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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Taste of Cinema – Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists</title> <atom:link href="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com</link> <description>taste of cinema</description> <lastBuildDate>Sat, 22 Feb 2025 02:12:00 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2</generator> <image> <url>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/cropped-icon-32x32.jpg</url> <title>Taste of Cinema – Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com</link> <width>32</width> <height>32</height> </image> <item> <title>10 Great 1990s Thriller Movie Classics You Probably Haven’t Seen</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-1990s-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen-2/</link> <comments>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-1990s-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen-2/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jack Ramsay]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 22 Feb 2025 15:32:47 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Features]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film Lists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[1990s Thriller Movie Classics]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.tasteofcinema.com/?p=68523</guid> <description><![CDATA[Although many excellent thrillers are produced annually, the 1990s felt like la belle époque for the genre. In the years after Blood Simple, filmmakers rebelled against the milquetoast mores of 1980s cinema. Taking inspiration from ‘40s noirs, the ‘90s delved into thrillers’ darkest, most provocative recesses. This era’s neo-noir style shared recognisable tropes across different […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68530" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/90s-thriller-movie-classics.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="331" /> Although many excellent thrillers are produced annually, the 1990s felt like la belle époque for the genre. In the years after Blood Simple, filmmakers rebelled against the milquetoast mores of 1980s cinema. Taking inspiration from ‘40s noirs, the ‘90s delved into thrillers’ darkest, most provocative recesses. This era’s neo-noir style shared recognisable tropes across different movies. Red convertible road-tripping through the Arizona desert, atmospheric motels, neon-lit saloons, rampant violence, Elvis-like, leather-clad antiheroes. The ‘50s template of the western genre was updated, swapping horses for Cadillacs. Cinephiles are typically already familiar with this decade’s thriller masters: Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers and Martin Scorsese. On the other hand, a wealth of entertaining thrillers have been lost to the annals of cinema history. This is attributable to their status as direct-to-video or TV movies, being poorly publicised, lacking A-list stars, or receiving limited distribution. There is a never-ending lineup of stalwart movies to be recovered from this decade. This list aims to bring to light forgotten ‘90s titles to satisfy thriller fans.   1. Trouble Bound (1993) <img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-31200" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Trouble-Bound-1993.jpg" alt="Trouble Bound (1993)" width="560" height="424" /> Ex-con Harry Talbot (Michael Madsen) goes on the run across Arizona with waitress Kit Kalifano (Patricia Arquette). Kit is attempting to outrun her mafioso grandmother’s henchmen. She also wishes to get revenge on the man who murdered her father. There are appearances from Billy-Bob Thornton and Seymour Cassel. With zeitgeist costumes, a neo-rockabilly soundtrack and neon lighting, Trouble Bound is emblematic of ‘90s fashion. Its sumptuous stylishness is supported by its painterly cinematography of desert landscapes. It differs from similar lovers on the run movies because Harry and Kit do not get along at-all well. Typically, the screenplay would have the characters flirting, yet Harry positively despises Kit for much of the film. The repartee between her defensiveness and his amplifying annoyance is where Trouble Bound succeeds as a comedy. Of all of the titles in his storied filmography, this is the one that best showcases Madsen’s distinctive persona: a neo-noir, B-movie icon of cool. Patricia Arquette is equally legendary, bringing her usual charm and sweetness Similarly, Trouble bound provides her a leading role canvas to express her unique brand of comedy. With its bumbling mobster characters and exhilarating, swerving storyline, Trouble Bound is especially recommendable to fans of Sicilian American mafia movies.   2. The Immortals (1995) <img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67478" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Immortals.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="301" /> Nightclub owner Jack (Eric Roberts) recruits eight criminals to synchronously commit four different heists. Jack’s mafioso boss (Tony Curtis) suspects it was Jack who orchestrated the robberies and invades his nightclub. The cast includes: Chris Rock, Tia Carrere and William Forsythe. Aesthetically, with its slick costumes and evocative set design, The Immortals is a time capsule for cool ‘90s pop culture. That said, the movie’s core themes of unity and acceptance are more pertinent today than they were upon its release. In interviews, actress Cate Blanchett has referred to some of her films as “Trojan Horses.” This is where, she divulges, a poignant message is “sneaked in,” under the guise of an entertaining genre picture. The Immortals is a prime example of this technique. For the four heists, Jack strategically pairs opposites together. A sexist with a woman, a homophobe with a homosexual, a racist with an African American and an intellectual with a mentally disabled man. At first, the prejudiced member of the duo inevitably expresses their stigma. Subsequently, the persecuted individual is repulsed and angered by their behaviour. As the film progresses, however, these pairs forge an unlikely bond. In spite of their differences, they reluctantly begin to understand and develop affection for one another. United by a common enemy, they touchingly empathise and recognise the humanity in the other. They question their prejudices, even becoming close friends. Although The Immortals quenches genre fans with classic tropes, wild action and stylish panache, its message of love, humanity and forgiveness ranks it a cut above brasher thrillers of its ilk. In the contemporary politically-divided climate, The Immortals is particularly valuable for today’s audiences to consider.   3. Black Day Blue Night (1995) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68529" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Black-Day-Blue-Night.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="313" /> The movie opens with a tarantula crawling across a highway. On a road trip through the southwest, outgoing Rinda Woolley (Michelle Forbes) gives shy Hallie Schrag (Mia Sara, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) a ride. The women forge an unlikely friendship and pickup a mysterious, seductive hitchhiker named Dodge (Gil Bellows, The Shawshank Redemption). One of them has a past that soon catches up, spiralling into disaster. Firstly, Black Day Blue Night is an idiosyncratic entry into neo-noir for being especially female-centric and character-driven. Rather than a fast-paced plot, it favours a simple story and a meditative, atmospheric tone, underscored with tragedy. A “hangout movie,” the focus is upon the drifting characters’ romances, conversations and traumas. This provides the players with sufficient space to craft admirable performances. The reflective feeling is facilitated by the soothing chiaroscuro lighting. This is best manifested when a cigarette cherry glows in a car’s darkness, the smoker flashed by lightning. The effect is further realised through the sparsity of the haunting, catchy, reverb blues guitar score. As usual, under-appreciated maestro J.T. Walsh delivers the film’s most proficient acting work. He plays the sly, snarky, calculating Lieutenant John Quinn. In his complex, nuanced rendition, Walsh continues to prove that his ability is on-par with the most revered names in the business. Nevertheless, the movie’s most memorable character is a Navajo gas station owner, embodied by Thomas Redhouse. Although Black Day Blue Night is his sole IMDB credit, he steals the show with his effortless naturalism and dry wit.   4. The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67473" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Long-Kiss-Goodnight.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="320" /> In Pennsylvania, Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) is a schoolteacher and mother suffering from amnesia. She has no recollection of anything that transpired before she washed up on a beach, eight years prior. After her past violently arrives at her home, Samantha embarks on a road trip to rediscover her identity. She is aided by private detective Mitch Hennessy (Samuel L. Jackson). Thriller regulars Brian Cox and David Morse also star. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Samuel L. Jackson named Mitch Hennessy his personal favourite of all the characters he has portrayed. He has also stated several times that The Long Kiss Goodnight is his favourite of all the movies he has appeared in. Undeniably, Jackson’s turn as the deadbeat, seedy and wise-cracking Hennessy is the film’s crown jewel. He dispenses consistent comic relief, in what is perhaps Jackson’s funniest performance. Hennessy’s character arc is also particularly heartwarming and inspiring. Additionally, while most actors embody a character with a uniform persona and tone, Geena Davis is tasked with seamlessly transitioning from a smily, folksy housewife into a merciless assassin. Her mastery of both ends of this spectrum not only makes the film’s progression fascinating, it exemplifies her adept command over the acting craft. The consequence is perhaps the most badass female action hero to-date, surpassing The Bride in Kill Bill. Hidden gem The Long Kiss Goodnight has been criminally unsung and forgotten. It is an unconventionally ideal Christmas movie, whilst containing some of the most riveting set pieces and suspense sequences. A film that deserves to be seen by more people, it should be heralded as one of the greatest action movies of the ‘90s.   5. Top of the World (1997) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68528" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Top-of-the-World.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="318" /> Soon-to-be exes Ray (Peter Weller) and Rebecca Mercer (Tia Carrere) are gambling in a Las Vegas casino when it is robbed. Ray is implicated, chased by the police and goes up against the casino’s shady boss, Charlie Atlas (Dennis Hopper). Whilst trying to clear his name, Ray attempts to salvage his collapsed marriage, but Rebecca is now dating Atlas. Top of the World is a chaotic yet fun action ride, with a memorable theme tune. Using farcical, lighthearted comedy, it professes perpetual, entertaining gunplay and eccentric characters. Moreover, there is a nail-biting climax at the Hoover Dam and an epic car chase of explosions and barrel rolls. Dennis Hopper’s interpretation of the cheeky, sarcastic, yet ominous fat cat casino boss expands upon the relentless villains he brought to life in Blue Velvet and Speed. Furthermore, Hopper’s then-newfound niche playing cruel authority figures, continuing through Land of the Dead, is ironic, given his former status as a hippie icon. Ray seeing his wife now in a relationship with another, richer man examines jealousy, despair and inadequacy. Thematically, Top of the World debates true love versus financial wealth. Tonally, the location choice in Top of the World signifies what is known in photography and internet culture as a ‘liminal space.’ The casino’s yellow Regency Revival hotel rooms of bouquet vases and the Memphis Milano-carpeted hallways, in hindsight, invoke the concept’s uncanny “sense of nostalgia, lostness and uncertainty.” The prominent ‘90s nostalgia sentiment is hauntingly felt in the ersatz, cathedral-sized casino floor. This comprises of two-storey plastic trees, internal balustrade restaurants, neon lighting, an interior railway and a faux arbor. Given that Top of the World was released on the cusp of the 21st century, the liminality of its transient location makes it all the more sentimental for contemporary viewers. The colourful interior design time travels to the recent past. A bygone aesthetic of an arguably more carefree, optimistic era. That being said, the filming location, Buffalo Bill’s in Primm, Nevada, retains the same appearance to this day. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-1990s-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>All 10 Best Picture Nominees of 2024 Ranked From Worst To Best</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/all-10-best-picture-nominees-of-2024-ranked-from-worst-to-best/</link> <comments>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/all-10-best-picture-nominees-of-2024-ranked-from-worst-to-best/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Guillermo de Querol]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:32:05 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Features]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film Lists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2024 Best Picture Nominees Ranked]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.tasteofcinema.com/?p=68486</guid> <description><![CDATA[It’s that time of the year again. The nominations for the 97th Academy Awards were announced on January 23, with “Emilia Perez” leading the pack with 13 nominations overall. “Wicked” and “The Brutalist” followed closely with ten nods apiece, with this year’s Best Picture lineup boasting a healthy mix of populist box office champs (“Dune: […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68494" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/best-picture-nominees-ranked.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="330" /> It’s that time of the year again. The nominations for the 97th Academy Awards were announced on January 23, with “Emilia Perez” leading the pack with 13 nominations overall. “Wicked” and “The Brutalist” followed closely with ten nods apiece, with this year’s Best Picture lineup boasting a healthy mix of populist box office champs (“Dune: Part Two”), buzzy festival standouts (“Anora”), meaty actors’ showcases (“The Substance”), sturdy musical biopics (“A Complete Unknown), critic-proof indie darlings (“Nickel Boys”), and sentimental favorites (“I’m Still There”). Barring one particularly grating choice, it’s hard to find much fault with this year’s slate of contenders. However, for those who still regard the U.S.-centric Oscars as the ultimate arbiter of artistic greatness, it is disappointing that even with the expansion from five to 10 Best Picture slots, some of last year’s finest films — from “Challengers” and “The Beast”, to “A Real Pain” — fell down the pecking order and were left out of the running entirely. Ditto Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Denzel Washington, Daniel Craig, and Nicole Kidman all getting the shaft in the acting categories. As we approach the film industry’s annual awards pageant on March 2, what once looked like a wide-open year with no clear front-runner is slowly shaping out to be a three-horse race between “Anora”, “Emilia Pérez”, and “The Brutalist”, with the latter emerging as a strong contender and set to sweep a bunch of major categories including Best Director and Best Actor. It’s hard to imagine Oscar voters passing up the opportunity to give Brady Corbet’s portentous post-war drama their biggest stamp of approval and pat themselves on the back for acknowledging a ‘serious movie’ tackling ‘serious issues’, but “Anora” gained some late momentum after taking home the top prize at the DGA Awards. It’s a game of inches, really, but we’re going to give it an honest shot anyway with this comprehensive ranking, from worst to best, of all ten of the nominees for Best Motion Picture of the Year. Don’t forget to tune in on Sunday, March 2 to find out who comes out on top.   10. Emilia Pérez <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68492" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Emilia-Perez.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="340" /> You know the awards season has truly kicked into high gear when a divisive rabble-rouser that made headlines for all the wrong reasons and kept failing forward at every major industry precursor including the Globes ends up shoehorning its way into the forefront of the Best Picture race (while becoming the de-facto villain of this year’s campaign trail). Taking up the mantle from “Crash”, “Green Book”, “Don’t Look Up” and “Maestro”, that dubious honor now belongs to Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical about a drug kingpin (Karla Sofía Gascón) trying to dupe the Mexican cartel with the help of an ace city lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) by faking his own death, undergoing gender-affirming surgery, and turning a new leaf as a woman. Unsurprisingly, there’s been much online quibbling over the fact that a film that ostensibly celebrates Mexican culture was shot in France with zero Mexican-born actors by a French director, who back in January issued a public apology after facing immediate blowback for his tone-deaf handling of trans issues and depiction of Mexico. Yet here we are. Despite the abysmal word of mouth, migraine-inducing songs, and Karla Sofía Gascón’s self-imploding campaign, Netflix’ buzzy contender has managed to hang around in the best picture conversation all year long. And judging by its whopping 13-Oscar nomination haul (more than double that of “Parasite”!), it still has a legitimate shot of going all the way. Gascón surely blew her chances to come out on top in a stacked lead actress line-up after a bunch of her old racist tweets resurfaced online, but bet on Saldaña to pick up the slack and prevail in the supporting slate after committing category fraud.   9. A Complete Unknown <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68491" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/A-Complete-Unknown.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="302" /> Never underestimate the Academy’s natural tendency to acknowledge well-made yet surface-level biopics that fade from memory pretty much as soon as you’re done watching them. Dressing up and lip-syncing as a true-life pop icon is always a reliable shortcut to an Oscar nomination (just ask Rami Malek or Austin Butler). Due credit to Timothée Chalamet for putting in extra shifts during a blitzkrieg Oscar campaign that’s seen him perform Dylan songs on SNL, pop up on multiple famous podcasts, and even roll up to the red carpet of the film’s London premiere on a public e-bike. Though more of a mumbling impersonation than a bona fide dramatic performance, Chalamet was pegged early on as an Oscar hopeful and was always poised to eke out a nod for plunging himself into the role of one of the most singular, influential, and enigmatic American artists of the 20th century. Less expected is the presence of two of his co-stars (Edward Norton and Monica Barbaro) in the acting line-ups, while James Mangold notching a best directing honor at the expense of Denis Villeneuve and Edward Berger had many of us scratching our heads. Not that anybody should question the “Walk the Line” director’s credentials as a dependable old warhorse with a clean-cut style, but his creative decision to follow the prestige-biopic playbook to a tee without adding anything new to the table — c’mon, we all knew it was going to end with Dylan going electric at the ’65 Newport Folk Festival — maybe wasn’t the right call when reckoning with the legacy of a complicated genius who defied imitation and always marched to the beat of his own drum. I guess it looks and feels like Oscar material (derogatory), but “A Complete Unknown” doesn’t stack up against Todd Haynes’ treatment (“I’m Not There”) and lacks the narrative and staying power to go all the way.   8. Wicked <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68459" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Wicked.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="311" /> Just like clockwork, whenever awards season rolls around, countless thinkpieces sound off the alarm to remind us of the obvious: Oscar viewership is down. Shocking, right? Sure, you could chalk it up to the overall decline of live TV across the board, but the harsh truth is this: your average Joe will only tune in to the broadcast if their favorite movies — that is, big, popular moneymakers they’ve actually seen or at least heard of — head into the ceremony with a real shot at snatching up the big awards. Bearing this crucial context in mind, what better way for the Academy to attract a large audience and boost ratings this year than to tap into the massive Gen Z fan base of “Wicked” by making room for John M. Chu’s hit musical adaptation in their ballots? Just to give you an idea of their dedication: Leading up to the nominations announcement, a legion of hardcore devotees were already sharpening their pitchforks and bracing for outrage over a potential Cynthia Erivo snub in the best actress race — especially after she walked away empty-handed from the Globes. Luckily for them (and the rest of us), their fears were put to rest as the titular witch of the west claimed her spot among the five finalists, pushing the film’s total nomination haul into double digits. The first half of this two-part theater adaptation may feel like 14 hours long, but we’re glad Ariana Grande’s comedic chops didn’t go unnoticed (not that one of the biggest pop idols in the world needs the clout or anything). Still, this is the kind of lowbrow fare that’s happy just to be nominated and only has a fighting chance in below-the-line categories.   7. The Brutalist <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68490" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/The-Brutalist.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="309" /> If the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes taught us anything, it’s that there’s no excuse for replacing actual human artists with generative AI. But to steal others’ work to create architectural images and building designs for a movie about the plight of an impoverished Hungarian Jewish architect sticking to his vision while struggling to make ends meet under capitalism? Now that’s just lame. After patting himself on the back for not selling out to corporate Hollywood while being showered in accolades and unanimously hyped up as the new poster boy for capital-C Cinema, Oscar-nominated director Brady Corbet owes all an apology after mailing it in by resorting to the plagiarism machine model known as Midjourney to avoid paying visual artists for their work. And while deserving of praise for embodying the tortured soul of the film as László Tóth, Adrien Brody is poised to set an alarming precedent when he inevitably walks off with a statue for a performance that, sadly, was revealed to be enhanced and modulated using AI tools in post-production to correct his lacking Hungarian accent. All that aside, there’s a lot to appreciate about this bloated yet undeniably ambitious 215-minute awards magnet. Even if the story ends on a whimper, this is a well-acted, technically competent film with heady ideas about the immigrant experience and the folly of the American Dream. It’s also refreshing to come across a cocksure young talent eager to prove his worth and ready to take big swings (whether he has the screenwriting chops to back up his oversized ambition is another matter entirely). That every pull quote hails “The Brutalist” as the ‘next great American epic’ with every pundit name-dropping the likes of “There Will Be Blood” and “The Godfather: Part II” in their reviews frankly set expectations a bit too high for this one (shooting on 35mm VistaVision can only get you so far). Corbet is no Paul Thomas Anderson, mind you, but his drama Globes winner has been utterly immune to controversies and hasn’t stopped racking up trophies from critics’ groups leading up to the Oscar ceremony, so there’s little reason to doubt it’ll replicate the success and clean up shop here as well.   6. I’m Still Here <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68489" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Im-Still-Here.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="300" /> There was no suspense over whether Fernanda Torres would scoop up a much-deserved actress nod after winning a Golden Globe in an unusually competitive field, but if any awards prognosticator tries to convince you they had this Brazilian sleeper hit in their best picture ballots going into January 23, they’re probably lying through their teeth. Our heart belongs to “All We Imagine as Light” (Payal Kapadia, your moment will come), but all’s right with the world when the Academy didn’t pass up the opportunity to celebrate international cinema for the fourth year running — a welcomed trend that proves that diversifying the Academy membership was a much-needed move to improve its notorious poor track record with foreign-language movies that require voters to, as Bong Joon-ho might put it, overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles. Walter Salles’ gut-punching dramatization of the search for a 1970s Brazilian engineer who vanished without a trace during the country’s military has an ace in the hole in Torres’ tour-de-force performance as a resilient woman hellbent on uncovering the truth behind his husband’s fate. But “I’m Still Here” was still generally thought a long shot for the Best Picture shortlist right until it blew every forecast out of the water to become the first-ever Brazilian production to break into the top category. It won’t happen unless the heavyweight contenders cancel each other out by splitting the vote, but this scrappy underdog could become the new CODA and pull in ahead in the home stretch. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/all-10-best-picture-nominees-of-2024-ranked-from-worst-to-best/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>4</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>10 Great 2000s Thriller Movie Classics You Probably Haven’t Seen</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-2000s-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen/</link> <comments>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-2000s-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jack Ramsay]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 14 Feb 2025 15:32:12 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Features]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film Lists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2000s Thriller Movie Classics]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.tasteofcinema.com/?p=68508</guid> <description><![CDATA[Thrillers have always been hugely popular with audiences and the 2000s were no exception. Filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh and the Coen Brothers continued to produce artful crime offerings. Meanwhile, M. Night Shyamalan emerged as an important storyteller of claustrophobic sci-fi, fantasy and horror thrillers. While pictures like No Country For Old Men were extolled, many […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68516" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2000s-thriller-movies.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="330" /> Thrillers have always been hugely popular with audiences and the 2000s were no exception. Filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh and the Coen Brothers continued to produce artful crime offerings. Meanwhile, M. Night Shyamalan emerged as an important storyteller of claustrophobic sci-fi, fantasy and horror thrillers. While pictures like No Country For Old Men were extolled, many B-movies were unjustly dismissed by critics at the time. With hindsight, rediscovering their forgotten qualities, this list will provide thriller fans with suggestions meriting reconsideration.   1. The Way of the Gun (2000) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-36101" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/The-Way-of-the-Gun.jpg" alt="The Way of the Gun" width="560" height="347" /> Desperadoes Longbaugh (Benicio del Toro) and Parker (Ryan Philippe) kidnap a pregnant woman (Juliette Lewis). She is being paid $1 million to be a surrogate mother for a mafioso’s child. The mafioso sends his bodyguards after the outlaws, chasing them into Mexico. The Way of the Gun was directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of The Usual Suspects. Unfairly maligned, The Way of the Gun is in fact the quintessential Benicio Del Toro movie and the height of the neo-western caper. Del Toro’s extraordinarily accomplished, mysterious acting effortlessly carries and bestows value to the film. James Caan and Juliette Lewis are equally brilliant, the latter for her naturalism and emotional depth. Where The Way of the Gun finds inventiveness is, rather than money, a pregnant woman’s unborn child is the object of value amongst gunplay, raising the emotional stakes. Another of the film’s singular qualities is its restrained, minimalist structure, using few locations. Its atmospheric, contemplative tone is evoked through the melancholic, existential dialogue and grey-green colour palette. The signature is attained during the night in a modernist kitchen of stainless steal and in the bodyguards’ suits. Crucially, The Way of the Gun has probably the best final shootout of any movie. This is filmed in the same location as the finale of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.   2. Reindeer Games (2000) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-38695" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Reindeer-Games.jpg" alt="Reindeer Games" width="560" height="381" /> Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) and Nick Cassidy (James Frain) are friends and prison cellmates. Nick tells Rudy about the love letters he writes to a woman he has not yet met, Ashley Mercer (Charlize Theron). When Rudy is released, Ashely is waiting outside the prison. Rudy pretends he is Nick. Romance blossoms, until Ashley’s outlaw brother, Gabriel ‘Monster’ Mercer (Gary Sinise), believing Rudy is Nick, demands that Rudy works on his heist. Nick was a former employee of a casino Gabriel and his gang wish to rob. If Rudy refuses to help them, he will be killed. Reindeer Games was directed by the renowned John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, Ronin). Poorly received, Charlize Theron went so far as to dub Reindeer Games “the worst film she ever did.” This assessment is unfair, as, though no masterpiece, Reindeer Games is actually an enjoyable, be it derivative entry into the heist sub-genre. It opens with the questions raised by a man in a Santa costume smashed through a car windscreen. Akin to Fargo, Reindeer Games is endowed with a distinct regionality, texturally evoking its Michigan panhandle setting. Reliably, the talents of Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron make for entertaining watching. They are assisted by always-interesting performances from Danny Trejo and Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump). Usually excelling as respectable authority figures, Sinise displays a very different side. This is noticed in his notorious character’s immense cruelty, during one of the film’s best scenes. Rudy and Ashley are escaping across a frozen lake. Gabriel fires his gun at the ice, cracking it. Rudy and Ashely fall in and get trapped under the ice, unable to find the opening. A Christmas action flick, Reindeer Games’s array of double-crosses, well-executed genre tropes and revelations are, in fact, sufficient to satisfy thriller fans.   3. Bandits (2001) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-36412" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Bandits.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="320" /> Joe Blake (Bruce Willis) and Terry Collins (Billy-Bob Thornton) are west coast-roving bank robbers. They are known as ‘The Sleepover Bandits,’ for taking bank managers hostage in their homes, the night before the robbery. Joe and Terry pickup the quirky Kate Wheeler (Cate Blanchett) and she begins assisting their crimes. A love triangle develops as they are pursued by the cops. Foremost, Bandits is the ultimate Bonnie and Clyde-style, picaresque heist movie, up there with the sub-genre’s best titles. The editing is an interesting feature, interweaving documentary interviews. It begins with a tense, intriguing flash-forward to Joe and Terry being shot during a caper, before rewinding. When building work is being completed upon their prison, Joe and Terry hijack a steamroller and escape, beginning their bank-robbing spree. Barry Levinson’s (Rain Man) professional direction permits the players to deliver their finest work. Bruce Willis gives one of his illustrious career’s best performances, as the unshakeably confident Joe. The same is true of Billy-Bob Thornton, expertly bringing to life the nervous Terry. Terry has a long list of ailments and phobias. One of them is a fear of antique furniture: Thornton’s real-life phobia. Such individuality and realism is attributable to the great detail of the screenplay’s well-realised character studies. Thematically, it examines insecurity and self-esteem. Typically, Cate Blanchett is the film’s acting highlight. Her stupendous work reasserts why she is undeniably one of the world’s finest actresses. It is a joy to watch these superlative actors’ comedic exchanges, in what is un unfairly criticised opus from Levinson.   4. 29 Palms (2002) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68515" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/29-Palms-2002.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="297" /> Using a structure similar to Richard Linklater’s Slacker (1990), a bag of money serves as the main character. The bag is initially possessed by Jeremy Davies’ ‘The Drifter.’ It then changes hands across a violent cast of colourful characters. With its premise, interweaving story and archetypal gangsters, 29 Palms is Tarantino-esque. This is also true of its stylish neo-noir cinematography. Making use of fluorescent casino lighting, it lushly portraits the nature and Native American culture of the southwest. 29 Palms is enlivened by cult legends Keith David (The Thing) and John Polito (The Big Lebowski). However, Michael Rapaport (True Romance) is the comedic highlight, with his oddball, street-wise, New York babbling persona. Meanwhile, Russell Means brings authority and gravitas to his role as the casino boss. Another feature of 29 Palms’s enjoyability is its innumerable series of twists and double-crosses, maintaining consistent excitement and suspense. With lots of action, witty dialogue and personality, 29 Palms is an under-praised, B-movie hidden gem.   5. Steal (2002) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68514" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Steal-2002.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="366" /> Steal concerns a band of outlaws, led by Stephen Dorff. They escape bank robberies using roller-skates and snowboards. Badly reviewed, Steal actually has a lot to offer heist fans. Like its electronic score, the textbook storyline is paced to a sprinter’s pulse, with impressively choreographed action sequences. With its MTV editing, costumes and hair and makeup, Steal typifies the vibrant, freewheeling cultural atmosphere of the early-2000s. Stephen Dorff is also underestimated. In movies like this and City of Industry, he builds a watchable, nonchalant and impulsive action hero reputation, deserving of more mainstream notice. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-2000s-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>The 10 Most Romantic Movies of All Time</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/the-10-most-romantic-movies-of-all-time-2/</link> <comments>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/the-10-most-romantic-movies-of-all-time-2/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Guillermo de Querol]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 08 Feb 2025 15:32:35 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Features]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film Lists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Most Romantic Movies]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.tasteofcinema.com/?p=68502</guid> <description><![CDATA[With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, today we’re counting down the very best romantic movies — from beloved meet-cutes that feel as cozy as being wrapped up in a warm blanket to old-fashioned tearjerkers that will shatter your heart into a million pieces. From the first awkward stirrings of attraction and the giddy thrills of a […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68506" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/most-romantic-movies.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="330" /> With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, today we’re counting down the very best romantic movies — from beloved meet-cutes that feel as cozy as being wrapped up in a warm blanket to old-fashioned tearjerkers that will shatter your heart into a million pieces. From the first awkward stirrings of attraction and the giddy thrills of a fleeting encounter to the crushing lows of a missed connection, the following list represents just the tip of the iceberg in more than a century’s worth of swoon-worthy love stories that have charmed audiences and made us sob uncontrollably. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find room for time-honored classics like “The Clock”, “The Apartment”, “Moonstruck”, “The Lady Eve”, “City Lights”, “An Affair to Remember”, “It Happened One Night”, or “Comrades: Almost a Love Story”, while many other tales of forbidden romance (“In the Mood for Love”, “The Age of Innocence”, “Brokeback Mountain”, “All That Heaven Allows”, and “Pride & Prejudice”) could just as easily have found their way on here and obviously deserve your attention as well. Our lineup below, listed in chronological order, offers a collection of movies that will tug at your heartstrings and are well worth revisiting time and time again.   1. History is Made at Night (1937) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68503" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/History-Is-Made-At-Night.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="320" /> Forget Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in “Titanic” — If you’re looking for the ultimate Hollywood romantic melodrama set against the backdrop of a tragic maritime disaster involving an iceberg, do yourself a favor and add this unsung masterpiece by Frank Borzage to your streaming queue. In this buried treasure from Hollywood’s golden age ripe for reappraisal and newly restored by Criterion, the always-reliable Jean Arthur is an understated powerhouse as a wealthy American socialite caught in a tangled web of misunderstandings and messy divorce battles and torn between her possessive ex-husband and a sophisticated Parisian head waiter (Charles Boyer). Sure, “History is Made at Night” may be syrupy enough to give viewers a sugar rush on their first go-round. But dig a little deeper and you’ll see there’s also a bit of something for everyone to enjoy: heartfelt performances, razor-sharp dialogue, Sirkian melodrama, pointed social commentary, screwball hijinks, grand setpieces, and a showstopping finale that puts James Cameron’s $2 billion tentpole to shame. Just make sure to have a box of tissues nearby.   2. Casablanca (1942) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-23265" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Casablanca.jpg" alt="Casablanca" width="560" height="331" /> You likely don’t need a reminder that “Casablanca” is a pretty fantastic romantic film. However, after being chewed up incessantly, buried under critical acclaim, and spoofed across all media for 83 years now, it’s easy to forget that during production, nobody involved including director Michael Curtiz realized they were making one of the best tearjerkers of Hollywood’s golden age as well as one of the most enduring Best Picture winners of all time. We all love to quote lines of the dialogue by heart — “Here’s looking at you, kid”, “We’ll always have Paris,” and “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” have all entered the cultural lexicon at this point. And while its underlying theme of personal sacrifice for the greater good in the face of unfathomable evil obviously continues to strike a chord, what truly keeps us coming back is the irresistible megawatt star pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as Rick and Ilsa — a pair of doomed old flames helplessly swept aside by the tides of history who reconnect behind enemy lines in North Africa during WWII. Fellas, they don’t make ’em like they used to.   3. Brief Encounter (1945) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68505" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Brief-Encounter-1945.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="330" /> Swooning romantic yearning builds to a fever pitch in this gorgeously-shot, post-war tale of mismatched lovers concerning two ordinary people — a married doctor (Trevor Howard) and a suburban housewife (Celia Johnson) — who earnestly fall head over heels for one-another after meeting at a railway station. When one thinks of the great David Lean, grand, sweeping period epics with thousands of extras, colossal budgets, and an even bigger runtime instinctively spring to mind — not so much a hushed, 86-minute weepie. But despite scaling things down and working on a considerably smaller canvas than usual, the “Lawrence of Arabia” British director is just as effective and stirs up an ocean of emotions by making every little line of dialogue, gesture, and subtle glance count — though it is the things that are ultimately left unsaid that haunt the viewer the most. An octogenarian black-and-white stage adaptation that consists almost entirely of quiet, intimate conversations between two grown adults can be a hard sell to watch for Valentine’s Day. But if you’re looking for a title that will tug at your heartstrings and leave you and your special someone in a puddle of tears, “Brief Encounter” is just the ticket.   4. Roman Holiday (1953) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21058" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Roman-Holiday.jpg" alt="Roman Holiday" width="560" height="366" /> Even by standard rom-com standards, the palpable chemistry between Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck here is as good as it gets and virtually impossible to resist. The A-list Hollywood coupling crack and sizzle together and set the screen aflame in this breezy fairy tale directed by William Wyler about a runaway European princess, Ann, who escapes from her dreary royal duties during a diplomatic visit to Rome only to run into a streetwise American reporter, Joe Bradley. Part Cinderella story, part Italian travelogue, you simply couldn’t ask for a finer tonic for the soul to whisk you away, lift your spirits, and put you in a good mood when you’re feeling down than watching these two mismatched love birds gleefully riding around on a Vespa scooter through the streets of the Eternal City, doing some sightseeing, touring the Colosseum, and even attending a dance on a boat. The outcome is never truly in question — early on, it’s clear Joe is too smitten with Ann to betray her trust for the sake of getting the big scoop — but the bittersweet ending hits you like a ton of bricks nonetheless.   5. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-37527" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/umbrellas-of-cherbourg-02.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="307" /> At a critical juncture in time when the big-budget musicals Hollywood’s studio system was dishing out grew increasingly bloated and stale, all it took was the most hopelessly romantic director in all of France trying to get his honest-to-goodness homage to old MGM musicals off the ground to jolt new life into the genre and steer it back on course. “My Fair Lady” may have taken home the Oscar, but of all 1964 musicals, time has been most kind to this one by Jacques Demy, a candy-colored and immaculately staged emotional rollercoaster that recounts the on-again, off-again relationship between bright-eyed teen shopgirl Geneviève (a radiant Catherine Deneuve in a star-making turn) and a local garage mechanic called Guy (Nino Castelnuovo). The sparks fly but, alas, fate had other plans. Before long, Guy is unexpectedly called up for military service in the Algerian War, leaving the newly pregnant Geneviève in complete disarray. With no other choice, she gives in to his mother’s demands and ends up settling for a Parisian upper-class suitor instead. The musical numbers and dazzling choreography will take your breath away, and if watching these star-crossed lovers reunite years later at a desolate gas station doesn’t make you well up inside, you must have a heart of steel. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/the-10-most-romantic-movies-of-all-time-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>16</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>10 Great 2010s Thriller Movie Classics You Probably Haven’t Seen</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-2010s-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen/</link> <comments>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-2010s-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jack Ramsay]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 03 Feb 2025 15:32:58 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Features]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film Lists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2010s Thriller Movie Classics]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.tasteofcinema.com/?p=68467</guid> <description><![CDATA[The 2010s saw the rising popularity of streaming. In the past, independent films would drift into obscurity. Now, there are platforms upon which lesser-known titles can be recommended to film fans all over the world. Lost gems are being rediscovered and fresh pictures from unknown directors are lauded. Whereas mainstream studios can be creatively restrictive, […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-68476 aligncenter" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/great-2010s-thriller-movie-classics.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="330" /> The 2010s saw the rising popularity of streaming. In the past, independent films would drift into obscurity. Now, there are platforms upon which lesser-known titles can be recommended to film fans all over the world. Lost gems are being rediscovered and fresh pictures from unknown directors are lauded. Whereas mainstream studios can be creatively restrictive, streamers give the indie scene the opportunity to continue producing challenging and unusual work. 2010s thriller films were commanded by the works of David Fincher, Scott Cooper and Nicolas Winding Refn. Cooper captured the zeitgeist in Out of the Furnace (2013). His portrait of the Rust Belt undergoing economic hardship addressed the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The same year, Harmony Korine distilled the spirit of 2010s pop culture, with his impressionistic visual poem: Spring Breakers. However, this list will tour ten underrepresented 2010s thrillers worthy of greater praise.   1. The Killing Jar (2010) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68474" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/The-Killing-Jar.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="320" /> A diner full of customers are taken hostage by a gunman (Michael Madsen). He later suspects that one of them is a bloodthirsty murderer. Like a theatre play, one of this mystery’s satisfying qualities is its minimalist, contained nature, taking place over one night in the diner. Successfully stretching suspense, the ‘whodunnit’ plot keeps the audience guessing until the end. The Killing Jar should be the go-to movie when thinking of Michael Madsen. His mythic, gravelly-voiced, tough guy technique is sufficiently fascinating to carry the film. What makes Madsen a notable villain is his restraint, subtlety, presence and intrigue. Silently dominating the space, he takes long pauses to accumulate menace, calmly whispering threats. Compellingly, his acting pairs quiet sensitivity with brooding violence. Meanwhile, Amber Benson contributes likability, Harold Perrineau: intellect and slyness. Even cult icon Danny Trejo makes a cameo as the diner’s cook. Inaccurately rated, The Killing Jar is conversely a B-movie hidden jewel, with enough twists, flair, story and tension to warrant revision.   2. Flypaper (2011) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68473" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Flypaper-2011.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="366" /> A bank is robbed by two groups at the same time. However, teller Kaitlin Nest (Ashley Judd) and customer Tripp Kennedy (Patrick Dempsey) suspect there is a wider conspiracy afoot. Flypaper was only ever screened in one cinema and grossed little over a thousand dollars. It deserves to be enjoyed by more. A funny, twisting mystery-caper crossover, it was penned by the screenwriters of The Hangover. Octavia Spencer and Dempsey, manifesting his novel character’s nervousness and peculiar obsessions, provide much of the best comedy. However, Flypaper is undoubtedly the quintessential Ashley Judd movie, giving her the chance to present her range of talents in a lead role. Where the light-hearted Flypaper differs from other heist films is the novelty and added excitement of its untrodden premise. By this token, another source of the movie’s humour is the clash between the tech-armed, professional thieves and the hillbilly amateurs. The buffoonish, trigger-happy duo have no idea what they are doing, irresponsibly using dynamite at any opportunity. Their antics are expertly styled by Tim Blake Nelson, in a Southern part similar to his best work in O Brother Where Art Thou. The screenplay’s subtext, moreover, proves how perceived weaknesses can be transformed into strengths.   3. Trespass (2011) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68472" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Trespass-2011.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="293" /> Extortionists take married couple Kyle (Nicolas Cage) and Sarah Miller (Nicole Kidman) hostage in their home. The thieves desire the diamonds they believe Kyle is concealing inside his safe. Trespass may not be an excellent film, but it is underserving of a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was the last feature directed by noted filmmaker Joel Schumacher (Phone Booth). As one would expect, Nicole Kidman is dependably expert and believable. For Nicolas Cage fans, however, Trespass is a must-watch. Cage’s untamed, hilariously over-the-top quirkiness, contrasting this conventional yuppie role, exemplifies what his cult’s adherents call ‘Cage rage.’ His comedy is reminiscent of the tongue-in-cheek hyperbole of Al Pacino in Scarface. In addition, Trespass’s plot is substantially enthralling, enlivened by the thieves’ discovery that Kyle’s safe is empty. It delves into thriller’s ‘yuppies in peril’ sub-genre, popular in the early-‘90s. The writing also addresses the real estate fallout of the 2008 financial crisis and its psychological impact. Along with its setting’s interior design, this makes it historically emblematic of the 2010s. What is more, Trespass examines the theme of ‘appearance versus reality.’   4. Catch .44 (2011) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68471" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Catch-44-2011.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="420" srcset="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Catch-44-2011.jpg 613w, http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Catch-44-2011-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" /> Mel (Bruce Willis), instructs his employees (Malin Åkerman, Nikki Reed, Deborah Ann Woll) to intercept a drug deal going down at a diner. Mel betrays the women and tries to have them erased. As with every film he appears in, Forest Whitaker is Catch .44’s best feature. His acting genius is evidenced by his startling intensity, intelligence and sharpness, owning every scene. He dextrously flits between North and Central American accents, so that the audience is never certain of his character’s true identity. What is more, proficient character actor Shea Whigham is equally as good as Whitaker’s scene partner, adding seriousness and professionalism. Using a non-linear narrative, Catch .44’s story resembles Pulp Fiction’s climactic scene. Characters are killed, then flashbacks reveal their backstories, attaining tragic pathos. The humid lethargy of the rural Louisiana setting is effectively communicated through the textured production design and thoughtful cinematography. Its style is condensed into a classic scene of a police car, creeping past a symmetrically-framed, noir-lit petrol station.   5. The Bag Man (2014) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68470" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/The-Bag-Man-2014.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="318" /> Jack (John Cusack) is instructed by his crime boss Dragna (Robert De Niro) to wait at a motel. He is to monitor a bag and wait until further instructions. Dragna prohibits Jack from looking inside the bag. Trouble finds Jack after he helps a blue-haired prostitute called Rivka (Rebecca Da Costa). During the 2010s, John Cusack dropped his former rom-com persona to star in low-budget thrillers. In an archetypical noir plot, The Bag Man establishes Cusack as an action hero. The simple, focused story, of few, reappearing characters, facilitates the exhibition of Cusack’s talent. He is beguiling and natural, with A-list Hollywood ‘star quality,’. Occurring over one night, The Bag Man cosily takes place almost exclusively at the motel. Like all great cult movies, Crispin Glover makes a cameo, as a strange motel manager. Although Robert De Niro is miscast, The Bag Man is a perfect watch for neo-noir fans. Supplying all the genre’s most riveting plot points, its admirable delivery should rank it higher than 11% on Rotten Tomatoes. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-2010s-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>7</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>The 20 Best Movies of 2024</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/the-20-best-movies-of-2024/</link> <comments>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/the-20-best-movies-of-2024/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Guillermo de Querol]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jan 2025 15:32:07 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Features]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film Lists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Best 2024 Movies]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.tasteofcinema.com/?p=68443</guid> <description><![CDATA[Even if the internet will try to convince you otherwise, cinema isn’t going anywhere. In fact, plenty of great movies are still being made today on a regular basis. That almost every top-grossing movie in 2024 happened to be based on an existing IP and catered to the lowest common denominator might lead one to […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68460" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/best-2024-movies.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="330" /> Even if the internet will try to convince you otherwise, cinema isn’t going anywhere. In fact, plenty of great movies are still being made today on a regular basis. That almost every top-grossing movie in 2024 happened to be based on an existing IP and catered to the lowest common denominator might lead one to believe that last year was a dud, or that Hollywood has (finally) run out of fresh ideas. And sure, there’s even some truth to the notion that general moviegoers seek nothing more than to slip back into old comforts. But as is always the case, no matter how many disposable sequels, spin-offs, and reboots big studios pump out and force down our throats, there will always be a wealth of smaller gems that blow every forecast out of the water and nudge their way in the broader pop-cultural conversation. Last year, out-of-nowhere newcomers that will be making even bigger noise in years to come (Coralie Fargeat, Aaron Schimberg, RaMell Ross, and Payal Kapadia) went toe to toe and shared the spotlight with elder statesmen with nothing left to prove (Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Mike Leigh, and Ridley Scott). It was an exceptional year for horror (“Longlegs”, “Trap”, “The First Omen”), everyone from Bob Dylan and Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump got the biopic treatment, while Brady Corbet took a swing at making the next great American epic — with the help of AI, that is. Of course, we couldn’t squeeze in every title worthy of your attention, but our roundup of 2024 movies should have something for everyone.   20. Evil Does Not Exist <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68461" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Evil-Does-Not-Exist.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="312" /> After breaking into the mainstream and nabbing a best directing nom at the 2022 Oscars, “Drive My Car” director Ryusuke Hamaguchi kept the ball rolling and set the Biennale ablaze with this modest but conceptually bold cautionary tale about corporate greed and the disruptive effects of rural development. The stakes are plain: The residents of a small, peaceful village in the outskirts of Tokyo including a widowed father (Hitoshi Omika) gather in a town hall meeting to mull over the pros and cons of accepting a lucrative offer by some big-shot developers to build a large glamping site nearby. In the hands of a less thoughtful filmmaker, this could’ve easily turned out to be a one-note, paint-by-numbers eco-parable about upstanding, nature-loving townspeople holding their ground and scaring off a bunch of greedy corporate shills. But if you’ve seen Hamaguchi’s previous work, you know better than to expect conventional heroes and villains. Instead, the director paints a rather nuanced portrait of average people with different shades of grey trying to keep afloat with the cards they’ve been dealt.   19. Wicked <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68459" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Wicked.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="331" /> Trust me, at this point I’ve scanned through every valid point of criticism of Jon M. Chau’s $150 million Broadway play adaptation. It’s overlong. It’s so poorly lit it looks like a sitcom. It’s barely half a movie at best — or, at worst, a cynical, 160-minute commercial for the next installment. And let’s not even get started on the overeager built-in fan base whipping out their phones and taking pictures of the screen at public screenings as if they were at an Ariana Grande concert. I get it. But the fact of the matter is that you don’t need to be a theater kid, know your Wizard of Oz lore back to front, or even like musicals at all to understand why “Wicked” — a prequel-slash-villain origin story starring Cynthia Erivo as the titular witch of the west — became a massive cultural juggernaut long before it stormed into theaters and rampaged through the box office with a $700 million global haul to show for it. Sure, it’s an acquired taste and certainly not above criticism, but instead of harping on the flat visuals and getting unnecessarily worked up over fan antics, why not appreciate the dazzling choreography, catchy songs, and inspired use of practical sets instead? Why not give Ariana Grande her flowers for a change? Believe it or not, it would be a minor travesty if she doesn’t wind up getting her dues this awards season.   18. Drive-Away Dolls <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68458" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Drive-Away-Dolls.jpeg" alt="" width="560" height="357" /> Though we still hold out hope that the Coen brothers can patch things up and work side-by-side sooner rather than later, having both estranged siblings pumping out solo projects simultaneously is a pretty sweet consolation prize all things considered. While Joel played it too straight for our taste with his sturdy, black-and-white Macbeth rendition, Ethan seems right at home working on a lighter register and trying to replicate the directing duo’s trademark slapstick humor and wry misdirection (“Raising Arizona” and “Burn After Reading” spring to mind) in his own solo venture. Geraldine Viswanathan and Margaret Qualley (thrice represented in the present list) crack and sizzle together as two lesbian twentysomethings who tear across the country in a rental car and inadvertently become embroiled in a shady political cover-up scheme involving a Florida senator and a misplaced briefcase. Critics bashed it, audiences ignore it, and, frankly, not every gag lands. But as long as you take it for what it is — a knowingly trashy, honest-to-goodness B-movie romp that barely stretches past the 80-minute mark — there’s a little something for every kind of viewer to enjoy here.   17. Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68457" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Twilight-of-the-Warriors-Walled-In.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="306" /> If like us, you’re a person of simple pleasures who gets a real kick out of watching dudes clashing fists, throwing punches, and beating each other to a pulp while doing crazy backflips or jumping off rooftops, do yourself a favor and keep this martial arts extravaganza on your radar. Set in the 1980s and self-consciously styled after the classic actioners of yore where Jackie Chan, Biu Yen, and Sammo Hung learned their trade and helped turn Hong Kong cinema into a global powerhouse, Soi Cheang’s “Walled In” is like a turbo-charged rollercoaster ride that just keeps on going until your stomach jumps out of your throat. The plot itself — a mainland immigrant gets sucked into the shadowy Hong Kong underworld and caught in the crosshairs of a brutal feud between rival triad bosses — is serviceable but nothing you haven’t seen a million times before. What makes this movie sing is its uniquely fascinating setting: Kowloon Walled City — a densely-populated, self-regulating no man’s-land of makeshift buildings and narrow alleyways infamous for its black-market trade and rampant gang violence that was torn down in 1993.   16. Look Back <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68456" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Look-Back.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="327" /> Animation fans were eating good in 2024: This was the year of “The Wild Robot”, “Flow”, “The War of the Rohirrim”, “Inside Out 2”, and another Wallace & Gromit feature, among many other standouts. But by far the one that tugged at our heartstrings and made us bawl our eyes out the most was Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s 58-minute weeper, a fantastic little gem about two middle-school budding manga artists developing a close friendship and successful creative partnership. The next time some meathead tells you that feeding a bunch of prompts into a generative AI tool entitles one to call themselves an artist, point them to this film so they can grasp the amount of effort, dedication, sleepless hours, sweat, and tears behind authentic creative work. Practically anyone who’s ever picked up a pencil, brush, instrument, or simply pursued their passion in any form to create meaningful art that’ll resonate with others will find “Look Back” deeply relatable. Be warned — this film will also shatter your heart into a million pieces and destroy you into a sobbing mess.   15. Kinds of Kindness <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68444" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Kinds-of-Kindness.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="320" /> Though considerably more out-there than your average Oscar bait, all the hoopla and pearl-clutching about the spicy sex scenes in “Poor Things” doesn’t alter the fact that it was the most accessible and commercial Yorgos Lanthimos movie to date by a country mile. Especially given the Greek director’s newfound status as a perennial Oscar contender and festival circuit mainstay, you couldn’t really blame unsuspecting audiences for gleefully flocking to theaters to watch his latest on day one expecting to be greeted with yet another cult classic in the making. Well, so much for that. This three-legged, New Orleans-set anthology piece starring Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Margaret Qualley was written off by pundits, barely made a blip at the box office, and, in all likelihood, won’t be cleaning up shop and taking home a pile of awards come March. But if nothing else, watching a critical darling fresh off a 4-Oscar campaign roll the dice and go for broke to get a passion project as uncompromisingly weird as this out in the open is cause for celebration. It almost makes one believe we might even be on the cusp of a new ‘auteur era’ after all (Sweet Dreams, indeed…) That is to say, bring on “Bugonia”!   14. A Different Man <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68455" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/A-Different-Man.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="319" /> In 2024, audiences were treated with not one but two darkly comic cautionary tales about the perils of the pursuit of beauty. Much like Demi Moore’s character in “The Substance” (more on that title later), Sebastian Stan’s Edward is a failing actor who tries to get his professional career back on track by undergoing an experimental medical procedure that drastically transforms his appearance. Edward’s desire to reinvent himself as a conventionally handsome guy seems validated at first, as he quickly lands on his feet as a real estate agent, secures a role in an off-Broadway play based on his own life, and begins dating the cute girl-next-door (Renate Reinsve). But writer-director Aaron Schimberg pulls a great bait and switch by introducing Adam Pearson’s Oswald — a man who also happens to be born with disfiguring neurofibromatosis, but who lives life to the fullest, refuses to let his condition define his sense of self-worth, and ultimately replaces Edward in the play. The implication is clear: Edward’s deep-rooted insecurity and need for external validation not only brings him greater misery but also cost him the role he was, in essence, born to play.   13. I Saw the TV Glow <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68454" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/I-Saw-the-TV-Glow.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="318" /> Back in January, sophomore writer-director Jane Schoenbrun kicked things off in striking fashion and earned glowing praise at Sundance with this ’90s time capsule, an unsettling and deeply personal coming-of-age tale tracing the on-and-off relationship between two lonely misfits called Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) who bond over their shared obsession about late-night TV show called The Pink Opaque. A dreamy, spellbinding cross between Twin Peaks, “Videodrome” and “Donnie Darko” updated for millennials, “I Saw the TV Glow” is very much a thinly-veiled allegory of body dysphoria, and the existential dread and creeping anxiety of being uncomfortable in your own skin. But Schoenbrun also stirs up deeper truths by examining the way both queer and non-queer people collectively seek refuge in pop cultural artifacts; how fandoms can become so intertwined with our personalities that they define us; and how the content and fictional stories we consume can often feel more real and cuttingly truthful than the outside world.   12. Juror #2 <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68453" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Juror-2.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="320" /> In what shaped out to be one of the most unlikely underdog stories of last fall, this old-fashioned courtroom drama directed by Clint Eastwood, now 94, proved doubters wrong (including Warner Bros.’ infamous CEO and certified scumbag David Zaslav) when it became an improbable word-of-mouth hit on streaming after being unceremoniously pulled from theaters merely a week after its rollout. Even if the studio made it near impossible to watch at the multiplex, anyone bemoaning the recent demise of adult-oriented, mid-budget popcorn entertainment owe it to themselves to check this slippery morality play starring Nicholas Hault as a small-town average Joe selected for jury duty who suddenly realizes he might be involved with the ongoing murder trial in more ways than one. The kind of straightforward, meats-and-potatoes legal thriller that’s all but disappeared from Hollywood’s ecosystem as of late, “Juror #2” is destined to become essential cable-viewing fodder specifically made for your dad to watch and fall asleep to in a recliner on a Saturday afternoon.   11. La Chimera <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-66610" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/LA-CHIMERA_.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="302" srcset="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/LA-CHIMERA_.jpg 560w, http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/LA-CHIMERA_-300x162.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" /> He got the cover of Variety magazine, became a fashion icon after absolutely rocking those plaid tennis shorts in “Challengers”, and landed prominent roles in the upcoming Knives Out instalment and the next sci-fi blockbuster by Steven Spielberg. Now he’s tipped to be playing James Bond. It’s still not too late to hop on the Josh O’Connor hype train, but if you’re still unsure what all the fuss is about, catch him at his most rugged best in Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s breakout hit to understand why Hollywood can’t get enough of this man. The former “The Crown” alumnus is an understated powerhouse as a crestfallen English archeologist reeling from a tough breakup and a brief prison stint. In order to turn a quick profit, he roams through 1980s Italy sniffing out and plundering ancient relics with his ragtag team of tomb raiders before selling the loot on the side. “La Chimera” was a major left-field discovery and one of the buzziest premieres at the 2023 Cannes festival, but the film somehow didn’t head stateside until last spring, so technically speaking, we’re not breaking any rules here by including it in our ballots. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/the-20-best-movies-of-2024/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>26</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>10 Great Thriller Movie Classics You Probably Haven’t Seen</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen-3/</link> <comments>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen-3/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mansur Zeynalov]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 23 Jan 2025 15:32:19 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Features]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film Lists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thriller Movie Classics]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.tasteofcinema.com/?p=68431</guid> <description><![CDATA[Unfortunately, the 2020s haven’t delivered on the thriller front so far. There were some good thrillers like Soderbergh’s “KIMI” or the indie film “Emily the Criminal,” but not many films of recent years feel like instant classics in a way “Silence of the Lambs” or “Se7en” turned out to be. No need to worry, because […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-68438 aligncenter" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/great-thriller-movie-classic.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="330" /> Unfortunately, the 2020s haven’t delivered on the thriller front so far. There were some good thrillers like Soderbergh’s “KIMI” or the indie film “Emily the Criminal,” but not many films of recent years feel like instant classics in a way “Silence of the Lambs” or “Se7en” turned out to be. No need to worry, because there are still countless underrated thrillers from the past you can choose from, and they deal with all the favorite subjects of the genre—serial killers, manipulative captors, mental illness, societal decay, obsession, and fractured identities. Indeed, there are all sorts of thrillers, and this list aims to cover different kinds of the genre, so everyone can find something for themselves. From psychological mind games and twisted relationships to politically charged dramas and haunting personal stories, there are countless great thrillers that still can unsettle and, well, thrill you.   10. Julia (2008) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68436" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Julia-2008.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="361" /> The year of 2024 had been brutal with the passing of so many acting legends, and one of them was Gena Rowlands, whose terrific film/performance in “Gloria” inspired this gripping Erick Zonca film. This is always tricky because when your film is in the “soul” of an already well-acclaimed film with an influential performance, it’s hard to live up to it. Somehow, “Julia” manages to feel very distinctive, and not just that, Tilda Swinton gives a complete tour-de-force performance that no wonder an avid film watcher like Paul Schrader called it one of the greatest performances he had ever seen. She plays an alcoholic woman whose desperation drives her into a kidnapping scheme. She meets a woman who proposes an ill-conceived plan to kidnap her estranged son from his wealthy grandfather. Julia agrees, seeing it as a way to make some money, but as usual with thrillers, things get out of control. This is not an overstatement when you call Tilda’s performance her career best. Not only she carry the whole film, but it’s one of the most complex characters she has ever played, and it makes the film even more interesting; to keep watching this flawed protagonist gives it so many layers. Her performance is raw and chaotic at the same time, perfectly capturing her desperation, manipulative tendencies, and even vulnerability. Of course, many thrillers have an anti-hero, but Swinton’s character is not “cool.” Some of her decisions can be maddening, but it’s her strong performance that brings lots of empathy as well. The direction is very strong as well; Zonca manages to keep the tension high with a gritty aesthetic and dramatic depth. The film got strong critical acclaim, with lots of praise for its central performance and the direction, but perhaps its character-driven nature didn’t help this to become more popular among the mainstream crowd.   9. Brimstone & Treacle (1982) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68435" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Brimstone-Treacle-1982.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="344" /> Many stars of the music world have tried acting; just recently Ariana Grande was in “Wicked.” Some of these were great at it, like David Bowie, who was very versatile in his choices; some others mostly just did a variation of their own persona and were successful at it (Joan Jett’s “Light of Day”); and there were some others who failed. Sting is an interesting case; he has a decent career, with some highly acclaimed movies and even auteurs in his resume, but his performances were usually not the standout. One of those major exceptions happens to be the adaptation of Dennis Potter’s controversial play “Brimstone & Treacle”, which uses Sting’s devilish charm really well. This is the film David Lynch saw and decided to cast him in “Dune”. While he’s very good in things like “Stormy Monday,” it’s unfortunate he didn’t get to show more of his “wild side” in his films. Here he plays a charming but enigmatic drifter who ingratiates himself into the home of a grieving middle-aged couple in the suburban England. That couple is Tom and Norma Bates (Denholm Elliott and Joan Plowright), whose lives have been upended by a tragic accident that left their daughter, Pattie, in a near-vegetative state. Martin appears to be nice at first, but soon more sinister things are going to happen that will make you ask: Is he the Devil himself? Elliott and Plowright, two of the finest Brit actors, are very strong, and Suzanna Hamilton who has a silent role, is also haunting. Most recently, the Danish horror-thriller hit “Speak No Evil” was about the dangers of ignoring red flags. This movie has a similar message and is also critical of blind faith. It’s those who like horror elements strong in their thrillers or are looking for something with a psychological tension that also has a moral edge.   8. Killing Words (2003) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68434" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Killing-Words-2003.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="300" /> Spain is really good with thrillers, in a way that they often get international attention, especially Alejandro Amenábar and Oriol Paulo films. “Killing Words,” with its own original title, “Palabras encadenadas,” is another film on the list that would have an appeal to fans of the psychological thrillers. Based on a play by Jordi Galceran, the film is basically a psychological game between two lead characters: Laura (Goya Toledo), a kidnapped psychologist, and Ramón (Darío Grandinetti), her seemingly mild-mannered yet chillingly manipulative captor who sure will turn out to be one of the most interesting serial killer characters you have seen, thanks to Grandinetti’s complex performance. The location is the same, so claustrophobic thriller fans will like that; it’s a basement where Ramón ties Laura to a chair and forces her to participate in a deadly word game. If she loses, she might die. Intercut with this plotline, Ramon is interrogated by the police for Laura’s disappearance. For a film like this to work, you need several key factors: first of all, it doesn’t need to feel like a filmed play. It needs to have its own atmosphere and cinematic language. Luckily, it has it all, and the film benefits from its setting as well as the central performances really well. It uses the dialogue and character psychology to drive the tension. Not every thriller needs some action; overall, the words can be enough sometimes. The script has lots of twists and turns. Are they all really genius-level writing or full of plot holes? You’d need to reanalyze the whole film after finishing it, but then again, it doesn’t matter because the film is compelling enough. You just want to learn why this woman is here, what this guy wants, and what actually is really going on. And the film keeps you entertained while giving its answers. Certainly an underrated euro-thriller.   7. Closet Land (1991) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68437" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/closet-land.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="365" /> Now that we already covered one psychological thriller, which had the two-hander/same location/capturer-hostage formula, here comes another one, and here it’s truly just two people; no other character ever shows up. Before talking about that, what a great decade Madeleine Stowe had in the 90s! She started to focus on her other interests and hasn’t made a theatrical film for over two decades now, but back then, when you saw her in a movie, chances are it was something highly entertaining. She plays an unnamed children’s book author accused of embedding subversive messages in her work. She’s interrogated by Alan Rickman, who once called the film underrated himself. Said to be inspired by the experiences of Chilean activist Veronica De Negri’s torture under Pinochet during the 1970s, this is a harrowing, almost dystopian film reminiscent of Kafka’s “The Trial.” As the formal interrogation devolves into a psychological battle, the film gets more and more interesting. It doesn’t just explore the totalitarian mind but also the abuser/victim roles between a powerful male and an oppressed woman. The performances by both actors are excellent, and their parts play to their strengths. It’s not the first time Rickman plays a well-calculated, cold villain or Stowe plays a vulnerable woman, but it’s the writing that makes it interesting and gives both actors a chance to find different layers in these roles. After everything ends, you’ll find yourself talking about state oppression, individuality, the ethics of torturous interrogation, how powerful the literature can be, and of course, the power of imagination. Director Radha Bharadwaj gives almost a theatrical presentation here, but somehow it also feels cinematic. An emotionally draining, unusual, and deeply unsettling thriller.   6. Defence of the Realm (1985) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-24903" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Defence-of-the-Realm-1986.jpg" alt="Defence of the Realm (1986)" width="560" height="371" /> People love political thrillers for several reasons, as they often tap into the intrigue, suspense, and complexities of political power. They also reflect real-world problems as well as the anxieties, conflicts, and social issues of a particular time. Now that we live in an age where countless people are obsessed with conspiracy theories, no wonder many people enjoy watching secret organizations and covert operations in films. One of the more underrated political thrillers happens to be “Defence of the Realm”, a British film that begins with a scandal (somewhat mirroring the Profumo affair): a prominent Member of Parliament gets accused of having ties to a Soviet spy. The reporter, played by always reliable Gabriel Byrne, breaks the story but soon finds himself in a deeper conspiracy. The last part of the plot also means that the film also works as a journalist film. Byrne is known for giving understated performances, and this is one of them, but there’s something very thoughtful, something commanding and charismatic, about his performances that he always manages to carry the movie. The rest of the cast is doing a capable job as well. The direction is atmospheric enough, you get the sense of the paranoia that mirrors the political landscape of Cold War-era Britain. Yet, for a thriller, it’s probably not “flashy” enough, which is maybe why it got overshadowed by the bigger films of the genre at that time. That’s unfortunate because the script is rich enough, there’s a lot going on here that makes it both thought-provoking and suspenseful. It also has something to say about journalistic ethics and political corruption, and these are all relevant themes even today. The film was acclaimed in the UK and even won a BAFTA in a supporting actor category, but these days, rarely anyone talks about it. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-thriller-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen-3/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>28</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>All 7 Robert Eggers Movies Ranked From Worst To Best</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/all-7-robert-eggers-movies-ranked-from-worst-to-best/</link> <comments>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/all-7-robert-eggers-movies-ranked-from-worst-to-best/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Guillermo de Querol]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 18 Jan 2025 15:32:17 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Features]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film Lists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Robert Eggers Movies Ranked]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.tasteofcinema.com/?p=68425</guid> <description><![CDATA[Ten years ago, Robert Eggers established himself as a master craftsman after hitting the ground running with his breakthrough feature debut, the seventeenth-century folktale starring Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Witch”. A proven hand at well-researched, immersive horror movies steeped in mythology and folklore that send chills down your spine, the American genre specialist returned to the […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68427" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/robert-eggers-movies-ranked.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="330" /> Ten years ago, Robert Eggers established himself as a master craftsman after hitting the ground running with his breakthrough feature debut, the seventeenth-century folktale starring Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Witch”. A proven hand at well-researched, immersive horror movies steeped in mythology and folklore that send chills down your spine, the American genre specialist returned to the scene last December to put a fresh spin on the bloodcurdling, centuries-old vampire tale of Nosferatu. Based on the 1922 German Expressionist silent film by F.M. Murnau, Eggers’ long-gestating dream project stars Nicholas Hault, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, and Bill Skarsgård and introduces the menacing Romanian Count Orlok to contemporary audiences. The film has earned solid reviews and has already raked up $138 million at the global box office. A medieval epic (“The Knight”), an untitled western, and a Rasputin miniseries are all in the pipeline for Eggers. But in the meantime, to celebrate the return to theaters of a director who’s rapidly become his own brand name especially among Criterion collectors and A24-crazed cinephiles, we have rounded up every film, both feature and short length, directed by Robert Eggers to date, to see how “Nosferatu” stacks up against the rest.   7. Hansel and Gretel (2007) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-65541" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Hansel-and-Gretel.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="292" /> In a conversation with The Guardian in 2022, Eggers minced no words while reflecting on this 27-minute short, based on the famous 1812 fairy tale by the brothers Grimm of the same name, describing it as “absolutely terrible”. He not only lamented the fact that it’s out in the world but explained how, on his way home from a screening in the Boston Underground Film Festival, he realized he had to do something better if he wanted to make it big in showbiz. Granted, the director certainly had a long way to go before coming into his own behind the camera, but to his credit, there’s a lot to be appreciated in his spin on “Hansel & Gretel”, as long as you take it for what it is: an experimental film shot on a shoestring budget by a then-unproven, twenty-something former stage director and production designer. Shot in black-and-white in anachronistic silent form with intertitles, the 2007 adaptation provides a tissue sample of Eggers’ pet interests, sharp attention to detail and uncanny ability to get under the viewer’s skin. For the most part, it sticks to the well-trodden source material — putting us in the shoes of the titular siblings (Luke Allison and Isabella Pease) as they venture into the forest and fall in the hands of a sinister witch who plots to fatten them before gobbling them up. You can sense that the young director wasn’t entirely confident yet, but if nothing else, his debut proved he wasn’t afraid of swinging for the fences and has always marched to the beat of his own drum.   6. Brothers (2013) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-65542" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Brothers-2013.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="338" /> Originally intended as a proof of concept to be shown to studio producers Jay Van Hoy and Lars Knudsen in hopes of securing funding and getting his feature-length debut (The Witch) greenlit, this 11-minute short film finds Eggers drawing from the deep well of religion and mythology once again to retell the biblical tale of Cain and Abel as we watch two siblings called Tom and Jake spending some time out in the woods of rural New Hampshire before things take a dark, unexpected turn. Despite its limited runtime and barebones production value, “Brothers” marked a stride forward in Eggers’ craft that effectively showcases the director’s knack for foreboding mood, and ability to instill the viewer with a creeping sense of dread and sustained paranoia. Eggers worked closely with frequent collaborators DP Jarin Blaschke and editor Louise Ford to get the short off the ground, and credits the production as a formative experience that ultimately helped him proved to himself that he could indeed pull off “The Witch” shortly after (a film which features a similar aspect ratio, scary woods, starred children, and had naturalistic performances). You can check it out online at Vimeo.   5. The Tell-Tale Heart (2008) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-65540" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/The-Tell-Tale-Heart-2008.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="420" srcset="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/The-Tell-Tale-Heart-2008.jpg 568w, http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/The-Tell-Tale-Heart-2008-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" /> If you’re intrigued and want to dip your toes into Eggers’ early-career work but can’t be bothered to track down and take the plunge on all three of his obscure shorts, we suggest you stick to this 2008 adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s famous short novel of the same name, about a young servant (Carrington Vilmont) murdering his bedridden elder employer in cold blood after becoming increasingly fed up with his monotonous job. Clocking in at twenty-odd minutes and shot in an abandoned 19th-century New Hampshire manor throughout eight months of production, “The Tell-Tale Heart” marked the first collaboration between Eggers and DP Jarin Blaschke (who’d go on to shoot all four of his feature-length films from “The Witch” to “Nosferatu”). By all accounts, it stands as the first true sign that suggested they were on the path to become one of Hollywood’s most formidable creative duos. Until recently, your only hope to see the whole thing for yourself was to lay hands on one of its extremely-rare DVD copies floating around on eBay, as it remained completely unavailable online until finally resurfacing in 2022 on the heels of “The Northman” theatrical release. Eggers’ sure-handed direction, unsettling use of puppetry and keen eye for period detail keeps you engaged from start to finish and easily outbalances the occasional dull stretches of the story. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/all-7-robert-eggers-movies-ranked-from-worst-to-best/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>7</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>10 Great Western Movie Classics You Probably Haven’t Seen</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-western-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen-3/</link> <comments>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-western-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen-3/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jack Ramsay]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 11 Jan 2025 15:32:13 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Features]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film Lists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Western Movie Classics]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.tasteofcinema.com/?p=68420</guid> <description><![CDATA[“3:10 to Yuma was one that I just kept on talking and thinking about after reading it. And I think the reason is because, like in most Westerns, you have the very clear-cut bad-guy/good-guy. However, as the movie progresses, you kind of see that it’s a very fine line that divides these two.” — Christian […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68418" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/classics-western-movie.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="329" /> “3:10 to Yuma was one that I just kept on talking and thinking about after reading it. And I think the reason is because, like in most Westerns, you have the very clear-cut bad-guy/good-guy. However, as the movie progresses, you kind of see that it’s a very fine line that divides these two.” — Christian Bale Lazy critics often pontificate assertions like: ‘the western genre is dead.’ They seem unaware of the fact that brilliant western movies are released every year. The genre clearly has an enduring appeal as a fan favourite. 2024 alone saw the release of The Thicket, with Peter Dinklage, and Place of Bones, with Heather Graham. Westerns continue to evolve into new and unexpected realms, such as the sci-fi crossover Cowboys and Aliens (2011). While western fans are comfortable with classics like The Searchers (1956), this list aims to expand their taste. It will reconsider some of the genre’s lesser-known or inaccurately rated titles.   1. Shoot the Living and Pray For the Dead (1971) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-66502" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Shoot-the-Living-and-Pray-For-the-Dead.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="320" /> After stealing gold bars, Dan Hogan (Klaus Kinski) and his bandits waylay inside the Jackal’s Ranch stagecoach stop. There, Dan meets John Webb (Paolo Casella), who offers to guide the gang to Mexico. Dan is unaware that John holds a grudge against him for what he did to his father. Firstly, Shoot the Living and Pray For the Dead is remarkably minimalist. With a lean story and structure, it is chiefly contained to one location. Its theatre play nature gives stage to another maniacal performance from Klaus Kinski. Bringing the madness of his personal life, Kinski’s horrific, commanding turn seals his status as one of the 20th century’s most superlative, riveting actors. The film itself is an exemplary, intense, yet forgotten spaghetti western, featuring a catchy hippie-era soundtrack. It would prove to be an influence on Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (2015). In its wider significance, Shoot the Living and Pray For the Dead can be interpreted as a criticism of capitalism. In addition, it may also be analysed to possess parallels to the Vietnam War — at its height during the movie’s release.   2. The Last Outlaw (1993) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67408" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Last-Outlaw-1993_.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="308" srcset="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Last-Outlaw-1993_.jpg 560w, http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Last-Outlaw-1993_-300x165.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" /> A group of former Confederate soldiers rob a bank. When their leader, Graff (Mickey Rourke), leaves one of them for dead, the gang mutinies, absconding with the money. Graff allies with the law to track them down. A TV movie with a cult following, The Last Outlaw is a who’s who of America’s finest character actors. It is enhanced by the inclusion of Steve Buscemi, Keith David and John C. McGinley. Similarly, as with all his B-movies, the gravitas of Mickey Rourke’s captivating lead ameliorates the generic material. The Last Outlaw is comparable to a desert-set slasher movie, with the characters being picked off one by one. Eschewing substance, the constant action is simply pure entertainment, seen in instances such as a horse galloping through a bank. Resultantly, The Last Outlaw is recommendable to a group of male friends in search of uncomplicated evening viewing.   3. The Quick and the Dead (1995) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-47791" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/The-Quick-and-the-Dead.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="306" /> In 1881, ‘The Lady’ (Sharon Stone) rides into the desert town of Redemption. She aims to exact revenge upon the mayor, John Herod (Gene Hackman), who was responsible for her father’s death. First, however, she must compete in a shooting tournament. The supporting cast is comprised of Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Keith David and Gary Sinise. Finally, The Quick and the Dead refreshingly sees the long-overdue casting of a female gunslinger protagonist. That said, much like the rest of his filmography, Hackman’s shockingly cruel, dominant performance is the movie’s prime virtue. Akin to his biblical name, Herod serves as a synecdoche for tyrannical authority figures all over the world. Through him, the innate immorality and unfairness the establishment imposes upon its subjects is exposed and critiqued. Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio’s characteristically brilliant acting foretokens the success to follow later in his career. What is more, Sam Raimi’s creative, idiosyncratic direction sets The Quick and the Dead apart from similar westerns. This is pertinent in the cartoonish cinematography, incorporating zooms, Dutch angles and sepia colour grading. With Evil Dead II’s (1987) flair, Raimi paints both a homage to and a parody of Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy.   4. From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter (1999) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68417" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/From-Dusk-Till-Dawn-3.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="320" /> Desperado Johnny Madrid (Marco Leonardi) escapes the hangman and kidnaps his daughter. They hideout in a saloon, which turns out to be inundated with vampires. This straight-to-video production is a prequel to From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), which was written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Tarantino pitched the story that would become From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money. At the same time, Rodriguez pitched the idea for From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter, selecting P.J. Pesce as its director. Both the second and third instalments were filmed in South Africa. As one would expect, From Dusk Till Dawn 3 is gory, visually-rich, over-the-top fun, entertainingly combining vampire lore with old west cowboys. It depicts real-life historical figures, including Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa and author Ambrose Bierce. Danny Trejo appears in every entry of the franchise as the immortal barman. Concurrently, as in Kill Bill Vol. 2, Michael Parks further proves himself to be one of Hollywood’s most unrecognised, yet dexterous talents. Correspondingly, Rebecca Gayheart excels here, enough to catch Tarantino’s attention, casting her in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). The character Johnny Madrid is referenced in that film. B-movie fans are advised to ignore From Dusk Till Dawn 3’s savage critical reaction, to revel in its fantastical, silly, genre-delivering chaos.   5. Dead Birds (2004) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-65274" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Dead-Birds.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="320" /> Bank robbers hideout in a haunted plantation mansion. The cast includes: Michael Shannon, Isaiah Washington and Mark Boone Jr. Rejuvenating a well-worn genre, Dead Birds stirs in Lovecraftian horror and fantasy. It further differentiates itself from other westerns by being set amongst the Spanish moss of Alabama, rather than the desert. A hallmark of great haunted house movies, Dead Birds succeeds in constructing a spooky atmosphere. This is engendered through the scuttling sound design, shadowy candle lighting and slow camera pans. Although there is a gradual buildup to the action, the eerie tension is sufficiently intriguing to keep its audience engaged. As underrated as the film itself, Mark Boone Jr. consistently supplies interesting subtext to his characters. As Joseph, Boone exhibits dissatisfaction and brooding anger. Although his character’s backstory remains unexplained, Boone’s detailed preparation alludes to Joseph’s timeline before the movie’s start, how his personality developed. This results in Joseph coming across as a believable character, contrasting the supernatural elements. While Dead Birds is fundamentally grindhouse entertainment, there exists a more serious undertone of racism, looking into antebellum-era slavery. This rises to the surface when William (a white character) says to Todd (a black character): “I saved your life more times than I can count.” Todd retorts: “that don’t make it yours.” ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/10-great-western-movie-classics-you-probably-havent-seen-3/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>11</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>All 10 Middle-Earth Movies Ranked From Worst To Best</title> <link>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/all-10-middle-earth-movies-ranked-from-worst-to-best/</link> <comments>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/all-10-middle-earth-movies-ranked-from-worst-to-best/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Guillermo de Querol]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 06 Jan 2025 15:32:55 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Features]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film Lists]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Middle-Earth Movies Ranked]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.tasteofcinema.com/?p=68404</guid> <description><![CDATA[When a billion-dollar blockbuster franchise is ten movies in (and counting), having some ups and downs is pretty much unavoidable. And movies set within J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth are no exception: First there were a number of divisive but oddly fascinating animated adaptations in the late-’70s and early ’80s. Then came Peter Jackson’s Lord of the […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68410" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/middle-earth-movies-ranked.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="330" /> When a billion-dollar blockbuster franchise is ten movies in (and counting), having some ups and downs is pretty much unavoidable. And movies set within J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth are no exception: First there were a number of divisive but oddly fascinating animated adaptations in the late-’70s and early ’80s. Then came Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings live-action movies, which we can all pretty much agree is the one trilogy to rule them all, the high-point for the franchise so far, and a huge financial gamble that paid off and changed big-budget filmmaking in ways we’re still dealing with 20 years later. Sadly, Hollywood seemed to have learned all the wrong lessons from its unprecedented success, and the last of the goodwill the franchise might have enjoyed from its movie fanbase had been entirely burned up by the time the bloated Hobbit series fizzled out in 2014. Last year we had “The War of the Rohirrim”, an animated standalone movie set 183 years before Frodo Baggins came upon the One Ring. To celebrate the return of the Middle-Earth on the big screen, we’re offering a comprehensive ranking, from worst to best, for every Tolkien big-screen adaptation to date (you can probably guess which film will end at the bottom of the barrel).   10. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-48329" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/The-Hobbit-The-Battle-of-the-Five-Armies-2014.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="311" /> With a bit of distance now, it’s hard to revisit the Hobbit trilogy without wondering what exactly went wrong, and what might have been. Blame it on Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and Fran Walsh, or the studio execs at Warner Bros. for milking the IP for every cent it’s worth, but the decision to split a relatively short children’s book into a trio of nine-figure-budgeted movies with a combined runtime of eight hours feels in retrospect like artistic malpractice. Not only the nadir of Jackson’s superfluous trilogy but far and away the low point of Middle-Earth big screen adaptations, “The Battle of the Five Armies” indulges in all the wrong ways, needlessly stretching out its eponymous big action set piece (which originally occupies about three pages in Tolkien’s novel) for what feels like an eternity as we watch Bilbo Baggins, mad prince Thorin Oakenshield, and the rest of the dwarven gang make an heroic final stand at the gates of Erebor. No amount of key-jangling fan service (hey look, remember how cool and awesome Legolas and Galadriel are?) and weightless computer-generated mayhem can capture even a fraction of the sense of epic scale and white-knuckle thrills of Helm’s Deep or Pelennor Fields (Dáin Ironfoot looks about as believable today than, say, Jar Jar Binks in “The Phantom Menace”), while the less that’s said about the shoe-horned Tauriel-Kili courtship, the better. In a different timeline though, who knows, we may be lining up to revisit Guillermo del Toro’s version along with the mainline trilogy in our annual marathon binge.   9. The Lord of the Rings (1978) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68409" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Lord-of-the-Rings-1978.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="373" srcset="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Lord-of-the-Rings-1978-300x201.jpg 300w, http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Lord-of-the-Rings-1978-330x220.jpg 330w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" /> This is where it all began. A case could be made that this late-1970s cult item deserves to be slotted a couple spots higher strictly based on the fact that it was regarded as the definitive Lord of the Rings screen adaptation for well over 20 years until Peter Jackson came along. And one does feel tempted to cut visionary animator Ralph Bakshi some slack for taking the huge undertaking of translating Tolkien’s universe from page to screen with little blueprint to go on, limited resources, a tight schedule, and a notoriously troubled production saddled with untimely setbacks. But here’s the cold truth: The film is simply not that good. An early pioneer in rotoscoping animation style, the 1978s “The Lord of the Rings” saw Bakshi push boundaries and experiment by fusing conventional hand-drawn backgrounds and characters with extended sequences of animation cels traced over live-action footage. The result of this costly and laborious process is unfortunately very wonky, unintentionally funny, and considerably less coherent than any of his future endeavors (“Fire and Ice”, “American Pop”). The film covers the first two thirds of the story and culminates in the siege of Helm’s Deep, setting up a sequel that was ultimately ditched by the studio (Led Zeppelin was originally tapped to compose the music and Mick Jagger asked to voice Frodo). Forty-odd years later, Bakshi’s “Lord of the Rings” is a mixed bag overall, only partially redeemed by a uniquely-retro, uncanny visual style that is totally its own. If you’re a diehard completionist, it might be worth tracking down.   8. The Return of the King (1980) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68408" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Return-of-the-King-1980.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="330" /> Can we all just agree that the “Where There’s a Whip, There’s a Way” song slaps and move on? Full disclosure: This is probably the hardest call in our Tolkien movie ranking so far. All things considered, this is probably the least essential adaptation of the lot — a film that we cannot bring ourselves to hate, but one that frankly doesn’t really stand on its own. Weirdly, this 1980 film by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin serves as an unofficial sequel to their earlier animated adaptation of “The Hobbit” (why they decided to skip straight to Return of the King without so much as a nod to Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 “Lord of the Rings” is anyone’s guess). This leaves the viewer pretty much to their own devices to fill in the gaps and keep up with the story as we watch Frodo and Sam recount their perilous journey to Mount Doom to Bilbo at Rivendell, while Gandalf fends off Sauron’s forces at Minas Tirith. Not everything sticks together, and you have to take it for what it is — a 77-minute TV movie pretty much made for kids that condenses the saga’s grand finale while wasting a large chunk of its runtime on Sam’s rescue of Frodo at the Pass of Cirith Ungol (also, Legolas and Gimli are omitted entirely). Hot take: The visually striking animation style, quirky character designs, and gorgeous hand-drawn backgrounds have aged much better than Bakshi’s noble but failed rotoscoping experiment, the voice-acting cast is stacked (John Huston gives Ian McKellen a run for his money as Gandalf), and the story effectively captures the dark, brooding atmosphere of Tolkien’s text.   7. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-68407" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Hobbit-The-Desolation-of-Smaug.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="325" srcset="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Hobbit-The-Desolation-of-Smaug.jpg 1200w, http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Hobbit-The-Desolation-of-Smaug-300x174.jpg 300w, http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Hobbit-The-Desolation-of-Smaug-1024x593.jpg 1024w, http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Hobbit-The-Desolation-of-Smaug-768x445.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px" /> Let’s start off with the positives, shall we? A lot was riding on the much-awaited introduction of the fearsome titular dragon (last seen hoarding dwarven treasure inside the Lonely Mountain) for the middle installment in Jackson’s three-parter to succeed, and despite everything else, Bilbo’s conversation with Smaug more than lived up to expectations. Benedict Cumberbatch’s voice acting is spot on and manages to sell what is, hands down, the most memorable scene in the entire Hobbit series. And as usual, Martin Freeman puts in a great shift as Bilbo, who continues to prove his worth to Thorin and company through the Mirkwood Forest, the elven halls of Thranduil, and the human town of Lake-wood while the heist crew inch closer to their destination — the abandoned dwarven stronghold of Elebor. Still, you can pinpoint to this bloated, 161-minute middle chapter as the moment where the wheels really started to come off. Standalone scenes that were barely even mentioned in the novel such as Gandalf’s detective side quest at Dol Guldur — while awesome in a vacuum — end up breaking the narrative flow and ultimately make the whole thing a bit of a chore to get through. Oh, and the fact that “The Desolation of Smaug” ends on a massive cliffhanger just before Smaug actually desolates is certainly… a choice (I know, I know, the title technically refers to the Lonely Mountain, whatever, my point still stands).   6. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10900" src="http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-2012.jpg" alt="the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-2012" width="560" height="325" /> Peter Jackson’s much-anticipated return to Middle-earth didn’t exactly turn out to be the cinematic slam-dunk that most fans had envisioned. Nevertheless, after an unbearable wait of almost 10 years since “Return of the King” graced theaters, most of us were glad to just go along for the ride if only to spend a little more time back in the Shire catching up with our dear old buddies Bilbo and Gandalf. Expecting the same consistent level of visual and storytelling brilliance as the Rings trilogy certainly set fans up for disappointment. Sure enough, “An Unexpected Journey” felt like a massive letdown at the time and doesn’t hold a candle to any of its predecessors. But we’ll personally die on the hill that says there’s a solid fantasy adventure epic buried here somewhere. On the credit side of the ledger, Martin Freeman isn’t half-bad in the lead role as Bilbo, an ordinary little Hobbit suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances after signing up for a treasure hunt alongside a bunch of gold-hungry dwarves. Throw in Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis reprising their roles as Gandalf and Gollum, as well as the same composer-DOP combo behind LOTR (Howard Shore and Andrew Lesnie), and moviegoers had every reason to believe they were in for another masterpiece. So much for that. There’s fun to have in the margins (the Riddles in the Dark scene and Gandalf’s speech in Rivendell are obvious standouts), but this may be the single most disappointing Tolkien adaptation so far given what came before and the sheer talent attached. Somehow, it all went downhill from here. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2025/all-10-middle-earth-movies-ranked-from-worst-to-best/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>10</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>