15 years of imprisonment, five days of vengeance

Starring: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kan Hye-jung, Ji Dae-han, Oh Tae-kyung, Yoo Yeon-jung, Kim Byeong-ok, Yoon Jin-seo, Oh Dal-su

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live?" - Oh Dae-su

Why watch this? This is a brilliant, blood-splattered, revenge movie created as a form of film art.

Plot Summary: Oh Dae-su is mysteriously abducted and imprisoned in a sealed, concrete room. He endures 15 years of confinement, almost losing his sanity. Then, again without explanation or information on his captor, he is drugged and released. Dae-su searches for his daughter, but cannot find her. Then he begins his quest to extract revenge on his captors by visiting Chinese restaurants until he finds the one that prepared this meals while imprisoned.

Egg Film, CJ Entertainment; Show East

Everything is suspect... everyone is for sale... and nothing is what it seems.

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, David Strathairn, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"If we're going to figure this out, we need to work together." - Ed Exley

Why watch this? This neo-noir crime film is as gritty as sandpaper.

Plot Summary: In 1950s Los Angeles, three LAPD detectives, each with their own contrasting methods and motivations, find their paths intertwined while investigating a brutal mass murder at an all-night coffee shop. As they delve deeper into the seemingly open-and-shut case, they uncover a shadowy world of police corruption, Hollywood glamour, and organized crime. Ultimately, the officers are forced to confront their own moral compasses and navigate the labyrinthine underbelly of the city to uncover the truth.

Regency Ent., The Wolper Org.;
Warner Bros.

All Truths Come to Light

Starring: Kate Winslet, Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, Angourie Rice, David Denman, Neal Huff, Guy Pierce, Cailee Spaeny, John Douglas

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"My life's a shit show, Zabel. I'm about to lose custody of my grandson, and I'm still workin' through unresolved issues from the son who killed himself. And, uh, my ex-husband basically lives in my backyard, so, you're right, I don't know what you want, but I'm sure it's not that." - Mare

Why watch this? Winslet captivates as the complicated small town detective.

Plot Summary: Police detective Mare Sheehan investigates the murder of a teenage mother in a small Pennsylvania town, while simultaneously grappling with her own personal struggles, including a divorce and the lingering grief over the death of her son. The investigation unfolds in a close-knit community where everyone seems to have secrets, making it difficult to uncover the truth. As Mare digs deeper into the case, she is forced to confront both the hidden complexities of the town and her own inner turmoil.

Zobot Projects, Mayhem Pictures, Juggle Prod.,
Low Dweller Prod., wiip; HBO

A murdered wife. A one-armed man. An obsessed detective. The chase begins.

Starring: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Joe Pantoliano, Andreas Katsulas, Jeroen Krabbé, Daniel Roebuck, Tom Wood

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area." - Dep. Marshall Sam Gerard

Why watch this? This is a well-done action thriller. Jones and Ford are excellent!

Plot Summary: Dr. Richard Kimble is a respected surgeon who finds his wife murdered in their home and claims the killer was a one-armed man. Despite his protests, he is convicted of the murder, but escapes from custody after a bus crash. As U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard leads a relentless manhunt, Kimble endeavors to prove his innocence by tracking down the true killer.

Kopelson Entertainment; Warner Bros.

Seven deadly sins. Seven ways to die.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, John C. McGinley, Kevin Spacey, Richard Roundtree, Daniel Zacapa

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"People will barely be able to comprehend it, but they won't be able to deny it." – John Doe

Why watch this? This is one intense, gory, emotional crime film.

Plot Summary: The film follows a retiring detective, William Somerset, and his newly transferred partner, David Mills, as they investigate a series of brutal murders. They discover the killer's motives are rooted in the seven deadly sins, with each victim representing one of the vices. As the detectives delve deeper into the twisted mind of the killer, the investigation takes an increasingly dark and disturbing turn.

Arnold Koopelson Prod.; New Line Cinema

Are you ready to play?

Starring: Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn, Deborah Kara Unger, Peter Donat, Carroll Baker, Amin Mueller-Stahl

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Discovering the object of the game is the object of the game." – Daniel Schorr

Why watch this? ... to see the look on your face when you realize what is really going on.

Plot Summary: Nicholas Van Orton, a wealthy and reclusive San Francisco investment banker, receives an unusual birthday gift from his estranged younger brother, Conrad. This gift is an opportunity to participate in a mysterious, customized game provided by a company called Consumer Recreation Services (CRS). As Nicholas enters the game, the lines between reality and the staged events blur, leading to a series of increasingly intense and dangerous occurrences that challenge his carefully constructed life and understanding of what's truly happening around him.
 

Dad's Preview: I rented this and could not believe that there wasn't more buzz about it. It is a hell of a tense film with a brilliant plot. You will have to watch it more than once to catch everything. It serves as a cautionary tale for the modern day corporate executive - those who live their lives solely to serve the "company", at the expense of living their life and spending time with loved ones. Michael Douglas delivers another strong performance, but I was drawn to the mysterious Deborah Unger.

Propaganda Films; PolyGram Films

Hunted by men...Sought by WOMEN!

Starring: Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Orson Welles, Paul Hörbiger, Ernst Deutsch, Erich Ponto, Siegfried Breuer, Hedwig Bleibtreu, Bernard Lee, Wilfrid Hyde-White

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"If you want to sell your services, I'm not willing to be the price. I loved him. You loved him. What good have we done him? Love. Look at yourself. They have a name for faces like that." – Anna Schmidt

Why watch this? The cinematography alone... and its impact on the noir, seedy films that followed.

Plot Summary: Pulp fiction writer Holly Martins travels to post-war Vienna at the invitation of his old friend, Harry Lime, only to discover upon arrival that Lime has died under mysterious circumstances. Martins becomes obsessed with investigating his friend's purported death and uncovers a conspiracy involving a dangerous black market ring, all while navigating the shadowy streets and sectors of occupied Vienna. As he delves deeper into the investigation, Martins finds himself entangled with Lime's enigmatic lover, Anna, secrets about his friend's life.

London Films; Selznick Releasing Org.

Not every gift is a blessing.

Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Trevor Morgan, Donnie Wahlberg

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I don't wanna be scared anymore." - Cole Sear

Why watch this? This is a very chilling, sophisticated and creepy film, from a promising new director.

Plot Summary: Child psychologist Malcolm Crowe takes on a new patient, a young boy named Cole Sear, who is isolated and troubled. Cole confides in Malcolm that he can see and communicate with deceased individuals who are unaware of their own deaths. As Malcolm works to understand and help Cole with his unusual ability, he also grapples with personal issues, including a strained relationship with his wife.

Hollywood Pictures, Spyglass Ent., The
Kennedy/Marshall Co., Barry Mendel Prod.;
Buena Vista Pictures Dist.

The screen's master of suspense moves his camera into the icy blackness of the unexplained!

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Simon Oakland, Frank Albertson

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"Well, a boy's best friend is his mother." - Norman Bates

Why watch this? Ah, Norman Bates and his mother... for its time, this film was disturbing, and generated quite the buzz.

Plot Summary: Marion Crane is a secretary who embezzles money and flees, eventually seeking refuge at the isolated Bates Motel. There, she encounters the timid and troubled proprietor, Norman Bates, who lives with his domineering mother in the house overlooking the motel. The film then delves into the dark secrets and psychological complexities surrounding the Bates family and the mysterious events at the motel.

Shamley Productions; Paramount Pictures

The border is just another line to cross.

Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro, Jon Bernthal, Maximiliano Hernández, Victor Garber, Daniel Kaluuya, Julio Cesar Cedillo

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"You should move to a small town, somewhere the rule of law still exists. You will not survive here. You are not a wolf, and this is a land of wolves now." - Alejandro

Why watch this? It will help you understand the brutal drug war border states faces every day.

Plot Summary: This intense film follows a female DEA officer who wants to make a difference. She is assigned to an experienced team working on a big drug bust. She quickly learns that things work very differently than the black and white world she's used to. She's also in way over her head.

Black Label Media, Thunder Road; Lionsgate

The Master of Suspense presents a 2000-mile chase across America!

Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Martin Landau, Leo G. Carroll, Edward Platt

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself slightly killed." - Roger Thornhill

Why watch this? Cary Grant is superb as a mistaken man forced to survive a nasty situation.

Plot Summary: Manhattan advertising executive Roger Thornhill is mistakenly identified as a government agent named George Kaplan by foreign spies. He is thrust into a dangerous world of intrigue, pursued across the country by the spies and the police who believe him to be a murderer. As he tries to unravel the mystery and clear his name, he encounters a beautiful, enigmatic woman whose allegiances are unclear.

Alfred Hitchcock; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

A chilling, bold, mesmerizing, futuristic detective thriller.

Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmett Walsh, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, Brion James

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I need ya, Deck. This is a bad one, the worst yet. I need the old blade runner, I need your magic." - Bryant

Why watch this? It's haunting, brooding and dark... and a mesmerizing sci-fi classic.

Plot Summary: In a dystopian future Los Angeles, a burnt-out detective (aka: a "blade runner"), Rick Deckard, is tasked with hunting down and "retiring" a group of advanced androids called replicants, who have escaped from off-world colonies. These replicants seek to find their creator and extend their limited life-spans, while the blade runner wrestles with the complex morality of his job and his growing connection to a beautiful replicant who believes she is human.

The Ladd Co., Shaw Brothers; Warner Bros.

The Truth Can Be Adjusted

Starring: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack, Michael O'Keefe, Danielle Skraastad, Wai Chan

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I'm not the guy you kill. I'm the guy you buy! Are you so f'ing blind that you don't even see what I am? I sold out Arthur for 80 grand. I'm your easiest problem and you're gonna kill me?" - Michael Clayton

Why watch this? This is another solid effort by Clooney. He's a master of understatement.

Plot Summary: Michael Clayton works as a "fixer" at a prestigious New York law firm, essentially cleaning up the messes made by the firm and its wealthy clients. He's called in when one of the firm's senior partners, Arthur Edens, has a breakdown during a multi-billion dollar class-action lawsuit against an agricultural conglomerate called U-North. As Clayton tries to manage the fallout from Edens' erratic behavior, he uncovers corruption and potential criminal wrongdoing surrounding the lawsuit, putting his own life at risk.

Samuels Media, Castle Rock Ent., Mirage Ent.,
Section Eight Prod.; Warner Bros. Pictures

In deadly danger...because they saw too much!

Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr, Judith Evelyn, Frank Cady, Georgine Darcy, Ross Bagdasarian

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"People do a lot of things in private they couldn't possibly explain in public." Lt. Doyle

Why watch this? Nobody did it like Hitchcock. This one drips constant suspense.

Plot Summary: Confined to his apartment with a broken leg, a photographer named L.B. Jeffries spends his days observing his neighbors through his rear window. His casual pastime takes a dark turn when he becomes convinced that one of his neighbors, a traveling salesman named Lars Thorwald, has murdered his wife. Despite skepticism from his girlfriend Lisa and his nurse Stella, Jeffries enlists their help in a perilous amateur investigation.

Patron Incorporated; Paramount Pictures

All the President's Men (1976), Director: Alan J. Pakula, rated PG

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are about to ask you a few questions.

Starring: Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Hal Holbrook , Jason Robarbs, Ned Beatty

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"It leads everywhere. Get out your notebook. There's more." - Deep Throat

Why watch this? This explains Watergate in a very interesting and suspenseful manner.

Plot Summary: Two reporters from the Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, are assigned to what initially seems like a minor break-in at the Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate complex. As they investigate, they uncover a much larger political conspiracy, tracing the trail of illegal activity higher and higher within the Nixon administration, despite obstacles and threats to their safety. Their persistent investigative journalism ultimately aims to reveal the truth about the Watergate scandal and its connections to those in power.

Wildwood Enterprises; Warner Bros.

Some memories are best forgotten

Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Russ Fega, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different." – Leonard Shelby

Why watch this? Creative film storytelling 101. Its unorthodoxy is its strength.

Plot Summary: Leonard Shelby is a former insurance investigator who suffers from a rare form of short-term memory loss. Following an assault that resulted in his wife's murder, he can remember events from his past but cannot form new memories. Leonard uses a system of Polaroids, notes, and tattoos to track information as he relentlessly seeks to avenge his wife's death.

Summit Entertainment, Team Todd;
Newmarket

John Sayles invites you to return to the scene of the crime.

Starring: Chris Cooper, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey, Ron Canada, Elizabeth Peña, Joe Morton

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I remember Charlie Wade came to my father's hardware store once... The man winked at me. I peed my pants." – Ben Wetzel

Why watch this? This Texas mystery centers on a cold-case murder and secret relationships.

Plot Summary: Sheriff Sam Deeds is notified to investigate the discovery of skeletal remains in a Texas border town. The bones belong to a notoriously corrupt sheriff who mysteriously disappeared decades earlier. As Sam delves into the past, he uncovers long-buried secrets involving his own legendary father, the town's former sheriff, Buddy Deeds.

Castle Rock Ent., Columbia Pics, Rio Dulce;
Sony Pictures Classics

It's his most nerve-stretching thriller!

Starring: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Joan Chandler, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, Kenneth Lawrence, Edith Evanson

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

DML Top 100 #94 - Dad's Full (Spoiler) Review and Deep Dive of Rope

"I've always wished for more artistic talent. Well, murder can be an art, too. The power to kill can be just as satisfying as the power to create." - Brandon Shaw

Why watch this? This is my favorite Hitchcock film. It's lean and twisted.

Plot Summary: Two intellectual young men, Brandon and Phillip, murder a former classmate as an act to prove their supposed superiority. They then host a dinner party, with the victim's body hidden in a chest within the same room, serving as a macabre challenge to mental acuity. As the evening unfolds, their former professor, Rupert, becomes increasingly suspicious at their odd behavior.

Transatlantic Pictures; Warner Bros.

There Are No Clean Getaways

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Tess Harper, Barry Corbin, Beth Grant

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

DML Top 50 #16 - Dad's Full (Spoiler) Review and Deep Dive of No Country For Old Men

"If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?" - Anton Chigurh

Why watch this? This tour de force examines the dangers surrounding the Mexican drug world.

Plot Summary: While hunting in the West Texas desert, Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and finds a briefcase containing millions of dollars, which he takes. His decision sets in motion a violent chase with a ruthless and enigmatic killer, Anton Chigurh, pursuing Moss and the money across the landscape. Meanwhile, a jaded, tired Sheriff Ed Tom Bell investigates the mounting casualties, grappling with the escalating violence and the unsettling nature of the criminals involved.

Paramount Vantage, Scott Rudin Prod.,
Mike Zoss Prod.; Miramax Films
 

Genres Action-Crime, Action-Thriller, Crime-Cops, Crime-Crooks, Crime-Drama, Crime-Thriller, Crime-Thriller-NeoNoir, Mystery-Thriller; Neo-Western, Western-Drama

To enter the mind of a killer she must challenge the mind of a madman.

Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Diane Baker, Kasi Lemmons, Charles Napier

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

DML Top 50 #13 - Dad's Full (Spoiler) Review and Deep Dive of The Silence of the Lambs

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. You fly back to school now, little Starling." – Dr. Hannibal Lecter

Why watch this? ... it's a lethal combination of everything important to great filmmaking.

Plot Summary: A young FBI trainee, Clarice Starling, must interview an incarcerated, manipulative cannibalistic serial killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to gain insight into capturing another active serial killer known as "Buffalo Bill". With the help of Lecter's psychological profiles and cryptic clues, Starling works against time to uncover the identity of the killer and save his latest victim. As she delves deeper into the case and the mind of Lecter, she also confronts the psychological challenges of a male-dominated field and her own personal past traumas.

Strong Heart Productions; Orion Pictures