and in modern pop culture — can be traced back to when director Christopher Nolan went back to basics and all the way back to the beginning of his war on crime in Batman Begins.

Christian Bale immediately asserted himself as one of the best actors to play Batman with his grounded and stoic performance as a Bruce Wayne desperate to rescue his beloved Gotham City — one of the most stunningly realistic and effectively grimy depictions of the burdened metropolis — from the cesspool of crime and corruption it has become. While it is not widely considered to be the absolute best of the live-action Batman movies so far (more on that one later), most would agree that Batman Begins is one of the best superhero movies in general for its refreshingly earnest and complex approach to comic book lore, exhilarating action sequences and technical mastery, and reinventing the Dark Knight for a new generation without losing sight of what made him an icon in the first place.

31. Children of Men (2006)

In a dystopian future, environmental malpractice has led to constant war, famine, and total human infertility. So imagine the surprise felt by former political activist Theo Faron (Clive Owen) when he learns that a young female refugee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) is pregnant, and is poised to deliver the first natural childbirth in eighteen years. 

Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron was coming off of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (considered by many to be the best film in that saga) when he unleashed his talents on Children of Men. His breathtaking approach to editing and cinematography propels the action forward at a feverish pitch, with Cuaron often choosing to stage his movements in long, eye-popping, unbroken shots that lure the audience to the edge of their seats. Cuaron says this is a movie about hope, but you have to endure a lot of credible despair to finally unearth it. It’s worth the effort.

30. Ocean's Eleven (2001)

As times change, what’s considered popular is as fluid as water itself. Sometimes a movie can be ahead of the curve in that respect, dictating a whole era of cool in its very existence. Director Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven did just that, as both an uber slick heist movie, and as a modernized remake of a pre-existing film. 

The 1960’s Rat Pack extravaganza about war veterans looking for one big score was turned into a gathering of thieves, assembled by one man (George Clooney) looking for something more than cash. While the stakes were changed, and the number spelled out in the title, this film nailed the breezy energy that made the original so lovely.

Be it an all-star cast including Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Andy Garcia, and Julia Roberts, the insanely slick soundtrack, or even just the way George Clooney could rock a suit without a tie, Ocean’s Eleven doesn’t telegraph its style. It presents it with great confidence, and allows you to decide if it’s worth your while. It’s a love letter to the past, while playing to the viewer of today; with a result as cool as that drink you just ordered at the bar.

29. Chicago (2002)

If you look at just about any list of the best musicals of the 21st century, it’s basically a guarantee that Chicago will be there. The adaptation of Bob Fosse’s long-running musical is one of few musical films to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Catherine Zeta-Jones took home a trophy as well for her stellar performance as the “All That Jazz” singer who killed her husband and sister, Velma Kelly. This film has intrigue, sex, murder, genius performances and a whole lot of jazz, and it's truly a masterful musical adaptation.

Rob Marshall ultimately made a musical that stays true to its stage roots, but also heightens the entire story through movie magic. Take “Cell Block Tango” for example, the majority of the song is performed on a stage, and the women singing about murdering their husbands are in black costumes similar to the wardrobe from Broadway. However, it’s bigger as a whole, and it flashes between the actual prison, and this staged dream-like sequence. By doing this for every number, the film both elevated and paid homage to its predecessor, which is just one of the many reasons it’s so incredible.

28. Iron Man (2008)

From being the first self-financed Marvel Studios production, executives initially being opposed to casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, and most of the dialogue being improvised since the script wasn’t finished when production began, there was a lot that could have gone wrong with Iron Man. And yet, the end result stands as a triumph in large part due to Downey’s performance as the genius/billionaire/playboy/philanthropist.

But of course, one can’t discuss Iron Man without addressing how it changed the film franchise game. Once Nick Fury emerged from the shadows and mentioned the Avengers Initiative in the post-credits scene, that was the first big tipoff that this movie was the first chapter in a shared universe, just like in the original Marvel comics. More than a decade later, the MCU still stands as a Hollywood powerhouse, and many franchises, both superhero and from other genres, have followed in its footsteps. 

27. Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

The slacker bastard child of George Romero's Dead films and Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead is a rarity in cinema, and not just for having the gall to sacrifice the soundtrack to 1989's Batman. It's a largely perfect amalgam of authenticity and parodical storytelling, anchored to the comedic whims and wiles of  director Edgar Wright, his co-writer Simon Pegg,  and Pegg’s co-star Nick Frost. As it goes with that trio’s other film on this list (see #65), Shaun’s biggest strength is its characters who feel real enough to legitimize the zombie apocalypse chaos, while also making viewers care about them even when the gory threats aren’t around the corner.

Shaun of the Dead may go down as the funniest horror movie to have ever existed, while also delivering some genuinely disturbing moments throughout that keep the adventure from falling too far into the funnies. Simon Pegg even transcends the dual genre description by spinning palpable emotion out of his struggle to prioritize the safety of his relationship, his BFF, and his mom. And if that wasn’t enough, it allowed moviegoers to spend some time in the Winchester, and that’s a slice of fried gold that makes everyone’s life better.

26. Moon (2009)

Whenever we sit down for a sci-fi film, especially one that takes place on a remote station somewhere away from our planet, we all know that we’re in for a twisty tale, and Moon certainly fulfills that promise. Duncan Jones’ 2009 directorial debut (he also came up with the story) focuses on Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), the lone human working a mostly automated mining facility on the far side of the moon, who begins to have troubling hallucinations as he nears the end of his work contract.

What follows is surprising, as not only does the story take several intriguingly unexpected turns, but it also examines what it’s like to be isolated from others (including loved ones), holding on to a sense of community, and one’s willingness to sacrifice for the greater good. Throw in a creepy AI, which can’t quite be determined as a helper or a hindrance for a time, and you get science fiction gold.

25. The Incredibles (2004)

Released during the early years of the superhero movie’s surging popularity, The Incredibles still holds up tremendously after all this time, despite so many other offerings from Marvel, DC and other studios being delivered nearly two decades after its release. To be sure, Pixar’s sixth full-length feature does a spectacular job at both honoring classic superhero stories and tropes, as well as poking fun at them, including the hilarious ‘no capes’ gag. But The Incredibles’ greatest feat isn’t how it handles these larger-than-life elements, but rather how it makes these characters feel relatable and complex in the midst of the action.

From Bob and Helen Parr being concerned about their children’s welfare, whether they’re living everyday life in suburbia or fighting bad guys in costume, to understanding that Syndrome’s sinister motivations stem from the hurt he endured as an adolescent, The Incredibles never pushes aside its humanity in favor of spectacle; instead, they compliment each other quite nicely. Throw in outstanding vocal performances from actors like Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter, and Brad Bird excelling as both the director and screenwriter, this movie stands out not just as a superhero movie, but as one of the greatest entries in Pixar’s library.

24. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Join Us In Creating Excellence. More powerful than any anti-drug ad, Requiem for a Dream hit theaters in 2000 and has stood the test of time as possibly the most affecting portrayal of addiction to date. Based on the Hubert Selby Jr. book of the same name, Darren Aronofsky’s film explores more than just the heroin addictions of Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans’ characters. Ellen Burstyn’s obsession with being on television and fitting into her red dress is haunting, and there’s no questioning why the role earned her an Academy Award nomination.

The work behind the camera was equal to the all-around horrifying performances, as Darren Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique added to the story in how every shot was framed, the choreography of the characters’ movements, and the use of sound effects and split screens. The score was worthy of praise all on its own, with "Lux Aeterna" — the song that played over the climax of the film — leaving such an impression that it has gone on to be re-orchestrated for several other movie and video game trailers. 

Combine all of this and add a little of Christopher McDonald’s Tappy Tibbons J.U.I.C.E., and you’ve got a real feel-bad movie that may never fully leave you.

23. Oldboy (2003)

Because many have such good storylines, South Korean films have become some of the biggest international movies.. A few examples could be Parasite and The Wailing. One movie in particular stands above many of them, and that's Oldboy. 

Directed by Park Chan-wook, the film is loosely based on the Japanese manga of the same name and focuses on Dae-su, a man imprisoned in a cell that looks like a hotel room, for fifteen years, without knowing who the person was behind his capture. But when he gets his chance at freedom, he makes it his mission to find out who committed the crime all those years ago – only to find out there is much more to his imprisonment than he thought. 

Oldboy is incredible. The action scenes are probably some of the best recorded on a movie screen and have been imitated many times – just the corridor fight scene itself is enough to satisfy any action-movie fan. The story is intriguing all the way until the end, which will blow the minds of first-time viewers. Truly, Oldboy is a staple of the South Korean film industry – and a fantastic movie of the 2000s. 

22. Collateral (2004)

Michael Mann had already cemented his legacy as one of the greatest directors in the world of crime thrillers, but he further made a case for himself with his 2004 thriller, Collateral. Clocking in at exactly two hours, this cool, violent, and ruthless neo-noir classic not only sees one of the best Jamie Foxx performances with his portrayal of cab driver Max (a role that should have earned him an Oscar), it also introduces one of Tom Cruise’s most unhinged characters: Vincent, a mysterious and deadly assassin.

Cruise, who was coming off movies like Minority Report and The Last Samurai, is incredibly refreshing as the film’s antagonist, and it shows a side of the star that audiences don’t get to see as much. Seeing the actor’s undeniable charm and big-screen energy used to breathe life into someone who is pure evil is quite the experience, and really messes with the viewers’ mindset. In addition to actors like Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, and Jada Pinkett Smith, the movie also treats the city of Los Angeles less like a backdrop and more as another character, one that feels more alive as the story goes on, much like Mann’s 1995 heist film, Heat.

21. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Since the early days of moviemaking, Walt Disney’s viewpoint of the fairytale has had a stake in popular culture. It’s G-rated, soft and sweet, and there’s always a happy ending. Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth brings to life a fairytale that redefined what a fantasy movie can look like with its distinct and unforgettable vision. Set in 1944 Spain as the country picks up the pieces of the Spanish Civil War, the R-rated fantasy film follows a young girl named Ofelia as she faces the violent reality of the Francoist period and stumbles upon a dark wonderland in the shadows (or at least the shadows of her imagination). 

As del Toro was coming off two more commercial movies in Blade II and Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth is a breathtaking highlight in an all-time great filmmaker’s career. Across two hours, the Spanish-language movie brings to life an extraordinary vision that beautifully balances being twisted and innocent all at once with memorable horror, gore, mythical creations and a ton of gorgeous practical creature effects. How does he balance a magical quest with political drama? Some especially memorable words in Pan’s Labyrinth answers that question: If “door is locked,” one must “create your own.” In a landscape where fairytales can be predictable, del Toro opened a wonderfully defiant world of his own with Pan’s Labyrinth.

20. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) And Vol. 2 (2004)

After turning the heist movie on its head with 1992’s Reservoir Dogs, and changing the way audiences perceive movies in general (and winning a screenwriting Oscar) with 1994’s Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino very quickly made himself into one of the most unique and esteemed icons of the medium. However, after releasing his 1997 Elmore Leonard adaptation, Jackie Brown, we would not see him direct anything for another six years. Little did we know that he was planning to come back with something big — so big, that just one movie was not enough to tell the story. Based on a character Tarantino created with star Uma Thurman on the Pulp Fiction set, Kill Bill follows a deadly assassin initially known only as The Bride — one of the greatest female action heroes — who wakes up from a four-year coma with a furious urge to punish those who tried to put her to sleep permanently, with her former boss (David Carradine) being the primary target. 

For years, it was debated whether or not the stylistically disparate halves of the story — with Vol. 1 being an ode to ‘70s kung fu movies and Vol. 2 counting as Tarantino’s first western, essentially — should count as one film. Well, even if the director had never officially clarified that he does see Kill Bill as one movie, we still would have designated one spot for both volumes of this exquisitely crafted, gorgeously choreographed, visually and emotionally breathtaking epic on this list, because that is the only way to experience "the whole bloody affair.” 

• A Kill Bill Quote To Remember: “That's right. I killed your master. And now I'm gonna kill you too, with your own sword, no less, which in the very immediate future, will become... my sword.” (The Bride)

19. Training Day (2001)

In 100 years, when film historians look back to determine why Denzel Washington was considered one of the best actors of his generation, director Antoine Fuqua's Training Day should be at the top of any screening list. Detective Alonzo Harris is a special kind of monster, and Washington’s work offers incredible escalation and power. At first, he just seems like a hardened detective who has made some scary discoveries about how best to patrol the city of Los Angeles, but he becomes a whole different kind of beast by the end – one that King Kong ain’t got nothin’ on.

But while Training Day features an all-time great performance from one of the all-time great actors, not to be ignored is just how terrific the movie as a whole is. Ethan Hawke is also at the top of his game as up-and-coming officer Jake Hoyt, who faces death and peril as he slowly understands the real game that Alonzo is playing, and David Ayer’s screenplay is special – packing the believable character arcs and growing stakes into a limited 24-hour time frame. Even on the tenth viewing it is successful at raising your pulse and getting you to invest in the protagonist’s peril, and that’s the mark of a truly great thriller.

• A Training Day Quote To Remember: “You gotta control your smiles and cries, because that's all you have and nobody can take that away from you.” (Jake Hoyt)

18. The Wrestler (2008)

Still considered one of the best movies of 2008 more than a decade later, Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler is a grueling battle royale of emotions that doesn’t pull any punches with its story about a broken-down professional wrestler looking for one last shot at redemption. Channeling both the triumph and tragedy, and the agony and ecstasy of putting one’s life on the line day-in and day-out for decades, Mickey Rourke gave audiences the performance of a lifetime with his portrayal of washed-up wrestler, Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a one-time larger-than-life titan caught somewhere between his past and uncertain future.

There are a lot of parallels between the character and Rouke’s own journey in this semi-autobiographical drama, which adds a tremendous amount of depth to not only his performance, but also the movie in general. Though wrestling is often considered a fake sport, Rourke’s performance and Aronofsky’s commitment to portraying the industry in an honest and genuine light is incredibly real. The physical, mental, and emotional pain can be felt in each of Randy’s movements, heard in his voice, and seen in his eyes as the former champ wrestles in high school gyms and attempts to make ends meet by taking on shifts at a local grocery store deli. Then there are the religious allegories that are explored through Randy’s character, as well as Marisa Tomei’s Cassidy, which make it all even more potent.

• A The Wrestler Quote To Remember: “I'll tell you somethin', I hate the fuckin' 90's.” (Randy Robinson)

17. Finding Nemo (2003)

Pixar has created some of the greatest animated films of all time, and Finding Nemo may be the studio’s true crowning achievement. It is as beautifully animated as it is emotionally powerful. The undersea world of Nemo is gorgeous simply to look at, and that’s just as true today as it was when the film was released. 

2003's Finding Nemo’s voice casting is second to none. Nobody does neurotic like Albert Brooks. Nobody can play clueless like Ellen DeGeneres. Nobody plays a tough guy of questionable sanity like Willem Dafoe. These are the actors you would cast if you were telling this story in live-action, and they bring it all to the voice performances in a way that truly brings these characters to life.

And Finding Nemo is able to balance its emotional extremes perfectly. We’re used to Pixar movies making us cry but years before Up, Finding Nemo opened with an incredibly heartbreaking moment. But after that, it’s able to be hilarious, scary, and even exciting. Finally, it concludes with the sort of resolution that stands the test of time, as young children will see the film and relate with Nemo, then grow up, and begin to understand Marlin in a new way.  Nemo does it all, not bad for a clownfish with a bad fin. 

• A Finding Nemo Quote To Remember: “Of course I like you. It’s because I like you, I don’t want to be with you. It’s a complicated emotion.” (Marlin)

16. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

“I think this just might be my masterpiece.” That’s the final line in writer/director Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, and coming as it does at the end of 153 minutes of perfection, it’s hard not to read it as a message directly from the filmmaker to the audience. In 2009, Tarantino was coming off of a low point in his career with the disappointing theatrical release of Grindhouse, but his follow-up is a phenomenal World War II epic that only he could make: Nazi-killing action packaged in a love letter to cinema.

Two stories – the revenge of Mélanie Laurent's Shosanna Dreyfus and the mission of the titular troop – play out in parallel with equal captivating energy right up until they collide in the (literally) explosive finale. While there isn’t a star in the expansive ensemble who doesn’t deliver a memorable performance (from Brad Pitt to Michael Fassbender to even Mike Myers), there isn’t a person who can watch the film and not walk away mesmerized by the work done by Christoph Waltz in his star-making turn as Hans Landa. It’s not an easy thing to blend a vibe of dastardly evil with sharp charisma, but Waltz is a force in the role, and it remains the best thing he has done in his career.

• An Inglourious Basterds Quote To Remember: “Well, you don't got to be Stonewall Jackson to know you don't want to fight in a basement.” (Lt. Aldo Raine)

15. Spirited Away (2001)

Studio Ghibli is one of the world's most-known anime film studios. Co-founded by legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki, the studio has created some of the best anime films of all time, one of which is Spirited Away – which Hayao Miyazaki directed. 

Spirited Away is about a journey into the spirit world following the young Chihiro. Taking place in Japan, we follow the little girl, who happens to be moving to a new neighborhood with her family. When her parents decide to take a shortcut to their new home and explore what looks to be an abandoned amusement park, Chihiro is forced to go along. However, there's magic everywhere, and her mom and dad turn into pigs against their will for eating a gluttonous feast. For her to get them back, she must work for the spirits in the bathhouse, so they can return to the human world. 

The premise itself sounds like a lot at first, but it's become Studio Ghibli’s – and Hayao Miyazaki's – highest-grossing film. It’s also the only anime film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and the only hand-drawn film (so far) to accomplish the task. The movie features themes about love and learning to grow up and be brave. It's the perfect gateway movie into the anime film – indeed, one of the best movies of the 2000s. 

• A Spirited Away Quote To Remember: “I don't need any help; this place is full of soot.” (Kamaji)

14. The Prestige (2006)

The Prestige is a battle of wills between two talented and irreparably flawed magicians, who can’t stay out of each other’s lives. Their differing roles in a shared tragedy push them apart and then repeatedly back together, as their initial determination to succeed steadily gives way to an obsession for vengeance. That obsession drives them to sacrifice and abandon everything healthy about their lives until they’re each left with only a singular drive to sabotage the other.

Based on that description, The Prestige sounds like a really dark movie. In many ways, it is, but in director Christopher Nolan’s hands, it’s also often really fun. It has a sense of wonder and mystery about it, as it not only dives into the idiosyncrasies of magic but also the exciting possibilities of science in the 1890s and early 1900s. It was a time and place in which anything felt possible, and you really feel that hopeful uncertainty thanks to a timeline that jumps to and fro and fantastic performances from Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall and a perfectly cast David Bowie as Nikola Tesla. Like a great magic trick, the first time you watch The Prestige, you’re fascinated by the spectacle and simply along for the ride. Then every time you rewatch it afterwards, you’re blown away by all the subtle skill required to pull it off.

• A The Prestige Quote To Remember: “Nobody cares about the man in the box.” (Robert Angier)

13. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Looking back, 2007 was one of the best movie years in recent memory, considering classics like No Country For Old Men, Zodiac, and Superbad all premiered on the big screen. But one of the biggest, baddest, and most arresting of those releases was Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. An epic period drama about oilman Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) doing everything in his power and stepping on anyone in his way in his quest for wealth in the early 20th-century oil boom, the movie is a deep and vast exploration of a man’s psyche and desire to become the biggest player in the game.

While Day-Lewis’s performance is tremendous and more than deserving of the Oscar he received, it’s made even better thanks to his character’s conflict with Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), a religious zealot who is just as tenacious and hungry for power as his counterpart. Several of the movie’s most iconic scenes (like the oil-town baptism and shocking ending sequence) are the result of the actor’s tremendous chemistry and ability to play off each other’s words. The pair, who get along like oil and holy water, create a dynamic that’s not quite a battle between good and evil, but instead something much deeper than that, which adds another level to this incredible cinematic achievement.

• A There Will Be Blood Quote To Remember: “You're an orphan from a basket in the middle of the desert, and I took you for no other reason than I needed a sweet face to buy land.” (Daniel)

12. In Bruges (2008)

Prior to 2008, Martin McDonagh was established as a talented and popular playwright, but he had ambitions to make his way into movies. In 2004, he directed the incredible short film Six Shooter (which won an Academy Award), and then he moved to features. He made his debut with In Bruges, and anyone who saw it instantly recognized McDonagh’s potential to become one of the best filmmakers working today (potential he has made good on with the genius of Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and The Banshees of Inisherin).

In Bruges takes a high concept premise – two hitman hide out in Belgium waiting for instructions after a job goes bad – and weaves a remarkable meditation on life and death. It’s a dark comedy (and a hilarious one at that), but it has a beautiful blend of tones that radiate from the genius work of stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes. Farrell and Gleeson have a unique chemistry that works on both comedic and dramatic levels (it’s far from a mystery why McDonagh reunited them for The Banshees of Inisherin) and the bizarrely rage and logic-filled energy that Fiennes brings in the third act is icing on the cake.

• An In Bruges Quote To Remember: “I kinda like hearing people having sex. Means at least somebody around here's happy.” (Ray)

11. Almost Famous (2000)

If a 15-year-old going on tour with a raucous rock band wasn’t enough of a hook, Almost Famous also happens to have one of the most memorable posters/ DVD box covers of all time. It focuses on the enigmatic Penny Lane, the heroine of Cameron Crowe’s film, whom everyone loves to love and admire and most don’t bother to understand. With distinct shades and tendrils of blonde hair, she draws you into her world of Humble Pie and heartbreak, and in between commentary on what made the ’70s the ’70s and a slick soundtrack including Led Zeppelin, The Who and of course Elton John, she helps turn the film into one of the best of the 2000s.

It’s a career-defining performance for Kate Hudson, and she’s not the only one who delivers. Jason Lee grows a mustache and long hair to fall into his hilarious lead singer role while Billy Crudup is similarly unrecognizable as the talented and moody Russell Hammond. Patrick Fugit plays William Miller, younger than most but wiser than some, and he finds a terrific foil in Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays famed music writer Lester Bangs. Throw in great work from Frances McDormand, Zooey Deschanel and even Jimmy Fallon and it’s a masterclass of terrific performances. If it’s been a while since you’ve revisited the movie, maybe throw on some purple-tinted sunglasses and kick back to the tune of Simon & Garfunkel’s “America.” Settle in, you’re almost home.

• An Almost Famous Quote To Remember: “If you never take it seriously, you never get hurt. If you never get hurt, you always have fun. And if you ever get lonely, you just go to the record store and visit your friends.” (Penny Lane)

10. No Country For Old Men (2007)

No matter what kind of film genre is up for discussion, the power and breadth of the Coen Brothers' filmography is worthy of inclusion, and they don't make 'em much better than 2007's No Country for Old Men. An adaptation of Carmac McCarthy’s 2005 novel that’s every bit as faithful as it is chilling, the film meticulously dips its toes most heavily into the cinematic waters of crime thrillers and westerns. That said, Javier Bardem’s unflinching hitman, Anton Chigurh, would be at home in any horror narrative, with his Two-Face-esque coin flips and an unstoppable drive that rivals Jason Voorhees or Michael Meyers. At least if a big ol’ stack of cash was also their end goal.

Despite being one of Joel and Ethan Coen’s driest films regarding their signature screwball humor, the movie is an exercise in tension that thrives on its lack of levity, though it’s hard not to smile whenever Woody Harrelson is on the screen in any capacity. With a stellar cast including Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt and more, No Country for Old Men is, to date, the only Coen brothers masterpiece to win them the Oscars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture, with Bardem taking the gold for Best Supporting Actor. It’s not the awards that best signify its impact, however, but the bolt pistol gripped in Chigurh’s ever-steady hand.

• A No Country For Old Men Quote To Remember: “Well all the time ya spend trying to get back what's been took from ya, more is going out the door. After a while you just have to try to get a tourniquet on it.” (Ellis)

9. Memento (2000)

Talk about a movie that you definitely need to watch without your phone in your hand. Christopher Nolan’s Memento is a mind-bending combination of different angles that demands and deserves your entire attention. The story is told backward, broken up by clips of a black and white, forward-moving montage of a mysterious one-sided phone call in a hotel, led by Guy Pearce, whose character Leonard, also happens to have anterograde (or short-term) amnesia, stopping our protagonist from creating new memories as he looks for his wife’s killer, who also gave him this debilitating injury.

As mentioned, Nolan basically begins at the end and works his way back, for the most part. The juxtaposition of the timelines bring the audience into the obvious confusion that Leonard lives with every day. "Even if you get revenge, you're not going to remember it," he's told by his new friend Teddy (played by Joe Pantoliano) but his reply shows just how far his love and determination will go, stating "My wife deserves revenge whether or not I remember it."  Toss in Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss) to add some confusing sympathy (or treachery) and you will probably want a second viewing just to wrap your mind around what you might have initially dismissed as unimportant plot points from this Nolan classic. You’ll notice that Nolan has popped up numerous times on this list (and rightfully so) and he has also once again recently hit it out of the park with 2023’s Oppenheimer.  

• A Memento Quote To Remember: “So you lie to yourself to be happy. There’s nothing wrong with that. We all do it.” (Teddy G.)

8. Wall-E (2008)

Do you know who is a genius? Sound designer Ben Burtt. You might not know his name, but you certainly know the movies he contributed to over the years, including Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and 2009’s Star Trek. Burtt designed the “vocals” for R2-D2, Darth Vader’s heavy breathing, and the “voice” of E.T. But, his work truly soared when he lent dialogue to the adorable Waste Allocation Load Lifter assigned to an abandoned Earth. MIraculously, the first half of Pixar’s ingenious WALL-E works as a silent film, following our main character as it goes about its daily routine with a pet cockroach in tow. WALL-E’s life is upended when another robot named EVE arrives, searching for any sign of life. 

From there, the fate of humanity starts to be revealed, and it’s rather grim. Director Andrew Stanton’s animation for the film ranks as some of Pixar’s most magnificent, embracing the scorched orange of a deserted Earth and then painting with vivid colors for WALL-E’s eventual outer-space adventure. The environmental messages of the film are important without ever being preachy. And, the eventual romance felt and shared by WALL-E and EVE will lift every single heart, with the lovers sharing hardly any words. 

• A Wall-E Quote To Remember: “I see the ship's log is showing that today is the 700th anniversary of our five year cruise. Well, I'm sure our forefathers would be proud to know that 700 years later we'd be... doing the exact same thing they were doing.” (Captain B. McCrea)

7. The Departed (2006)

There are crime films and then there are Martin Scorsese crime films, and when it comes to The Departed, the director doesn’t let us down. A remake of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, the 2006 movie gives us a range of characters to root for, root against or simply watch just to see what they’ll do or say next. That includes Leonardo DiCaprio’s undercover cop character Billy Costigan, Matt Damon’s sneaky, spying Colin Sullivan, Jack Nicholson’s mob boss character Frank Costello, and Vera Farmiga’s well-meaning therapist Dr. Madolyn Madden. To say that things get complicated might be understating it, but it’s the complexity of the characters and their roles in this story that makes The Departed such a fantastic and gripping movie from beginning to end. 

In a way, it’s all business for everyone involved, but it’s also personal for each character on some level or another. It’s impossible not to feel anxious for DiCaprio’s character as he attempts to navigate the criminal world without being caught for who he really is, just as it’s impossible not to grow increasingly frustrated by Matt Damon’s character for posing as an upstanding law enforcer who’s actually up to no good. It’s thrilling, stressful, riveting and ultimately satisfying, and that’s not even factoring in Mark Wahlberg’s character every time he has something to say (that’s just a bonus). 

• A The Departed Quote To Remember: “You know what I like about restaurants? . . . You can learn a lot, watching things eat.” (Frank Costello)

6. Best In Show (2000)

Nobody does mockumentaries like Christopher Guest, and 2000’s Best in Show is an absolute masterclass. The mundane musings of everyday conversation combine with outlandish characters and awkward situations to deliver one of the best movies of the decade. The dog show is the event that brings these unique and individually brilliant characters under one roof, but it’s no Maguffin. As bonkers as each dog-lover’s trip is to get to the show, everything is turned up to 11, if you will, when they all come together, and the event itself is perfectly colored by Fred Willard’s commentary.

There’s a reason this phenomenal cast has stuck together to appear in other projects. The chemistry between Eugene Levy’s Gerry and Catherine O’Hara’s Cookie (with her “hundreds” of boyfriends) left people begging for more, which they got in A Mighty Wind. Jennifer Coolidge was excellent in her attempts to substantiate her marriage to her ancient sugar daddy husband by saying they bonded over a love of soup and the ability to “not talk or talk forever.” The genius casting of John Michael Higgins and Michael McKean gave audiences the married couple they never knew they needed. 

Best in Show exploits the banal in some situations while heightening reality in others, to where Harlan Pepper naming nuts and the couple describing how they met at Starbucks (but two different Starbucks) land laughs just as hard as Gerry’s literal two left feet or Cookie walking with her knee out of socket.

• A Best In Show Quote To Remember: “Why don’t they put the bloodhound — put on one of those Sherlock Holmes hats and put a little pipe in his mouth? Are they ever allowed to do anything like that? Dress up the dog in a funny way? It would really get the crowd going. You know what I mean? The Sherlock Holmes hat with a pipe. I don’t know if you could make it look like smoke is coming out of the pipe.” (Buck Laughlin)

5. Zodiac (2007)

David Fincher’s greatest accomplishment, and that’s saying a lot. The director has spent countless hours analyzing the compulsion that drives people to seek the truth – be it lawyers parsing through statements to figure out who invented Facebook (The Social Network), or detectives tracking a serial killer who is inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins (Seven). But Zodiac is Fincher’s magnum opus, an engrossing true-crime thriller based on the books of Robert Graysmith tracking the diligent work of three men consumed by the search for the identity of the Zodiac Killer. 

Jake Gyllanhaal serves as the ideal audience surrogate, a puzzle designer for the San Francisco Chronicle who gets swept up in the mystery of the serial killer, who antagonized the police and the media as he committed vicious murders around San Francisco in the 1970s, Fincher painstakingly recreates the time period with breathtaking visuals and top-notch costuming and set design. His emphasis on the bustle of a newsroom is particularly spot on. The film also lingers in the haze of fear, anxiety, and suspense that comes from a killer on the loose. But it’s the supporting roles of Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo, as well as an inability to truly deliver a concrete ending, that makes Zodiac such a rewatchable movie, and a captivating masterpiece.

• A Zodiac Quote To Remember: “I am not the Zodiac. And if I was, I certainly wouldn't tell you.” (Arthur Leigh Allen)

4. Mean Girls (2004)

From wearing pink on Wednesdays to shouting “You go Glen Coco” it’s undeniable that Mean Girls has seriously influenced pop culture over the last (almost) two decades. So, “get in loser,” it’s time to appreciate this beloved coming-of-age comedy from Tina Fey.

This movie is a classic teenage tale about a girl who moves from Africa to the United States where she experiences the rude awakening that is high school by way of The Plastics. While it’s your typical coming-of-age story, it’s infused with the signature sense of humor from Fey – who was in the midst of her legendary run at Saturday Night Live – and it shows the high school experience in a totally unique way with a cast of characters played by actors who have since become icons. 

Not only did the film solidify Lindsay Lohan as an early 2000s star, it also simultaneously jumpstarted the careers of many in the Mean Girls cast, including little known actresses like Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried. On top of that, its legacy has lived on, as it was adapted into a Broadway musical, and is eventually coming back to the screen with an adaptation of said stage production. To say this film is a quintessential 2000s classic almost feels like an understatement because of the lasting impact it has managed to have on people of all ages since its release in 2004. 

• A Mean Girls Quote To Remember: "She doesn't even go here!" (Damian)

3. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)

You could argue that Jim Carrey makes much better dramatic movies than he does comedic features. And that opinion is coming from someone who adores Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, as well as Dumb & Dumber. But when you factor in the dramatic detours he embarked on for The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, and this incredible romance, you begin to wonder how many Oscars Carrey might have if he got the industry to treat him seriously, instead of talking out of his ass (literally). 

Carrey and Kate Winslet are magnificent as Joel and Clementine, two soul mates who undergo a radical procedure to have their memories of each other erased after a bitter argument. Only screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) could keep such a twisty premise from flying off the rails. And while the side-mission actions of the memory technicians can get a little silly, we remain wholly invested in Joel and Clementine’s complicated journey because of the heartbroken and beautiful chemistry shared between Carrey and Winslet. It’s a real challenge presented to these stars, as we’re not supposed to know whether Joel and Clementine are better off together or apart. But the satisfying resolution says as much about fate as it does about the existence of true love, so long as we remember how and when to look for it.

• An Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind Quote To Remember: “Constantly talking isn’t necessarily communicating.” (Joel Barish)

2. The Dark Knight (2008)

It’s been said before, but it’ll be said again – The Dark Knight is one of the greatest superhero films (and one of the greatest movies) ever made. Christopher Nolan’s ambition as a filmmaker has been well-noted, but even he outdid himself with his 2008 follow-up to 2005’s Batman Begins. The second chapter in the journey of Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne sees the iconic DC Comics hero going up against the dangerous and unpredictable Joker. All the while, the Caped Crusader and his allies must also contend with mob bosses and Harvey Dent, Gotham City’s honorable district attorney who becomes the deformed Two-Face.

Where does one even start when it comes to singing this movie’s praises? There’s the impeccable screenplay, massive set pieces, engrossing score and much more. Yet I suppose what stands out the most are the performances, especially that of the late Heath Ledger. The actor, who posthumously won an Oscar for his work, fully committed to his role as the Clown Prince of Crime and is absolutely mesmerizing. His villainous turn is just one of the many reasons why Nolan’s film is a thrilling and compelling piece of work that’s still incredibly entertaining now, over a decade later.

• A The Dark Knight Quote To Remember: “Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just...do things.” (The Joker)

1. City Of God (2002)

Making its Brazil and festival run in 2002 and eventually hitting theaters in the U.S. and elsewhere  in the year that followed, Fernando Meirelles’ City of God, based on Paulo Lins’ semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, served as an inflection point in the world of cinema and served as a preview of what the the next few years would look like. Told through the eyes of young photographer Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), the movie explores the life of street kids in the Cidade de Deus (City of God) favela in Rio de Janeiro, an expansive slum filled with endless supplies of drugs, ruthless gangsters, and corrupt cops who allow the madness to continue. One of the most violent movies of the 2000s, City of God is a lesson in brutality, especially whenever depicting the exploits of Li’l Dice (Douglas Silva), a ruthless and sociopathic young criminal who stops at nothing in his quest for complete control. Oddly enough, the older version of the character known as Li’l Ze (Leandro Firmino) never comes off as cold blooded as his younger self, which further illustrates the movie’s point about youth and violence. 

At the same time, City of God is also one of the most beautiful movies of the 2000s, and not just on an aesthetic level (though César Charlone’s cinematography is out of this world). The endearing spirit of those who wish to escape a life of crime, ranging from Rocket to the ill-fated drug dealer Benny (Phellipe Haagensen), adds a level of heart and soul one may not expect from a two-hour crime drama about young criminals with short fuses and, in many cases, tragically  shorter lifespans. 

• A City Of God Quote To Remember: “You need more than guts to be a good gangster; you need ideas.” (Rocket)

How we put this list together

Using a combination of internal recommendations and other best of lists, we compiled a spreadsheet of all the movies from the 2000s that we considered to be culturally relevant and/or critically well-reviewed. We pushed together some multi-part movies like Kill Bill and Lord Of The Rings and then had our staff of almost 30 go through and assign a score for each movie they’ve seen based on their own personal opinions. We disqualified any movies that didn’t get a minimum number of ratings and dropped the lowest score for each, as if we were judging a figure skating competition. We then ordered the top 100 based on average score and had someone who gave that movie a particularly high score write up a paragraph explaining what’s so great about it. This rigorous scientific process resulted in Idiocracy being slotted at 101, an omission I’m still furious about.

Of all the great 2024 movies nominated for Best Picture at the 2025 Academy Awards – including The Brutalist, The Substance, and Wicked – Anora was the big surprise winner of the night. In celebration of the most recent celebration of Hollywood's finest achievements, let’s take a look back at not just the best Best Picture Oscar winners but all 97 films to receive the honor in the annual ceremony’s prestigious history, along with a tip on how to watch them from home. Let’s start at the very beginning.

The 1920s-1930s

Wings (1927)

Director: William A. Wellman

Starring: Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Richard Arlen

What it’s about: According to History.com, the first movie to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards (before they were called Oscars) was Wings – an action-packed, silent epic following two World War I fighter pilots and their bitter feud over the same woman.

How to watch Wings

• Stream Wings on Tubi
• Rent or buy Wings on Amazon
• Buy Wings on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Broadway Melody (1929)

Director: Harry Beaumont

Starring: Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love

What it’s about: There is a romantic rivalry at the heart of The Broadway Melody – a musical about show business dreams and the first “talkie” to win the highest honor at the Academy Awards.

How to watch The Broadway Melody

• Stream The Broadway Melody on Tubi
• Rent or buy The Broadway Melody on Amazon
• Buy The Broadway Melody on Blu-ray on Amazon

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)

Director: Lewis Milestone

Starring: Lew Ayres, Lewis Wolheim

What it’s about: The first adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, – and only the first to be nominated for Best Picture before Netflix’s 2022 version (one of the best war movies on Netflix) – won the prize for its heartbreaking depiction of World War I from a German soldier’s perspective.

How to watch All Quiet on the Western Front

• Stream All Quiet on the Western Front on Tubi
• Rent or buy All Quiet on the Western Front on Amazon
• Buy All Quiet on the Western Front on Blu-ray on Amazon

Cimarron (1931)

Director: Wesley Ruggles

Starring: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne

What it’s about: Edna Farber’s novel about a newspaper editor and his involvement in the late 19th-Century Oklahoma land rush inspired Cimarron – the first Western to win at the Academy Awards, including the top prize.

How to watch Cimarron

• Rent or buy Cimarron on Amazon
• Buy Cimarron on Blu-ray on Amazon

Grand Hotel (1932)

Director: Edmund Goulding

Starring: Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore

What it’s about: An iconic ensemble leads the thrilling, romantic interwoven stories told in Grand Hotel, which was only nominated for Best Picture but managed to take it home.

How to watch Grand Hotel

• Rent or buy Grand Hotel on Amazon
• Buy Grand Hotel on Blu-ray on Amazon

Cavalcade (1933)

Director: Frank Lloyd

Starring: Diana Winyard, Clive Brook

What it’s about: Several notable and tragic events of the early 20th Century are seen through the eyes of a well-to-do English family in Cavalcade, which also earned awards for Frank Lloyd and art director William S. Darling.

How to watch Cavalcade

• Rent or buy Cavalcade on Amazon
• Buy Cavalcade on Blu-ray on Amazon

It Happened One Night (1934)

Director: Frank Capra

Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert

What it’s about: Frank Capra, Clark Gable, and Claudette Colbert each won their first Academy Award for It Happened One Night – one of the most charming and influential romantic comedy movies ever made.

How to watch It Happened One Night

• Stream It Happened One Night on Tubi
• Rent or buy It Happened One Night on Amazon
• Buy It Happened One Night on Blu-ray on Amazon

Mutiny On The Bounty (1935)

Director: Frank Lloyd

Starring: Clark Gable, Charles Laughton

What it’s about: Mutiny on the Bounty is a thrilling adventure, inspired by a real incident from 1789, about a ship crew rebelling against their sadistic captain.

How to watch Mutiny on the Bounty

• Rent or buy Mutiny on the Bounty on Amazon
• Buy Mutiny on the Bounty on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Director: Robert Z. Leonard

Starring: William Powell, Luise Rainer, Myrna Loy

What it’s about: The Great Ziegfeld is a lavish, fact-based tale about the ups and downs of show business that also took home an award for Seymour Felix’s choreography.

How to watch The Great Ziegfeld

• Rent or buy The Great Ziegfeld on Amazon
• Buy The Great Ziegfeld on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Life Of Emile Zola (1937)

Director: William Dieterle

Starring: Paul Muni, Gloria Holden

What it’s about: The following year, the Academy gave the Best Picture Oscar to another fact-based drama, The Life of Emile Zola, which follows the titular French writer and his fight against the unjust Dreyfus affair.

How to watch The Life of Emile Zola

• Stream The Life of Emile Zola on Max
• Rent or buy The Life of Emile Zola on Amazon
• Buy The Life of Emile Zola on Blu-ray on Amazon

You Can't Take It With You (1938)

Director: Frank Capra

Starring: Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart

What it’s about: You Can’t Take It with You – based on playwrights George S. Kaufmann and Moss Hart’s brilliant, romantic class satire – won Best Picture the first year the Academy started calling the statuette “Oscar.”

How to watch You Can’t Take It with You

• Rent or buy You Can’t Take It with You on Amazon
• Buy You Can’t Take It with You on Blu-ray on Amazon

Gone With The Wind (1939)

Director: Victor Fleming

Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Hattie McDaniel

What it’s about: Still the all-time highest-grossing movie when adjusted for inflation, according to Box Office Mojo, Gone with the Wind made Oscar history as the first color film to win Best Picture and Hattie McDaniel became the first Black person to be nominated and awarded by the Academy when she won Best Supporting Actress.

How to watch Gone with the Wind

• Stream Gone with the Wind on Max
• Rent or buy Gone with the Wind on Amazon
• Buy Gone with the Wind on Blu-ray on Amazon

The 1940s

Rebecca (1940)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Laurence Olivie, Joan Fontaine

What it’s about: It is hard to believe that Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar himself, but his adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s riveting suspense novel, Rebecca, at least earned him the honor of saying he helmed a Best Picture winner.

How to watch Rebecca

• Stream Rebecca on Filmzie
• Buy Rebecca on Blu-ray on Amazon

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

Director: John Ford

Starring: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O’Hara

What it’s about: Famous for beating Citizen Kane for the top prize is How Green Was My Valley, which is based on Richard Llewellyn’s story of one family’s struggles in a Welsh mining village in the early 1900s.

How to watch How Green Was My Valley

• Rent or buy How Green Was My Valley on Amazon
• Buy How Green Was My Valley on Blu-ray on Amazon

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Director: William Wyler

Starring: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon

What it’s about: As World War II was still raging, the Best Picture Oscar went to Mrs. Miniver, which chronicles the early days of the earth-shattering conflict through the eyes of a middle-class British family.

How to watch Mrs. Miniver

• Stream Mrs. Miniver on Max
• Stream Mrs. Miniver on IndieFlix
• Rent or buy Mrs. Miniver on Amazon
• Buy Mrs. Miniver on Blu-ray on Amazon

Casablanca (1943)

Director: Michael Curtiz

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman

What it’s about: The events of World War II were very much an influence on the story of the heartbreaking classic about unrequited love, Casablanca, in which former lovers reunited over political intrigue in Morocco.

How to watch Casablanca

• Stream Casablanca on Max
• Rent or buy Casablanca on Amazon
• Buy Casablanca on Blu-ray on Amazon

Going My Way (1944)

Director: Leo McCarey

Starring: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald

What it’s about: The Academy must have been in the mood for something lighter when it awarded Best Picture to a musical called Going My Way, which also earned Bing Crosby his sole Oscar.

How to watch Going My Way

• Rent or buy Going My Way on Amazon
• Buy Going My Way on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Lost Weekend (1945)

Director: Billy Wilder

Starring: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman

What it’s about: Following World War II’s end, the Academy sought darkness again and gave the top prize to Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend – a film noir classic following an alcoholic’s days-long bender.

How to watch The Lost Weekend

• Rent or buy The Lost Weekend on Amazon
• Buy The Lost Weekend on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)

Director: William Wyler

Starring: Myrna Loy, Fredric March

What it’s about: While many films set around and released close to World War II intended to glorify the conflict, The Best Years of Lives took a more honest approach to its psychological effects, by following a trio of traumatized veterans struggling to readjust.

How to watch The Best Years of Our Lives

• Stream The Best Years of Our Lives on Amazon Prime
• Stream The Best Years of Our Lives on Peacock
• Buy The Best Years of Our Lives on Blu-ray on Amazon

Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

Director: Elia Kazan

Starring: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire

What it’s about: A renowned journalist goes undercover as a Jewish man as research for a series of articles covering anti-Semitism in Gentleman’s Agreement.

How to watch Gentleman’s Agreement

• Rent or buy Gentleman’s Agreement on Amazon
• Buy Gentleman’s Agreement on Blu-ray on Amazon

Hamlet (1948)

Director: Laurence Olivier

Starring: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons

What it’s about: Sir Laurence Olivier also did uncredited screenwriting work on and gave an Oscar-winning performance in the title role of Hamlet – the first talkie based on William Shakespeare’s tragedy and the first non-American film to win Best Picture.

How to watch Hamlet

• Stream Hamlet on Max
• Stream Hamlet on Tubi
• Rent or buy Hamlet on Amazon
• Buy Hamlet on DVD on Amazon

All The King's Men (1949)

Director: Robert Rossen

Starring: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland

What it’s about: Broderick Crawford earned an Oscar for his lead performance in All the King’s Men – based on Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel following the triumphant rise and fall of a corrupt politician.

How to watch All the King’s Men

• Stream All the King's Men on Tubi
• Rent or buy All the King’s Men on Amazon
• Buy All the King’s Men on Blu-ray on Amazon

The 1950s

All About Eve (1950)

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Starring: Anne Baxter, Bette Davis

What it’s about: “Fasten your seatbelts” for All About Eve – the dazzling drama in which the title character schemes to assume the life of an aging Broadway star.

How to watch All About Eve

• Rent or buy All About Eve on Amazon
• Buy All About Eve on Blu-ray on Amazon

An American In Paris (1951)

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Starring: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron

What it’s about: A painter struggles to find work in France in the essential romantic musical, An American in Paris, which also won Best Original Score.

How to watch An American in Paris

• Rent or buy An American in Paris on Amazon
• Buy An American in Paris on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Greatest Show On Earth (1952)

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Starring: James Stewart, Charlton Heston

What it’s about: The Greatest Show on Earth brought all the excitement of the circus to the movie theater and, as depicted in The Fabelmans, inspired a young Steven Spielberg to pursue a career in filmmaking.

How to watch The Greatest Show on Earth

• Stream The Greatest Show on Earth on MGM+
• Rent or buy The Greatest Show on Earth on Amazon
• Buy The Greatest Show on Earth on Blu-ray on Amazon

From Here To Eternity (1953)

Director: Fred Zinnemann

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed

What it’s about: One of the most exciting and romantic war dramas of all time is From Here to Eternity, which includes one of the most iconic movie kisses and for which Frank Sinatra won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

How to watch From Here to Eternity

• Rent or buy From Here to Eternity on Amazon
• Buy From Here to Eternity on Blu-ray on Amazon

On The Waterfront (1954)

Director: Elia Kazan

Starring: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden

What it’s about: Marlon Brando won his first Academy Award for playing a down-and-out former boxer who “coulda been a contender” in On the Waterfront, which also earned Elia Kazan his second Oscar.

How to watch On the Waterfront

• Rent or buy On the Waterfront on Amazon
• Buy On the Waterfront on Blu-ray on Amazon

Marty (1955)

Director: Delbert Mann

Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair

What it’s about: Ernest Borgnine gives an Oscar-winning performance in the title role of Marty – a Bronx butcher who receives an unexpected chance at love when he meets the equally disillusioned teacher, Clara.

How to watch Marty

• Stream Marty on Amazon Prime
• Stream Marty on Tubi
• Stream Marty on Pluto TV
• Buy Marty on Blu-ray on Amazon

Around The World In 80 Days (1956)

Director: Michael Anderson

Starring: David Niven, Cantinflas

What it’s about: Based on Jules Verne’s seminal, inventive adventure novel, Around the World in 80 Days follows two explorers attempting to do just what the title suggests.

How to watch Around the World in 80 Days

• Rent or buy Around the World in 80 Days on Amazon
• Buy Around the World in 80 Days on DVD on Amazon

The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

Director: David Lean

Starring: Alec Guinness, William Holden

What it’s about: Future Obi-Wan Kenobi actor Alec Guinness won the Best Actor Oscar for playing one of many POWs forced to build a doomed railroad during World War II in The Bridge on the River Kwai.

How to watch The Bridge on the River Kwai

• Rent or buy The Bridge on the River Kwai on Amazon
• Buy The Bridge on the River Kwai on Blu-ray on Amazon

Gigi (1958)

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Starring: Leslie Caron, Louis Jordan

What it’s about: Winner of all nine Oscars it was nominated for, Gigi is a sweeping musical about a friendship between a rich playboy and a courtesan-in-training that blossoms into more.

How to watch Gigi

• Stream Gigi on Tubi
• Rent or buy Gigi on Amazon
• Buy Gigi on Blu-ray on Amazon

Ben-Hur (1959)

Director: Willian Wyler

Starring: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins

What it’s about: Charlton Heston won Best Actor for playing the title role of a Jewish prince wrongfully sold into slavery in Ben-Hur – a quintessential period epic that is also celebrated for its editing by experts of the craft.

How to watch Ben-Hur

• Stream Ben-Hur on Tubi
• Rent or buy Ben-Hur on Amazon
• Buy Ben-Hur on Blu-ray on Amazon

The 1960s

The Apartment (1960)

Director: Billy Wilder

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine

What it’s about: One of Billy Wilder’s most definitive achievements was The Apartment – an inventive comedy about an insurance clerk who allows his coworkers to have romantic encounters in his Manhattan home.

How to watch The Apartment

• Stream The Apartment on MGM+
• Stream The Apartment on Tubi
• Rent or buy The Apartment on Amazon
• Buy The Apartment on Blu-ray on Amazon

West Side Story (1961)

Director: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise

Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer

What it’s about: William Shakespeare’s seminal romantic tragedy, Romeo & Juliet, is given a modernized, musical update with West Side Story, which Steven Spielberg would later reimagine in 2021.

How to watch West Side Story

• Stream West Side Story on Amazon Prime
• Stream West Side Story on Tubi
• Buy West Side Story on Blu-ray on Amazon

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

Director: David Lean

Starring: Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness

What it’s about: It is hard to believe that Peter O’Toole never won an Oscar, even for his performance in the title role of Lawrence of Arabia, which is about how England’s T.E. Lawrence led Arab tribes against the Turks during World War I.

How to watch Lawrence of Arabia

• Stream Lawrence of Arabia on Max
• Rent or buy Lawrence of Arabia on Amazon
• Buy Lawrence of Arabia on Blu-ray on Amazon

Tom Jones (1963)

Director: Tony Richardson

Starring: Albert Finney, Susannah York

What it’s about: Four Oscars went to this adaptation of Henry Fielding’s period novel, Tom Jones, which follows the romantic exploits of the chivalrous, titular lothario.

How to watch Tom Jones

• Stream Tom Jones on Max
• Rent or buy Tom Jones on Amazon
• Buy Tom Jones on Blu-ray from Walmart

My Fair Lady (1964)

Director: George Cukor

Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison

What it’s about: Based on the stage musical of the same name, My Fair Lady is the largely influential story (it was the basis for She’s All That) of a phonetics professor who wagers he can make an upper-class citizen out of a working-class, Cockney woman.

How to watch My Fair Lady

• Rent or buy My Fair Lady on Amazon
• Buy My Fair Lady on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Sound Of Music (1965)

Director: Robert Wise

Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer

What it’s about: Another iconic musical that earned the top prize at the Oscars in the 1960s is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews as a governess who teaches the children of her employer about the joys of song.

How to watch The Sound of Music

• Stream The Sound of Music on Disney+
• Stream The Sound of Music on Hulu
• Rent or buy The Sound of Music on Amazon
• Buy The Sound of Music on Blu-ray on Amazon

A Man For All Seasons (1966)

Director: Fred Zinnemann

Starring: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller

What it’s about: Sir Thomas More’s defiance of the Catholic Church’s prohibition of divorce inspired the play A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, who would win an Oscar for penning the screenplay of this enthralling adaptation.

How to watch A Man for All Seasons

• Rent or buy A Man for All Seasons on Amazon
• Buy A Man for All Seasons on Blu-ray on Amazon

In The Heat Of The Night (1967)

Director: Norman Jewison

Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger

What it’s about: In one of Sidney Poitier’s best movies, In the Heat of the Night, he plays a Black detective asked by a Mississippi police chief to help solve a murder he was unjustly accused of.

How to watch In the Heat of the Night

• Stream In the Heat of the Night on Tubi
• Rent or buy In the Heat of the Night on Amazon
• Buy In the Heat of the Night on Blu-ray on Amazon

Oliver! (1968)

Director: Carol Reed

Starring: Ron Moody, Mark Lester

What it’s about: Based on the classic Charles Dickens novel, Oliver! is a musical that tells the story of a young orphan who adopts the art of pickpocketing in 1830s London.

How to watch Oliver!

• Stream Oliver! on The Roku Channel
• Rent or buy Oliver! on Amazon
• Buy Oliver! on Blu-ray on Amazon

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Director: John Schlesinger

Starring: Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman

What it’s about: The first and only Best Picture winner to receive an X rating is Midnight Cowboy, in which a Texas hustler in Brooklyn forms a deep bond with a rebuffed local.

How to watch Midnight Cowboy

• Stream Midnight Cowboy on Amazon Prime
• Stream Midnight Cowboy on Tubi
• Buy Midnight Cowboy on Blu-ray on Amazon

The 1970s

Patton (1970)

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner

Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden

What it’s about: George C. Scott brilliantly embodied one of the most famous military figures in history to Oscar-winning acclaim in the monumental biopic, Patton.

How to watch Patton

• Rent or buy Patton on Amazon
• Buy Patton on Blu-ray on Amazon

The French Connection (1971)

Director: William Friedken

Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider

What it’s about: In addition to earning a Best Director Oscar, William Friedkin arguably redefined the cop thriller with The French Connection, starring Gene Hackman in a winning performance as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle.

How to watch The French Connection

• Rent or buy The French Connection on Amazon
• Buy The French Connection on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Godfather (1972)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino

What it’s about: The mafia thriller genre was inarguably redefined by one of the best ‘70s movies, The Godfather, starring Marlon Brando in an Oscar-winning performance as Don Vito Corleone.

How to watch The Godfather

• Stream The Godfather on Paramount+
• Rent or buy The Godfather on Amazon
• Buy The Godfather on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Sting (1973)

Director: George Roy Hill

Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford

What it’s about: In the classic heist thriller classic The Sting, a pair of grifters plan a huge con to avenge the murder of their mutual friend.

How to watch The Sting

• Stream The Sting on Netflix
• Rent or buy The Sting on Amazon
• Buy The Sting on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Godfather Part II (1974)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro

What it’s about: Francis Ford Coppola won Best Director after completing his adaptation of Mario Puzo’s novel with the, arguably, more powerful follow-up, The Godfather Part II, starring Robert De Niro in an Oscar-winning performance as a young Don Vito Corleone.

How to watch The Godfather Part II

• Stream The Godfather Part II on Paramount+
• Rent or buy The Godfather Part II on Amazon
• Buy The Godfather Part II on Blu-ray on Amazon

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Director: Milos Forman

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher

What it’s about: A movie that gets real about mental health is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which features one of the greatest Jack Nicholson performances as a petty criminal who leads a rebellion against a sadistic nurse after an insanity plea gets him sent to a mental institution.

How to watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

• Rent or buy One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on Amazon
• Buy One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on Blu-ray on Amazon

Rocky (1976)

Director: John G. Avildsen

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire

What it’s about: Sylvester Stallone was nominated for both writing and starring in the title role of Rocky – one of the best sports movies ever made, which inspired an ongoing franchise of beloved boxing films.

How to watch Rocky

• Stream Rocky on Pluto TV
• Rent or buy Rocky on Amazon
• Buy Rocky on Blu-ray on Amazon

Annie Hall (1977)

Director: Woody Allen

Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton

What it’s about: A neurotic comedian looks back on his unique relationship with a free-spirited, aspiring singer in Annie Hall, which remains one of the best romantic comedy movies of all time.

How to watch Annie Hall

• Stream Annie Hall on Tubi
• Rent or buy Annie Hall on Amazon
• Buy Annie Hall on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Director: Michael Cimino

Starring: Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken

What it’s about: Less a war movie and more an analysis of post-war trauma, The Deer Hunter – one of the best Robert De Niro movies – is the harrowing and controversial story of a veteran and his struggles to find his friends after becoming separated in Vietnam.

How to watch The Deer Hunter

• Rent or buy The Deer Hunter on Amazon
• Buy The Deer Hunter on Blu-ray on Amazon

Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)

Director: Robert Benton

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep

What it’s about: Both Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep received Oscars for their performances in Kramer vs. Kramer as a separated couple embroiled in a bitter custody battle over their young son.

How to watch Kramer vs. Kramer

• Rent or buy Kramer vs. Kramer on Amazon
• Buy Kramer vs. Kramer on Blu-ray on Amazon

The 1980s

Ordinary People (1980)

Director: Robert Redford

Starring: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton

What it’s about: Dysfunctional family dynamics are also at the heart of the devastating drama, Ordinary People – one of Donald Sutherland's best movies – for which Robert Redford won his sole competitive Academy Award.

How to watch Ordinary People

• Stream Ordinary People on Pluto TV
• Rent or buy Ordinary People on Amazon
• Buy Ordinary People on Blu-ray on Amazon

Chariots Of Fire (1981)

Director: Hugh Hudson

Starring: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson

What it’s about: Vangelis earned his sole Academy Award for his instantly recognizable score for Chariots of Fire, which follows two young, British track runners of differing backgrounds at the 1924 Olympics.

How to watch Chariots of Fire

• Rent or buy Chariots of Fire on Amazon
• Buy Chariots of Fire on Blu-ray on Amazon

Gandhi (1982)

Director: Richard Attenborough

Starring: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud

What it’s about: Sir Ben Kingsley, who is of Indian descent on his father’s side, disappears into the role of the titular, iconic proponent for non-violent resistance in the rousing historical biopic, Gandhi.

How to watch Gandhi

• Stream Gandhi on Tubi
• Rent or buy Gandhi on Amazon
• Buy Gandhi on Blu-ray on Amazon

Terms Of Endearment (1983)

Director: James L. Brooks

Starring: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson

What it’s about: It is hard to believe that Shirley MacLaine has just one Oscar, for her performance in Terms of Endearment – a drama tracing the relationship between a woman and her daughter that is often funny, until it is devastating.

How to watch Terms of Endearment

• Stream Terms of Endearment on Paramount+
• Stream Terms of Endearment on MGM+
• Stream Terms of Endearment on Hoopla
• Rent or buy Terms of Endearment on Amazon
• Buy Terms of Endearment on Blu-ray on Amazon

Amadeus (1984)

Director: Milos Forman

Starring: Tom Hulce, F. Murray Abraham

What it’s about: Milos Forman earned his second Best Director Oscar for Amadeus – a retelling of the life of renowned composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as told by a fellow musician who claims to have enviously murdered him, Antonio Salieri.

How to watch Amadeus

• Rent or buy Amadeus on Amazon
• Buy Amadeus on Blu-ray on Amazon

Out Of Africa (1985)

Director: Sydney Pollack

Starring: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep

What it’s about: A big game hunter and a Danish baroness fall in love in 20th-century Kenya in the tender, powerful romance, Out of Africa.

How to watch Out of Africa

• Stream Out of Africa on Netflix
• Rent or buy Out of Africa on Amazon
• Buy Out of Africa on Blu-ray on Amazon

Platoon (1986)

Director: Oliver Stone

Starring: Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe

What it’s about: American soldiers are subjected to relentless, senseless brutality while serving in Vietnam in one of the greatest war movies to win Best Picture, Platoon.

How to watch Platoon

• Stream Platoon on Amazon Prime
• Stream Platoon on Tubi
• Buy Platoon on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Last Emperor (1987)

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Starring: John Lone, Joan Chen

What it’s about: The story of Pu Yi – who would become the last person to serve as the monarchical leader of China – is revealed in The Last Emperor, for which Bernardo Bertolucci earned Oscars for both writing and directing.

How to watch The Last Emperor

• Stream The Last Emperor on Max
• Buy The Last Emperor on Blu-ray on Amazon

Rain Man (1988)

Director: Barry Levinson

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise

What it’s about: Dustin Hoffman gives one of the most esteemed performances of his career as an autistic savant opposite a stellar Tom Cruise as his previously unwitting younger sibling in Rain Man – a beautiful story of redemption through brotherly love.

How to watch Rain Man

• Stream Rain Man on Tubi
• Rent or buy Rain Man on Amazon
• Buy Rain Man on Blu-ray on Amazon

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Director: Bruce Beresford

Starring: Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman

What it’s about: Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman make an irresistible pair as a disgruntled, elderly widow and her chauffeur in one of Freeman’s best movies, Driving Miss Daisy – an inspirational story about redemption through friendship set between the 1950s and 1970s.

How to watch Driving Miss Daisy

• Rent or buy Driving Miss Daisy on Amazon
• Buy Driving Miss Daisy on Blu-ray on Amazon

The 1990s

Dances With Wolves (1990)

Director: Kevin Costner

Starring: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonell

What it’s about: Kevin Costner won a Best Director Oscar for Dances with Wolves – the first Western to win Best Picture since 1931’s Cimarron – in which the Yellowstone cast member also plays the title role of a Civil War-era soldier who learns the ways of a Native American tribe.

How to watch Dances with Wolves

• Stream Dances with Wolves on Amazon Prime
• Stream Dances with Wolves on Peacock
• Stream Dances with Wolves on MGM+
• Stream Dances with Wolves on Tubi
• Buy Dances with Wolves on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

Director: Jonathan Demme

Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins

What it’s about: An FBI trainee seeks help from a cannibalistic former psychologist to catch a killer in The Silence of the Lambs – one of the best horror movies ever made and the only film out of a handful of horror movies nominated for Best Picture to win so far.

How to watch The Silence of the Lambs

• Rent or buy The Silence of the Lambs on Amazon
• Buy The Silence of the Lambs on Blu-ray on Amazon

Unforgiven (1992)

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman

What it’s about: The Academy would show its taste for the Western again by giving the top prize to one of the best Clint Eastwood movies, Unforgiven, for which the star won his first Oscar as both director and producer.

How to watch Unforgiven

• Rent or buy Unforgiven on Amazon
• Buy Unforgiven on Blu-ray on Amazon

Schindler’s List (1993)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes

What it’s about: Arguably the best Steven Spielberg movie is the film that made him an Academy Award-winning filmmaker as director and producer, Schindler’s List – a technically magnificent, emotionally distressing portrait of the Holocaust.

How to watch Schindler’s List

• Stream Schindler’s List on Netflix
• Rent or buy Schindler’s List on Amazon
• Buy Schindler’s List on Blu-ray on Amazon

Forrest Gump (1994)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright

What it’s about: In one of Tom Hanks’ best movies, the actor gives his second Oscar-winning performance as the simple-minded title hero of Forrest Gump – an endearing revisionist history drama from director Robert Zemeckis.

How to watch Forrest Gump

• Stream Forrest Gump on Paramount+
• Rent or buy Forrest Gump on Amazon
• Buy Forrest Gump on Blu-ray on Amazon

Braveheart (1995)

Director: Mel Gibson

Starring: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau

What it’s about: Mel Gibson became an Oscar-winning filmmaker as the director and producer of the historical epic Braveheart, in which he also stars as Scottish warrior William Wallace in a bid to free his people from England’s tyrannical rule.

How to watch Braveheart

• Stream Braveheart on Pluto TV
• Rent or buy Braveheart on Amazon
• Buy Braveheart on Blu-ray on Amazon

The English Patient (1996)

Director: Anthony Minghella

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche

What it’s about: A French-Canadian nurse indulges in an affair with a British, semi-amnesiac plane crash victim in the romantic World War II-era drama, The English Patient.

How to watch The English Patient

• Stream The English Patient on MGM+
• Stream The English Patient on Hoopla
• Rent or buy The English Patient on Amazon
• Buy The English Patient on Blu-ray on Amazon

Titanic (1997)

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet

What it’s about: Sparks fly between a wealthy young woman and a poor young man while on an ill-fated luxury ship in Titanic – James Cameron’s heavily dramatized retelling of the 1912 tragedy that became the highest-grossing film ever for a time.

How to watch Titanic

• Stream Titanic on Paramount+
• Stream Titanic on MGM+
• Rent or buy Titanic on Amazon
• Buy Titanic on Blu-ray on Amazon

Shakespeare In Love (1998)

Director: John Madden

Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Judi Dench

What it’s about: A young William Shakespeare indulges in an affair with a woman who inspires some of his most iconic work in Shakespeare in Love, for which Gwyneth Paltrow and Judi Dench also won Oscars for their performances.

How to watch Shakespeare in Love

• Stream Shakespeare in Love on Paramount+
• Rent or buy Shakespeare in Love on Amazon
• Buy Shakespeare in Love on Blu-ray on Amazon

American Beauty (1999)

Director: Sam Mendes

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening

What it’s about: Following his own death, a forty-something suburban dad recalls the bizarre last few weeks of his life through overhead narration in American Beauty.

How to watch American Beauty

• Stream American Beauty on Pluto TV
• Rent or buy American Beauty on Amazon
• Buy American Beauty on Blu-ray on Amazon

The 2000s

Gladiator (2000)

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix

What it’s about: Russell Crowe gives an Oscar-winning performance as the hero of Gladiator – a thrilling period piece that surely had audiences “entertained” and spawned the sequel, Gladiator II, in 2024.

How to watch Gladiator

• Stream Gladiator on Paramount+
• Stream Gladiator on Pluto TV
• Rent or buy Gladiator on Amazon
• Buy Gladiator on Blu-ray on Amazon

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Director: Ron Howard

Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly

What it’s about: Russell Crowe headlined back-to-back Best Picture winners in the early 2000s – the second being A Beautiful Mind, in which he plays real-life mathematician John Nash, whose struggles with mental illness almost threatened his career.

How to watch A Beautiful Mind

• Rent or buy A Beautiful Mind on Amazon
• Buy A Beautiful Mind on Blu-ray on Amazon

Chicago (2002)

Director: Rob Marshall

Starring: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellwegger, Richard Gere

What it’s about: Catherine Zeta-Jones danced her way to Oscar glory in Chicago – the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway musical inspired by the infamous “Murderess Row” case of the late 1920s.

How to watch Chicago

• Stream Chicago on Paramount+
• Stream Chicago on Pluto TV
• Rent or buy Chicago on Amazon
• Buy Chicago on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen

What it’s about: Director Peter Jackson completed his trilogy inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s influential fantasy books with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which also became the most acclaimed of the Lord of the Rings movies and earned him a Best Director Oscar.

How to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

• Stream The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on Max
• Stream The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) on Max
• Rent or buy The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on Amazon
• Buy The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on Blu-ray on Amazon

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman

What it’s about: Clint Eastwood won his second Best Director Oscar for the tragic boxing drama Million Dollar Baby, which also saw Morgan Freeman win his first Academy Award and Hilary Swank her second.

How to watch Million Dollar Baby

• Rent or buy Million Dollar Baby on Amazon
• Buy Million Dollar Baby on Blu-ray on Amazon

Crash (2005)

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle

What it’s about: Paul Haggis earned a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for co-writing Crash – an analysis of modern racial tension as told from the point of view of various Los Angeleans in a 36-hour period.

How to watch Crash

• Stream Crash on Plex
• Rent or buy Crash on Amazon
• Buy Crash on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Departed (2006)

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson

What it’s about: Martin Scorsese received a long-overdue Oscar for directing The Departed – a gritty, bleak, twisty remake of the Chinese cop drama, Infernal Affairs, set in Boston’s criminal underground.

How to watch The Departed

• Rent or buy The Departed on Amazon
• Buy The Departed on Blu-ray on Amazon

No Country For Old Men (2007)

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin

What it’s about: One of Joel and Ethan Coen’s best movies and one of the all-time best Western movies, No Country for Old Men – based on Cormac McCarthy’s powerful commentary on violence as seen through the eyes of three men on different sides of the law – also earned the duo Oscars for both writing and directing.

How to watch No Country for Old Men

• Stream No Country for Old Men on Paramount+
• Stream No Country for Old Men on MGM+
• Rent or buy No Country for Old Men on Amazon
• Buy No Country for Old Men on Blu-ray on Amazon

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Director: Danny Boyle

Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto

What it’s about: A young man reflects on his childhood in Mumbai while competing on a game show in the inspiring fairy tale, Slumdog Millionaire.

How to watch Slumdog Millionaire

• Rent or buy Slumdog Millionaire on Apple TV
• Buy Slumdog Millionaire on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Hurt Locker (2009)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie

What it’s about: Kathryn Bigelow became the first female Best Director winner for The Hurt Locker – one of the best war movies of all time, which stars Jeremy Renner as a military bomb defuser whose recklessness puts him at odds with his peers while serving in Iraq.

How to watch The Hurt Locker

• Rent or buy The Hurt Locker on Amazon
• Buy The Hurt Locker on Blu-ray on Amazon

The 2010s

The King's Speech (2010)

Director: Tom Hooper

Starring: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush

What it’s about: Colin Firth gives a brilliant performance as an heir to the British throne struggling to overcome his debilitating stammer in The King’s Speech, which also earned Tom Hooper an Oscar.

How to watch The King’s Speech

• Stream The King's Speech on The Roku Channel
• Rent or buy The King’s Speech on Amazon
• Buy The King’s Speech on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Artist (2011)

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo

What it’s about: The first “silent film” to win the Best Picture Oscar since the very first Best Picture Oscar winner (Wings) was The Artist, which, itself, is a rousing, visually stunning love letter to the silent era.

How to watch The Artist

• Stream The Artist on Tubi
• Rent or buy The Artist on Amazon
• Buy The Artist on Blu-ray on Amazon

Argo (2012)

Director: Ben Affleck

Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston

What it’s about: One of Ben Affleck’s best movies, the intense thriller Argo is based on the true story of a CIA agent who helped Americans escape an Iranian hostage situation by posing as a film crew in 1979.

How to watch Argo

• Rent or buy Argo on Amazon
• Buy Argo on Blu-ray on Amazon

12 Years A Slave (2013)

Director: Steve McQueen

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael Fassbender

What it’s about: Lupita Nyong’o earned a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in her feature-length debut, 12 Years a Slave, which is based on Solomon Northrup’s experience as a free Black man abducted and sold into slavery.

How to watch 12 Years a Slave

• Stream 12 Years a Slave on Hulu
• Rent or buy 12 Years a Slave on Amazon
• Buy 12 Years a Slave on Blu-ray on Amazon

Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance) (2014)

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Starring: Michael Keaton, Emma Stone

What it’s about: One of the best Michael Keaton movies, Birdman is a masterclass in satire and surrealism that sees the Oscar nominee poking fun at his own career by starring as a former superhero movie actor seeking a comeback.

How to watch Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

• Stream Birdman on Hulu
• Rent or buy Birdman on Amazon
• Buy Birdman on Blu-ray on Amazon

Spotlight (2015)

Director: Tom McCarthy

Starring: Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams

What it’s about: Michael Keaton led back-to-back Oscar winners in the mid-2010s – the second being Spotlight, which tells the story behind the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning exposé about child molestation cover-ups in the Catholic Church.

How to watch Spotlight

• Stream Spotlight on Starz
• Rent or buy Spotlight on Amazon
• Buy Spotlight on Blu-ray on Amazon

Moonlight (2016)

Director: Barry Jenkins

Starring: Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris

What it’s about: Although an infamous mistake initially made it seem like La La Land won in 2017, the Best Picture Oscar really went to Moonlight – the harrowing story of a young Black man struggling with abuse and his sexual identity.

How to watch Moonlight

• Rent or buy Moonlight on Amazon
• Buy Moonlight on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Shape Of Water (2017)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones

What it’s about: Visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro won over the Academy with The Shape of Water – one of his many celebrated collaborations with Doug Jones – which sees him continue to indulge in his love of creature features but filtered through a powerful commentary on forbidden love.

How to watch The Shape of Water

• Rent or buy The Shape of Water on Amazon
• Buy The Shape of Water on Blu-ray on Amazon

Green Book (2018)

Director: Peter Farrelly

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali

What it’s about: Mahershala Ali won his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for one of his best roles yet – a Black pianist who forms a strong bond with his white chauffeur while touring the Jim Crow era South – in Green Book, which takes its name from a real road guide used to locate safe areas for Black travelers at the time.

How to watch Green Book

• Rent or buy Green Book on Amazon
• Buy Green Book on Blu-ray on Amazon

Parasite (2019)

Director: Bong Joon-ho

Starring: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun

What it’s about: An impoverished, South Korean family infiltrates the lives of a wealthy family in the striking, brilliant, subversive thriller, Parasite – the first movie to win Oscars for both Best Foreign Language Film and Best Picture.

How to watch Parasite

• Stream Parasite on Netflix
• Stream Parasite on Hulu
• Rent or buy Parasite on Amazon
• Buy Parasite on Blu-ray on Amazon

The 2020s

Nomadland (2020)

Director: Chloé Zhao

Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn

What it’s about: The Chinese-born Chloé Zhao became the first woman of color to win Best Director for Nomadland, which could almost count as a documentary on the post-Recession culture of middle-aged people living exclusively on the road for its casting of real “nomads” as themselves.

How to watch Nomadland

• Stream Nomadland on Hulu
• Rent or buy Nomadland on Amazon
• Buy Nomadland on Blu-ray on Amazon

CODA (2021)

Director: Sian Heder

Starring: Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur, Marlee Matlin

What it’s about: A young woman, who is the only hearing person in her family, struggles between following her musical aspirations and helping her parents when they fall on hard times in CODA, which also saw star Troy Kotsur make history as the first deaf person to win the Best Actor Oscar.

How to watch CODA

• Stream CODA on Apple TV+

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

Director: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu

What it’s about: One of the best A24 movies, Everything Everywhere All At Once – a bizarre, emotional, and crowd-pleasing Multiverse movie – took home the top prize, while acting awards went to Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis and DANIELS earned Best Original Screenplay and Best Director.

How to watch Everything Everywhere All At Once

• Stream Everything Everywhere All At Once on Max
• Rent or buy Everything Everywhere All At Once on Amazon
• Buy Everything Everywhere All At Once on Blu-ray on Amazon

Oppenheimer (2023)

Director: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr.

What it’s about: Robert Downey, Jr. became the first former SNL actor to win an Oscar for his supporting performance in Oppenheimer – a dramatization of the story of the Atomic Bomb's construction from the perspective of the project's leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, that also won the top prize.

How to watch Oppenheimer

• Stream Oppenheimer on Amazon Prime
• Buy Oppenheimer on Blu-ray on Amazon

Anora (2024)

Director: Sean Baker

Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov

What it’s about: At the 2025 Academy Awards, five went to Anora – in which a young, Brooklyn sex worker's impulsive marriage to a Russian oligarch's son creates issues in her life – including Best Editing, Original Screenplay, and Director for Baker; Best Actress for Madison; and top prize.

How to watch Anora

• Rent or buy Anora on Amazon
• Buy Anora on Blu-ray on Amazon

Now that you can say you have seen every Best Picture Oscar winner so far, would you say you agree with the Academy?

With two major television shows out this year, Jeremy Renner is having an exciting 2021. He plays Mike McLusky on Mayor of Kingstown, a brand new Paramount+ series, and he reprises his iconic Marvel role as Clint Barton aka Hawkeye in the new Hawkeye Disney+ series. Fans of the Marvel star have an abundance of Jeremy Renner movies and TV shows to watch. 

Jeremy Renner has been working in Hollywood since the mid-'90s, so he has a filmography full of thought-provoking and entertaining films. If you want to add some more Jeremy Renner movies and TV shows to your growing roster of projects to watch with the Marvel star, then we have a few suggestions. 

The Hurt Locker (Peacock)

The Hurt Locker is one of the most widely praised films of 2009. It is an Iraq War movie that focuses on an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team. The Hurt Locker dives into the mental stress of war for this unit and soldiers in general. The film's cast includes Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Ralph Fiennes, and Guy Pearce. 

The Hurt Locker won several Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. The film was one of the first major movies to make critics and audiences stop and take notice of Renner’s standout acting abilities. He also earned a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his role in the movie. 

Stream The Hurt Locker on Peacock.
Rent/buy The Hurt Locker on Amazon. 

The Marvel Movies (Disney+)

Clint Barton first entered the Marvel realm through cameos in other characters’ introduction films. He then officially joined the world of Marvel in The Avengers. Jeremy Renner has now appeared in at least five Marvel movies as Clint Barton.

Barton has been one of the Avengers characters to go through the biggest transformation. Now Marvel will reveal even more layers of Barton's character with the Disney+ series Hawkeye. We don’t know yet if the series will just be another chapter in Barton’s Marvel Cinematic Universe journey or the end of it, either way, we’re excited to see what Renner brings to the TV show. All of the Marvel movies featuring Hawkeye are available on Disney+, and you can watch all the Marvel movies in order via the streaming service.

Stream The Avengers on Disney+.
Rent/buy The Avengers on Amazon. 

Wind River (IMDBTV)

Wind River is a murder mystery surrounding a murder on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen star as the two people trying to solve the case. Cory (Renner) is trying to solve it as a way to redeem a recent tragedy, Jane (Olsen) is trying to solve it because it’s her job, and she wants to prove herself. The Wind River cast also includes Jon Bernthal and Graham Greene. 

Wind River is a really great movie that many may have missed because there are way too many movies to keep up with, but it’s a movie worth seeking out. Taylor Sheridan directed and wrote the film. Wind River features a breathtaking performance by Renner, possibly one of his best yet, as this grieving, hardened man. 

Stream Wind River on IMDBTV (via Amazon).
Rent/buy Wind River on Amazon. 

28 Weeks Later (HBO Max)

28 Weeks Later is the sequel to 28 Days Later. It stars Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Imogen Poots, and Idris Elba. The film takes place after the events of the first film, with the Rage virus continuing to destroy humanity. The 28 Later franchise isn't as obsessed with the zombies as they are with the humans dealing with this outbreak, which is why they rank with Shaun of the Dead and The Walking Dead as some of the most interesting modern-day zombie-related content.  

Jeremy Renner has a major role in the film as Doyle, the quintessential hero of 28 Weeks Later.  He makes it his mission to ensure the safety of a few important civilians. Viewers join Doyle as he faces many obstacles to accomplish what he feels is the right thing to do.

Rent/buy 28 Weeks Later on HBO Max. 
Stream 28 Weeks Later on Amazon.

American Hustle (AMC+)

David O. Russell directed American Hustle, a film about con artists working to take down a corrupt politician. The American Hustle cast includes Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jeremy Renner. Jeremy Renner plays the mark, Mayor Carmine Polito.

American Hustle is a black comedy that has some A-listers playing very over-the-top characters. With so many characters vying for the spotlight, especially Lawrence, Renner’s character isn’t as big of a personality, but that’s needed to balance the characters and ground the film in some reality. 

Stream American Hustle on AMC+ (via Amazon).
Rent/buy American Hustle on Amazon. 

The Town (HBO Max)

The Town stars and is directed by Ben Affleck. It’s based on the best-selling book Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan. It’s about lifelong friends who rob a bank. One of them then makes a decision that could risk them from keeping their identities a secret and ruin their plans. The Town cast includes Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Blake Lively, and Jeremy Renner. 

Jeremy Renner earned his second Academy Award nomination for The Town, this time for Best Supporting Actor.  Renner was definitely one of the standout characters and performances in The Town. He was quite believable and very intense in the role. 

Stream The Town on HBO Max. 
Rent/buy The Town on  Amazon. 

The Bourne Legacy (HBO Max)

The Bourne Legacy is the fourth film in the Bourne Identity franchise. This is the only film in the series to not feature Jason Bourne (played by Matt Damon). The films are based on Robert Ludlum and Eric Van Lustbader's book series, and this is the first movie to introduce a new main character that is not in the books. Jeremy Renner stars in The Bourne Legacy as Aaron Cross, a man who must go on the run to avoid being eliminated because his existence risks the exposure of a major government operation.

The Bourne Legacy gives action fans plenty to watch as Renner must maneuver himself out of many dangerous situations by outwitting and combating deadly foes. This movie is good for Jeremy Renner fans who want to see him as the lead of an action movie. 

Stream The Bourne Legacy on HBO Max.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (Paramount+)

Jeremy Renner appears in two Mission Impossible movies, Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol and Mission impossible-Rogue Nation. He plays William Brandt, an Intelligence analyst, and IMF field agent. His character plays a critical role in Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol.

If action movies aren’t your thing, then you may want to skip these movies, but if you love action and adventure and want to see Renner kick some butt alongside Tom Cruise, then Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol and Mission Impossible-Rogue Nation are your best bets. Paramount+ has the first six Mission Impossible movies available to stream. You may only have two Jeremy Renner featured Mission Impossible movies to watch, but you can make it a whole marathon day with them.

Stream Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol on Paramount+.
Rent/buy Mission impossible-Ghost Protocol on Amazon.

Kill The Messenger (Netflix)

Kill the Messenger follows Gary Webb (Jeremy Renner) as he uncovers a possible CIA conspiracy involving the distribution of cocaine to U.S citizens. Webb investigates the conspiracy and writes an exposé on the story. He then finds his life in danger. Kill the Messenger cast also includes Ray Liotta, Rosemarie DeWitt, Tim Blake Nelson, and Barry Pepper.

Kill the Messenger is a really fascinating story based on real events. If you’re already skeptical of the government, this movie will just make you question them even more. Jeremy Renner gives a great performance in Kill the Messenger and the movie, in general, presents a captivating look at crime, conspiracy, and government coverups. 

Stream Kill the Messenger on Netflix. 
Rent/buy Kill the Messenger on Amazon. 

Arrival (Paramount+)

Arrival is a science fiction movie about a team trying to communicate with extraterrestrial life forces. Arrival stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker. The film received multiple Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Sound Editing. 

Arrival is one of those films that you go into believing it will be about one thing, but the story is much more complex than it seems. That factor can make or break a movie, and in my opinion, that’s one of the things that makes Arrival worth watching. Amy Adams is the star of the movie, but Jeremy Renner pairs well with her on-screen presence. His character supports her character in a way that allows her to really shine, and for audiences to be invested in both characters. 

Stream Arrival on Paramount+. 
Rent/buy Arrival on Amazon. 

The Immigrant (HBO Max)

The Immigrant stars Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner. The film is about a Polish immigrant, Ewa (Cotillard) who comes to America for a better life, but immediately faces an obstacle when her sister Magda (Angela Sarafyan) is quarantined. 

Like many great epic dramas, The Immigrant has everything you’ve come to love and expect from them: a love triangle, beautiful score, a dream-like filming quality, tragedy, and heartbreak. The Immigrant has three of the most highly acclaimed actors of the 21st Century, so that already puts it ahead of many films.

Stream The Immigrant on HBO Max. 
Rent/buy The Immigrant on Amazon.

Catch Jeremy Renner in Mayor of Kingstown, streaming every Sunday on Paramount+. Also, catch Jeremy Renner reprise his role as Clint Barton every Wednesday exclusively on Disney+. Hopefully, we’ll see more of Renner in the Marvel universe in other upcoming Marvel TV shows and movies. 

War is hell. Unless of course it’s Oscar season. Then, war movies like The Hurt Locker are awesome! In the over 90-year history of the Academy Awards, 16 war movies have won Best Picture at the Oscars. Compare that to Musicals that won Best Picture (10), Comedies (7) Westerns (4) and finally Fantasy (1), and you can clearly see that the Academy shines brightly on people getting gored or blown to smithereens set to dramatic music.

And I’m no better. My favorite movie is Apocalypse Now. I, like many other people, must seemingly love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like…Oscar bait. That said, some war movies are better than others, and I aim to inform you of which of the Best Picture winning war flicks you might want to check out, and which ones you might want to leave in the trenches. A-ten-hut!

16. Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Directed by William Wyler, who also directed Ben-Hur and the far superior war movie, The Best Years of Our Lives, this turkey, I mean, romantic war drama, is about a housewife (played by Greer Garson, who won Best Actress) who is left at home while the men in her life go off to war. But she handles it all bravely.

It’s not that Mrs. Miniver is bad. It’s just that it’s boring and also feels like propaganda. It won in 1943 and beat Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons, which is just no.

15. The English Patient (1996)

Speaking of boring, the movie that Elaine from Seinfeld hates, The English Patient is an exercise in tedium. Directed by Anthony Minghella, who also won Best Director, and starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, and Willem Dafoe, this film is about a horribly burned cartographer (Fiennes) who tells his story to a nurse about a romance he had prior to World War II.

I have tried to watch this movie twice and fell asleep both times. Visually, it looks nice, but this is much more of a romance movie than a war film, which is fine. It’s just not for me. Or Elaine, apparently. It famously beat Fargo in 1997, which is just plain wrong.

14. Gone With the Wind (1939)

Adjusted for inflation, Gone With the Wind is the highest grossing movie of all time, and I couldn’t tell you why. Directed by Victor Fleming, who also directed The Wizard of Oz, this epic romance stars a massive cast including Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, and Hattie McDaniel, who is the first black person to ever win an Academy Award. It takes place during the Civil War on the side of the losers. Yes, the losers.

I find Gone With the Wind to be bloated and boring. And I don’t even care about the racism. I just care that it’s too long. Plus, Scarlett O’Hara is one of the most annoying characters in cinema history. It beat both The Wizard of Oz and Stagecoach in 1940 and shouldn’t have beaten either.

13. Patton (1970)

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, who won and accepted his Best Director award, and starring George C. Scott who DIDN’T accept his Best Actor award, Patton is a biographical film about the famous general, George S. Patton. And George C. Scott is great in the role! It’s just the rest of the movie that’s super lackluster.

We get that great opening scene with the speech in front of the flag, but the rest of the film falls flat. I do like that it doesn’t lionize Patton, but I feel like the rest of the cast around George C. Scott might as well have been cardboard cutouts. It beat the far better war movie, MASH in 1971.

12. Braveheart (1995)

Notorious for its historical inaccuracies, Braveheart was directed by and stars Mel Gibson. He won Best Director, but wasn’t even nominated for his performance as Scottish Warrior, William Wallace.

Braveheart is a very violent film about the Scots vs. the King of England. It’s brought to you by the same man who would later make the story of Christ a splatterfest. The battles are cool in this one, but it just feels like something’s missing, story-wise. It beat Apollo 13 and Babe in 1996, and I would have given it to Babe.

11. Wings (1927)

The first film to ever win Best Picture (and the only silent film to win), Wings is about two pilots in WWI who start out as rivals, but eventually become friends... to tragic results.

This was also the only year that TWO movies won Best Picture, the other being Sunrise. I like Wings because the story is competent, and the aerial battles are pretty impressive, but there’s a love story shoved in that feels unnecessary. Sunrise is the far better film.

10. Platoon (1986)

Oliver Stone’s Vietnam film starring Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe and many others is about the war itself, but also about the men fighting it, and whether it was right or wrong. The answer isn’t entirely clear.

Platoon is a fine film that is very morose, but I just can’t shake the feeling that there are far better Vietnam movies, including Oliver Stone’s own follow-up, Born on the Fourth of July. The Academy Awards in 1987 were pretty weak though, so Platoon deserved the win.

9. The Hurt Locker (2009)

The first movie to have a woman (Kathryn Bigelow) win Best Director, The Hurt Locker, which stars Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie, is about bomb disposers in the Iraq War. It is the last war movie to win Best Picture.

The film is super intense, at parts, and an interesting character study. But I would have liked if it had shown more of what life is like after such deadly and traumatic events. It beat Avatar, which was the favorite, but I really would have preferred Inglorious Basterds, or even District 9, over The Hurt Locker.

8. The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

Directed by David Lean and based on a book by Pierre Boulle, who also, oddly enough, wrote the novel, Planet of the Apes, The Bridge on the River Kwai stars Alec Guinness, William Holden, and Jack Hawkins as British POWs, and Sessue Hayakawa as the Japanese colonel who is making them build the eponymous bridge over the River Kwai.

I like the movie, but it has pacing issues. I love that Hayakawa’s character has a ticking clock of his own to get the bridge completed, but I think a lot could have been cut out for a brisker story. The movie beat 12 Angry Men in 1958, which I don’t agree with at all. Lean also won for Best Director, but I’m okay with that. It’s an epic film.

7. From Here to Eternity (1953)

Directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Donna Reed, and Frank Sinatra, this war film takes place in Hawaii right before Pearl Harbor, so there’s a sense of dread throughout the entire movie.

But it’s not full of hopelessness! The characters are all just living their lives, and it’s only the viewer who understands that all of this is about to come to an end soon. It’s a master study on dramatic irony. It beat Shane in 1954, and I can live with that.

6. The Deer Hunter (1978)

Directed by Michael Cimino and starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, and Meryl Streep, this Vietnam drama is about steel workers who go to 'Nam, and come back different men.

I have heard that war feels like long stretches of boredom that are punctuated with quick bursts of adrenaline-pumping fear, and I feel the same way about this movie. Of course there’s the famous Russian roulette scene, but the rest of the film has glacial pacing. But that ending, though. Wow! It beat Coming Home in 1979, which is another good war drama.

5. All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)

The third movie to ever win Best Picture, All Quiet on the Western Front is a powerhouse. Showing the German side in WWI and actually making them sympathetic, Front is one of the greatest anti-war films ever made.

Lewis Milestone won Best Director, and it was well deserved. The men playing soldiers go from fear to disillusionment to hopelessness, sometimes in the very same scene. You’ve likely never heard of any of the films it beat in 1931, because I sure haven’t.

4. Casablanca (1943)

Directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca is about an American ex-patriot nightclub owner (Bogart) who reignites with an old flame (Bergman), but still does the right thing, since his former lover has a husband.

Considered the greatest film of all time by some, Casablanca is a great movie with tons of intrigue and romance, but it doesn’t really feel like a war movie, as the war is completely in the backdrop. That’s fine, but I don’t really think of this as a war movie at all. Not even a little. The film beat 9 other movies to win the title, with The Ox-Bow Incident being the only other movie I’ve seen.

3. Schindler’s List (1993)

Steven Spielberg’s best film is also his most personal. Starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, and Caroline Goodall, this Holocaust film explicitly shows the true horrors in the concentration camps, and the people who stepped up to do what was right.

Schindler’s List is another “war” film that doesn’t really feel like a war film, as it shows the often unheard of sufferers from the great war. It earns its tears, and should be forever shown in schools around the world, despite (or maybe because of) its horrors. It beat the also great The Piano in 1994.

2. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

David Lean won yet again for Lawrence of Arabia, which stars real soldier, T.E. Lawrence, as he banded with other Arab nations to take down the Turks in the desert.

What can be said about Lawrence that hasn’t already been said? Epic in scope, this is the kind of film that is fine on the TV, but would be amazing on the big screen. Plus, instead of focusing on multiple soldiers, the story is much more focused on the life of just one and how his actions created a massive ripple effect. It beat the also great To Kill a Mockingbird in 1963, but come on now. It’s Lawrence of Arabia, one of the greatest movies of all time. It had to win.

1. The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)

Interestingly, the director of this film, William Wyler, did both the worst movie on this list, as well as the best. Starring Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell, The Best Years of Our Lives is about three veterans returning from World War II and suffering from then undiagnosed P.T.S.D. The Deer Hunter is kind of like this, too, but that movie’s much less subtle, and the subtlety is what makes this movie a masterpiece.

We get a sense that these are changed men, but they’re struggling to understand that it’s them who’ve changed and not the world itself. It’s powerful stuff, and it even beat It’s a Wonderful Life, which I also love, but not as much as this heavy drama.

War movies will always have a seat at the table (1917, anyone?), as long as Hollywood keeps making them. But what do you think is the greatest war movie to win Best Picture? Sound off in the poll below!

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Did you know that Anthony Mackie went to the Juilliard School for acting? I know, right? But it actually makes perfect sense. While most people think of the Captain America movies or The Falcon and the Winter Soldier when they think of the actor, Anthony Mackie's movie and television performances are far more diverse than just superhero flicks.

In fact, more than half of the performances on this list have nothing to do with the MCU. And while Mackie has impeccable comic timing, a majority of these performances are for deeply dramatic roles. So, without further ado, Anthony Mackie’s best performances in television and film.

10. Frank (Half Nelson)

If you want proof that Anthony Mackie can be a great villain, then look no further than Half Nelson, where he plays a drug dealer. In this drama, which also stars Ryan Gosling as a druggie middle school teacher named Dan, Anthony Mackie’s character, Frank, is not helping Dan’s problems. Especially since Frank is leading one of Dan’s favorite students, named Drey (played by Shareeka Epps) down the wrong path.

Anthony Mackie is smarmy, but also charming in the way that only he can pull off. It’s a far cry from the kind of hero he would later play in the MCU, but that’s the whole point, right?

9. Kris (The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete)

Speaking of drug dealers, Mackie plays another one in this coming-of-age story about two young boys who do anything they can just to survive after their mothers are taken into custody. Both this and Half Nelson feature a bad guy Mackie, but I find him to be a lot more intimidating in this one.

It might be the mohawk and the James Harden beard, but it’s fascinating to see a story of two young kids just trying to get by, and Mackie being a total scumbag. If you think it’s impossible to dislike Mackie after seeing him in his more playful roles, then do yourself a favor and check out his performance in The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete. You won’t like him after this one.

8. Falcon (Captain America: Civil War)

I’m actually going to go in chronological order when it comes to Anthony Mackie’s tenure as Falcon since he’s grown with each film. First appearing in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Falcon truly came into his own in Captain America: Civil War, where he teamed up with Bucky Barnes, a.k.a The Winter Soldier, to fight on Team Cap.

This performance is fantastic since it shows some of that great humor of Mackie’s that I mentioned in the intro. Mackie’s Sam Wilson always has something funny to say to add levity to the situation, and he makes flying around and kicking butt about as believable as possible given the role. We also see him vying to be Captain America’s new best friend as opposed to Cap’s old best friend, Bucky. This movie sets up the playful back-and-forth banter we come to expect in every new episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

7. Shawrelle Berry (Million Dollar Baby)

Anthony Mackie is barely even in this Academy Award winning movie, but that doesn’t make his presence any less enjoyable. Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby is about an over the hill coach, played by Eastwood, who’s training a female boxer, played by Hillary Swank. Mackie is also a boxer, and he’s training to be the best, but he’s a total asshole who gets on everybody’s nerves. Not only that, but he’s the kind of guy who would punch an old man, as he spars with Morgan Freeman’s character, Eddie.

But, and here’s the great thing about Mackie’s performance, he plays such a jerk that you legitimately feel good when Morgan Freeman knocks him out. It takes a lot to be that irritating, but Mackie pulls it off with gusto.

6. Danny Parker (Black Mirror)

Black Mirror has a number of great episodes, but one of my favorites is “Striking Vipers”. Mackie is exquisite as a straight man who finds that he has sexual feelings toward his best friend, who is also a male, in a video game that is reminiscent of Mortal Kombat.

Like with most things, Black Mirror had its finger on the pulse with this episode, as it dropped on Netflix right around the same time that gender pronouns like he/him, she/her, and they/them, were becoming widely accepted. Mackie’s performance as a married man who is conflicted about what it means to be sexually attracted to his best friend who has picked a female avatar is riveting throughout, and you trust it all the way through. It’s a knock-out performance, and a brave one.

5. Falcon (Avengers: Infinity War)

While Mackie’s role as Falcon in this one may not have been as expansive as it was in The Winter Soldier or Civil War, his performance is probably more dramatic in this one than in any other MCU film. Avengers: Infinity War is a surprisingly dark movie for a Disney film, and it’s all due to Thanos’ snap, which eliminated half the universe.

Sure, everybody remembers Spider-Man’s, “Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good” moment, but Falcon’s fantastic death is so much more subtle and understated. The look on his face is much more potent in that it reveals both surprise, but also acceptance. It’s not overblown and swinging for the fences. Instead, we see a man who doesn’t understand his fate, but is accepting of it all the same. Powerful stuff.

4. Martin Luther King Jr. (All The Way)

I actually saw All The Way on Broadway before it became an HBO film. And while that version also had Bryan Cranston as LBJ, it had a different actor playing Martin Luther King, Jr. And here’s the thing, the actor who portrayed MLK sounded just like him, but by that, I mean every line he uttered sounded like it came from one of MLK's speeches. It was a good performance, sure, but it didn’t sound natural. It was nowhere near David Oyelowo’s performance in Selma, which I think is quite possibly the greatest portrayal of Dr. King in any movie ever.

But All The Way isn’t strictly about MLK, and for that, I think Mackie does an excellent job. Does Mackie look or even sound like Martin Luther King Jr.? No, not really. But he definitely has the spirit of MLK. And he imbues the role like no other actor in that he is a lot more aggressive with his ambitions than the typical MLK that you see in films. No, Mackie’s Dr. King knows he likely doesn’t have much time left, and it takes an actor like Mackie to portray King in that manner. It’s a sterling performance, even if it’s not quite the one you expect.

3. King (The Hate U Give)

Speaking of Kings, Anthony Mackie is the complete opposite of MLK as he plays a gang leader named King in the movie adaptation of Angie Thomas’s mega popular YA novel, The Hate U Give. Starring Amandla Stenberg as a girl named Starr who witnesses the murder of her friend at the hands of a police officer, Anthony Mackie possibly plays an even bigger villain as somebody who rules the neighborhood with an iron fist.

This role is so tremendous because the film shows both sides of Starr’s world as she’s a black girl who goes to a white school in another part of town. Mackie’s character, King, is a major reason why Starr doesn’t go to the inner-city school, and also why her family works so hard to get her away from the negative influence that King has on the neighborhood. It really takes a lot to be a character who is even worse than a police officer who mistakenly kills a black teenager, but Mackie nails it. He truly is the very worst in this picture.

2. Sam Wilson/Falcon (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier)

And now we’re back with The Falcon again. I think this is Mackie’s best performance as the superhero since the emotions run high on this Disney+ show. It might be because this series actually has something important to say about race, class, and what it means to represent America.

You see, in this show, it’s not so simple to just be a superhero. In fact, this show often presents the question of not only what it means to be a black hero, but what it means to be a black American in general. Scenes of Sam wrestling with the idea of saving the universe and still not being able to get a loan could resonate with anybody, but it specifically resonates with certain minorities who have faced this kind of prejudice in the past. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is the first real project, outside of Black Panther, that is taking a definitive stance on race, and Falcon is at the center of that. Thankfully, Mackie’s acting can do a lot of the heavy lifting.

1. Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (The Hurt Locker)

True story, the first time I had ever seen Anthony Mackie was at a New York Comic-Con. But it wasn’t for anything MCU related. No. It was for The Hurt Locker, of all things. Mackie was there to present a clip of the film before it came out in theaters. The film, which is about soldiers who dispose of bombs in Iraq, also stars fellow Avenger, Hawkeye, played by Jeremy Renner. But it was Mackie’s performance that really blew me away.

In probably his best role, Mackie’s character, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn, isn’t about the life of somebody who disposes of bombs. And you witness just how difficult it is to be out in the field with a madman like Renner’s character, who lives for the intensity of being out in the battlefield. At one point of the film, Mackie’s character even suggests that they kill Renner’s character and make it look like an accident since Renner’s character is so reckless. But Mackie’s acting is so good that you really don’t even blame him for considering this. It’s a fantastic performance, and the one that will always stick with me when it comes to the actor.

Anthony Mackie is one of the finest actors we have today. But what do you think? Sound off in the poll below what you think is Anthony Mackie’s greatest performance.

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Every movie fan has their favorite genre, but few can deny that one with the most addictive qualities is action. Whether you have a preference for suave secret agents like James Bond, over-the-top stunts like Tom Cruise performs in the Mission: Impossible franchise, or something with a sci-fi twist like Terminator: Dark Fate, there is something, quite simply, intoxicating about how Hollywood likes to blow stuff up. If you have a subscription to Amazon Prime Video, your next adrenaline high is just one click away.

The popular streaming platform has more action movies at its disposal than I can even begin to count. I can, however, easily narrow down the number of flicks featuring intense gunfights, dazzling hand-to-hand combat sequences, high-octane car chases, and plenty of explosions that I personally consider to be genuinely worth your time. I have compiled my own top picks on the subject that are currently available on Amazon Prime (which rounded out to a main total of 12) for you below, starting with a more recent hit featuring one of the greatest action movie stars of all time.

Live Free Or Die Hard (2007)

John McClane (Bruce Willis) teams up with a young computer hacker (Justin Long) targeted by cyberterrorists who soon become acquainted with the veteran cop’s old school brand of justice over Fourth of July weekend.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: The fourth installment of this beloved action franchise, Live Free or Die Hard, is rarely considered the favorite. Yet, even for how easily a 50-plus John McClane escapes death throughout, I think most would agree it is still a more unapologetically entertaining treat and comparatively grounded experience than the fifth movie.

Stream Live Free or Die Hard on Amazon Prime here.

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966)

A mild-mannered bounty hunter (Clint Eastwood), a cold-blooded contract killer (Lee Van Cleef), and a goofy wanted criminal (Eli Wallach) each attempt to outwit each in each other in search of hidden loot during the Civil War.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: The last and, arguably, best of director Sergio Leone’s iconic “Dollars” Trilogy may more accurately fall under the western category, but everything from Ennio Morricone’s Oscar-winning score, the three leads’ ace-high performances, and the intense final act makes The Good, the Bad and the Ugly just as thrilling as modern actioner.

Stream The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on Amazon Prime here.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

A master warrior (Chow Yun-Fat) and his equally skilled friend (Michelle Yeoh) join forces to retrieve his famed sword from a young thief in the latter years of the China’s Qing Dynasty.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: Speaking of westerns, the genre is known for being largely inspired by traditional kung-fu movies, but director Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning, Taiwanese blockbuster Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a masterpiece of unprecedented beauty, incorporating a fighting style that literally defies gravity.

Stream Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on Amazon Prime here.

The Last Of The Mohicans (1992)

The remaining survivors of a dying Native American tribe must endure the conflict of the French and Indian War when tasked with rescuing the kidnapped daughters of a British colonel.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: The great Daniel Day-Lewis has never been more badass than in yet another period piece on our list, The Last of the Mohicans - director Michael Mann’s Oscar-winning adaptation of the novel by James Fenimore Cooper.

Stream The Last of the Mohicans on Amazon Prime here.

Casino Royale (2006)

After being promoted to the prestigious 00 status, an MI6 agent is enlisted for his exceptional poker skills to best a shady terrorist funder in a high-stakes international tournament.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: After Daniel Craig took over the role of James Bond in Casino Royale, an exceptionally gritty adaptation of Ian Fleming’s first 007 novel, the enduring spy franchise would never be the same again.

Stream Casino Royale on Amazon Prime here.

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Amnesiac Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) uncovers more secrets from his past as a government assassin as his ongoing conflict with the CIA hits its peak.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: Many like to credit James Bond’s gruffer reinvention in recent years to the popularity of this franchise inspired by the novels of author Robert Ludlum, which director Paul Greengrass’ relentless and immersive third installment, The Bourne Ultimatum, is widely considered its finest chapter.

Stream The Bourne Ultimatum on Amazon Prime here.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Veteran IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his trusted crew (Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, and Jeremy Renner) are left to their own devices to figure out how to clear their names when they are framed for bombing the Kremlin.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: I would personally credit Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, the fourth installment and director Brad Bird’s live action-debut, for reinventing this ongoing espionage franchise as the fool-proof blend of engaging complexity and hair-raising stunts it is lovingly known as today.

Stream Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol on Amazon Prime here. *

*Also try Mission: Impossible - Fallout.

Clear And Present Danger (1994)

Soon after he is suddenly appointed as the CIA’s acting Deputy Director of Intelligence, skilled analyst Jack Ryan becomes wrapped up in a covert conflict between a Colombian drug cartel and the US government.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: Jack Ryan has recently found new life on his own Amazon Prime original series as played by John Krasinski, but many still prefer Harrison Ford as Tom Clancy’s best-known action hero and his second time in the role in Clear and Present Danger is clear proof as to why.

Stream Clear and Present Danger on Amazon Prime here.

The Hurt Locker (2009)

A staff sergeant’s (Jeremy Renner) “devil may care” attitude puts him at odds with his aides (Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty) after he is reassigned to lead a military bomb disposal unit stationed in Iraq.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win a Best Director Oscar for that year’s Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker - a military film unlike any for its intense, enveloping cinematography and stirring analysis of the addictive qualities of war.

Stream The Hurt Locker on Amazon Prime here.

The Avengers (2012)

A wealthy mechanical genius, a soldier out of his own time, a scientist with a wicked anger problem, a brilliant former assassin, an unequivocally skilled archer, and a godly warrior come together to defeat the latter’s adoptive brother when he unleashes a powerful extraterrestrial army onto Manhattan.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: Jeremy Renner later became a different kind of soldier when he was cast as Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which first brought its most famous comic book icons together in The Avengers - an unprecedented feat that greatly exceeded expectations for its masterful balance of multiple larger-than-life characters surrounded by larger-than-life excitement.

Stream The Avengers on Amazon Prime here.

Also try Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor.

Face/Off (1997)

In order to prevent a bomb threat, an FBI agent (John Travolta) undergoes an experimental procedure to pose as his comatose longtime rival (Nicolas Cage), but is horrified to find the sadistic terrorist has woken up and assumed his appearance, too.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: Admittedly, the laughably far-fetched literal meaning behind the title of Face/Off has since thrown this John Woo-directed thriller into the guilty pleasure category, but what a pleasure it truly is to see a totally unplugged Travolta and Cage in a bloody, over-the-top battle of wits.

Stream Face/Off on Amazon Prime here.

MacGruber (2010)

A bumbling former special agent (Will Forte) is forced out of retirement to prevent his arch-enemy (Val Kilmer) from using a stolen nuclear weapon on Washington D.C.

Why It Is One Of The Best Action Movies On Amazon Prime: In this case, the far-fetched elements are intentionally laughable in MacGruber, which expands Saturday Night Live’s recurring, one-joke parody of ‘80s action show MacGyver into a clever parody of ‘80s action movie cliches.

Stream MacGruber on Amazon Prime here.

What do you think? Are you part of the fandom that believes box office failure MacGruber is better than how it was first was initially received, or are you the kind of fan who balks at anything that ridicules your over-the-top, high-octane cinematic favorites? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on the current state of the action genre, as well as even more of our own recommendations for what is currently available to stream, here on CinemaBlend.

There was a time before Captain America: The Winter Soldier when Anthony Mackie wasn't the high-flying and quick-witted Avenger, but instead a great character actor (which he has continued to do over the years) and showed up in some of the most important films of the early 21st Century.

With appearances in Academy Award-winning pictures like Million Dollar Baby and The Hurt Locker, biopics like 2009's Notorious, and even a Spike Lee Joint, Mackie has given it his all in roles that may be overshadowed by his Marvel work. So, as we look toward a future where Sam Wilson may or may not be the next Captain America, here are 10 Anthony Mackie performances you may have forgotten about.

Papa Doc / Clarence - 8 Mile

Those who thought Anthony Mackie's Marvel debut was something should go back and watch the 2002 Eminem-led drama 8 Mile and take in the brilliance of Mackie's take on the hardened "Papa Doc," real-name Clarence, who may or may not be all he's cracked up to be. Papa Doc is a thorn in the side of Eminem's Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith throughout the second half of the movie and finds himself on the losing side of the aspiring rappers' battle in the film's final act. Go back and look at the cold expression on Anthony Mackie's face during the teardown of his privileged background and how he says so much without saying a word.

Perry - Brother To Brother

In 2004, Anthony Mackie gave one of his most touching performances in Rodney Evans' drama Brother to Brother, in which he played Perry, a gay art student kicked out of his parents' house who has a chance encounter with an older homeless man, Bruce (Roger Robinson), who has ties to the Harlem Renaissance. Throughout this 97-minute feature, Bruce tells all sorts of stories about working and living among legends of the era while Perry realizes that what he's going through is nothing new tries to come to terms with a world that won't come to terms with him.

Shawrelle Berry - Million Dollar Baby

Anthony Mackie has this way about him that makes it seem like he doesn't have to put any effort into portraying a jerk. He has this look in his eyes, sound in his voice, and expression on his face in scenes like the one in Million Dollar Baby where his character, Shawrelle Berry, beats down on Jay Baruchel's "Danger" with no remorse or respect but only to get knocked out by Morgan Freeman's Eddie Dupris. It's the swagger, cockiness, and flat out disregard for anyone and everyone that makes the character so believable, even if he's barely in the movie and is overshadowed by the A-listers taking up residence throughout the Academy Award-winning picture.

Adrian Doorbal - Pain & Gain

Less than a year before Anthony Mackie introduced himself to the world in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he gave one of the best performances of his career in Michael Bay's 2013 crime drama Pain & Gain. Appearing alongside Mark Wahlberg as Daniel Lugo and Dwayne Johnson as Paul Doyle, Mackie portrayed Adrian "Noel" Doorbal, a trainer at Lugo's Miami gym who gets caught up in Lugo's plan that ultimately leads to the kidnapping, extortion, torture, and murder of several victims. If the movie wasn't so graphic and tragic in its presentation, pretty much every scene involving Mackie's character would be hilarious, especially when detailing his troubles caused by steroids.

Sergeant J.T. Sanborn - The Hurt Locker

Anthony Mackie was a star in the making when he was cast in Kathryn Bigelow's 2008 Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker, and the Academy Award-winning picture only helped further propel his career. Starring alongside future Captain America: Civil War buddy Jeremy Renner, Mackie gave it his all in his portrayal of U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unite member Sergeant J.T. Sanborn, even if that meant spending a lot of time getting into arguments with Renner's Sergeant First Class William James, which happens quite a bit. Watching as Mackie's character finds himself in tough situations with a man he can't fully trust or understand never gets old, even after all these years.

John Henry "Jack" Armstrong - She Hate Me

The 2004 Spike Lee joint She Hate Me sees a young Anthony Mackie take on the role of John Henry "Jack" Armstrong, a disgraced corporate executive who is forced to find ways to make ends meet after his assets are frozen. Things get complicated, however, when Armstrong's ex-fiancée, Fatima Goodrich (Kerry Washington) and her new girlfriend, Alex Guerrero (Dania Ramirez) pay him to impregnate them both, he comes up with a new idea for a business venture, one that ends up leading to a great deal of trouble.

Tupac Shakur - Notorious

Long before there was a biopic based on the life and career of Tupac Shakur, Anthony Mackie portrayed the slain rapper in the 2009 drama Notorious, which followed the rise and fall of Tupac's friend-turned-enemy The Notorious B.I.G. And although it's not the best biopic out there, Notorious does do a great job of retelling the soured friendship and bitter rivalry shared by the hip hop stars in the months leading up to their respective murders. The way that Jamal Woolard's Biggie Smalls and Mackie's Tupac interact with one another sets to the tone for this section of the film and the tragedy that follows.

Hammer - Haven

Anthony Mackie was arguably one of the hardest working young actors in 2004, with five movies with his name on the billing being released that year. You can add the crime thriller Haven, which centers around life in the Cayman Islands to that list. In Frank E. Flowers' drama, which also features Orlando Bloom, Zoë Saldana, and Bill Paxton, to name a few, Mackie plays Hammer, the overprotective and doomed brother of Saldana's Andrea who finds himself in a situation in which he cannot escape. Haven always seems to fly under the radar, but it shouldn't be overlooked if not just for Mackie's performance.

Frank - Half Nelson

Ryan Fleck's 2006 drama Half Nelson is mostly remembered for its depiction of troubled school teacher Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) and the close bond his has with one of his students, Drey (Shareeka Epps), but one of the driving forces of the film's plot is Anthony Mackie's Frank. When Frank, the neighborhood dealer, sinks his teeth into the young Drey and gets her to start running drugs for him, it starts the ride that will end with Dunne's two worlds colliding. Released in the beginning of what would be a busy year for Mackie, Half Nelson proved once again that the talented actor had staying power.

Harry Mitchell - The Adjustment Bureau

The 2011 science fiction thriller The Adjustment Bureau centers around Congressman David Norris (Matt Damon) after he discovers that his entire life is nothing more than a series of events controlled by a mysterious organization. When one of the organization's attempts to prevent David from meeting Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) fails because Harry Mitchell (Anthony Mackie) falls asleep, a series of events are put into motion that will potentially change everything. Throughout the movie, Harry serves as a protector for David and helps him escape various situations and literally opens doors for him. And it does it with such style and sophistication, it's hard to not enjoy it.

Those are just 10 of Anthony Mackie's pre-Captain America roles. Make sure to sound off in the comments below and let everyone know which one is your favorite or if one was left off.

I know you’ve heard this one before, but if you’re a movie fan, then the Oscars are your Super Bowl. Yeah, it’s super corny, but it’s also super true. If you’re a cinephile, (and you must be if you’re reading an article about the Oscars in the summer), then the Academy Awards are your Super Bowl, and the Golden Globes are your playoffs. And this is because the Oscars is the biggest event of the year for movies, and you’re actually super knowledgeable about it, too. You know the movies that are nominated, and might have even seen all of them during the past year. Plus, if somebody were to bet on the Oscars and wanted to know your thoughts, you could comfortably say, “Well, 1917 looks like the favorite, but Parasite might take it all.”

But with Covid-19 pretty much making 2020 a disaster movie, who knows if we'll even get an Academy Awards this year, or at least, it will probably look much different. Hopefully, the Oscar-bait will still come out in the normal months, but who’s to say? With that in mind, I thought it might be good to look back at this past decade to have a sort of a battle royale to see which Best Picture winner was the best. Now, you’re likely to disagree with this list, but that’s what comments sections are for! 

So, without further ado, here is every Best Picture Winner since 2010, ranked. Oh, and note that the years beside the entries are for when the movie won Best Picture, not for when the movie came out.

11. The Artist (2012)

Talk about a movie riding its gimmick to the big show. Starring Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, The Artist is pretty much a less enjoyable version of Singin’ in the Rain. It’s about the silent era of film, and how a movie star falls in love with a dancer. It’s in black and white and also deals with the rough transition some silent stars had when the “talkies” were introduced. It has all the hallmarks of Oscar-bait, but none of the depth.

The Artist is not a bad movie, per se, and it’s quant enough to be enjoyable. But it’s also nothing special. That particular year didn’t really have any huge stand-out films to challenge it (except for maybe The Tree of Life), but when it comes to Oscar winners for Best Picture, this is one of the more boring picks.

10. Green Book (2019)

Green Book just narrowly missed my pick for the “worst” Best Picture winner of the 2010s, but only because I forgot about The Artist when making this list. It’s the story of the real-life black musician, Donald Shirley (played by the Oscar-winning Mahershala Ali) as he’s escorted into the racist deep south by real-life tough guy, Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga (played by Viggo Mortensen). Tony Lip starts out as racist, but then acquires a new understanding of black people while traveling with Shirley. Shirley also learns to reconcile with his black background and loosen up a little bit. It’s the feel-good movie of 2018!

But it’s also really bland. Like The Artist, it’s fine, but this was also the year of BlackKklansman and the mega box office hit, Black Panther. If you’re going to pick a movie about race, why this one?

9. The Shape of Water (2018)

Shout out to Guillermo del Toro for making a sexy time version of Creature from the Black Lagoon. It’s about a mute janitor (played by Sally Hawkins) who falls in love with a sea creature man. It’s super artsy, and super classy, too. Way to go, Guillermo!

But you know what? Maybe The Shape of Water is a bit too classy. For a plot like this, it seems to take itself super seriously, and even though del Toro does a great job of navigating the story and the characters, it just feels a tad bit pretentious. Plus, this was the year of Get Out, which will likely be remembered long after The Shape of Water is forgotten. It’s an okay film, but not the best pick for, er… Best Pic.

8. The King’s Speech (2011)

2010 was a really good year for films. Inception, Toy Story 3, Black Swan, The Fighter, and of course, The Social Network would have all been acceptable and preferred winners. Instead, we got a movie about King George VI (Played by Colin Firth) having a stammer, and the speech coach (Geoffrey Rush) who helps him overcome it. Fascinating.

But you know what, it actually is! Yes, The Social Network definitely spoke to the zeitgeist more, but The King’s Speech is an overall more enjoyable film. It has great drama, great humor, and excellent characters. I personally would have picked The Fighter for this year, but The King’s Speech is not a bad pick at all.

7. The Hurt Locker (2010)

No pun intended, but The Hurt Locker started off the decade with a bang. It’s about a Sergeant (Jeremy Renner) in the Iraq War who gets his rocks off disabling bombs. There’s more to it, but that’s about the size of it. It was directed by Kathryn Bigelow who was the first (and alas, only) woman to win Best Director.

The Hurt Locker is a tense movie and a provocative one since it came out while the Iraq War was still ongoing. It’s a difficult movie to watch at times, but it’s also engrossing all the way. This was also the first year that there were 10 nominations rather than 5 for Best Picture, and it deserved to beat all of its competitors. Yes, even Inglorious Basterds.

6. Moonlight (2017)

Best Picture winner La La Land, I mean, Moonlight, tackles a controversial topic in the often religious African American community—homosexuality. And it tackles it beautifully. Told in three parts of a black man’s life, Moonlight is the movie that’s too good for all of us.

It’s just a beautiful film overall, and if there’s any problems with it, it’s that some sections (most notably the last leg of the film) are not as good as other parts. It’s a slightly lopsided movie, to be sure, but when it hits, it hits hard.

5. Parasite (2020)

The most recent winner on this list is definitely one of the better ones. It’s the first foreign film to ever win Best Picture, and out of the films nominated (I’ll get to that in a second), it definitely deserved the win. Parasite is a story about class. And it’s an interesting one, since it deals with not only how the rich views the poor, but also how the poor views the poor as well. It also feels different from most Western films, since there’s a complete tonal shift toward the end, making it a sort of horror movie comedy? It’s hard to describe, but it’s wonderful because of it.

Parasite is fantastic, but a strong contender for 2019’s other best movie, Uncut Gems, wasn’t even nominated. What’s up with that?

4. Argo (2013)

Ben Affleck was robbed. Based on a true story, Argo is about a CIA agent (played by Affleck, who also directed the film) who pretends to be a producer for a sci-fi flick in order to get six Americans out of Iran. It’s tense, it’s funny, and it’s a history lesson, all in one!

For its plot, you would think Argo would get caught up in being the thriller that it’s billed as, but it’s also a really funny movie. The tension gets ratcheted up sky high, but the film is so engaging that you’re always along for the ride. Argo F yourself if you don’t like this movie.

3. 12 Years A Slave (2014)

By far the hardest Best Picture winner on this list to watch, 12 Years A Slave is the true story of Solomon Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor). Solomon is a free man who got captured in the North and sold down in the South. Probably the most harrowing movie about American slavery ever put to film, Lupita Nyong’o also won an Academy Award for her portrayal of an abused slave.

12 Years a Slave is unabashed and raw. It’s not a film that’s begging for you to like it (like The Artist). Instead, it’s a film that doesn’t care what you think. And for that, it’s a bold choice for Best Picture. That said, I would have preferred Dallas Buyers Club for that year, because, well, I love that movie.

2. Spotlight (2016)

Spotlight is our All The President’s Men. But unlike All The President’s Men, it actually won Best Picture! It’s the true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered and covered (see what I did there?) the sexual molestation going on in the Catholic Church. It’s meticulous and rich in detail, just like all good journalism should be.

Spotlight is the kind of movie that doesn’t seem to exist anymore. Sure, there are still newsroom pictures today, but none that are really unvarnished and play it straight like Spotlight does. There’s no bombast, and no spectacle, and the movie’s all the better for it. Just excellent acting and fantastic storytelling all around. Who knew a movie so straightforward could be so riveting?

1. Birdman (2015)

I might catch hell for this, but for me, Birdman is not only the best movie to win Best Picture in the past 10 years, but also the best American film in that time frame as well. It’s super meta, and Michael Keaton (who should have won Best Actor) is perfect in the role as a former superhero actor who’s trying to hang on to the last vestiges of his career by writing and directing a hoity toity Broadway play. But while this is going on, he’s kind of going crazy in the process, and his old character is coming to take over his brain.

It’s rhythmic, it’s hilarious, and it’s brilliant. I know I bemoaned The Artist at the start of this article for being gimmicky, and there are plenty of people who will say that Birdman’s “single-shot” trick is a gimmick. But I actually feel that it works into the plot since the character himself has a mind that never stops moving, so it’s all just poetry to me. Absolute poetry. Boyhood would have been the easier pick, given how long it took to make, but Birdman is the more audacious and correct pick for Best Picture.

So, as you see, I love the Academy Awards. And so do you! But what do you think was the best movie of the 2010s and why? Sound off in the comments.

This poll is no longer available.

When it comes to making great movies, sometimes you just can't do any better than real life. Sometimes you can't create a story that's any more amazing than the things people have actually done. However, quite often, those stories aren't perfect, and then a movie that tries to improve on the reality ends up losing much of what made the real events special.

This weekend, we'll see Andrew Garfield portray Desmond Doss in Hacksaw Ridge. Doss was a real man, and, for the most part, the film does appear to stay close to the reality of the situation. But not every movie about real wars has been so good about that. Not every movie here is actually based on a true story, but they all contain true events that didn't quite unfold the way they were shown on screen. Starting with:

Saving Private Ryan

The quest for Matt Damon's Private Ryan so that he may be brought home alive to his grieving mother never really happened. However, D-Day absolutely did. The invasion of France was one of the largest military action's ever undertaken, but if you were to base your knowledge on what happened in the movie Saving Private Ryan, you'd think that the US was the only nation involved. However, the taking of Omaha Beach included British and Canadian forces as well as free French. None of them are ever seen or spoken to during or after the invasion. They risked their lives just as much, it would have been nice to show them a little on-screen consideration.

The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker won Best Picture, so surely that means its depiction of a bomb disposal team in a war zone was an accurate one, right? Not so much. While the attitudes of some of the characters likely don't make for the best Explosive Ordinance Disposal teams, from a more fact-based standpoint we can say that EOD squads don't work as three man teams who take action without communications equipment. The teams are usually about twice that size and the idea of them working without communications gear is just nuts. The Hurt Locker is praised by many for everything it got right about being in Iraq, but it missed that part.

Glory

Glory is a great movie with great performances. However, the characters they create are all wrong. Most of the characters that we get to know in Glory, like those played by Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington, are runaway slaves. However, the regiment that was depicted in the movie, the 84th Massachusetts, was made up of free blacks, not runaways from the south. It makes for a better movie if those who have experienced slavery are the ones doing the fighting against those that want to save the institution, but that's just not how it happened.

Pearl Harbor

Saying that there are factual inaccuracies in a Michael Bay movie is probably not the craziest thing ever said. Finding them in Pearl Harbor isn't exactly difficult, and while the vast majority of the characters in the movie are meant to be fictional, one of them does something in the film that is just too ridiculous for words. Ben Affleck's character joins the Eagle Squadron, which existed for American volunteers who wanted to fight in the Royal Air Force prior to America's involvement in World War II. The problem is that active duty members of the American Air Force were not allowed to join it. It's a minor conflict to join the active militaries of two different countries, especially when one of them isn't a party to a war yet.

The Great Escape

The events of The Great Escape actually happened. Early in the morning on March 25, 1944, 76 men crawled through a tunnel they had built and escaped a German POW camp. The thing was, they were all English. Steve McQueen's character of Virgil Hilts didn't exist, at all. There was no motorcycle chase through the countryside. All of that was added because in 1963, even more so than today, studios were afraid that a Hollywood movie without Americans in it would fail at the box office. The tale is perfectly amazing, and tragic, without making the star of the picture a guy who didn't actually do a damn thing.

Battle of the Bulge

Along with the invasion of France at D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge was one of the turning points of World War II. However, you'd have a completely inaccurate view of what the actual battle looked like, which is sort of a big deal when your movie is named after the battle. The battle was launched from the Ardennes Forest area of Europe, and yet the battle takes place primarily on flat, open terrain. The weather is also remarkably lovely during the fights in the movie, something that would not have actually been the case considering the battle took place in December and January.

U-571

Where does one even begin with this one? U-571 is so inaccurate that it actually offends people. English people, to be precise. The film depicts the American capture of a German submarine in order to obtain an Enigma machine so that the Allies can attempt to break the German codes. Americans never came close to being the ones that achieved this huge success. The British captured the first Enigma machine in May of 1941, before the U.S. was even involved in World War II. The events of U-571 don't even take place until a year later, so even if the events of the film were true, they're also unnecessary.

As we learned earlier today, there is some really great stuff heading to Netflix in February – including Full Metal Jacket, Sin City, and the first season of Better Call Saul - but the end of January means that we will also soon be seeing a lot of movies heading off of the streaming service. The good news, however, is that there is still some time for you to catch them before they disappear.

There’s a hefty handful of titles that will be leaving Netflix in February 2016, but we’ve picked out the 10 best that you should be watching before they go. Read on for our recommendations!

The Terminator

The last week has not really been a good one for the Terminator franchise. First it was announced that Paramount Pictures has removed their Terminator Genisys sequel from the release calendar, and now we have the news that the film that started it all will soon no longer be streaming on Netflix. The good news is that any time is a good time to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger go hunting for Sarah Connor, including the final week of January.

Bad Santa

If you’re like me, you carved out some time in your busy December schedule to watch Terry Zwigoff’s brilliant holiday comedy Bad Santa… but just in case you didn’t, you may want to watch it now before it disappears from Netflix. Billy Bob Thornton honestly gives one of the best performances of his career, and while the movie is all kinds of fucked up, it’s also the kind of film that will have you still falling out of your chair during the fourth viewing.

United 93

There have been many, many films released since September 11, 2001 that have meditated on the effect that the terrible events of that day had on our world, but there arguably isn’t a better movie out there specifically about the attacks than Paul Greengrass’ United 93. Telling the story of the events that occurred on the plane that ultimately crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the feature is deeply emotional and powerful, while serving as a great tribute to those who lost their lives. You have a little extra time for this one, as the film won’t be leaving Netflix until February 11th, so you should most definitely take advantage.

Ray

Now that we’re back in the heart of Oscar season, now is the best time to look back at some of the big winners of years past. One such title that you should probably consider revisiting is Taylor Hackford’s Ray. The biopic about famed blind pianist Ray Charles admittedly hits on some notable tropes of the music biopic genre, but it’s worth watching just for Jamie Foxx’s fantastic and Academy Award-earning performance, and the brilliant music.

The Hurt Locker

Pretty much every Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards is the subject of controversy, from How Green Was My Valley to Crash, but The Hurt Locker surely has to be one of the most agreeable winners ever. Not only is the film insanely intense and an incredible character story, but it turned Jeremy Renner into a household name (for which we’ll long be thankful). Watch it on Netflix before February just to remember how damn good it is.

The Naked Gun

The spoof genre has been in trouble for a long time now, but the good news is that we can still look back at the classics and laugh heartily… and The Naked Gun certainly ranks as one of the best. From the minds of Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker, the film is a perfect send up of the generic police procedural, and has lines, characters and sequences that cinefiles will be revisiting and enjoying forever. What I’m really trying to say is that Leslie Nielsen is a comedy god, and you all need to pay tribute.

Big Fish

Tim Burton has been known to get a bit lost in his own unique style (especially in the last 10 years), but Big Fish is both one of his most subtle and fantastical works – not to mention one of the best films the director has made. The movie is both a wonderful story about the relationship between a father and son, but also a really beautiful adventure chock full of wonder and awe. If you haven’t seen it, now is the perfect time for a first viewing, and if you have, it’s most definitely worth a rewatch.

Terms Of Endearment

As far as classic tearjerkers go, James L. Brooks’ Terms of Endearment is as classic as they get. Another big Oscar winner – taking home Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (Shirley MacLaine) and Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson), the movie is a powerhouse mother/daughter story, and has an ending that will rip tears from even the most stoic of audience members. Might not be a terrible idea to double feature this one with Big Fish, provided that you’re well-hydrated.

Fletch

It’s bad enough that the Netflix catalog is losing Bad Santa and The Naked Gun, but the fact that Michael Ritchie’s Fletch is also going away means that the streaming service is losing a trio of truly great comedies. Chevy Chase is truly at the height of his powers as the master of disguise Irwing Fletcher, and the movie even has a pretty fun mystery about a dying millionaire keeping things interesting and fun.

Rain Man

In addition to hilarious comedies, fantastic familial relationships also seem to be on the outs for Netflix in February. Big Fish is father/son; Terms of Endearment is mother/daughter; and Barry Levinson’s Rain Man is a brilliant film about a pair of brothers. It’s also the third Best Picture winner on this list… and to this day it’s very easy to see why. Both Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman deliver some of the best performances of their careers, and all of the most iconic moments continue to shine.

As long as war exists, there will always be filmmakers who try to attempt to capture its horror, and its glory. As the years press on and wars come and go, different filmmakers have endeavored to craft different war films that represent the tone and thought process of a given era. All Quiet on the Western Front framed WWI as a time of lost innocence, while The Longest Day presented the Second World War as an hour of glory against the Nazis. This trend has persisted, from the way Platoon dealt with Vietnam, to Courage Under Fire’s take on the first Gulf War.

Michael Bay’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi has been in theaters since this weekend, but represents only the latest in a long line of movies that have attempted to deal with the idea of war in a post 9/11 world. Some films about our most recent wars emphasize the personal effect it has on the men who fight it, while others focus on shaky politics and policies. All put together, these films coalesce into a narrative about the global warfare experience since the fall of the twin towers. Without further ado, here are the ten best films that have dealt with the concept of war and battle over the course of the last fifteen years. Let’s get going with number 10:

10. American Sniper

What happens when we examine the man behind a legend? That is exactly what Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper aims to do – pun completely intended. Focusing on the military career of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), the film portrays Kyle not just as an essential tool of the American war machine, but as a vulnerable man whose job slowly wears him down over time. Every time he pulls the trigger he saves a life, but he also chips away a little piece of his soul. It’s a film that honors the real life sniper’s legacy on the battlefield, but also draws attention to real issues faced by soldiers when they return home.

9. Beasts of No Nation

Unlike the other entries on this list, Beasts of No Nation has nothing to do with the western world, or the implications of 9/11. Set in a nondescript African civil war, the film follows a young boy named Agu (Abraham Attah) as he loses his command while fighting as a child soldier for a ruthless yet charismatic Commandant (Idris Elba). Beasts of No Nation remains important primarily because it's a reminder that many of the atrocities and horrors of the world are happening away from the public eye, and that areas of the world outside of the middle east are also engulfed in bloody conflict. No matter where you go, war remains the same.

8. Restrepo

While many films on this list can claim themselves as a "true story," none can even hold a candle to the genuine nature of Restrepo. A 2010 documentary, the film follows real filmmakers embedded with a platoon stationed in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan – the "deadliest place on earth." Restrepo strips away all of the gung-ho machismo one might expect from a Hollywood film and tells a real story about real Americans fighting for their lives in the closest thing to hell imaginable. Just be warned: it's not for the faint of heart.

7. Lone Survivor

Of all the films present on this list, Lone Survivor is the one that tells the most pure and noble tale of brotherhood on the battlefield. Concerned neither with politics nor policy, the films follows four-man team of Navy SEALs as they fight for their lives in the mountains of Afghanistan against an army of Taliban. Essentially one long firefight, the film's violence comes fast and gritty, with director Peter Berg pulling absolutely no punches. Based on a well-known true story penned by titular lone survivor Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), the film honors the sacrifices made by these men in a grandiose manner without ever coming across as preachy.

6. Stop-Loss

Stop-Loss is an infuriating movie, and to know that it’s based upon real policies only amplifies that infuriation; it’s essentially the Big Short of war movies. Centering on war hero Brandon King (Ryan Philippe), the story struggles to fight back against the government and their unethical "stop-loss" policy, which allows them to enlistment contract and send them back to active duty involuntarily. As the walls close in around him, Brandon has no other choice but to try and leave his life behind in an effort to try and stay alive. Philippe – along with supporting actors Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt – does impeccable job of selling the effect that war can have on a soldier, but it’s the film’s subject matter that will get audiences fired up.

5. Green Zone

After so many years, it almost feels silly to think that the war in Iraq began due to a false narrative about the possibility of the country having weapons of mass destruction. Paul Greengrass’ Green Zone examines those ideas through the eyes of an American soldier named Miller (Matt Damon) who wants nothing more than the truth so he can understand why his brothers in arms are dying. Aside from possessing some solid action sequences, Green Zone continuously asks one very important question: why?

4. In The Valley of Elah

Although not directly concerned with politics or the war in Iraq, In the Valley of Elah is still a poignant movie about the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. When retired military police officer Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) starts looking into the disappearance of his veteran son Mike, he enlists the help of Detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron). As the case goes on, they begin to realize that Mike’s fellow soldiers may have something to do with his disappearance. In the Valley of Elah is a powerful war movie because it focuses less on the actual war, and instead highlights the darkly disturbing effects war can have on men who return home from the battlefield.

3. The Messenger

War is hell, and people die. We all know this grim fact, but no other post 9/11 war film has endeavored to explore the far-reaching impact of death quite like the 2009 film The Messenger. Starring Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster, The Messenger follows a pair of casualty notification officers as they deliver news to the loved ones of soldiers who died in battle in the Middle East. As the weight of the job begins to affect Will Montgomery (Foster), he soon finds solace in a widow whose husband died overseas. The Messenger is a powerful movie that reminds us that the effects of war resonate far beyond the battlefield.

2. Zero Dark Thirty

Kathryn Bigelow has a strong resume for tense, affecting films about the war in the Middle East. Her most recent war film, Zero Dark Thirty, deals with obsession of CIA analyst Maya (Jessica Chastain) as she hunts down Osama Bin Laden. The film spans years and highlights numerous real-world issues, such as American use of torture to extract information from prisoners, as well as the daring raid that finally took Bin Laden down. Pressure seemingly builds and builds as the story unfolds, unleashing all at once as Maya can finally sit down and rest when the 9/11 mastermind has been brought to justice. It's bittersweet as the audience begins to realize that her victory does not necessarily mean a happy ending for her character.

1. The Hurt Locker

If war truly is a drug, then no other film captures that theme better than Kathryn Bigelow’s 2008 thriller The Hurt Locker. Following a three-man explosive ordinance disposal team in Iraq, the film is a tense, two-hour, white-knuckle ride that tackles serious issues of death, camaraderie, and the thrill of battle. Perhaps the most poignant part of the movie comes during its final minutes, where we as an audience begin to understand how defusing bombs for years has warped Sergeant First Class William James’ (Jeremy Renner) mind. The Hurt Locker tells a heartbreaking yet exhilarating story that ultimately won Bigelow the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars in 2009 – and rightfully so.

This poll is no longer available.

I’m going to tell you something you probably already figured out for yourself at one point or another: Jeremy Renner is awesome. After spending years under the radar, the actor has absolutely blown up in the past five, earning two Academy Award nominations and taking three roles in some of the biggest action franchises currently running. But how do his five greatest characters stack up against each other?

We here at the Cinema Blend laboratories have set out to find the answer to that very question. Using a highly complex mathematical formula (not really), the staff here has worked to determine what we are calling the Renner Rankings. Judging based on brains, quick thinking, attitude, strength and weaponry we have determined which of Renner’s characters stand higher than the rest and have agreed upon an ultimate victor. Check it out!

5. Clint "Hawkeye" Barton, The Avengers

Admittedly this is the role in the batch where Renner may get the least amount of screentime, but true to form, he made every moment count. Though Hulk smashed, Iron Man quipped, and Captain America played the noble hero, Hawkeye and his longtime friend and colleague Natasha "Black Widow" Romanoff earned enough fan love to inspire hopes for a spin-off of their own.

There's been plenty of archers kicking ass with bows and arrows in theaters this year. But when it comes to weaponry, Brave's Merida and Hunger Games' Katniss can't compete with Hawkeye, who deftly kept pace with his super-powered colleagues. Barton's bow packed a spectacular wallop thanks in part to his arrows assorted add-ons and his deadly aim. But he loses points on intellect since he's a brainwashed minion of Loki for much of the film. However, Barton proved his incredible strength in his fast and furious fight with Romanoff, who ultimately and literally knocked some sense back into him. From there we got an intimate scene where the two allude to a dark shared past and Renner gets to show off why he’s become the modern master of moody brooding.

THE STATS

Brains: 4.5

Quick Thinking: 5.3

Attitude: 6.8

Strength: 7.8

Weapons: 8.5

TOTAL RENNERS: 6.6

4. James Coughlin, The Town

James Coughlin isn’t the brains of the bank-robbing operation at the heart of Ben Affleck’s The Town. Coughlin often defers to best friend Doug’s lead, and is regularly ready to follow his leader into battle, usually with no questions asked. But as you can tell from our tabulated scores, Coughlin leads with a hot-headed, can’t-back-down Southie attitude. He’s street smart instead of book smart. His aggression helps keep him alive, but at the same time, his fly-off-the-handle passion would bring the crime ring to a grinding halt if he had to make key decisions instead of Doug. Imagine James sitting across the interrogation table from FBI agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm)? The Town might have ended an hour earlier, with the career criminals behind bars.

Granted, when the chips are on the table and the bullets are flying around Fenway Park, Coughlin can handle a semi-automatic weapon (which is why his Strength and Weapons scores are better than average). If James had retained half the common sense God gave him, might be watching that Florida sunset right alongside Doug, instead of bleeding out on a nondescript Boston boulevard.

THE STATS

Brains: 5.8

Quick Thinking: 6.3

Attitude: 8.5

Strength: 7.3

Weapons: 6.7

TOTAL RENNERS: 6.9

3. William Brandt, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

William Brandt is a smart, highly capable and extremely intelligent analyst for the Impossible Missions Force who was never supposed to see action, but who's totally killer at it once he's thrown into the field. His only problem? He's forced to team up with Ethan Hunt, the superstar agent who's there to outshine him at every turn. Everything Brandt can do, Hunt can do better, from setting up an insane scheme to filch some nuclear launch codes to actually scaling the side of the world's tallest building to make it happen.

That makes it a little tough to appreciate Brandt's skills for themselves, especially when his skepticism kind of drives everybody else on the team crazy, but he eventually gets to come into his own, using a completely looney-tunes suit made of magnets to pull off the next scheme. Floating effortlessly above a giant fan that could easily chop him into bits, Brandt uses all that book-learning to keep his cool, but the added benefit of his physical strength to make it happen. He's not the biggest badass in this bunch, and he's always going to have to live in Ethan Hunt's shadow, but once Brandt unbuttons his white-collar shirt and shows off what he can do, he's exactly the guy you need for your next impossible mission.

THE STATS

Brains: 8.2

Quick Thinking: 6.2

Attitude: 6.7

Strength: 7

Weapons: 7

TOTAL RENNERS 7

2. Aaron Cross, The Bourne Legacy

Okay, so he whines like a crack addict every time that he spends more than a few hours off of his “chems,” but the truth remains that Aaron cross is a badass of the highest order and does Jason Bourne’s legacy proud. Thanks to his altered genetic code – which, admittedly, does give him a bit of an unfair advantage over the other Renner’s in this feature – Cross is incredibly strong and agile, giving him the ability to take down rooms full of adversaries that want to kill him or turn him into the government.

But that’s only the benefit of the green chems. We can’t ignore the blue chems that ratchet his strategy and critical thinking abilities through the roof. While he doesn’t always have a gun, give him a fire extinguisher and a box of nails and he’ll get the job done. He knows how to outrun powerful adversaries in all kinds of transportation, and in mere moments he can produce a plan of attack for when he’s being surrounded or threatened. There’s a very good reason that the Central Intelligence Agency and the Outcome program wants him dead: he’s a very powerful enemy.

THE STATS

Brains: 7.3

Quick Thinking: 8

Attitude: 7.3

Strength: 8.3

Weapons: 6.3

TOTAL RENNERS: 7.5

1. Sergeant First Class William James, The Hurt Locker

Sergeant First Class William James is not only Jeremy Renner’s best performance, an Oscar nomination came from Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, but also his highest ranking character in almost every category. James’ line of work doesn’t just require guts and the right loose screws, he’s also got brains and the ability to pull the trigger or cut a wire in a heartbeat, often with a clock counting down to his death staring him in the face. The ‘Wildman’ may not possess the ideal military attitude - disobeying orders, drinking heavily and striking superior officers - however, it’s hard to argue his mental state with 873 plus bombs under his belt.

Perhaps not the strongest physically, it takes an unbelievable will to do what SFC James does on a daily basis, just look at the expanding cracks in his squadmates’ psyches. Working for the bomb unit does allow him to get his hands on heavy (and sometimes, darkly twisted) artillery but his motto is more defuse than use. Doesn’t mean he won’t come at you (even off base) with one of the many automatic weapons at his disposal if you cross him before cooling off with a shower. Helmet optional.

THE STATS

Brains: 8.5

Quick Thinking: 9.5

Attitude: 8.7

Strength: 7.3

Weapons: 7.8

TOTAL RENNERS: 8.4

Very soon, we'll no longer talk about the discs that people get from Netflix. The familiar red envelopes will start saying "Qwikster", Netflix will only be a home for streaming content, and let's be honest, in a few years it'll be very rare to get an actual, physical Blu-Ray or DVD instead of just streaming something off your computer. So in a fond look back at the good old days, THR has posted Netflix's top 10 most rented movies of all time, a list that's simultaneously surprisingly cool and completely inexplicable. Let's run through it.

10. No Country for Old Men. Sure. It was a big Oscar winner within the last few years, a movie very few people saw in theaters, and something that older people, who are attached to DVDs still, are likely to rent. Moving on.

9. Iron Man. Sure again. Big blockbuster, popular movie, way better than the newer sequel. Who doesn't want Robert Downey Jr. in their house?

8. Inception. Same deal as Iron Man-- big hit, major rewatchability. How many times can you watch that top to wait to see it fall down??

7. Sherlock Holmes. Well, OK. Yes, the movie was a big enough hit, and it's got a sequel coming in December, so the interest is still there. But doesn't Robert Downey Jr. seem a little over-represented on this list already?

6. The Departed. Same rules apply as No Country for Old Men, except The Departed was an even bigger hit. In fact, I kind of wish I were rewatching this movie right now.

5. The Hurt Locker. Wow, people really love catching up on their Oscar winners through Netflix. Nobody saw The Hurt Locker in theaters-- like, $17 million domestic box office nobody-- but apparently a gold statue can keep the Netflix attention rolling for years.

4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I really have no explanation for this. The movie was nominated for Best Picture but didn't win, and was so ultimately forgettable that when The Social Network came out, we all acted like it was David Fincher's first movie since Zodiac. I have no idea how it's even on this list, much less so high.

3. The Bucket List. Seriously? Take what I said earlier about older people liking DVDs and double it-- this seems like the clearest evidence of a generation gap that I've seen. Who is renting this??

2. Crash. Alright, back to Oscar winners, though this perhaps the worst movie to win Best Picture in the last decade, and also the most popular. Is it because it's the most palatable to audiences? Features the most stars? What on earth has kept Crash on this list so many years after its cultural relevance?

1. The Blind Side. Remember being totally shocked when this movie snuck into the Best Picture top 10 last year? This is why-- people love this movie, for reasons totally beyond my understanding. And with the Sandra Bullock Oscar win and all that attention it's only gotten more popular since then.

So what have we learned about America thanks to this list? We pay attention to our Oscars, we love our famous people, and even when we do the right thing and rent some of the best American movies of the last decade, we also stay irrationally attached to the cheesy nonsense that represents the dark underbelly of Oscar season. Next time you visit someone's house and see a Netflix envelope sitting on the table, peek inside-- if it's The Blind Side, you're not allowed to be too surprised.

As I sit here typing this, the American economy is crumbling. Stocks are plummeting, America’s credit is terrible, and Europe seems to be in even worse shape. It’s at times like these that we turn to our leaders, looking for action. So of course Congress is investigating Kathryn Bigelow’s movie about killing Osama bin Laden instead.

Written by Mark Boal, the film is to be Bigelow’s first movie since winning Oscars with The Hurt Locker. It’s actually more about Seal Team Six, the guys who killed Osama and interestingly, was written before bin Laden was killed. It was later rewritten to include that happy, ding dong Osama’s dead, ending. Congress’s problem, or rather one Rep. Peter King’s problem with the movie, is that he’s worried the White House has granted Bigelow and Sony Pictures access to confidential information in order to help them with their project.

Or at least that’s what he cites as the reason for stirring up controversy while talking to the media. King is the chairman of the house committee on Homeland Security and Tuesday he sent a letter to the CIA and the Department of Defense asking them to mount an investigation. He says, “The procedures and operations that we used in this raid are very likely what we'll use in other raids. There’s no way a director would know what could be tipping off the enemy.”

First, I wasn’t aware that the United States was going to make a habit out of running around the world assassinating political figures. Or rather I wasn’t aware they were willing to admit that they’re doing that. By saying that the government will want to use this technique in other raids, isn’t King admitting as much? Who’s the guy who can’t keep a secret here? Quiet you.

Later on in the article he goes on to say, “The fact that the movie is going to be released three weeks before election day, the people at the CIA told me they had no idea that this was the plan… They were never told it was gonna come out so close to election day.” Wait, why does that matter? Actually I don’t think Mr. King gives a shit about any kind of national security risk. It seems more likely that the Republican congressman is concerned about the positive effect this movie could have on the public perception of President Obama and the Democratic party.

For their part the White House has rejected King’s claims that they’ve done anything improper. In a statement released today the White House confirmed, “The claims are ridiculous. We do not discuss classified information. And I would hope that as we face the continued threat from terrorism, the House Committee on Homeland Security would have more important topics to discuss than a movie.” You’d think so, wouldn’t you?

Meanwhile the film’s director Kathryn Bigelow seems to be wondering why in the world King assumes this is going to be a partisan film. She says, “This was an American triumph, both heroic and non-partisan, and there is no basis to suggest that our film will represent this enormous victory otherwise.”

Kathryn Bigelow is going from diffusing bombs to focusing on drugs. The Playlist is reporting the Academy Award winner director of The Hurt locker will start filming next year on a project described as “in the vein of Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic.” The film, titled Triple Frontier, will focus on the region on the borders of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay (Los Tres Fronteras) that's home to much drug trafficking and terrorist activity. Bigelow will keep a winning team together by again working with writer Mark Boal.

When you win awards for great movies the rumors start flying. Triple Frontier already has names like Denzel Washington, Javier Bardem, Sean Penn being tossed around to star, but The Playlist is quick to point out these are only whispers and probably nothing more. Bigelow’s newfound Hollywood cache makes projects like these gain steam quickly. Who wouldn’t want to stand next to old Oscar for a couple of minutes and work with a director whose grittiness and raw detail could give us an ultra-intense look at the underworld and far-reaching effects of the drug trade?

Sunday night was kind of a big deal for Kathryn Bigelow. And by that I mean she became the hottest director in Hollywood overnight. Over the next year, and probably longer, Bigelow is going have every film in production to pick and choose from. While it will certainly intensify over the next few months, however, that is not to say that she hasn't already had a couple of major offers that she has already turned down. It turns out that one of those job offers was at the helm of Sony's rebooted wall-crawler franchise.

The Los Angeles Times has run a feature on some of the top Oscar winners and what their next move will be. While it mentions what we have already known about Bigelow for months now, that she will be reuniting with Mark Boal, who also took home the Oscar, for a pet project titled Triple Frontier, it confirms the rumor that she turned down Sony's offer to direct the new Spider-Man movie, which now has (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb attached.

That officially makes two directors from this year's Best Director pool who were offered the gig and turned it down (they wanted Cameron as well). But who's to say how Bigelow's direction might have turned out? Prior to her six year absence from feature films, the director was known for her work in the action genre, be it the Keanu Reeves classic Point Break, or the Harrison-Ford-as-a-Russian movie K-19 The Widowmaker. It's not clear why she turned down the film, but let's hope it had something to do with a "Fuck Sony, Go Sam Raimi" mentality.

Was K-19: The Widowmaker the last semi-good movie Harrison Ford made? Since that film's 2002 release, the man who gave us Han Solo and Indiana Jones has delivered Hollywood Homicide, Firewall, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Crossing Over, and Extraordinary Measures. I don't remember much about K-19 other than Ford's questionable Russian accent, but in that company it looks like a work of genius.

Based on real events, K-19 casts Ford as Captain Alexei Vostrikov, commander a Soviet nuclear submarine at the height of the Cold War. After an accident shuts down the ship's reactor cooling system, Vostrikov must try to prevent a nuclear incident that could spur World War III while struggling for command against his executive officer (Liam Neeson). The movie is getting a new Blu-ray release May 4th, no doubt because it was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who's currently riding high on an Oscar nomination for The Hurt Locker. Bigelow has proven herself a talented director over the years, so her commentary is a welcome inclusion to the release, and might make K-19 a good purchase for film fans looking to see how her style has evolved over the past few years. It'll run you the more-or-less-standard Blu-ray price point of $29.99.

K-19: The Widowmaker Blu-Ray Special Features

• Commentary by director Kathryn Bigelow and cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth
• The Making of K-19: The Widowmaker
• Exploring the Craft: Make-Up Techniques
• Breaching the Hull
• It’s in the Details
• Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Kathryn Bigelow’s best director nomination for The Hurt Locker at this year’s Oscars is almost a foregone conclusion. That should mean she’s about to become a hot commodity around Hollywood, and, it’s probably only a matter of time before she too ends up being rumored to direct Spider-Man. But she won’t, because she’s already line up her next project. Kathryn Bigelow is heading back to the terrorist controlled territory.

In The Hurt Locker she told the story of an American bomb disposal unit working in the unfriendly streets of Iraq. Production Weekly says that in her next movie, she’ll tell the story of an American journalist held prisoner by the Taliban. The film is Held by the Taliban, based on a series of articles published in the New York Times by David Rohde.

Rohde’s stories start with his kidnapping, as he’s whisked away and held prisoner for seven months and ten days. His captivity begins in Afghanistan, but eventually they were moved to Pakistan in those tribal areas where we all know Osama bin Laden is hiding, yet everyone pretends he isn’t so we don’t have to actually go in and do anything about it. To be honest, if anyone but Bigelow was doing this, I doubt anyone would be interested. America is long past the point of war-story burnout, and we’re even more tired of hearing about kidnapped reporters. But Bigelow proved with The Hurt Locker that she has a unique perspective on the Middle East problem. It’s her perspective, more than anything else, that I’m most interested in.

UPDATE! MTV claims to have picked up a story from the New York Times in which they say Production Weekly's report is a complete fake and Bigelow isn't involved in this film. We've been unable to find the story referenced by MTV in the Times online edition, but if true, the Times would be in a position to know since the story was first published in their pages.

The Golden Satellite Awards aren't the most meaningful of the end-of-the-year awards-- they're voted on by the mysterious International Press Academy, which seems like a splinter group from the Hollywood Foreign Press-- but at least they're willing to shake up the status quo a bit. While giving the top prize to critical favorite The Hurt Locker, they also gave their top dramatic acting prizes to Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) and Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Stoning of Soraya M.), neither of whom have shown up too frequently in awards season. The Fantastic Mr. Fox also took home Best Animated Feature, and Nine won Best Picture, Comedy or Musical.

THR posted the full list of movie winners, which you can see below. Is it a prediction of who will win at the Golden Globes next month? Nah. But it might be fun to pretend.

MOTION PICTURES

Actress in a motion picture, drama

Shohreh Aghdashloo, “The Stoning of Soroya M.”

Actor in a motion picture, drama

Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”

Actress in a motion picture, comedy or musical

Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”

Actor in a motion picture, comedy or musical

Michael Shahlbarg, “A Serious Man”

Actress in a supporting role

Mo’Nique, “Precious”

Actor in a supporting role

Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

Motion picture, drama

“The Hurt Locker”

Motion picture, comedy or musical

“Nine”

Foreign language film

tie -- “The Maid” and “Broken Embraces”

Animated or mixed media

“Fantastic Mr. Fox”

Documentary

“Every Little Step”

Director

Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”

Screenplay, original

Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, “(500) Days of Summer

Screenplay, adapted

Geoffrey Fletcher, “Precious”

Score

Rolfe Kent, “Up In the Air”

Song

“The Weary Kind,” Ryan Bingham & T Bone Burnett, “Crazy Heart”

Cinematography

Dion Beebe, “Nine”

Visual effects

Volker Engel, Marc Weigert, Mike Vezina, “2012”

Editing

Chris Innis, Bob Murawski, “The Hurt Locker”

Sound (editing and mixing)

Paul N.J. Ottosson, Michael McGee, Rick Kline, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Michael Keller, “2012”

Art direction and production design

Ian Phillips, Dan Bishop, “A Single Man”

Costume design

Monique Prudhomme, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”

Note: if you're interested in some slightly out-of-date Oscar conversation, head over here and listen to a podcast I recorded last week with The Film Experience's Nathaniel Rogers and Low Resolution's Joe Reid. It's a fun chat and we'll be doing more as the season goes on. Looking at my Oscar column from last week, it's hard to believe I was ever so young... so doubtful about the quality of Avatar, so convinced of Up in the Air as the potential runaway favorite, so certain that Matt Damon's Invictus performance would quickly be forgotten.

It's been a very big couple of days in the Oscar prognosticating biz, and let's start with the big one: the Golden Globe nominations. As always, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made some whackadoo choices sure to not make it through to the Oscars-- Tobey Maguire for Brothers, A Serious Man shut out of screenplay, Julia Roberts for Duplicity-- but coming on the heels of the weekend's critics awards, it gives us a lot to think about. The Globes' Best Drama nominees of Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds Precious, and Up in the Air all seem like safe contenders for Best Picture, along with Nine from the Comedy/Musical category. All of the above films did nicely in the acting, directing or writing categories, and even though both Lee Daniels and Rob Marshall were left out of the directing categories, both have a decent chance of making into that final five as well.

The Globes were also able to solidify a few underground campaigns that might not have necessarily been assumed to have mainstream appeal. Jeff Bridges and Colin Firth are definitely in the mix for their tiny movies Crazy Heart and A Single Man respectively, while Michael Stuhlbarg remains in spoiler position for A Serious Man, representing the only Globe nod for that film. Helen Mirren's Last Station bid, despite an overall lack of buzz for the movie, seems assured, as does Julianne Moore for A Single Man, though she's in the weakest position among the five Globe nominees.

As for the weekend's critic's awards-- which I rounded up in part here and here if you missed them-- it's clear that The Hurt Locker will be the big critical darling of the season, and all that support is likely enough to guarantee Kathryn Bigelow a Best Director nod (where she'll almost definitely go up against ex-husband James Cameron) as well as a Best Picture berth for the film. A lot of smart people are suggesting that the Academy is likely to shine brighter on Up in the Air-- more palatable, more technically perfect, more starry-- and I tend to agree. But it's downright miraculous that a movie released so early in the year, and premiering at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, is managing to keep up so much traction.

Though Sherlock Holmes has yet to debut, it seems to be a non-factor beyond the Globes race (Robert Downey Jr.'s Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical was a nice surprise), so the only major question at the box office remains Avatar. Will audiences flip for it the same way critics did? Cameron showed up on The Today Show yesterday in an attempt to get women to go for the giant blue cat people, and the Golden Globes' faith in Avatar likely represents some expectation of their own that the movie will be a hit with audiences (they love nothing more than good ratings). I've talked to a lot of people about Avatar over the past few days, and the consensus seems to be that it will have a good-to-greatish opening weekend, but word of mouth through the holidays will be what really sells it. It's the strategy that worked for Titanic, a film that opened on December 19 with a $28 million opening weekend and had made it to $120 million by New Year's Day.

Unless it flops miserably, which seems unlikely, Avatar is a guaranteed Best Picture nominee-- but if it's a big hit, it might be hard to deny it the Oscar itself. Up in the Air and The Hurt Locker are both very strong, of course, but the phenomenon of a Best Picture nominee that's also a giant box office hasn't come around since, well, Titanic. Leave it to James Cameron to come back and show us all how it's done.

Below the charts have been updated with requisite commentary on how the various precursors have affected my choices, and a lot of trimming the fat-- there are many potential nominees on these lists who, quite simply, will not make it into Oscar. Later this week the Screen Actors Guild announces their nominees-- the Best Ensemble prize being their equivalent of Best Picture, and not likely to include Avatar this could get interesting-- and after that it'll be until the New Year before another major precursor comes along. A good time to sit back and catch up on some movies, or, you know, see your family. Whatever works for you at Christmas.

Weak as they are, Nine and Invictus are still in the mix following the Globes attention, while An Education and A Serious Man seem as vulnerable as ever after being all-but-ignored by the Globes and the critics alike. The Hurt Locker is now inevitable, and has been bumped up to Mortal Lock. An Education and Julie & Julia feel like the fuzziest inclusions at the moment, but I'm still not positive enough about A Serious Man, and have no idea what would replace An Education if it fell out-- The Last Station? A Single Man? Right now there's not enough evidence to change it either way.

The Hurt Locker

Precious:Based on the Novel 'Push' By Sapphire

Up Up in the Air

Avatar

An Education

Inglourious Basterds

Invictus

Nine

A Serious Man

The Blind Side

Julie & Julia

The Last Station

Sherlock Holmes

A Single Man

The Road

500 Days of Summer

Bright Star

Brothers

Crazy Heart

District 9

The Hangover

The Informant!

Public Enemies

Star Trek

Where the Wild Things Are

First things first: Kathryn Bigelow, having swept the critic's awards and earning lots of buzz for being a potential first-ever female Best Director winner, is now a Mortal Lock alongside Jason Reitman. Also, over the weekend I made a bet as to whether Tarantino or Eastwood would get the fifth director slot, presuming that Bigelow, Reitman, Cameron and Daniels are all locks. But now I'm feeling less certain than ever about Daniels's chances, given the Globes snub. I'm leaving him in for now partly in hopes that I'll win the bet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Eastwood and Tarantino both make it instead.

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

James Cameron, Avatar

Lee Daniels, Precious

Clint Eastwood, Invictus

Rob Marshall, Nine

Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Jane Campion, Bright Star

Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man

Tom Ford, A Single Man

Lone Scherfig, An Education

John Hillcoat, The Road

Michael Hoffman, The Last Station

Peter Jackson, The Lovely Bones

Michael Mann, Public Enemies

Oren Moverman, The Messenger

Steven Soderbergh, The Informant!

Jim Sheridan, Brothers

Jeremy Renner popped up a time or two in the weekend critic's awards despite the overall domination by Bridges and Clooney, and despite the fact that Tobey Maguire somehow jumped in and grabbed his Globe nomination, Renner still seems likely to capitalize off The Hurt Locker's universal praise. Still, the fifth slot is shaky. The SAG nominees could clear things up, but if they go for anyone but Renner, it'll blow it open even wider.

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Colin Firth, A Single Man

George Clooney, Up in the Air

Matt Damon, The Informant!

Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine

Morgan Freeman, Invictus

Viggo Mortensen, The Road

Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 500 Days of Summer

Tobey Maguire, Brothers

James McAvoy, The Last Station

Sam Rockwell, Moon

Sharlto Copley, District 9

Johnny Depp, Public Enemies

Ben Foster, The Messenger

Hal Holbrook, That Evening Sun

Bullock got that Globe nomination, though given the void left by Streep's placement in Comedy, it's hard to translate that. She's not going to win any criics' prizes, but with Streep, Mulligan and Sidibe continually sucking all the air out of the category, the final two slots could belong to anyone. Tilda Swinton made an interesting run at Best Actress in my critic's group voting, but she still seems way too out there for Academy purposes.

Carey Mulligan, An Education

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

Marion Cotillard, Nine

Abbie Cornish, Bright Star

Helen Mirren, The Last Station

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart

Natalie Portman, Brothers

Saiorsie Ronan, The Lovely Bones

Tilda Swinton, Julia

Michelle Pfeiffer, Cheri

Audrey Tautou, Coco Before Chanel

Molina was left out of the Globe nominees in favor of Matt Damon, and given the Academy's longtime love affair with Clint Eastwood, I'm worried Damon could get in for his completely OK performance. An Education, where have you gone? I don't think Molina is down for the count-- SAG seems likely to go for him-- but his publicity team needs to go into overtime.

Alfred Molina, An Education

Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Matt Damon, Invictus

Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Christopher Plummer, The Last Station

Peter Sarsgaard, An Education

Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones

Richard Kind, A Serious Man

Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker

Paul Schneider, Bright Star

Stanley Tucci, Julie & Julia

Alec Baldwin, It's Complicated

Jude Law, Sherlock Holmes

Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road

As Mo'nique remains unbeatable in every precursor awards, it's a little tricky to tell who will fill in the last few slots. The Globes lineup of Mo'nique, Kendrick, Farmiga, Cruz and Moore seems like a pretty solid one, but I still wonder about Cotillard getting knocked down to Supporting-- where she belongs-- and taking Cruz's spot. Hard to tell right now.

Mo'Nique, Precious

Penelope Cruz, Nine

Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air

Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

Julianne Moore, A Single Man

Mariah Carey, Precious

Marion Cotillard, Nine

Judi Dench, Nine

Samantha Morton, The Messenger

Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds

Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds

Paula Patton, Precious

Susan Sarandon, The Lovely Bones

It feels great when a film that would otherwise get lost in the shuffle gets recognized for true awesomeness. Tonight, the Gotham Awards recognized those types of films. The award ceremony, which takes place here in my new home of New York City, recognized several small flicks that were mostly overlooked by audiences. The most notable was The Hurt Locker, which received the awards for Best Feature and Best Ensemble Performance. The film about a soldier whose job it is to disarm bombs will likely be forgotten come Oscar time, but it's nice to know that someone is making sure to give it its due.

Other winners included Food Inc. and Robert Siegal's directorial debut (and screenplay follow-up to The Wrestler), Big Fan. The award list is short and sweet, something we could never say about the Oscars, so enjoy it while you can because come next February, we'll be back to ten nominees, overly glitzy ceremonies, and people shouldn't be winning awards winning awards.

Check out the full list of the winners below:

With all the excitement over Marvel’s upcoming assortment of superhero solo movies it’s easy to forget about The Avengers the big movie at the end of the run which will, in a move thus far unprecedented in superhero cinema, bring all of their most famous characters together in one film. But it won’t just be those solo superhero movie characters joining The Avengers team. The Avengers is also likely to be the first place some of Marvel’s more minor characters get the spotlight. Characters like Hawkeye.

Hawkeye is kind of like Green Arrow or Bullseye or name any superhero character who’s powers are entirely based on his abilities as a marksman. He’s also a pivotal member of the Avengers team and he’ll show up at some point in The Avengers. When he does, Empire says he may be wearing Hawkeye’s purple pants.

Renner, star of The Hurt Locker and likely to get some serious Oscar buzz this fall, seems like a natural fit. He says, “I met with the Marvel guys, actually, but we didn’t talk about Captain America. But one of the writers, Zak Penn, we’ve become friends over time and he was thinking maybe Hawkeye could be interesting. He sounds like an interesting character.”

There’s always a chance he could show up sooner than The Avengers. Maybe he’ll get a cameo in Thor or Captain America. But count on seeing Hawkeye in The Avengers and when you do, hope he’ll be played by Renner.

Summer may as well be called the Season of Michael Bay. Summer has become the time when we close our brains for the season and allow our eyes, brains, and testosterone to do all the work. All those weak Oscar bait movies were way too deep for me, bro. All I want to see is are some explosions, some boobies, and some blood. Oh, and don't bother with all that artsy fartsy nonsense you guys call “character building.” I want my characters to be one dimensional frames that are easy to understand and straight forward.

Okay, I can't even pretend to be like that for six lines of copy. While this summer has been great for people who hate character, plot, and those wretched things we call themes, it's also been an abnormally great summer for movies that seem like summer movies but really aren't. A few of them were even able to trick general audiences into believing they were seeing the latest in eye-candy, only to slip in a little bit of quality. NOOO! My brain! I'm actually using it!

The Rated R Comedy: Funny People

I'll be the first to admit that Funny People wasn't all that I had hoped it would be (well, I guess not the FIRST, according to Rotten Tomatoes), but the truth is, I can't knock Judd Apatow for trying. Rather than release the token Rated R comedy that usually comes at around the same time that Funny People was released (the ones usually filled to the brim with dick and fart jokes and a loveable, stoner loser), he released a thoughtful dramedy which borrowed more from James L. Brooks than, well, Judd Apatow. Did he succeed? Not completely. The movie was too long, it focused on characters that were hard to love, and its last act was harder to get through than the George Washington Bridge during rush hour (my first New York reference!).

Despite this, Judd Apatow did try something new. The dude took everyone's expectations of him and kicked them in the face with a heartfelt movie that either came from a very honest place or faked like it did very well. The flick has surprisingly good performances from Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen (we knew Sandler had it in him all along thanks to Punch Drunk Love) and sported a script that, had it been directed by a more able director, may have had the potential to win an Oscar. And surprisingly enough, Will Ferrell was never topless anywhere in the film. All of this in a Rated R summer comedy? Who would've thought?

The Romantic Comedy: 500 Days of Summer

Hell, the movie has the word 'summer' in the title, yet 500 Days of Summer is everything that summer romantic comedies are usually not. Romantic comedies in the summer are often puff pieces released as an alternative to all of the testosterone-driven male-pleasing action/sex movies. They're made specifically for the girlfriend who's tired of explosions, cussing, and blood and just wants to see the girl get the guy and a kiss and wants to drag her boyfriend (begrudgingly, of course) along with her. They have a plot as predictable as a Clippers basketball game (you know it's going to lose) and characters that speak in movie-talk rather than real, believable dialogue.

500 Days of Summer isn't that movie, though. Instead, it's an experimental narrative about a boy and a girl and the boy's struggles to realize that his dream girl may not be the dream that he had imagined. It's something everyone can relate to. We build up an image of the ideal person to love based on superficial qualities (bands, clothes, interests) and fail to realize that these things may not be what make a person good for us. Not only does 500 Days of Summer have a far more unique plot than those lame romantic comedies, but it also has two of the most talented young actors in the industry as the leads. Sound like The Ugly Truth to you? Yeah, me neither.

The Action Movie: The Hurt Locker

Action movies are a staple of hot summer months. Whether it's Will Smith in Bad Boys 2 or Bruce Willis in Die Hard 492: Revenge of the Bowels, it's almost a requirement to have a movie with a thousand explosions and an improbable plot. There have to be evil Russians (or I guess in these times, Middle Eastern terrorists, however offensive and tired that may be) and unbreakable super heroes that are passed off as real life dudes in extraordinary positions. Please. As if Bruce Willis would really come upon four opportunities in his life to say “Yippee-ki-yay, mother fucker.”

The Hurt Locker isn't Die Hard. In fact, it's hardly even an action movie. Instead, it's a movie that plays with the idea of what an action hero should be. While action heroes in other movies are played up as selfless men called into action by necessity, The Hurt Locker paints its hero in a realistic light. What makes a man go to war? What makes him want to risk his life every day, especially with a job as risky as disarming bombs? And while the action is there, it's often the build-up that truly matters. Isn't that what great movies are made of? Great movies focus on crescendos as much as they focus on payoffs. The Hurt Locker does just that.

The Sci-Fi Movie: District 9

Science Fiction is a genre that's been sadly asleep for a number of years now. Why wouldn't it be? Until this year, there weren't many notable sci-fi movies that displayed the abundance of themes and implications that movies from the 80s and 70s did. Sure, there was The Matrix, but that was like ten years ago. Snore. Lately, a science fiction movie usually means we're going to get millions of dollars worth of the latest CGI technology to accompany a bore plotline, uninteresting characters, and elementary themes that fail to use the sci-fi genre to its full potential.

2009 was a bountiful year for sci-fi fans though. Their options ran the gamut from the thoughtless fun of Star Trek to the simple wonder of Moon and of course, the breakout sensation that's become District 9. With Peter Jackson's name attached and a genius viral campaign that reminded me a lot of the one that help The Blair Witch Project become a success, the movie was able to get to an audience that may have rejected it otherwise. But after a year that included such “sci-fi” gems as Transformers 2 and Terminator: Salvation, it's not hard to see why audiences have embraced District 9. In addition to delivering on its intense promotional campaign, it slips the audience some food for thought by using dreams of the future that reflect our present and past. It's what sci-fi movies are supposed to do. Hopefully District 9 helps to revive that trend.

The War Movie: Inglourious Basterds

Everyone knew what Inglourious Basterds was supposed to be. This was supposed to be Tarantino's chance to go crazy with action and violence in a setting that allowed for it. This was supposed to be his war epic, his Saving Private Ryan, his Dirty Dozen. And it's not like Tarantino hasn't set a precedent. All of his prior movies used blistering dialogue right along with graphic and disgusting violence. And it's not like a straight-up war movie didn't make sense. Quentin is known for being more of a cover band than an original artist. He takes genres and styles and then makes them his own. So why wouldn't he do the same with Inglourious Basterds?

Fortunately for everyone, that's not what Inglourious Basterds actually was. In a lot of ways, Tarantino has made his most refined movie yet. It holds back when it needs to, it utilizes his keen eye for violence only when necessary, and it displays his ear for tense dialogue better than any previous Quentin movie. Remember when Christoph Waltz offered Melanie Laurent a glass of milk? If you didn't soil yourself during that scene, you might need some ex-lax because I think you're constipated. Quentin favored tension over noise, and not only did the movie benefit, the audience did as well. If more summer movies were like this and not Transformers, I'd be a happy Basterd.

Following 2002's K-19: The Widowmaker, it took six years for Kathryn Bigelow to bring another feature to the screen-- and she rewarded us for the wait by making The Hurt Locker, the best Iraq war movie yet. For her next feat, though, she won't be waiting so long. She's re-teaming with Hurt Locker writer Mark Boal to make another action drama based on real-life events, this time set in the border zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.

And no, it won't be a drama about land rights. According to Variety, Triple Frontier will focus on the organized crime that flourishes in the area, though further plot details are being kept under wraps. Boal, a journalist who wrote The Hurt Locker after being embedded with American forces in Iraq, is working on the new screenplay now.

There's a million things to be happy about here, from the fact that Bigelow and Boal are smart people making movie for adults to the simple notion of a new movie being based on an original idea. Maybe it won't be as good as The Hurt Locker, but anything half as intelligent and interesting as that movie will still be worth watching.

I'm going to make a guess and assume you haven't seen The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow's action-packed new drama that most everyone is praising as being an Iraq war movie that you'll actually want to watch, simultaneously entertaining and important in a bigger sense.

So why would I assume you, dear Cinema Blend readers, are so ignorant that you haven't seen one of the most acclaimed movies of the year? Because for some reason Summit Entertainment opened the film in about two theaters against Transformers 2, and the movie is taking its sweet time winding its way through larger moviegoing markets. It may never make it to your hometown theater at all, which would truly be a shame. But if you live near a major city and like good movies, you should most definitely be seeing The Hurt Locker soon.

Need another reason? Check out the first 8 minutes of the film below, snagged by Trailer Addict. There are no spoilers in it at all, just a tense action sequence that gives a great sense of what Bigelow does with the rest of the film. The slow release pattern and lack of stars may suggest that The Hurt Locker is some meditative indie, but it's much more interested in being a slamming action picture with an actual thought in its brain. Watch the 8 minutes below, and know your movie ticket will be well spent.

"Hurt Locker 2 I won't be in," Jeremy Renner tells a group of us near the end of our interview. That's not a knock at the movie, which is getting stellar reviews, or at Kathryn Bigelow, the movie's director whom Renner calls "tougher than anybody on set." But after Renner described working on days of 125-degree heat in the Jordan desert, and donning a 100-pound bomb deflection suit on top of it, none of us could blame him-- we wouldn't want to be in the sequel either.

The Hurt Locker, set in Iraq, follows an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, a group of soldiers with very specific skills who are dispatched to disarm roadside bombs and other Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Renner plays Staff Sergeant William James, a hot-shot and skilled bomb dismantler who initially butts heads with Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) when he joins their unit. The film evolves not only as a study of the kind of character you need to become to cope with a job this intense, but as a dramatic nail-biter-- every scene is literally life and death.

When we spoke to Renner during New York Comic Con, none of us had seen the movie, so unfortunately no one could get into specifics. But he still had lots to say about the experience of filming a movie so intense, the bonding that gets you through the day, and all the Canadian T-shirts he packed to bring to the Jordan set.

What's your super bad-ass military experience?

Yeah, zero. I avoided that whole plight. But I was fortunate enough to learn a lot for them. Yeah, it's exciting, it's thrilling, it's a heart-pounding experience. It's pretty intense, man. I was glad to be a part of it.

Who trained you?

EOD [Explosive Ordnance Disposal] team leaders at Fort Irwin were my main mentors during the project, actually. Yeah, I thought I was in pretty good shape, but jeez man, what these guys can do. My hat's off to these guys.

How long was the training?

Probably two weeks, there every day. Then off and on, just random things. A lot more than the physical, it's the mental aspect. What fuels somebody to do what they do makes them a very specific individual. Don't get me wrong, EOD is a very specific job. Not many people are bomb dismantlers. But what fuels them to do that makes them more specific, and that's what I was trying to figure out. It was a very complex character to play. I was trying to get a grasp on how volatile he was.

What did you get out of meeting the people who do this work?

First I was shocked, for lack of a better word, at how nerdy they are. They're all very, very smart. It's also technical. It's really interesting. These are not A-type personalities. They're completely selfless. Obviously their job is very selfless. It's the main thing that I kind of got from it. Usually they'll become a civil servant of some point, when their time is up. Firefighter, a lot of them are teachers. Interesting.

Was there a camaraderie among you and the rest of the cast?

Yeah, we all bonded. Even if we hated each other, which we didn't, you have to bond if you're dealing with extreme circumstances. Not even what we're shooting, but how we're shooting it. The 125 degree heat. Everyone's passing out, everyone's sick. There was trauma happening. Someone's face blew up from the fireworks that we had. Trauma and drama was happening off-camera every day, so we had to cling together, especially Anthony, Brian and I.

What's the experience like working with Kathryn Bigelow?

She's a painter, is really what she is. She's such a visual human being. If you look at any of her films, they are very very visual. That allowed us to film the emotion behind it. She just sat back and kind of painted. She sat her cameras where she needed to do it, let us do our job and she did hers. She knows more information really than she needs to know, or will ever really transcribe to film. But she tries to keep it as honest as possible. She wanted fresh, emerging faces. She really wanted to play it as real as possible.

That intensity that you're mentioning. It's very in your face, very strong stuff. Were you surprised by that working with a female director?

Gender had nothing to do with it. This girl was tougher than anybody on set. She's this supermodel looking woman. She's spright. How she dealt with that day in and day out, I have no idea, because I barely did.

How was it shooting in Jordan?

I was scared before, I'll be honest with you. I was an ignorant American, not knowing very much about Muslim culture or the Middle East, for that matter. So I was going over as a Canadian. I had Canadian hats and T-shirts. I didn't know! "I can't be an American in the Middle East." And after being there, there people are so generous and welcoming. We learned that they're more Westernized than I ever thought. We're their biggest ally over there. Obviously the heat sucks. It's unbearable. The Red Sea, the Dead Sea, all within hours of each other. Amazing, amazing place.

Was there improv involved in some of the scenes?

A lot of that stuff we played around with. She sort of set up a situation, and I'd go figure it out. There were some specific things that she wanted. We just kept playing. Again, we had 200 hours of footage. We just kept shooting and shooting, coming up with different things. Being in the suit is seemingly torturous at first, but it ends up being pretty peaceful. Your whole body and spirit is being crushed by all this weight, but you don't hear very much. I'd play a lot of times Beethoven when I'm in the suit, so it's almost like this peaceful, poetic thing. You feel so safe, even though you're not. And personally, it's so dang hot that it doesn't get any worse than that. All these guys are roasting slowly out in the sun. When I take it off, I'm feeling good.

You seem to have a particular interest in playing military roles.

Yeah, there's something interesting about that. Different types of movies all the way around. One's very genre, 28 Weeks Later, and SWAT being a big blockbuster. This is the most intense, I think, out of all of them. Do I love guns? Eh, I think they're interesting. It's a playground for me. For me, as Jeremy, I never get to play with guns. I know how to use them very well now, because of my job. It's like being a boy again, getting to run around shooting guns. For me, it's fantasy.

What do you think the audience for this movie is?

It's pretty broad, to anybody who likes action, which I think is a lot of people. Could it be a big summer movie? Yeah, I think so. But it's very intelligent, and has a lot of great character driving elements in it that drive the story. I think all across the board, I think men and women will both enjoy it, because it has something to say about human drama. It's not just some check your brain at the door action movie.

Hurt Locker 2 I won't be in.

The Hurt Locker is still one of the best things I’ve seen all year. It’s like the serious Iraq War movie meets Speed. The Kathryn Bigelow directed film follows an army bomb squad through the dusty streets of Baghdad where they diffuse bomb in hostile territory. It’s an incredibly intense experience and when the movie opens in limited release on June 26th, make sure you buy a ticket and drag a few unwilling friends with you.

We’ve got a new poster for The Hurt Locker for you below. The quotes they’ve plastered all over it aren’t just hyperbole: