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The 22 Best Kim Basinger Movies, Ranked | Wealth of Geeks

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Kim Basinger is an actress and former fashion model whose work in television and film has spanned six decades.

Her work has seen her win such accolades as an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

She’s appeared in over 40 feature-length movies since her first film role in 1981’s Hard Country. Some have been excellent, others terrible, and countless fall somewhere in between.

In this piece, we’ll rank her 22 finest films, ending with the best one she’s ever been in.

1 – Grudge Match (2013, directed by Peter Segal)

Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Grudge Match is a sports comedy movie about a pair of aging boxing rivals stepping into the ring for one last bout, having both beaten each other once in their only respective career defeats.

It stars Sylvester Stallone (of Rocky fame) and Robert De Niro (of Raging Bull fame), and it’s not as good as it should be. Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin, Jon Bernthal and Basinger co-star. Basinger plays Sally-Rose Henderson, the ex-girlfriend of Stallone’s Henry “Razor” Sharp, who cheated on him with De Niro’s Billy “The Kid” McDonnen, and she does fine. Grudge Match is funny in parts, and its excellent cast elevates it, but, on the whole, it almost tarnishes the iconic boxing movies in which its leading actors appeared.

2 – No Mercy (1986, directed by Richard Pearce)

No Mercy Kim Basinger
Image Credit: TriStar Pictures.

No Mercy is a neo-noir acting thriller about a Chicago detective who, seeking to avenge his partner’s death, accepts an offer to kill a Cajun gangster.

Richard Gere plays Eddie Jillette, the cop, and Basinger plays Michel Duval, the beautiful Cajun mistress of a murderous crime lord who wants to take Eddie down. The film has a suitably creepy tone, Gere performs excellently, and Basinger does okay, making it watchable. Still, No Mercy is highly derivative and feels like a poorer version of Beverly Hills Cop if that movie was severely depressed.

3 – While She Was Out (2008, directed by Susan Montford)

While She Was Out
Image Credit: Anchor Bay Entertainment.

While She Was Out is a thriller about an abused suburban housewife forced to fend for herself on Christmas Eve while stranded in a secluded forest with four young thugs who want her dead.

The laughable check-listed group of silly criminals, led by Lukas Haas as Chuckie, ruins this film, but Basinger’s performance as Della, the woman they terrorize, is excellent. You care about her character, which is essential. It’s a brutal film that’s great for feminist empowerment, the horror elements are impressive, and the ending is superb.

4 – The Getaway (1994, directed by Roger Donaldson)

The Getaway Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

The Getaway is an action thriller based on Jim Thompson’s 1958 novel and a remake of the 1972 Steve McQueen-led movie. It follows an ex-con and his devoted wife as they run from danger when a heist attempt goes wrong.

Alec Baldwin plays Carter “Doc” McCoy, the ex-con, and Basinger plays his wife, Carol. It’s fair to say their performances aren’t their best, and Basinger received a Razzie nomination. The strong supporting cast includes Michael Madsen, Jennifer Tilly, Richard Farnsworth, James Woods, Davi Morse, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, which makes it watchable. The Getaway is fun in parts, but it’s dark to the point of being mean-spirited. Watch the 1972 movie if you have to choose between the two.

5 – The Man Who Loved Women (1983, directed by Blake Edwards)

The Man Who Loved Women Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures.

The Man Who Loved Women is a comedy movie and a remake of the 1977 François Truffaut’s French film L’Homme qui aimait les femmes. The plot focuses on a successful sculptor from the perspective of his psychiatrist and eventual lover, as she documents his obsessive love of ladies, leading to his eventual death.

Burt Reynolds plays David Fowler, the sculptor, and Julie Andrews plays Marianna, his psychiatrist. They don’t match up well, and their chemistry is sorely lacking. Basinger plays Louise Carr, a woman with whom David had an affair who’s married to a Texas millionaire. The Man Who Loved Women has an intriguing concept and some funny and compassionate moments, but it’s hard to care about the main character and it falls flat.

6 – The Sentinel (2006, directed by Clark Johnson)

The Sentinel Kim Basinger
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

The Sentinel is a political action thriller movie based on former Secret Service Agent Gerald Petievich’s 2003 novel. It’s about a veteran Secret Service agent suspected of being a traitor after an attempted presidential assassination reveals that someone within the Secret Service is giving information to the assassins.

Michael Douglas plays Pete Garrison, the veteran agent, and does a decent job. Basinger is fine as First Lady Sarah Ballentine. The supporting cast includes Kiefer Sutherland and Eva Longoria, who positively contribute. However, The Sentinel goes awry after a strong start. Its action sequences are boring, there are far too many plot holes, and it gets tiresome by the end. That said, the performances of its star leads are worth your time.

7 – The Burning Plain (2008, directed by Guillermo Arriaga)

The Burning Plain Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Magnolia Pictures.

The Burning Plain is a drama movie with an interwoven two-tiered storyline about a mother and daughter attempting to bond following the woman’s difficult childhood.

Jennifer Lawrence plays Mariana, the woman as a youngster who accidentally killed her mother, and Charlize Theron plays her when she’s older and has changed her name to Sylvia. They both perform their roles well, especially Theron. Basinger adeptly plays Gina, the mother Mariana/Sylvia accidentally killed, in a brief role. The Burning Plain is well structured and littered with nuanced performances but lacks emotion.

8 – Mother Lode (1982, directed by Charlton Heston)

Mother Lode Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Agamemnon Films.

Mother Lode is an adventure thriller that follows a bush pilot and his girlfriend searching for gold and their encounter with a mad hermit prospector and his twin brother.

Director Heston stars in a dual role, playing Silas and Ian McGee, the prospector and his brother. Nick Mancuso plays bush pilot Jean Dupre, and Basinger plays his companion Andrea Spalding. The charisma brought to proceedings by those three leads is undeniable. Mother Lode has some compelling aerial sequences, suspense, and claustrophobia but lacks excitement.

9 – People I Know (2002, directed by Daniel Algrant)

People I Know, Kim Basinger, Al Pacino
Image Credit: Miramax.

People I Know is a crime drama movie about a burnt-out New York press agent on the verge of retirement who gets forced to act desperately when one of his major clients becomes embroiled in a massive scandal.

It stars Al Pacino as Eli Wurman, the press agent, and he gives a likable subdued performance. Ryan O’Neal and Téa Leoni also perform well in prominent roles. Basinger plays Victoria Gray, Eli’s former sister-in-law and his deceased brother’s widow, who is now his love interest, and she’s excellent. People I Know is tonally all over the place, and the story is downbeat, but it’s intriguing and well-performed enough to make it worth watching.

10 – Nadine (1987, directed by Robert Benton)

Nadine, Kim Basinger, Jeff Bridges
Image Credit: TriStar Pictures.

Nadine is a crime comedy movie about a woman in 1950s Austin, Texas, attempting to recover sleazy photos of herself and divorce her husband, who witnesses a murder and exposes unscrupulous land dealings.

Basinger plays the eponymous Nadine Hightower, and Jeff Bridges plays her estranged husband, Vernon. Jerry Stiller appears as the sleazy photographer and Rip Torn as real estate kingpin Buford Pope. Bridges and Basinger make a good duo, and Nadine has some decent slapstick comedy and exciting chase scenes. It is, however, not as funny as it tries to be, and most of the characters are dull.

11 – Cellular (2004, directed by David R. Ellis)

Cellular, Kim Basinger
Image Credit: New Line Cinema.

Cellular is an action-thriller movie about a female science teacher kidnapped by home invaders who manages to phone a stranger for help randomly. The stranger calls the police, only to discover it’s corrupt cops who’ve committed the kidnapping, and the film chronicles the woman’s struggle to survive with the random man’s help.

Basinger plays the lead role of Jessica Martin, the kidnapped lady, and she does so brilliantly. Chris Evans plays Ryan, the random young man she called, and he’s also excellent. Jason Statham, William H. Macy, Noah Emmerich, Richard Burgi, and Jessica Biel are among the talented supporting cast. Cellular is energetic with fun twists, but people have pointed out that it feels like one long cellphone commercial, which is disconcerting.

12 – Final Analysis (1992, directed by Phil Joanou)

Final Analysis Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Final Analysis is a neo-noir erotic thriller about a psychiatrist who gets romantically involved with the sister of one of his patients, who is unhappily married to her controlling gangster husband, resulting in serious complications.

Richard Gere plays psychiatrist Isaac Barr and Basinger plays Heather Evans, the woman he gets involved with, and their chemistry is decent in this one. Uma Thurman, Eric Roberts, and Keith David offer capable support. Final Analysis is slick and similar in tone to Alfred Hitchcock’s best work, with a solid plot, clever twists, and above-average performances. It is, however, a little too derivative and often far too weird.

13 – Wayne’s World 2 (1993, directed by Stephen Surjik)

Wayne's World 2, Dana Carvey, Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.

Wayne’s World 2 is a comedy movie, and the sequel to 1992’s Wayne’s World, itself adapted from a sketch on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. It’s about two eccentric rock and roll fans who host a public-access television show in Aurora, Illinois.

Mike Myers and Dana Carvey reprise their iconic roles as Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar, and they still have great chemistry. Basinger plays a woman called Honey Hornée, who tries to manipulate Garth into killing her ex-husband, and she’s the perfect femme fatale. The supporting cast includes Tia Carrere, Christopher Walken, Chris Farley, Drew Barrymore, Charlton Heston, and several stars who play themselves, such as Jay Leno, Heather Locklear, Rip Taylor, and Steven Tyler. Wayne’s World 2 is good, and the main characters are still likable, but it’s not as funny as its predecessor.

14 – The Door in the Floor (2004, Tod Williams)

The Door in the Floor, Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Focus Features.

The Door in the Floor is a drama movie based on the first third of John Irving’s 1998 novel A Widow for One Year. It’s about a couple whose teenage sons perished in a car crash. When the man, a writer, hires an assistant, the young man plays a significant part in their household’s disintegration.

Jeff Bridges plays Ted Cole, the writer, Basinger plays his wife, Marion, and Jon Foster plays the young assistant Eddie O’Hare. The latter two are good, but Bridges is excellent. The Door in the Floor is a solid adaptation of Irving’s work. It’s a tad clichéd and implausible in parts, some of the story is depressing, and some characters come across as annoyingly dumb, but the performances make this one a worthwhile watch.

15 – Fool for Love (1985, directed by Robert Altman)

Fool for Love, Kim Basinger
Image Credit: The Cannon Group, Inc.

Fool for Love is a psychological drama movie based on Sam Shepard’s 1983 stage play. It concerns a woman waiting for her boyfriend to arrive at a derelict motel in the Mojave Desert, where her former lover appears and threatens to ruin things for her.

Basinger plays May, the woman, and Randy Quaid plays Martin, her lover. The original play’s writer, Shepard, plays Eddie, the ex-boyfriend. Harry Dean Stanton plays the motel’s proprietor, known simply as the Old Man, who turns out to be May and Eddie’s father, making them half-siblings. The cast is all great in this one. Fool for Love bears little resemblance to the play, and the cinematography is a bit off, but it’s pleasingly different, sometimes funny, and deliciously raw.

16 – 9½ Weeks (1986, directed by Adrian Lyne)

9½ Weeks
Image Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

9½ Weeks is an erotic romantic drama movie adapted from Ingeborg Day’s 1978 memoir (under the pseudonym “Elizabeth McNeill”). It’s about a New York City art gallery employee and an enigmatic Wall Street broker who have a brief and intense affair.

Basinger plays Elizabeth McGraw, the gallery worker, and Mickey Rourke plays John Gray, the broker. They both perform well, and their relationship is convincing. 9½ Weeks is famously steamy, but the leading characters are hard to like, and it sometimes feels like a commercial for designer underwear. Still, it’s also a good advert for female empowerment, and it’s undeniably slickly stylized.

17 – Never Say Never Again (1983, directed by Irvin Kershner)

Never Say Never Again, Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Never Say Never Again is a spy movie based on Ian Fleming’s 1961 novel Thunderball, which Eon Productions had previously made into a 1965 film. It’s the second and most recent James Bond film not to be produced by Eon and follows Bond as he attempts to stop a SPECTRE agent from detonating two stolen nuclear warheads.

Critics welcomed Sean Connery’s return as Bond after a twelve-year break, praising his turn as the suave spy in this unofficial installment in the franchise. Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow, and Barbara Carrera ably support him, as does Basinger, who plays Domino Petachi, the sultry love interest. Never Say Never Again is witty, action-packed, and augmented by Connery’s legendary charm, though some fans deemed it unnecessary.

18 – 8 Mile (2002, directed by Curtis Hanson)

8 Mile, Kim Basinger, Eminem
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

8 Mile is a biographical hip-hop drama movie loosely based on Eminem’s life. It’s about a white rapper’s efforts to launch a career as a hip-hop artist, a music genre dominated by African-Americans.

Eminem stars as Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith, the white rapper, in his film debut, and he’s excellent. Basinger plays his mother, Stephanie, and does okay despite being miscast in some people’s opinions. It also stars Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Anthony Mackie, and Michael Shannon. While 8 Mile is a familiar tale, it’s well-performed, engaging, and raw, with good music, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Lose Yourself.”

19 – The Nice Guys (2016, directed by Shane Black)

The Nice Guys, Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

The Nice Guys is a neo-noir buddy action-comedy movie about a private eye and an enforcer-for-hire teaming up to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl.

Russell Crowe plays Jackson Healy, the enforcer, and Ryan Gosling plays Holland March, the private eye. The pair have irresistible comedic chemistry, which helps the film flourish. The impressive supporting cast includes Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Keith David, and Basinger, who competently plays Judith Kuttner, the mother of the girl who’s gone missing. The Nice Guys is brilliantly written and performed, side-splittingly funny, and an absolute riot from start to finish.

20 – The Natural (1984, directed by Barry Levinson)

The Natural, Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Tri-Star Pictures.

The Natural is a sports drama movie based on Bernard Malamud’s 1952 novel. It spans the decades of the career of a man called Roy Hobbs, an individual with phenomenal “natural” baseball talent.

It stars Robert Redford as Hobbs, with a supporting cast of Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Wilford Brimley, and Basinger, who received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress, but everyone performs superbly. The Natural also received four nominations for Academy Awards. It’s a little too long, but it’s visually stunning, has great humor, and is up there with the best baseball films (and, indeed, best sports films) ever made.

21 – Batman (1989, directed by Tim Burton)

Batman, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Batman is a superhero movie based on the eponymous DC Comics character and the first installment in Warner Bros.’ initial Batman film series. It chronicles the Dark Knight’s early years as a crime-fighting vigilante in Gotham City and depicts his conflict with his iconic nemesis, the Joker.

It’s Michael Keaton’s first outing as the Caped Crusader, and he’s outstanding. Jack Nicholson is iconic as the Joker, and Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, and Michael Gough appear in prominent roles. Basinger plays Bruce Wayne’s love interest, Vicki Vale, in admirably sultry fashion. Batman is haunting and creepy, with incredible set design and great action, performances, and story. It won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction.

22 – L.A. Confidential (1997, directed by Curtis Hanson)

L.A. Confidential (1997)
Image Credit: Warner Bros.

L.A. Confidential is a neo-noir crime movie based on James Ellroy’s 1990 novel. The title refers to the 1950s scandal magazine Confidential, renamed Hush-Hush in the film. It’s about a group of Los Angeles police officers in 1953 and how police corruption and Hollywood celebrity intersect.

It’s an utterly brilliant film that justifiably earned nine Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. It won two, for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Basinger (who also won the Golden Globe), who is captivating as Lynn Bracken, a lady of the night who resembles Veronica Lake. Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, and Guy Pearce also excel as a trio of detectives. The extended cast includes James Cromwell, Danny DeVito, and David Strathairn. L.A. Confidential is perfectly paced, intelligent, beautifully twisted, tightly written, acted, and directed. It’s a movie you must watch at some point in your life.


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The 12 Best Macaulay Culkin Movies, Ranked | Wealth of Geeks

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Macaulay Culkin found fame at a very young age, having first appeared on television at just five and in his first movie at eight.

The prime of his fame came during childhood, as his adulthood has involved substance abuse and other personal issues. Still, he’s recently enjoyed a career resurgence and appears to have overcome his problems. He has around 20 film credits and approximately 15 television acting credits. In this piece, we’ll list Culkin’s dozen best movies, ending with the finest he’s ever appeared in.

1. The Nutcracker (1993, directed by Emile Ardolino)

Image Credit: Warner Bros.

The Nutcracker is a Christmas musical movie based on Peter Martins’s stage production, which was, in turn, based on Tchaikovsky’s 1892 ballet. It follows the traditional plot whereby a young girl falls asleep on Christmas Eve and dreams of a fantasy world in which toys come to life.

Culkin has multiple roles in this one, as the eponymous Nutcracker, the Prince, and Drosselmeyer’s nephew. While the film is passable and largely enjoyable, the young star received widespread criticism for his performance. Critics said he couldn’t sing or dance, looked out of place, was always on the periphery, and felt like he was a very obvious celebrity guest. However, The Nutcracker is festive enough, beautiful, and romantic, and most of the dance choreography is excellent.

2. My Girl (1991, directed by Howard Zieff)

My Girl Macaulay Culkin, Anna Chlumsky
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures.

My Girl is a coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama movie set in Madison, Pennsylvania that follows a death-obsessed 11-year-old girl who meets an unpopular boy the same age in the summer of 1972. Its title refers to The Temptations’ 1964 soul record of the same name.

Anna Chlumsky plays the eponymous character, Vada Sultenfuss, and Culkin plays Thomas J. Sennett, the boy she meets. They’re both great and give mature performances. Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis also appear in prominent roles. My Girl is a beautiful, sweet, and sometimes funny film with a sad ending, undoubtedly resulting in tears flowing.

3. See You in the Morning (1989, directed by Alan J. Pakula)

See You in the Morning
Image Credit: Warner Bros.

See You in the Morning is a romantic comedy-drama about a divorced psychiatrist and widowed photographer who meet at a party in Manhattan but have to juggle their budding relationship with their existing parenting responsibilities.

The cast is excellent, with Jeff Bridges playing Larry Livingstone, the psychiatrist, Alice Krige playing Beth Goodwin, the photographer, and Farrah Fawcett also appearing. Culkin plays Billy, one of Larry’s children, and Drew Barrymore appears as Cathy, one of Beth’s, and they do well, as do all the younger cast members. See You in the Morning has a pretty mundane plot and script, but its stars make it enjoyable. It’s engaging and occasionally quite funny.

4. Changeland (2019, directed by Seth Green)

Changeland
Image Credit: Gravitas Pictures.

Changeland is a comedy-drama movie about a troubled man who arranges to meet his estranged childhood friend in Thailand after enduring a personal crisis, where the pair find renewed meaning and purpose.

Seth Green, who wrote and directed this film, plays Brandon, the troubled man. Breckin Meyer plays his friend Dan. Culkin plays Ian, a tour boat operator who teaches the pair about Thailand and offers them life advice. They make a solid trio with great chemistry. Brenda Song, Clare Grant (Green’s wife), and Randy Orton also appear. Changeland is a pleasant, warmhearted, anti-toxic masculinity film with relatable characters. Its stunning setting is a nice bonus.

5. Rocket Gibraltar (1988, directed by Daniel Petrie)

Rocket Gibraltar
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures

Rocket Gibraltar is a drama movie about an aging patriarch and retired Hollywood screenwriter who unites his whole family for his birthday, several of whom have personal and social problems they must put aside as the older man’s health begins to fail.

Burt Lancaster plays Levi Rockwell, the patriarch, and his family members include characters played by Suzy Amis, Patricia Clarkson, Frances Conroy, Sinead Cusack, John Glover, Bill Pullman, Kevin Spacey, and Culkin, who has a small but admirable role as one of his grandchildren in his film debut. Rocket Gibraltar is an unusual but sweet, touching movie worth watching for its many big names.

6. Saved! (2004, directed by Brian Dannelly)

Saved
Image Credit:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc..

Saved! is an independent, satirical black comedy movie about a teenage girl at a Christian high school who attempts to “cure” her ex-boyfriend of his homosexuality by sleeping with him but becomes pregnant and gets ostracized by her schoolmates.

Jena Malone stars as Mary Cummings, the Christian high school girl, and Mandy Moore and Culkin provide support. Culkin brilliantly plays Roland Stockard, the paraplegic brother of Mary’s best friend, Hilary Faye, played by Moore. Saved! is an intelligent, original, ambitious film that conveys an important message about tolerance and acceptance.

7. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992, directed by Chris Columbus)

Home Alone 2 Lost in New York
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a Christmas comedy movie and the sequel to 1990’s Home Alone. A young boy gets separated from his family en route to their festive vacation to Florida, ending up alone in New York City, where he encounters a familiar pair of bumbling criminals.

Culkin reprises his iconic role of Kevin McCallister, the boy alone in New York, and gives another excellent and endearing performance as the character. The terrific supporting cast includes Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Catherine O’Hara, Tim Curry, and Brenda Fricker. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York lacks the originality of its predecessor, but it’s still a holiday classic. It’s hilarious, sentimental, and deliciously sadistic with its cartoon violence.

8. Only the Lonely (1991, directed by Chris Columbus)

Only the Lonely, John Candy
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Only the Lonely is a romantic comedy-drama and a humorous take on the premise established in a 1953 television play and a 1955 film, both called Marty. It’s about a bachelor looking to settle down and start a family with a mortuary beautician while dealing with his overbearing mother, who wants him to herself. The film’s title comes from Roy Orbison’s 1960 song of the same name.

John Candy plays Danny Muldoon, the bachelor who’s a Chicago police officer. Maureen O’Hara brilliantly plays Rose, his controlling mother, and Ally Sheedy plays Theresa Luna, the introverted mortuary worker Danny falls for. Culkin has a small role as Billy Muldoon, one of Danny’s nephews, alongside his brother Kieran and James Belushi also appears. Only the Lonely is sweet and amusing, featuring one of the legendary Candy’s most accomplished all-round performances.

9. Uncle Buck (1989, directed by John Hughes)

Uncle Buck, John Candy
Image Credit:

Uncle Buck is a comedy movie about an underachieving and slobbish bachelor asked to babysit his brother’s children when a family emergency requires them to head away for a short while.

The material has a definite underlying uneasy feeling, which somewhat sours its standing as a classic, but it’s undeniably an entertaining film. John Candy stars in the eponymous role and has excellent support from Amy Madigan and Laurie Metcalfe. Alongside Jean Louisa Kelly and Gaby Hoffmann, Culkin plays Miles Russell, one of the three siblings Buck babysits, and he’s fabulous. Uncle Buck is well-performed and will make you laugh throughout and cry with its climactic sentimentality.

10. Adam Green’s Aladdin (2015, directed by Adam Green)

Aladdin Adam Green
Image Credit: Wiki Commons, Adam Green.

Adam Green’s Aladdin is an independent comedy-drama movie that’s a modern take on the classic Arabian Nights tale. It follows Aladdin’s dysfunctional family living in an “average” American city governed by an unscrupulous Sultan with a self-indulgent socialite daughter.

Green stars in the eponymous role, and the supporting cast includes the likes of Natasha Lyonne and Zoë Kravitz. Culkin plays Ralph, a protester who is willing to die for his beliefs, and he throws himself into his friend Green’s passion project. Adam Green’s Aladdin is a surreal delight, like nothing you’ve seen before. It’s creative, funny, provocative, and visually interesting throughout.

11. Jacob’s Ladder (1990, directed by Adrian Lyne)

Jacob's Ladder 1990
Image Credit: Carolco Pictures

Jacob’s Ladder is a psychological horror movie about a haunted Vietnam War veteran who, while mourning the death of his son, attempts to uncover his past while enduring a severe dissociative disorder that sends him spiraling into a world of weird hallucinations.

It stars Tim Robbins as Jacob Singer, the military veteran with mental health issues, and he’s fantastic, as are Elizabeth Peña and Danny Aiello in supporting roles. Culkin adeptly plays Gabriel “Gabe” Singe, Jacob’s deceased son, who Jacob sees in visions and imagined realities. Jacob’s Ladder has a creepy, sad, desperate, and surreal tone, but it’s engaging, emotionally investing, powerful, fascinating, and brilliantly performed.

12. Home Alone (1990, directed by Chris Columbus)

Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Home Alone is a Christmas comedy movie about a young boy forced to defend his huge suburban Chicago home from bungling burglars after getting accidentally left behind when his family heads off on their festive vacation to Paris.

Culkin plays Kevin McCallister for the first time in this one, giving a superb and lovable performance that makes it impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. The terrific supporting cast includes Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Catherine O’Hara, and Roberts Blossom. Home Alone is rib-ticklingly funny, heartwarming, teeming with creativity, excellently performed, brimming with hilarious slapstick violence, and so incredibly Christmassy that you must watch it every December.


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20 of Mark Hamill’s Best Non-Star Wars Roles, Ranked | Wealth of Geeks

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While Luke Skywalker might be his best-known work, Mark Hamill has an illustrious career as a voice actor. His talent knows no bounds, and he certainly loves playing a villain. He has also become the defining performance for some of the characters on this list (looking at you, Joker).

With over 400 voice roles on his resume, Mark Hamill has become one of the best voice actors in the business. Here are Mark Hamill’s best voice roles.

1. Colonel Muska

Image Credit: Toei Company.

The first of many villains on this list, Hamill portrayed Colonel Muska in the Studio Ghibli film Castle in the Sky. This wouldn’t be Hamill’s only work with the famed anime company, as he also voiced the Mayor of Pejite in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

2. Chucky

Child's Play Movie
Image Credit: United Artists Releasing.

Picking up the mantle from the original voice actor Brad Dourif, Hamill took on the fun challenge of voicing the psychotic doll Chucky in the 2019 remake of Child’s Play. It wasn’t his first time portraying the character either, as he had voiced Chucky prior in the comedy show Robot Chicken.

3 Art Rosenbaum

Invincible Animated TV series
Image Credit: Discovery Force Channel.

Superheroes need costumes, and Art Rosenbaum from Invincible is the man to call. He’s the one who creates the costume for Mark Grayson’s titular super persona and his father, Omni-Man.

4. Dom

Tasty Time with ZeFronk Animated TV Series
Image Credit: Disney Junior Channel.

Tasty Time with ZeFronk is an adorable break from the more hardscrabble or villainous characters Hamill voices. Dom is the trickster neighbor cat who steals the food prepared by the chef dog protagonist, ZeFronk, voiced by Pinky and the Brain’s Ron Paulsen. It’s cute, witty, and wholesome in the same vein as Bluey and one of Hamill’s more lighthearted roles.

5. Alvin the Treacherous

DreamWorks Dragons
Image Credit: DreamWorks Animation Television.

Dreamworks’ two spinoff series for the How to Train Your Dragon franchise had several excellent seasons to build upon the lore and characters of the movie. One antagonist was Alvin the Treacherous, who Hamill plays with the utmost skill and nuance as the villain slowly becomes an anti-hero in both shows.

6. Mervyn “Merv” Pumpkinhead

The Sandman Series
Image Credit: COURTESY OF NETFLIX.

In the renowned Netflix series The Sandman, Hamill plays the grumpy, chain-smoking janitor who is a sentient scarecrow with a jack-o-lantern head. Merv is a fan-favorite character from the comic, so seeing him in the show was a delight.

7. Skeletor

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Series
Image Credit: Filmation Associates.

When Kevin Smith created the spiritual successor to 1980’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, only the best could bring the iconic villain, Skeletor, to life. Hamill took on the role in Masters of the Universe: Revelation, following in the footsteps of great voice actors like Alan Oppenheimer.

8. The Skeleton King

Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!
Image Credit: Walt Disney Television Animation.

Skeletor wasn’t Hamill’s only skeleton-based villain. He also was the main villain, the Skeleton King, in the action-packed Disney series Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!

Extra fun fact: This series’ head writer was Henry Gilroy, who would go on to be one of the main writers and directors for The Clone Wars as well as the co-executive producer for Star Wars Rebels.

9. Maltruant

Ben 10 Omniverse TV series
Image Credit: Cartoon Network.

Wanting to control the realm of time, Maltruant is the overarching villain of the Ben 10 universe. He is the cause of the Time War and tries to manipulate the story toward his victory and the death of the titular character, Ben Tennyson.

10. Mr. Selatcia

Metalocalypse Animated TV Series
Image Credit: Titmouse, Inc.

Mark Hamill plays multiple characters in the death metal-inspired black comedy Metalocalypse like Senator Stampingston. By far, the most terrifying is the show’s main villain, Mr. Selatcia. It was a shame the series was canceled because Selatcia was primed to be a horrifically scary villain for the lovably dumb band, Dethklok, to face off against.

11. Master Eraqus

Kingdom Hearts
Image Credit: Square Enix.

Master Eraqus is one of the most complicated figures of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, first appearing in the game Birth by Sleep. His choices lead Terra on his path to darkness despite Eraqus’ best intentions to teach his pupil.

Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura was a big Star Wars fan, part of his drive to cast Mark Hamill in the English dub. He also cast Leonard Nimoy to play Eraqus’ friend and rival, Master Xehanort, because Nomura thought it was funny to make Star Wars and Star Trek actors rivals in his series.

12. Dictatious Galadrigal

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia
Image Credit: DreamWorks Animation Television.

Dictatious is another antagonist that has a journey of change in the Tales of Arcadia series. He starts in TrollHunters as one of the main baddies, but he develops into a more neutral character throughout the three shows.

13. SkekTek

The Dark Crystal
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

SkekTek is one of the most vital characters in The Dark Crystal franchise. Known as the Scientist, he is the behind-the-scenes force strengthening the Skeksis Empire with his experiments. While Hamill dubbed the character, he thought the puppeteer, Olly Taylor, did a better job and didn’t like he had to voice over his performance.

14. Megatronus Prime

Power of the Primes
Image Credit: Dreamwave Productions Transformers comic, Art by Andrew Wildman.

In Transformers: Power of the Primes, Hamill voiced the main villain of the series, Megatronus Prime. He was the unseen overarching villain for the first two series of the Prime Wars trilogy, revealing himself as the power-hungry mad robot in the third installment.

15. Skips

Regular Show
Image Credit: Cartoon Network Studios.

Skips is one of Hamill’s longest-running characters, voicing him for 163 episodes in Regular Show. The immortal Yeti might seem like a wise character working as a groundkeeper, but he plays an essential role in the series in the final showdown.

16. Hobgoblin

Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Image Credit: Marvel Entertainment Group.

1994’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series was one of Hamill’s first significant roles in the world of superheroes. He had voiced a few characters in the 1994 Fantastic Four series, but his role as Hobgoblin started him on a path of playing supervillains for decades to come.

17. Arnim Zola

Ultimate Spider-Man
Image Credit: Marvel Animation.

The evil HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola would become another one of Hamill’s prominent supervillain roles. He first tackled the character in 2012’s Ultimate Spider-Man and would continue to play Zola in Avengers Assemble, 2017’s Spider-Man animated series, and LEGO Marvel’s Avengers.

18. Fire Lord Ozai

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Image Credit: Nickelodeon Animation Studio.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is considered one of the greatest animated series ever made. The big bad of the show, Fire Lord Ozai, needed the best actor for the job, and Mark Hamill was chosen to voice the authoritarian madman of a villain.

Fun fact, Lucasfilm creator Dave Filoni worked on Avatar: The Last Airbender as one of his first significant jobs in the business. It’s why there are many Avatar Easter eggs in his work with Star Wars animation, The Mandalorian, and more.

19. Trickster

The Flash TV Series (1990)
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Television.

The Trickster, AKA James Jesse, is one of the characters on this list that Mark Hamill has played both in live-action and animation. He first portrayed Trickster in the 1990 The Flash series, a role he would reprise in the Arrowverse 2014 The Flash. He would then also voice Trickster in multiple DC animated series and games.

The most poignant performance was in the Justice League Unlimited episode “Flash and Substance.” It tackles the mental health of the villain and showcases why Wally West is an excellent superhero.

20. The Joker

Batman: The Animated Series
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Animation.

After Luke Skywalker, The Joker is Mark Hamill’s most iconic role. He first tackled the character in 1992’s Batman: The Animated Series, which gained him critical acclaim. Over the decades voicing Joker, Hamill has received multiple nominations and won awards.

Hamill’s admiration and respect for his co-star Kevin Conroy has been well documented. After Conroy passed away in 2022, Hamill stated he would retire the Joker in an interview with Empire Magazine (via Nerdist), stating, “They would call and say, ‘They want you to do the Joker,’ and my only question was, ‘Is Kevin [Conroy] Batman?’ If they said yes, I would say, ‘I’m in.’ We were like partners. We were like Laurel and Hardy. Without Kevin there, there doesn’t seem to be a Batman for me.”


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The 12 Best Megan Fox Movies, Ranked | Wealth of Geeks

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Megan Fox is a massive star. She’s beautiful, has a reasonable amount of talent, and is in one of the most high-profile relationships in the world with Machine Gun Kelly.

She’s appeared in nearly 30 movies; if truth be told, it’s not a stellar filmography. However, there are some gems in there, and in this piece, we’ll take you through the best dozen, ending with her finest work. Be warned, there’ll be no Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies or Transformers sequels, as they were terrible.

1. This is 40 (2012, directed by Judd Apatow)

Image Credit : Universal Pictures.

This is 40 is a comedy-drama movie and spin-off of 2007’s Knocked Up. In the film, the stressful relationship between Pete and Debbie, characters introduced in Knocked Up, is made more difficult when they each turn 40.

Pete and Debbie are played hilariously by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. Fox plays Desi, one of Debbie’s employees at her boutique, and is perfectly adequate in the role. Other cast members, including John Lithgow, Jason Segel, Albert Brooks, Chris O’Dowd, Melissa McCarthy, and Lena Dunham, ensure a fun ride. This is 40 is funny and relatable, led by a duo with impeccable chemistry, but it is slightly too long.

2. The Dictator (2012, directed by Larry Charles)

Megan Fox The Dictator
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.

The Dictator is a political satire black comedy movie about the eponymous leader of the fictional Republic of Wadiya’s visit to the United States of America.

Sacha Baron Cohen plays Admiral-General Haffaz Aladeen, the main character, and throws himself brilliantly into the role. The impressive supporting cast includes Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, John C. Reilly, and Fred Armisen. Fox has an undemanding cameo as a version of herself who sold her body to Aladeen. The Dictator is exceptionally vulgar but funny, intelligent, and unconventional, and it finishes with a rousing monologue that you’ll love.

3. Transformers (2007, directed by Michael Bay)

Megan Fox Transformers
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.

Transformers is a sci-fi action movie based on Hasbro’s eponymous toys and the first installment in the long-running live-action franchise of the same name. In this one, a teenager gets caught up in the ancient war between the Autobots and Decepticons, extraterrestrial robots that can disguise themself by transforming into conventional machinery.

It remains one of the best movies in the franchise. It stars Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, John Turturro, Jon Voight, and Fox, who adeptly plays the girlfriend of Sam Witwicky, the main character. Transformers is action-packed, exhilarating, funny, has excellent special effects, and is loud and teeming with explosions in typical Bay style.

4. Rogue (2020, directed by M.J. Bassett)

Megan Fox Rogue
Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Rogue is an action thriller about a female mercenary who, along with her team, gets stranded in the grasslands of East Africa and is forced to fight for survival against both the local insurgents and a particularly aggressive lioness.

Fox plays Samantha “Sam” O’Hara, the mercenary and main character of the film. She’s surprisingly good and suited to the role, which goes very much against type for her and requires a lot of emotion and conveyance of strength. The supporting cast includes Philip Winchester and Adam Deacon. Rogue is a simple film with relentless action, explosions, and graphic violence to keep fans of that kind of thing suitably entertained.

5. Friends with Kids (2011, directed by Jennifer Westfeldt)

Megan Fox Friends with Kids
Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Friends with Kids is a rom-com about two best friends who decide to have a baby together but remain platonic to avoid the problems that having children can cause with romantic relationships.

It stars the terrific Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt as Jason Fryman and Julie Keller, the friends who have the baby, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Chris O’Dowd. Fox plays Mary Jane, an actress who gets into a relationship with Jason and does an adequate job. Friends with Kids is sharp-witted and funny, with excellent comedic leading performances that elevate an otherwise fairly rudimentary story.

6. Above the Shadows (2019, directed by Claudia Myers)

Megan Fox Above the Shadows
Image Credit: Gravitas Ventures.

Above the Shadows is a supernatural romance movie about a young woman who people have stopped noticing to the extent that she’s invisible. She must find her way back with the help of the one man who can see her, a disgraced MMA fighter whose downfall occurred because of a photograph she took.

Olivia Thirlby plays Holly, the invisible woman, and Alan Ritchson plays Shayne Blackwell, the disgraced fighter. Fox plays Juliana, Shayne’s ex, in a deliciously bitchy style. Above the Shadows would be considered highly original if it wasn’t so obviously similar to the 1997 Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Out of Mind, Out of Sight.” Still, it’s smartly executed, sentimental, fun, and well-performed.

7. Taurus (2022, directed by Tim Sutton)

Megan Fox Taurus
Image Credit: RLJE Films.

Taurus is a drama movie chronicling what turns out to be the final days of a troubled musician searching for the inspiration to record his next song as he pushes himself deeper into a void doing so.

Machine Gun Kelly does a decent job as Cole, the musician who is uncannily similar to him. Maddie Hasson, Scoot McNairy, and Ruby Rose are among the supporting cast, and Fox competently plays Mae, Cole’s ex-girlfriend. Taurus is a personal project for MGK and tells a cautionary tale about fame. It’s darkly funny, insightful, poignant, and genuinely touching.

8. Whore (2008, directed by Thomas Dekker)

Megan Fox Whore
Image Credit: Wiki Commons.

Whore is a drama movie about a group of teenagers who arrive in Hollywood in the hopes of embarking on an acting career but discover that the business is far more challenging to get into than they could ever have imagined.

It stars director Dekker, Rumer Willis, Ron Jeremy, and Fox playing a character called Lost, which is far from accurate in describing her adroit performance. Whore is a low-budget film using many non-professional actors, and it’s surprisingly good. It’s stylish, well-performed, and cleverly shifts in tone. It’s a movie that will entertain you more than you will expect it to.

9. Jennifer’s Body (2009, directed by Karyn Kusama)

Jennifer's Body
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Jennifer’s Body is a comedy horror movie focusing on Jennifer Check, a high school girl possessed by a demonic succubus who kills her male classmates. The film chronicles her best friend’s attempts to bring her murderous spree to an end.

Fox plays the eponymous Jennifer in one of her finest performances. She plays it straight but with a surprising amount of comedic flair. The supporting cast includes Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons, and Chris Pratt. Jennifer’s Body is a modern feminist classic that’s darkly funny, well-acted, intelligent, a little camp, and boasts brilliant characterizations. The extent to which it’s underrated is a tragedy.

10. The Battle of Jangsari (2019, directed by Kwak Kyung-taek and Kim Tae-hoon)

Megan Fox The Battle of Jangsari
Image Credit: Warner Bros.

The Battle of Jangsari is a South Korean war movie depicting the 1950 Battle of Jangsari that tells the true story of the Independent 1st Guerrilla Battalion, which comprised student volunteer soldiers led by ROK Army officers.

It stars Kim Myung-min, Choi Min-ho, Kim Sung-cheol, and Fox, who plays Maggie, a fictional character based on war correspondents and photographers Marguerite Higgins and Margaret Bourke-White. She’s excellent in the role, as is the rest of the cast. The Battle of Jangsari is an action-packed spectacle with great battle scenes that accurately convey war’s horrors while being sentimental when it needs to be.

11. Think Like a Dog (2020, directed by Gil Junger)

Megan Fox Think Like a Dog
Image Credit: Netflix.

Think Like a Dog is a sci-fi family comedy about a 12-year-old technology project whose science experiment goes wrong, resulting in him getting a telepathic connection with his dog that they use to overcome the life obstacles thrown at them.

This film has an old-school live-action Disney movie feel and is ideal for kids and adults alike. Josh Duhamel plays Lukas Reed, Fox plays Ellen Reed, and Gabriel Bateman plays their son, Oliver Reed. They all throw themselves into their performances, and their chemistry as a family is perfect. Think Like a Dog is lighthearted, charming, and silly in a good way, and it has a cute dog, which is always lovely.

12. Till Death (2021, directed by S.K. Dale)

Megan Fox Till Death
Image Credit: Screen Media.

Till Death is a horror thriller movie about a woman whose husband handcuffs himself to her just before he takes his own life as part of a sick revenge plot for her having an affair, she then has to survive as two killers arrive to finish her off with her husband’s corpse shackled to her.

Eoin Macken plays Mark, the husband, and Fox plays Emma, the wife who finds herself bound to his dead body. It’s Fox’s best career performance, and the film only works because of her. It’s a stylish, dark, suspenseful, twisty, and highly original movie brutally depicting emotional and physical abuse. Till Death will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.


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The 22 Best Josh Brolin Movies, Ranked | Wealth of Geeks

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Josh Brolin is a veteran of the acting game, first appearing on screen as a teenager in 1985’s The Goonies. Now well into his 50s, Brolin has appeared in over 50 movies.

He’s an incredibly talented man and received Oscar recognition in 2009 when he earned a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role in 2008’s Milk.

In this piece, we’ll take you through his 22 finest films, ending with the best. Be warned, Brolin’s filmography is outstanding, so some great movies are missing from this list.

1. Everest (2015, directed by Baltasar Kormákur)

Image Credit: Jasin Boland / Universal Pictures.

Everest is a biographical survival adventure movie based on the real-life events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, focusing on two expedition groups’ survival attempts.

Brolin plays Beck Weathers, an American doctor and amateur mountain climber on a commercial expedition up the iconic peak. He’s fantastic, as are Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Robin Wright, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, and Sam Worthington. Everest boasts incredible cinematography, dizzying camerawork, remarkable realism, and tension galore, but it’s hard to watch due to its bleak outcome.

2. Inherent Vice (2014, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)

Inherent Vice, Josh Brolin, Joaquin Phoenix
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Inherent Vice is a neo-noir period comedy mystery movie based on Thomas Pynchon’s 2009 novel. In 1970 Los Angeles, the film concerns a drug-using, incompetent, well-meaning private investigator who investigates his former girlfriend’s disappearance and three connected cases.

It has a unique feel and may require several viewings to absorb it all. The excellent cast includes Joaquin Phoenix, Owen Wilson, Benicio del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, and Maya Rudolph. Brolin plays L.A. detective Christian F. “Bigfoot” Bjornsen, a man who helps Phoenix’s private investigator, Larry “Doc” Sportello, with his investigation. Along with Phoenix, Brolin’s superb performances makes him one of the film’s highlights. Inherent Vice is funny, provocative, a little weird, and different from anything you’ll ever watch.

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015, directed by Joss Whedon)

Avengers Age of Ultron, Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is a superhero movie, the sequel to 2012’s The Avengers, and the eleventh installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this one, the eponymous team of heroes faces off against Ultron, an artificial intelligence inadvertently brought to life by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner that intends to make humanity extinct.

The ensemble cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and James Spader as the voice and motion capture for Ultron. Brolin has an uncredited cameo as Thanos in the mid-credits scene setting up Avengers: Infinity War. Avengers: Age of Ultron is action-packed with excellent special effects and spectacular set pieces, brilliantly acted, and boasts one of the MCU’s finest and most formidable villains.

4. The Dead Girl (2006, directed by Karen Moncrieff)

The Dead Girl, Josh Brolin
Image Credit: First Look International.

The Dead Girl is a drama thriller about a young woman’s death and the clues that come to light, resulting in seemingly unrelated people’s lives beginning to intersect.

The brilliant cast includes Toni Collette, Brittany Murphy, Rose Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Beth Hurt, and Kerry Washington. Brolin plays Tarlow, the client of a prostitute played by Murphy, in a brief role. The Dead Girl has heavy subject matter that sometimes makes it hard to watch, but it’s terrifically performed, powerful, emotional, and boasts an incredibly atmospheric score.

5. The Goonies (1985, directed by Richard Donner)

The Goonies, Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Warner Bros.

The Goonies is an adventure comedy movie about the eponymous group of kids attempting to save their homes from foreclosure by following a treasure map to find the long-lost fortune of a legendary 17th-century pirate. On their quest, they get pursued by a criminal family who also wants the loot.

It’s an iconic film that’s a joy to watch and an essential part of an entire generation’s childhood. Sean Astin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, Ke Huy Quan, and Brolin portray the Goonies. Brolin plays Brandon “Brand” Walsh, the oldest group member, in his first movie credit and is excellent. The Goonies is funny, fast-paced, imaginative, and entertaining as hell.

6. The People Speak (2009, directed by Howard Zinn, Chris Moore, and Anthony Arnove)

The People Speak , Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Voices of a People’s History of the US.

The People Speak is a feature-length documentary movie based on Howard Zinn’s 1980 book A People’s History of the United States and his 2004 book Voices of a People’s History of the United States, which he co-wrote with Anthony Arnove. It looks at the war, class, race, and women’s rights struggles experienced in the United States.

It has input from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Danny Glover, Don Cheadle, John Legend, Kerry Washington, Marisa Tomei, Morgan Freeman, P!nk, Rosario Dawson, Sandra Oh, Sean Penn, Viggo Mortensen, and Brolin. These great stars give a fantastic history lesson in The People Speak without any spin, and it’s dynamic, informative, and incredibly eye-opening.

7. American Gangster (2007, directed by Ridley Scott)

American Gangster, Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

American Gangster is a biographical crime movie that fictionalizes the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster and heroin smuggler from La Grange, North Carolina, who used American service planes returning from the Vietnam War to transport drugs and his capture by an elite task force.

Brolin plays corrupt New York City detective Nick Trupo, a man Lucas bribed, and he does so in a formidable fashion. The terrific cast includes Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Ted Levine. American Gangster is gritty and reminiscent of classic mob films. It’s excellently acted, thoroughly entertaining, and has a genuinely gripping story.

8. Grindhouse (2007, directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino)

Grindhouse, Rosario Dawson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Zoë Bell, Tracie Thoms
Image Credit: Dimension Films.

Grindhouse is a double-feature movie combining Rodriguez’s Planet Terror, an action horror following a group of people fighting zombie-like creatures, and Tarantino’s Death Proof, a black comedy action thriller about a stuntman who murders young women using modified vehicles.

The combined cast included Kurt Russell, Rose McGowan, Michael Biehn, Rosario Dawson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Brolin, who plays Dr. William Block, the secondary antagonist of Planet Terror, with a sinister air. Grindhouse is a brilliant tribute to 1970s exploitation movies and is funny, wonderfully zany, action-packed, and incredibly graphic.

9. Deadpool 2 (2018, directed by David Leitch)

Deadpool 2 Josh Brolin
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Deadpool 2 is a superhero movie, the sequel to 2016’s Deadpool, and the eleventh installment in Fox’s X-Men film franchise. The plot follows the eponymous antihero as he forms the quirky X-Force team to protect a young mutant from the time-traveling cybernetic soldier Cable.

It’s a meta, joyous, hilarious, hectic, violent, dark movie that’s action-packed with amazing special effects. Ryan Reynolds is typically fantastic, funny, and charismatic in the eponymous role, and Brolin is perfect as Cable, making a superb foil for Reynolds. The extended cast includes Morena Baccarin, Julian Dennison, Zazie Beetz, and T.J. Miller.

10. Dune (2021, directed by Denis Villeneuve)

Dune, Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Dune is an epic sci-fi action movie, the first of a two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel and the third adaptation following David Lynch’s 1984 film and John Harrison’s 2000 television miniseries. It follows a noble family thrust into a war for a deadly, barren desert planet.

It’s an ambitious, thrilling, awe-inspiring film with fantastic special effects and an intriguing, albeit complex, story. Dune‘s star-studded cast includes Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, and Jason Momoa. Brolin plays Gurney Halleck, a weapons master, and is suitably authoritative. Dune received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. It won six for Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Visual Effects.

11. Avengers: Infinity War (2018, directed by the Russo Brothers)

Avengers Infinity War , Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Avengers: Infinity War is a superhero movie, a sequel to 2012’s The Avengers and 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the nineteenth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The plot concerns the eponymous team and the Guardians of the Galaxy‘s efforts to stop Thanos from collecting all six Infinity Stones and erasing half of all life in the universe.

Brolin plays Thanos, and it’s unbelievable that he didn’t receive an Academy Award nomination for this effort. This film made Thanos a bona fide cinematic icon. The fantastic cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Mark Ruffalo, and Elizabeth Olsen. Avengers: Infinity War is a spectacular epic adventure of a film with genuine peril, great performances, outstanding special effects, and great action.

12. Hail, Caesar! (2016, directed by the Coen Brothers)

Hail, Caesar! , Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Alison Cohen Rosa / Universal Pictures.

Hail, Caesar! is a period black comedy movie about Eddie Mannix, the real-life studio fixer who attempted to keep scandals in the Hollywood film industry out of the press in the 1950s. Specifically, in the film, he tries to discover what happened to a star actor while filming a biblical epic.

Brolin plays Mannix in a brilliantly brutal, honest fashion. The superb cast includes George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, Wayne Knight, Christopher Lambert, and Jonah Hill. Hail, Caesar! is a funny, raucous, and charming movie that’s easy to watch.

13. Only the Brave (2017, directed by Joseph Kosinski)

Only the Brave , Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Releasing / Summit Entertainment.

Only the Brave is a biographical drama movie based on the GQ article “No Exit” by Sean Flynn. It’s about an elite crew of firefighters from Prescott, Arizona, called the Granite Mountain Hotshots, who suffered 19 of 20 casualties while fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in June 2013.

The star-studded cast includes James Badge Dale, Jeff Bridges, Miles Teller, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Hardy, Andie MacDowell, and Jennifer Connelly. Brolin stars as Eric Marsh, the team’s superintendent who sadly perishes along with 18 of his teammates.

14. Flirting with Disaster (1996, directed by David O’Russell)

Flirting with Disaster , Patricia Arquette, Téa Leoni, Josh Brolin, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Ben Stiller, Richard Jenkins
Image Credit: Miramax Films.

Flirting with Disaster is a black comedy about a young father searching for his biographical parents with his wife and incompetent case worker.

Its solid core cast includes Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Téa Leoni, Alan Alda, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Lily Tomlin, and Richard Jenkins. Brolin plays an ATF agent called Paul, who’s in a homosexual relationship with Tony, another agent played by Jenkins, and he throws himself into the role. Flirting with Disaster is a thought-provoking, darkly comic, brilliantly written, and excellently cast film that’s an underrated gem.

15. Sicario (2015, directed by Denis Villeneuve)

Sicario , Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Sicario is an action thriller about an FBI special agent tasked by the government with taking down the leader of one of Mexico’s most vicious and powerful drug cartels.

Brolin plays Matt Graver, a no-nonsense CIA officer, in a role perfect for him. Other stars in the movie include Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Daniel Kaluuya, Jon Bernthal, and Victor Garber. Sicario is brilliantly acted, gritty, dark, edgy, and thoroughly entertaining, with some great set pieces.

16. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014, directed by James Gunn)

Guardians of the Galaxy , Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a superhero movie and the tenth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the film, a misfit group of space criminals, each decent people at heart, go on the run after stealing a powerful artifact before forming a team to defend the cosmos from evil.

Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper are superb as the eponymous team, with Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio del Toro excellent in supporting roles. Brolin has a cameo as Thanos, his first appearance as the character, and is perfectly imposing. Guardians of the Galaxy is a blast from start to finish, with spectacular action, visuals and special effects, and bags of humor and heart.

17. The Tillman Story (2010, directed by Amir Bar-Lev)

The Tillman Story , Pat Tillman
Image Credit: The Weinstein Company / Columbia/TriStar.

The Tillman Story is a feature-length documentary movie about the death of former professional football player Pat Tillman, who died after being shot by friendly fire in the War in Afghanistan. It discusses the cover-up of his death’s circumstances and his family’s struggles to unearth the truth.

Brolin narrates this with clarity and assurance. It’s a passionate, insightful, and informative documentary that fully conveys the anger Tillman’s tragic death and the subsequent cover-up caused. It also succeeds in letting viewers know what an inspirational man Tillman was and how he achieved a lot in his short life. The Tillman Story will surely get under your skin and affect you profoundly.

18. To Each His Own Cinema (2007, directed by 36 acclaimed directors)

To Each His Own Cinema
Image Credit: Idle Man. Youtube.com.

To Each His Own Cinema is a French comedy-drama anthology. It’s a collection of 34 short films, all three minutes long, made by 36 top directors who were encouraged to express “their state of mind of the moment as inspired by the motion picture theatre.”

Brolin plays a cowboy in the World Cinema segment, which the Coen Brothers direct. He gives it his all for the three minutes and is brilliant. Other directors involved include Lars von Trier, Roman Polanski, David Cronenberg, Ken Loach, and David Lynch. To Each His Own Cinema is a great reminder of how good movies can be, with some magnificently entertaining and funny shorts.

19. Milk (2007, directed by Gus Van Sant)

Milk , Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Universal Studios.

Milk is a biographical movie about the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, the first openly homosexual male to get elected to public office in California as a San Francisco Board of Supervisors member.

Sean Penn is phenomenal in the eponymous role and rightly won the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance. The film received seven more nominations, winning the gong for Best Original Screenplay. Brolin plays Dan White, a fellow Supervisor of Milk’s and a veteran of the police force, fire service, and Vietnam, who murdered him. He earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his intense performance. Milk is intelligent, tender, brilliantly written and acted, and a significant triumph of biographical filmmaking.

20. No Country for Old Men (2007, directed by the Coen Brothers

No Country for Old Men, Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Miramax Films.

No Country for Old Men is a neo-Western crime thriller based on Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel. It follows a trio of characters; a Vietnam War veteran and welder who finds a vast amount of cash in the desert, a hitman sent to recover the money, and a sheriff investigating the situation.

Brolin plays Llewelyn Moss, the Vietnam veteran, and he’s superb alongside Javier Bardem as the hitman and Tommy Lee Jones as the sheriff. No Country for Old Men received eight Academy Award nominations, winning four, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Bardem. The fabulous supporting cast includes Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, and Stephen Root. It’s engaging, tense, suspenseful, technically brilliant, superbly performed, and suitably grim.

21. Avengers: Endgame (2019, directed by the Russo Brothers)

Avengers: Endgame , Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Avengers: Endgame is a superhero movie, a sequel to 2012’s The Avengers and 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and a direct followup to 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. In this one, the surviving heroes from Avengers: Infinity War attempt to undo Thanos’ life-erasing exploits from that movie.

Brolin reprises his role as Thanos and a version of the Mad Titan from the past. He’s as good as he was in the previous movie, giving an iconic villainous performance. The terrific ensemble cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Paul Rudd, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Karen Gillan, Brie Larson, and Bradley Cooper. Avengers: Endgame received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. It’s spectacular, action-packed, and humorous, with one of the most epic battle scenes in film history and a solemn but satisfying ending.

22. True Grit (2010, directed by the Coen Brothers)

True Grit , Josh Brolin
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.

True Grit is a Western movie based on Charles Portis’ 1968 novel and the second adaptation of the book after the 1960 film starring John Wayne, Kim Darby, and Glen Campbell. It’s about a teenager who asks a tough U.S. Marshal to help track down her father’s murderer.

The incredible cast includes Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Barry Pepper, Domhnall Gleeson, and Brolin, who ruthlessly portrays the hired hand, Tom Chaney, the murderer getting tracked. True Grit received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Bridges, and Best Supporting Actor for Steinfeld. It won none, which was a tragedy. It’s a masterpiece that’s atmospheric, awe-inspiring, occasionally darkly funny, and brilliantly written, performed, and directed.


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The 22 Best John Candy Movies, Ranked | Wealth of Geeks

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John Candy was one of the most beloved comedy stars of the 20th century. In 1994, at just 43, he tragically passed away in his sleep, having suffered from a heart attack.

The late, great actor left behind a catalog of movies that will ensure his legacy lives on for years and that he’ll entertain future generations long after leaving this mortal coil.

This piece will celebrate the Canadian legend by ranking his finest films. These are the 22 best John Candy movies, ending with the greatest.

1. The Great Outdoors (1988, directed by Howard Deutch)

Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

The Great Outdoors is a comedy movie about two families spending a week vacationing at a lake resort in the fictional town of Pechoggin, Wisconsin, where hilarity ensues.

Candy enthusiastically plays Chester “Chet” Ripley, the patriarch of his family, and reprises his role from another film written by John Hughes; She’s Having a Baby. Dan Aykroyd and Chris Young also reprise their roles from the movie, while Annette Bening, Lucy Deakins, and Robert Prosky appear too. The Great Outdoors is coarse and sometimes lifeless, but there are enough energetic scenes to raise a few laughs.

2. Once Upon a Crime (1992, directed by Eugene Levy)

Once Upon a Crime, John Candy
Image Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Once Upon a Crime is a black comedy mystery movie and a remake of Mario Camerini’s 1960 Italian film Crimen. It sees several married couples becoming suspects in the murder of a wealthy Monte Carlo-based woman after one of them attempts to return the affluent lady’s missing dachshund.

The ensemble cast includes Richard Lewis, James Belushi, Cybill Shepherd, and Sean Young. Candy plays Augie Morosco, a reformed gambler and one of the people embroiled in the murder case, and he’s highly amusing in the role. Once Upon a Crime suffers from a thin plot, but it’s farcically funny, and if you like an easy watch, it’ll amuse you for its duration.

3. Brewster’s Millions (1985, directed by Walter Hill)

Brewster's Millions, John Candy, Richard Pryor
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Brewster’s Millions is a comedy movie based on George Barr McCutcheon’s 1902 novel and the seventh film adaptation of the story. It’s about a minor-league baseball player who must spend $30 million in 30 days to inherit his uncle’s $300 million fortune. However, there are several conditions to the deal.

Richard Pryor plays Montgomery Brewster, the eponymous heir to his uncle’s fortune, and Candy plays Spike Nolan, his best friend. Both men are watchable as heck and have great chemistry. Brewster’s Millions isn’t the best novel adaptation and doesn’t take full advantage of its brilliant headlining duo. Still, its story is compelling, the cast performs well, and its likable leads do their utmost to keep it entertaining.

4. It Came from Hollywood (1982, directed by Malcolm Leo and Andrew Solt)

It Came from Hollywood, John Candy
Image Credit: F. Scott Fitzhemingway. Youtube.com / Paramount Pictures.

It Came from Hollywood is a comedy documentary film that compiles clips from various B movies. It features narration and wraparound segments from some of the most famous comedians of its time.

Along with Dan Aykroyd, Cheech and Chong, and Gilda Radner, Candy appears as himself, introducing segments exhibiting clips from movies like 1953’s Glen or Glenda? and 1958’s High School Confidential. It Came from Hollywood will introduce you to many films you’ve never heard of, enthusiastically spoken about by some big stars who, above all else, make the whole thing thoroughly amusing.

5. Volunteers (1985, directed by Nicholas Meyer)

Volunteers, John Candy
Image Credit: Tri-Star Pictures.

Volunteers is a comedy movie about a womanizer who, after graduating from Yale, flees a $28,000 gambling debt that his wealthy father refuses to pay and takes his roomie’s place as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand.

Tom Hanks plays Lawrence Bourne III, the in-debt graduate, and Candy plays Tom Tuttle, a fellow graduate he meets on the plane to Asia. Hanks is typically brilliant, and Candy ably supports him. The cast also includes Rita Wilson and Xander Berkeley. Volunteers’ premise is fun, it has several excellent one-liners, and its talented young cast performs well. However, it doesn’t fully live up to its promising potential.

6. Only the Lonely (1991, directed by Chris Columbus)

Only the Lonely, John Candy
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Only the Lonely is a romantic comedy-drama and a humorous take on the premise established in the 1953 television play Marty and the 1955 film of the same name. It’s about a Chicago police officer and bachelor looking to settle down and start a family with a mortuary beautician while dealing with his overbearing mother, who disapproves of her potential future daughter-in-law.

Candy plays Daniel “Danny” Muldoon, the police officer, and Maureen O’Hara plays his mother, Rose, in her final film role. They make a hilarious pair, Candy is as likable as ever, and O’Hara is frankly miraculous. The supporting cast includes Ally Sheedy, James Belushi, Macaulay Culkin, and Kieran Culkin. Only the Lonely is funny, with some great one-liners, and incredibly sweet with a cute plot.

7. Heavy Metal (1981, directed by Gerald Potterton)

Heavy Metal, John Candy
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures.

Heavy Metal is an adult animated sci-fi fantasy anthology movie based on stories seen in the eponymous magazine. The film’s different segments link through a common theme of an evil force, “the sum of all evils.”

Candy features in three segments; “Harry Canyon” as Desk Sergeant, “Den” as the eponymous character, and “So Beautiful & So Dangerous” as a robot. His vocal performances are excellent, especially as Den. The voice cast also includes Eugene Levy and Harold Ramis. Heavy Metal is dated and controversial, but there’s no denying its animation is fantastic, the stories are interesting, the voice cast does a great job, and the soundtrack is awesome.

8. Masters of Menace (1990, directed by Daniel Raskov)

Masters of Menace, John Candy
Image Credit: ITSOVER OVER. Youtube.com / New Line Cinema.

Masters of Menace is a comedy movie about the eponymous motorcycle gang heading on a road trip to bury a fallen comrade who died while performing a dangerous stunt, disturbing people across the United States as they go.

Candy only has a small role in this one as a beer truck driver, as do James Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. The main cast includes David Rasche, Catherine Bach, and Tino Insana. Masters of Menace is the silly kind of fun, with hijinks, mischief, and mayhem galore. It doesn’t pretend to be anything besides a B movie but is undoubtedly thoroughly entertaining.

9. Spaceballs (1987, directed by Mel Brooks)

Spaceballs, John Candy
Image Credit: MGM/UA Communications Co.

Spaceballs is a space opera parody movie that primarily parodies the original Star Wars trilogy and several other franchises. In the film, a star-pilot for hire and his trusty sidekick attempt to rescue a princess and save a planet.

Bill Pullman plays Lone Starr, the star-pilot who’s a parody of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, and Candy plays Barf, a parody of Chewbacca. They’re both hilarious. The cast also includes Rick Moranis, Joan Rivers, and Mel Brooks. Spaceballs is top-notch spoofing with great visual gags and hilarious characters.

10. The Rescuers Down Under (1990, directed by Hendel Butoy and Mike Gabriel)

The Rescuers Down Under, John Candy
Image Credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.

The Rescuers Down Under is an animated adventure movie and the sequel to 1977’s The Rescuers. In the film, the eponymous heroes race to Australia to save a young boy and a rare golden eagle from the clutches of a dangerous poacher.

Candy voices Wilbur, a funny albatross named after Wilbur Wright, and he’s joyous in the role. The brilliant ensemble cast includes Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, Frank Welker, and George C. Scott. The Rescuers Down Under doesn’t have the best story, but it looks incredible, is lively and energetic, and boasts some fun characters, and kids will love it.

11. The Silent Partner (1978, directed by Daryl Duke)

The Silent Partner, John Candy, Gail Dahms-Bonine, Michael Donaghue
Image Credit: Pan-Canadian Film Distributors.

The Silent Partner is a thriller and the third filmed adaptation of Anders Bodelsen’s 1968 novel Tænk på et tal (Think of a Number). In the movie, a meek bank worker anticipates a bank robbery and steals the money before the thief can. When the criminal realizes this, he chases the worker and engages him in a cat-and-mouse game for the loot.

It was one of Candy’s earliest roles, and he plays Simonson, a cheated-on husband there for comedy effect, and he does just fine. The Silent Partner stars Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, and Susannah York, and they’re all fantastic. It’s a well-acted and intelligent Hitchcock-esque caper movie with a complex but well-executed plot.

12. Uncle Buck (1989, directed by John Hughes)

Uncle Buck, John Candy
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Uncle Buck is a comedy movie about an unreliable and underachieving bachelor who’s asked to babysit his brother’s rebellious teenage daughter and her younger brother and sister while the parents are tending to a family emergency, resulting in shenanigans occurring.

People see this film as a classic thanks to Candy’s excellent and rib-tickling performance as the eponymous Buck Russell. Uniting Hughes, Candy, and a house full of kids is a guaranteed recipe for success, as hilarity undoubtedly ensues. The cast includes Amy Madigan, Laurie Metcalf, and Macaulay Culkin, who all play their parts well. However, the material has an undeniable underlying uneasy feeling to it.

13. The Blues Brothers (1980, directed by John Landis)

The Blues Brothers, John Candy
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

The Blues Brothers is a musical comedy movie based on the recurring musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. It’s about the eponymous siblings, Jake and Elwood, and it chronicles Jake’s release from prison and the pair’s efforts to reunite their old band and save an orphanage while being pursued by the police.

John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd play the brothers and have top support from a fantastic cast. It includes James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Chaka Khan, Carrie Fisher, Charles Napier, James Avery, and Henry Gibson. Candy capably plays Burton Mercer, Jake’s parole officer. The Blues Brothers is over the top but thoroughly entertaining. It has some great musical numbers, is energetically performed, funny, and utter carnage of the finest kind.

14. Cool Runnings (1993, directed by Jon Turteltaub)

Cool Runnings, John Candy
Image Credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.

Cool Runnings is a sports comedy movie loosely based on the debut of the Jamaican national bobsleigh team at the 1988 Winter Olympics. In the film, a disgraced former American Olympian coaches a novice four-man bobsleigh team from Jamaica.

Candy plays the coach Irving “Irv” Blitzer in one of his career-best performances. Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug, Rawle D. Lewis, and Malik Yoba play the team members in a unique style. Cool Runnings is a sweet, charming, funny, inspirational, and uplifting film that celebrates sportsmanship in the most wholesome way. You can’t fail to smile while watching this movie.

15. Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985, directed by Ken Kwapis)

Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird, John Candy
Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird is a musical road comedy movie based on the ever-popular children’s television series Sesame Street. In this one, when a social worker sends Big Bird to live far away from Sesame Street, he runs away from his new home, prompting the other residents of the famous street to set off across the country to find him.

Several recognizable stars appear in this one, including Candy, who plays a state trooper with plenty of authoritative vigor. Others include Waylon Jennings, Sandra Bernhard, and Chevy Chase. Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird is witty and funny, maintaining the series’ core values, and is perfect for the whole family to watch.

16. Home Alone (1990, directed by Chris Columbus)

Home Alone, John Candy, Catherine O'Hara
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Home Alone is a Christmas comedy movie about a young boy who gets accidentally left behind when his family heads to Paris for the holidays and has to defend his huge suburban Chicago home from a pair of bungling burglars.

Macaulay Culkin plays Kevin McCallister, the home-alone kid, in an iconic fashion. The excellent supporting cast includes Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Catherine O’Hara, Devin Rattray, Roberts Blossom, Gerry Bamman, and Kieran Culkin. Candy plays Gus Polinski, a polka musician who helps Kevin’s mother get home to him, and he’s brilliant in a brief cameo that he filmed in a single day. Home Alone is a bona fide festive classic, and it’s hilarious with its slapstick humor, a little sadistic but heartwarming, and flawlessly performed.

17. JFK (1991, directed by Oliver Stone)

JFK, John Candy
Image Credit: Warner Bros., Regency Enterprises V.O.F and Le Studio Canal+.

JFK is an epic political thriller dramatizing district attorney Jim Garrison’s investigation into John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Garrison believed there was a conspiracy to kill the then-president and that Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t act alone.

The fantastic cast of this one includes Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Oldman, Michael Rooker, and Sissy Spacek. Candy plays New Orleans attorney Dean Andrews Jr. with great competence. JFK is superbly acted, exciting, and brimming with detail. However, it’s also caused much controversy given the conspiracy theories it promotes.

18. Stripes (1981, directed by Ivan Reitman)

Stripes, Harold Ramis, John Candy
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures.

Stripes is a war comedy movie about an immature New York City taxi driver who enlists in the United States Army with his friend after losing his job, girlfriend, apartment, and car in one day.

Bill Murray plays the cab driver, John Winger, and Harold Ramis plays his pal, Russell Ziskey. Candy plays Dewey “Ox” Oxberger, another recruit they meet. The three stars are excellent and ably supported by Warren Oates, P.J. Soles, Sean Young, and John Larroquette. Stripes is a somewhat silly film in a good way, but it’s a raucous hoot and entertaining from start to finish.

19. Little Shop of Horrors (1986, directed by Frank Oz)

Little Shop of Horrors, John Candy, Rick Moranis
Image Credit: The Geffen Film Company/Warner Bros.

Little Shop of Horrors is a comedy horror musical movie and an adaptation of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s 1982 off-Broadway musical of the same name, which was an adaptation of the 1960 film The Little Shop of Horrors. It’s about a flower shop worker discovering a sentient carnivorous plant that needs human blood to survive.

The fabulous cast includes Rick Moranis as Seymour Krelborn, the florist, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin, Jim Belushi, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray, and Miriam Margolyes. Candy plays Wink Wilkinson, a DJ who hosts a radio show about “weird stuff” called “Wink Wilkinson’s Weird World,” a role he’s fantastic in. Little Shop of Horrors is deliciously camp, charming, brilliantly performed, even frightening occasionally, and full of catchy songs – one of the two Academy Award nominations it received was for Best Original Song for “Mean Green Mother from Outer Space.”

20. Splash (1984, directed by Ron Howard)

Splash, John Candy
Image Credit: Buena Vista Distribution.

Splash is a fantasy rom-com about a young New York City businessman who falls in love with a mysterious woman who turns out to be a mermaid he had met twenty years earlier as a child.

Tom Hanks plays Allen Bauer, the businessman, and Daryl Hannah plays Madison, the mermaid. They’re both fantastic and have perfect chemistry. Candy plays Freddie Bauer, Alan’s brother, in a typically humorous style. Eugene Levy plays the film’s villain, Walter Kornbluth, who wants to capture Madison. Splash is an easy watch due to its light humor and the charming performances of its cast. It received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

21. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983, directed by Harold Ramis)

National Lampoon's Vacation, John Candy
Image Credit: Warner Bros.

National Lampoon’s Vacation is a road trip comedy movie that follows the Griswold family across America to the Walley World amusement park, resulting in hilarious hi-jinks and inevitable disappointment.

Chevy Chase stars as the iconic Clark W. Griswold, the family’s patriarch, and Beverly D’Angelo, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron, Imogene Coca, and Randy Quaid play other family members. Candy plays Russ Lasky, a Walley World security guard, in a fun appearance. National Lampoon’s Vacation is a brilliantly and confidently performed, hilarious screwball comedy with many great visual gags.

22. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987, directed by John Hughes)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles, John Candy
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a comedy movie about a marketing executive and shower curtain ring salesman who become unlikely travel companions when their flight gets diverted and share an eventful three-day journey trying to get to Chicago in time for the former’s family Thanksgiving Day dinner.

Steve Martin plays Neal Page, the high-strung marketing executive, and Candy plays Del Griffith, the well-meaning but annoying salesman. They make a fantastic duo and perform hilariously. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is Candy’s best film because it’s perfectly cast, side-splittingly funny, and teeming with heart and warmth.


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The 22 Best Chris Pratt Movies, Ranked | Wealth of Geeks

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Chris Pratt is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after and bankable actors. The former star of television’s Parks and Recreation has become a bona fide A-lister and leading man, having starred in some colossal blockbuster movies in recent years.

He now has around 40 film credits to his name, some of which have been terrible, but others have been great. In this piece, we’ll take you through the likable star’s 22 best movies, ending with his finest.

1. Strangers with Candy (2005, directed by Paul Dinello)

Image Credit: THINKFilm.

Strangers with Candy is a comedy movie and a prequel to the eponymous 1999-2000 Comedy Central television series. It focuses on Jerri Blank, the main character from the show, who’s a 46-year-old ex-junkie and ex-con who goes back to high school trying to restart her life.

Pratt plays Brason, a love interest of Blank’s, in his first significant big-screen role. He wanted to be in the film so badly that it cost him $3,000 to be in it, all things considered (including travel, lodging, etc.). He does a decent job. Strangers with Candy is a pretty funny movie, but it’s untidy. Fans of the show will enjoy it, though.

2. 10 Years (2011, directed by Jamie Linden)

10 Years movie
Image Credit: Colleen Hayes -Anchor Bay Films

10 Years is a rom-com focusing on a group of school friends who realize that, in many ways, they still haven’t grown up on the night of their high school reunion.

Its impressive ensemble cast includes Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Justin Long, Kate Mara, Rosario Dawson, Oscar Isaac, Lynn Collins, Scott Porter, Brian Geraghty, Aubrey Plaza, and Anthony Mackie. Pratty plays Cully, a former bully who is now married, and he’s appropriately amusing. 10 Years is run-of-the-mill and predictable, but the all-star cast is on point, there are a few laughs, and it’s generally engaging.

3. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018, directed by J.A. Bayona)

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Movie
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a sci-fi action movie, the second installment in the Jurassic World trilogy, the sequel to 2015’s Jurassic World, and the fifth installment overall in the Jurassic Park film series. This one chronicles an effort to rescue the remaining dinosaurs on Isla Nublar from an impending volcanic eruption interrupted by a mercenary team’s attempts to bring them to the US mainland.

Pratt reprises his role as Owen Grady from Jurassic World for the first time in this one, and he’s the quintessential all-action hero. The cast also features Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, and Ted Levine. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is an occasionally thrilling, great-looking, well-acted film with a ludicrous plot that you have to go along with and enjoy the ride.

4. The Tomorrow War (2021, directed by Chris McKay)

The Tomorrow War Chris Pratt
Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

The Tomorrow War is a military sci-fi action movie about a group of present-day soldiers and civilians who get sent into the future to fight against an extraterrestrial army and rewrite Earth’s fate.

It stars Pratt as James Daniel “Dan” Forester Jr., a biology teacher and former Green Beret First Sergeant who served two tours in Iraq, and he adeptly anchors the film. The supporting cast includes J.K. Simmons playing Dan’s estranged father, Yvonne Strahovski, and Betty Gilpin. The Tomorrow War has a clever premise and is action-packed, sentimental, and fun. It also comes with a not-so-subtle message about climate change.

5. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic)

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a computer-animated adventure movie based on Nintendo’s Mario video game franchise. It’s an origin film for Mario and Luigi, a pair of Italian-American brothers and plumbers who get transported to an alternate world and find themselves embroiled in a battle between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Koopas.

The talented ensemble voice cast includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, and Fred Armisen. Pratt voices the eponymous Mario, and while some criticize his efforts, he does okay. The Super Mario Bros. Movie feels like one long Nintendo commercial, but it’s beautifully animated, fun, energetic, and undoubtedly a labor of love.

6. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022, directed by Taika Waititi)

Thor: Love and Thunder Movie
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures.

Thor: Love and Thunder is a superhero movie, the sequel to 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, and the 29th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this one, Thor attempts to find inner peace after the events of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame but must return to action to prevent the powerful Gorr from killing all the gods.

Along with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy cast members, Pratt briefly reprises his role as Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord, in a typically attitude-filled fashion. Thor: Love and Thunder received harsh criticism, but it has a fun story, is visually spectacular, and features strong performances from Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, and Russell Crowe.

7. The Five-Year Engagement (2012, directed by Nicholas Stoller)

The Five-Year Engagement movie
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

The Five-Year Engagement is a rom-com about a couple whose relationship becomes strained when their long engagement repeatedly gets extended.

Jason Segel and Emily Blunt play Tom Soloman and Violet Barnes, the engaged couple, and they have charming chemistry. Pratt plays Alex Eilhauer, Tom’s best friend, with plenty of his trademark humor and wit. The supporting cast includes Alison Brie, Rhys Ifans, Mindy Kaling, and Kevin Hart. The Five-Year Engagement is an intelligent comedy with surprising depth. Though it is overly long, it’ll make you feel warm and laugh.

8. Jennifer’s Body (2009, directed by Karyn Kusama)

Jennifer's Body Movie
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Jennifer’s Body is a comedy horror movie about the eponymous high school girl who gets demonically possessed by a succubus and kills her male classmates and her best friend’s efforts to stop her.

It’s a severely underrated movie with some incredibly sharp and clever dialogue. Megan Fox is excellent as Jennifer Check, and Amanda Seyfried is equally good as her geeky best friend, Anita “Needy” Lesnicki. The supporting cast includes Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons, Lance Henriksen, and Pratt, who has a minor role as Officer Roman Duda. Jennifer’s Body is only mildly funny and scary but certainly entertaining, with plenty of pop culture references. Some now see it as a feminist classic.

9. The Magnificent Seven (2016, directed by Antoine Fuqua)

The Magnificent Seven Movie
Image Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing.

The Magnificent Seven is a Western action movie and a remake of the 1960 film of the same name, an adaptation of the 1954 Japanese film Seven Samurai. It’s about the eponymous septet of gunmen that a vengeful young widow brought together to protect her town from a destructive industrialist’s private army.

Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, and Pratt portray the seven, with the latter playing Joshua Faraday, a gambler and rogue with a penchant for card tricks. They’re all fantastic, and Peter Sarsgaard and Haley Bennett also have pertinent roles. The Magnificent Seven offers little new and is sometimes cheesy, but it’s action-packed, well-performed, rousing, and has some mighty fine shootout scenes.

10. Wanted (2008, directed by Timur Bekmambetov)

Wanted Movie
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Wanted is an action thriller loosely based on Mark Millar and J.G. Jones’ comic book miniseries. It’s about an unfulfilled account manager who learns that he’s the son of a professional assassin and opts to join the secret society his father was a member of, known as the Fraternity.

James McAvoy plays Wesley Gibson, the main character, and Pratt ably plays his best friend and co-worker, Barry. The fabulous supporting cast includes Angelina Jolie, Thomas Kretschmann, Common, and Terence Stamp. Wanted is an energetically performed, fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled, funny, and stylish movie with lots of flair.

11. Jurassic World (2015, directed by Colin Trevorrow)

Jurassic World
Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Jurassic World is a sci-fi action movie, the first installment in the Jurassic World trilogy and the fourth installment overall in the Jurassic Park film series. It’s set 22 years after the original film and sees the park opened and successfully running until a hybrid dinosaur designed to increase revenue escapes and plunges the place into chaos.

Pratt plays Owen Grady, a Navy veteran, ethologist, Velociraptor expert, and handler at the park. He’s brilliant alongside Bryce Dallas Howard, with whom he has great chemistry. The cast also features Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, BD Wong, Irrfan Khan, and Jake Johnson. Jurassic World is a visual treat that’s action-packed, well-acted, and just the right side of ludicrous. It can’t match the original for inventiveness and soul, but it’s still a spectacularly enjoyable blockbuster.

12. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017, directed by James Gunn)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Movie
Image Credit: Disney/Marvel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a superhero movie, the sequel to 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy and the 15th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this one, the eponymous team ventures into the cosmos to assist their leader, Peter Quill, in his quest to learn more about his father.

Pratt plays Quill, AKA Star-Lord, reprising his role for the first time. He’s made the role iconic, and this was a particularly heartfelt performance, as the character met his father, Ego, played perfectly by Kurt Russell. Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sylvester Stallone, and David Hasselhoff appear in a brilliant ensemble. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is visually dazzling, funny, action-packed, and sentimental.

13. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023, directed by James Gunn)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Movie
Image Credit: Disney/Marvel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a superhero movie, the sequel to 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and the 32nd installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This one chronicles the eponymous team’s efforts to protect Rocket from the High Evolutionary, the mad scientist who experimented on him.

Again, Pratt plays the Guardians’ leader Peter Quill, reprising his role for the fifth time since the original Guardians of the Galaxy film, and he’s as good as ever. Saldaña, Bautista, Gillan, Klementieff, Diesel, Cooper, and Stallone reprise their roles from previous MCU movies, and Will Poulter and Chukwudi Iwuji join them. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a heart-wrenching, entertaining, imaginative, action-packed, funny, loving goodbye for the eponymous team. It also comes with an important message about animal rights.

14. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019, directed by Mike Mitchell)

The Lego Movie Chris Pratt
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is a computer-animated adventure comedy film and the sequel to 2014’s The Lego Movie. It follows the protagonists into the Systar System, where they test their skills and creativity while the main character Emmet Brickowski deals with an impending disaster called “Armamageddon.”

Pratt brilliantly voices Emmet, while Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, and Will Ferrell join him in reprising their roles from the first movie. New cast members include Stephanie Beatriz, Tiffany Haddish, and Maya Rudolph. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is performed energetically by its voice cast and has plenty of heart and humor while looking fantastic due to splendid animation.

15. Onward (2020, directed by Dan Scanlon)

Onward Animated Movie
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures.

Onward is a computer-animated fantasy urban adventure movie about the quest of two elven brothers to find an artifact that will temporarily resurrect their deceased father for a single day before the time runs out.

The two brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, are superbly voiced by Tom Holland and Pratt. The voice cast also includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer. Onward is gorgeously animated, as Pixar films tend to be. While it’s not one of the studio’s best offerings, it’s still expertly performed, funny, engaging, heartwarming, and carries much emotional weight.

16. Moneyball (2011, directed by Bennett Miller)

Moneyball Chris Pratt
Image Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing.

Moneyball is a biographical sports drama movie based on Michael Lewis’ 2003 non-fiction book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. In the film, the Oakland Athletics baseball team has a limited budget for players and attempts to build a team of inexpensive talent by taking a sophisticated sabermetric approach regarding scouting and analyzing potential signings.

Pratt brilliantly portrays first baseman and catcher Scott Hatteberg as part of a superb cast that includes Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, and Jonah Hill. Moneyball received six Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Pitt, and Best Supporting Actor for Hill, though it won none. It’s an outstanding, wonderfully written, expertly performed, sharp, stylish, funny, and touching film.

17. Zero Dark Thirty (2012, directed by Kathryn Bigelow)

Zero Dark Thirty Movie
Image Credit:
Sony Pictures Releasing.

Zero Dark Thirty is an action thriller dramatizing the almost decade-long international search for Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda’s terrorist leader, following the September 11 attacks, which led to his discovery in his Pakistan compound and the military raid on May 2, 2011, during which he died.

Pratt has a relatively minor role as Justin Lenihan, a DEVGRU operator, which he performs just fine. The fantastic cast includes Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, James Gandolfini, Scott Adkins, Joel Edgerton, Mike Colter, and Frank Grillo, making this film a great viewing experience. Zero Dark Thirty is compelling, suspenseful, brilliantly put together, and intricately detailed. It received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Chastain, but only won one for Best Sound Editing.

18. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014, directed by James Gunn)

Guardians of the Galaxy Movie
Image Credit: Marvel Studio.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a superhero movie and the tenth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this one, a quintet of extraterrestrial criminals goes on the run after stealing a powerful artifact before opting to stick together and do good, forming the eponymous team.

It’s Pratt’s first appearance as Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord, and he immediately makes the role his own, which surprised many people. Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper play the other Guardians members, and Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio del Toro also appear. Guardians of the Galaxy is wildly entertaining, action-packed, and funny, with plenty of heart, thrills, and visual treats.

19. Avengers: Infinity War (2018, directed by the Russo Brothers)

Avengers: Infinity War Movie
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures.

Avengers: Infinity War is a superhero movie, a sequel to 2012’s The Avengers and 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the 19th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this one, the eponymous team and the Guardians of the Galaxy attempt to prevent the Mad Titan Thanos from collecting all six Infinity Stones and erasing half of all life in the universe.

It’s Pratt’s second reprisal of his role as Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord, and he performs his pivotal role in the film’s events in an exemplary fashion. The fantastic cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Josh Brolin, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Pratt’s fellow Guardians of the Galaxy stars. Avengers: Infinity War is an epic, spectacular movie event that’s visually brilliant, superbly performed, action-packed, fast-paced, suspenseful, and has one of the most incredible endings in cinema history.

20. Her (2013, directed by Spike Jonze)

Her Movie
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Her is a romantic sci-fi drama about a lonely, introverted man who develops a relationship with an artificially intelligent virtual assistant with a female voice.

Pratt has a relatively minor role as Paul, the mustachioed friend of the introverted Theodore, but he plays his kind-hearted role with warmth. Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore, and he’s superb. The fantastic supporting cast includes Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Brian Cox, and directed Jonze. Her received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, but only won one for Best Original Screenplay. It’s funny, sweet, intelligent, and soulful, with great performances from its terrific cast.

21. Avengers: Endgame (2019, directed by the Russo Brothers)

Avengers: Endgame Movie
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures.

Avengers: Endgame is a superhero movie, the direct sequel to 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, and the 22nd installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this one, the heroes who survived Thanos’ erasing of half of life in the universe attempt to undo his actions by executing a “time heist.”

In Pratt’s third reprisal of his role as Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord, he only has a small part after his resurrection, but he’s in good form. The likes of Brie Larson, Jeremy Renner, and Paul Rudd join most of the Avengers: Infinity War cast in this one. Avengers: Endgame is a mighty film with impressive special effects, bags of tension and peril, plenty of humor, one of the most incredible battle scenes in cinema history, and a beautifully poignant but sad ending.

22. The Lego Movie (2014, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller)

The Lego Movie
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The Lego Movie is a computer-animated adventure comedy film based on the Lego line of construction toys. It’s about an ordinary Lego minifigure who heroically assists a resistance movement in preventing a dictatorial business person from permanently gluing everything in the world of Lego into what he deems to be his vision of perfection.

It’s the first film in which Pratt voices the main character, Emmet Brickowski, and he performs well. The extended cast includes Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Liam Neeson, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders, and Will Ferrell. It’s enthusiastically performed, hilarious, surprisingly thoughtful, and perfectly animated. The Lego Movie‘s lack of a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film was shocking, but it did receive a nomination for Best Original Song.


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The 22 Best Sharon Stone Movies, Ranked | Wealth of Geeks

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Sharon Stone is an actor, movie producer, former fashion model, and one of the foremost sex symbols of the last half-century.

Her acting career started in 1980 and she has now appeared in almost 70 films. Admittedly, many of those films are terrible, but it’s also fair to say that her credits include some bona fide classics and many that are, at the very least, watchable.

In this piece, we’ll list Sharon Stone’s 22 best movies, ending with the finest one she’s ever appeared in.

1. Beautiful Joe (2000, directed by Stephen Metcalfe)

Image Credit: Capitol Films.

Beautiful Joe is a romantic comedy-drama movie about an edgy woman who becomes a con artist, gets herself into serious trouble with the mob, and latches onto a nice-guy florist for assistance.

Stone stars as Alice, AKA “Hush,” the con artist, and Billy Connolly plays Joe, the florist. The unlikely duo give decent performances, their characters end up as love interests, and they have surprisingly great chemistry. Gil Bellows, Jurnee Smollett, and Ian Holm also appear. Beautiful Joe is whimsical and sentimental to the point of being soppy, but it’s a surprising little film that’s well worth watching.

2. Beyond the Stars (1989, directed by David Saperstein)

Beyond the Stars Movie
Image Credit: Moviestore Entertainment.

Beyond the Stars is a drama movie that focuses on the teenage son of a NASA computer scientist who worked on the Apollo program. Wanting to become an astronaut one day, he befriends the thirteenth man to have stepped foot on the moon and discovers he found something up there that he has since kept a secret.

Christian Slater plays Eric, the teenager, and Martin Sheen plays Paul Andrews, the astronaut he befriends. They’re both great, and they work well on screen together. Stone plays Laurie McCall, the young woman seeing the computer scientist, and does an adequate job in a relatively minor role. Beyond the Stars is such a low-budget film that it feels made for television, but it’s surprisingly watchable, and Slater’s performance is excellent. The ending is also a pleasant surprise.

3. Bobby (2006, directed by Emilio Estevez)

Bobby Movie
Image Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Bobby is a drama movie depicting a fictionalized account of the hours leading up to U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s shooting in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, following his victory in California’s Democratic presidential primary.

This film’s terrific ensemble cast is the best thing about it. It includes the director Estevez, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, William H. Macy, Ashton Kutcher, Shia LaBeouf, Laurence Fishburne, Demi Moore, Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Heather Graham, Elijah Wood, Harry Belafonte, and Nick Cannon. Stone has a minor role as Miriam Ebbers, the beautician wife of Macy’s Paul Ebbers, the hotel manager, and she does just fine. Bobby is a complicated and ambitious film that intrigues you, but it gets messy with far too much going on.

4. Here Today (2021, directed by Billy Crystal)

Here Today Movie
Image Credit: Stage 6 Films.

Here Today is a comedy-drama movie about a veteran comedy writer with early onset dementia who meets a much younger New York singer and forms an unlikely friendship that defies the generation gap and redefines the meanings of love and honesty with hilarity and touching sentiment.

Director Crystal plays Charlie Burnz, the writer, and Tiffany Haddish plays Emma Payge, the singer, and they match brilliantly. Stone cameos as herself, playing one of the stars of Charlie’s most successful film, and she does as well as you’d expect. Here Today is a mushy, touching and, most importantly, smile-inducing and funny movie.

5. Five Dollars a Day (2008, directed by Nigel Cole)

Five Dollars a Day Movie
Image Credit: Image Entertainment.

Five Dollars a Day is a comedy-drama movie that follows the son of a frugal and cheap conman who begrudgingly joins his supposedly terminally ill father on a trip to New Mexico, where he says he hopes to find a cure.

Alessandro Nivola plays the main character Richie Flynn Parker and Christopher Walken plays his conman father, Nat Parker. Nivola’s character’s calmness amidst his father’s nonsense is very amusing. Stone plays Dolores Jones, Richie’s former babysitter who is now a model. It’s a brief role, but she plays it to perfection. Five Dollars a Day is an agreeable film that will make you laugh, smile, and shed a tear by the end.

6. Above the Law (1988, directed by Andrew Davis)

Above the Law Movie
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Above the Law is a crime action movie about a Chicago policeman who’s an ex-CIA agent and Aikido specialist who uncovers a conspiracy while investigating a narcotics dealer’s seized shipment of military explosives.

It stars Steven Seagal (because, of course, it does – we mentioned the word “Aikido” after all) as the cop, Nicolo “Nico” Toscani. Stone plays Sara Toscani, Nico’s wife, and she appears in some well-written scenes. Above the Law has a more complex plot than most action flicks, which is no bad thing. It’s visually intriguing, its fight scenes are well-choreographed, and the supporting cast includes established stars like Pam Grier, Henry Silva, and Ron Dean.

7. The Muse (1999, directed by Albert Brooks)

The Muse Movie
Image Credit: October Films.

The Muse is a comedy movie about the eponymous woman tasked with inspiring a once-celebrated Hollywood screenwriter to help him revive his career.

Stone plays the title character, Sarah Little, and director Brooks plays Steven Phillips, the screenwriter she must inspire. Brooks is as competent as ever, but Stone’s muse is the movie’s most immense delight, as she’s fabulous. Andi MacDowell and Jeff Bridges play key supporting roles, and several stars cameo as themselves, including Rob Reiner, Jennifer Tilly, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, and Wolfgang Puck. The Muse is quirky, well-written, energetic, and mildly funny.

8. Lovelace (2013, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman)

Lovelace Movie
Image Credit: Radius-TWC.

Lovelace is a biographical drama covering the life of adult actress Linda Lovelace, AKA Linda Boreman, from 21 to 32, focusing heavily on her appearance in Deep Throat. This landmark 1972 movie epitomized the “Golden Age” of the adult film industry.

Amanda Seyfried stars as Linda Lovelace and does her best with the material. The excellent supporting ensemble includes Peter Sarsgaard, Robert Patrick, Juno Temple, Bobby Cannavale, Hank Azaria, Adam Brody, Chloë Sevigny, Wes Bentley, James Franco, and Eric Roberts, as well as Stone, who formidably plays Linda’s overbearing mother, Dorothy Boreman. Lovelace could be better, but it’s still an insightful, fascinating, intelligent, well-made and well-acted film.

9. Alpha Dog (2006, directed by Nick Cassavetes)

Alpha Dog Movie
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Alpha Dog is a crime drama movie based on the real-life story of the 2000 kidnapping and murder of American teenager Nicholas Markowitz because of a feud over drug money involving his older half-brother.

The ensemble cast includes Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Christopher Marquette, Justin Timberlake, and Bruce Willis. Anton Yelchin plays Zack Mazursky, based on Nicholas, and Stone chews the scenery as Olivia Mazursky, his mother. The whole cast is good in this one, but Timberlake deserves special praise for his performance as Frankie “Nuts” Ballenbacher, based on Jesse Rugge, one of the kidnappers. Alpha Dog is simultaneously glossy and gritty but totally unflinching and thoroughly entertaining.

10. Fading Gigolo (2013, directed by John Turturro)

Fading Gigolo movie
Image Credit: Millennium Entertainment.

Fading Gigolo is a comedy movie about an older man who becomes a gigolo to make money to help his cash-strapped friend. With said friend acting as his “manager,” the pair quickly get tangled up in the complications of money and love.

Director Turturro plays Fioravante, the man who becomes a gigolo, and Woody Allen plays Murray Schwartz, his friend turned manager. Their chemistry is exceptional and makes the film a delightful watch. Stone plays Dr Parker, a wealthy dermatologist whose actions cause the story to unfold, and she’s excellent. Other cast members include Sofia Vergara, Vanessa Paradis, and Liev Schreiber. Fading Gigolo is risky and vulgar, and the plot is admittedly ludicrous, but it’s brilliantly acted, funny, and wildly entertaining.

11. Irreconcilable Differences (1984, directed by Charles Shyer)

Irreconcilable Differences Movie
Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Irreconcilable Differences is a comedy-drama movie about a little girl who, wise beyond her years, sues her selfish and career-driven parents for emancipation, which gives them the shock of their lives. The movie alternates between the past and the present.

Drew Barrymore plays the little girl, Casey Brodsky, and Ryan O’Neal and Shelley Long play her parents, Albert and Lucy. Stone plays Blake Chandler, a hot dog stand worker who attracts the attention of Albert, prompting Lucy to divorce him. The cast is brilliant in this, and Stone is as pleasant as ever. Irreconcilable Differences is witty, intelligent, quite surprising, and generally enjoyable.

12. Les Uns et les Autres (1981, directed by Claude Lelouch)

Bolero Movie
Image Credit: Warner & Metronome.

Les Uns et les Autres is a French musical epic that chronicles three generations of musicians and dancers from Russia, Germany, France and the United States, respectively, starting before World War II and ending in the 1980s. In the United States, its name was Bolero.

It’s an ambitious movie spanning several decades, starring Robert Hossein, Nicole Garcia, Geraldine Chaplin, and James Caan. To be blunt, Stone has an uncredited minor role as a girl in bed with one of the main characters, which is barely worth mentioning. Les Uns et les Autres is imaginative and well-acted and features several spectacular song and dance numbers.

13. Stardust Memories (1980, directed by Woody Allen)

Stardust Memories Movie
Image Credit: United Artists.

Stardust Memories is a black-and-white comedy-drama movie about a filmmaker who looks back on his life and those he’s loved – the people who inspired his films – while attending a weekend-long retrospective of his work.

It was Stone’s movie debut, playing “Pretty Girl on Train.” In her brief scene, she blows a kiss, and the actress says, “I gave it my best shot to melt that sucker.” Director Allen stars as Sandy Bates, the main filmmaker character, and the likes of Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper, and Daniel Stern have supporting roles. Stardust Memories is ambitiously structured, stylish, provocative, affecting, and funny.

14. The Mighty (1998, directed by Peter Chelsom)

The Mighty Movie
Image Credit: Miramax Films.

The Mighty is a coming-of-age buddy comedy-drama movie based on Rodman Philbrick’s 1993 novel Freak the Mighty. It’s about two young boys from a small town, both social outcasts for being different, who form an unlikely friendship when one is assigned to help the other learn to read.

Stone is fantastic in the vital role of Gwen “The Fair Gwen Of Air” Dillon, one of the boy’s mothers. Elden Henson and Kieran Culkin sublimely play the two kids. Other outstanding cast members include Gena Rowlands, Gillian Anderson, Harry Dean Stanton, and James Gandolfini. The Mighty is a charming and touching film about friendship that shows just how powerful and vital a good imagination can be.

15. Basic Instinct (1992, directed by Paul Verhoeven)

Basic Instinct Movie
Image Credit:
TriStar Pictures.

Basic Instinct is a neo-noir erotic thriller about a San Francisco police detective’s investigation of the brutal murder of a retired rock star. During the investigation, he gets into an intense and passionate sexual relationship with the prime suspect, an enigmatic crime novelist.

Michael Douglas plays Nick Curran, the detective, and Stone plays Catherine Tramell, the novelist. The pair’s outstanding chemistry and excellent performances are the movie’s highlights. George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Wayne Knight ably play key supporting roles. Basic Instinct is suspenseful in the mould of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest work, intense, compelling, brilliantly written and acted, turning Stone into a bona fide star. The scene in which she uncrosses her legs is one of the most iconic in cinematic history.

16. The Quick and the Dead (1995, directed by Sam Raimi)

The Quick and the Dead Movie
Image Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing.

The Quick and the Dead is a revisionist Western movie focusing on a gunfighter called “The Lady” who rides into the frontier town of Redemption, controlled by the man who killed her father. She participates in a deadly duelling tournament to exact revenge on him.

Stone plays “The Lady,” AKA Ellen, and she’s terrific, giving one of her finest performances. The ensemble cast includes Gene Hackman as the man who killed her father, Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Roberts Blossom, Gary Sinise, and Lance Henriksen. The Quick and the Dead is a subversive Western with a female as its lead, totally energetic and a hoot from start to finish. Raimi directs it perfectly, and it’s one of his best films.

17. Total Recall (1990, directed by Paul Verhoeven)

Total Recall Movie
Image Credit: Tri-Star Pictures.

Total Recall is a sci-fi action movie based on Philip K. Dick’s 1966 short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale.” It’s about a construction worker who gets the memory of a fantastical adventure on Mars implanted in his head, then finds his experience occurring in reality as memories of his past as a Martian secret agent come flooding back, and he tries to stop the oppressive regime of a Martian dictator.

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the construction worker/spy Douglas Quaid in one of his finest performances. The supporting cast includes Rachel Ticotin, Michael Ironside, and Stone, who plays his wife, an undercover secret agent, and she’s excellent. Total Recall is an action-packed, visually stunning, occasionally funny, and intelligently satirical film boasting some fantastic special effects.

18. Broken Flowers (2005, directed by Jim Jarmusch)

Broken Flowers Movie
Image Credit: Focus Features.

Broken Flowers is a comedy-drama movie about an ageing “Don Juan” who sets off across the United States to track down a quartet of his former lovers after receiving an anonymous letter informing him that he has a son.

Bill Murray plays Don Johnston, the “Don Juan,” in his usual inimitable style. The brilliant supporting cast includes Jeffrey Wright, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton, Julie Delpy, Chloë Sevigny Christopher McDonald. Stone energetically plays Laura Miller, a former lover of Don’s who enjoys his visit. Broken Flowers is a quirky, enjoyable, superbly performed film with lots of gentle, deadpan humor.

19. The Disaster Artist (2017, directed by James Franco)

The Disaster Artist Movie
Image Credit: A24 Production.

The Disaster Artist is a biographical comedy-drama movie based on Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell’s 2013 non-fiction book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made. It tells the story of the unlikely friendship between aspiring actors Sestero and Tommy Wiseau that results in Wiseau’s 2003 film The Room getting made, which is widely considered one of the worst ever.

Stone plays Iris Burton, Sestero’s agent. It’s a small role, but she performs it competently. The terrific ensemble cast includes James and Dave Franco as Wiseau and Sestero, respectively, as well as Seth Rogen, Ari Graynor, Alison Brie, Josh Hutcherson, Melanie Griffith, and Bob Odenkirk. The Disaster Artist received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and is a charming, poignant, well-performed, funny, and generally delightful film.

20. Antz (1998, directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson)

Antz
Photo Credit: Dreamworks Animation

Antz is a computer-animated adventure comedy movie about an anxious worker ant who falls in love with a princess while trying to break free from his totalitarian society and save the colony from disaster.

Woody Allen voices Z, the worker ant, and Stone perfectly voices Princess Bala, his love interest. Other members of the fabulous voice cast include Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Lopez, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, Anne Bancroft, Danny Glover, and Dan Aykroyd. Antz is beautifully animated, energetically performed, witty and funny, with a great story. Kids and adults alike should enjoy it.

21. Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019, directed by Martin Scorsese)

Rolling Thunder Revue Movie
Image Credit: Netflix.

Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese is a pseudo-documentary movie covering Bob Dylan’s 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue concert tour that contains fictional and non-fictional material.

Dylan plays himself in the film, while the rest of the documentary’s “interviewees” are played by actors. Stone plays a beauty queen who claims to have joined up with Dylan’s tour as a 19-year-old. She’s pretty convincing. Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese is a strange but masterful film that won’t be what you expect it to be. It features some great music and is almost dreamlike but thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end.

22. Casino (1995, directed by Martin Scorsese)

Casino Movie
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Casino is an epic crime movie based on Nicholas Pileggi’s 1995 non-fiction book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. It’s about two best friends, one a mafia enforcer and the other a casino executive, competing for a gambling empire and a beautiful showgirl hustler.

The fantastic cast includes Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, James Woods, and Don Rickles. Stone plays Ginger McKenna, the showgirl, and her revelatory performance is so good that she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress – strangely, the film’s only nomination. Casino is ambitious, bold, brilliantly performed, enthralling, and sometimes funny.


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The 22 Best Jamie Lee Curtis Movies, Ranked | Wealth of Geeks

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Jamie Lee Curtis is one of the world’s most beloved actresses, and she’s appeared in around 50 movies as of 2023.

She made her on-screen acting debut in several television shows in 1977, and the iconic 1978 horror Halloween was her first movie credit. She hasn’t looked back since, and this year, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the brilliant Everything Everywhere All at Once.

In this piece, we’ll rank her 22 finest movies, ending with the best one.

1. Halloween Ends (2018, directed by David Gordon Green)

Image Credit:
Universal Pictures.

Halloween Ends is a slasher horror movie, the thirteenth installment in the Halloween franchise, the sequel to 2021’s Halloween Kills, and the final part in the trilogy of sequels that started with 2018’s Halloween, which directly follows the original 1978 film of the same name. In this one, a young man falls for Laurie Strode’s granddaughter, while several events, including encounters with Michael Myers, turn him into a homicidal outsider.

Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode in this one, presumably for the final time, and she’s a pleasure to watch. Halloween Ends is a deep-layered horror film that’s more than meets the eye. It’s received a mixed reception but will undoubtedly get more appreciation with time. It’s intimate, surprising, clever, and a gripping study of evil, and, of course, there’s plenty of brutality and gore.

2. My Girl (1991, directed by Howard Zieff)

My Girl Movie
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures.

My Girl is a coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama movie about an 11-year-old girl living in Madison, Pennsylvania, who meets a boy the same age as her during the summer of 1972. The film’s title refers to The Temptations’ classic 1964 song of the same name.

Anna Chlumsky and Macaulay Culkin star as the two young children, while Dan Aykroyd plays the girl’s father. Curtis plays Shelly DeVoto, a makeup artist, the father’s love interest, and the girl’s future stepmother. She’s lovely in the role, as are the rest of the delightful cast. My Girl is a beautiful, touching, funny, and sad movie that will move you in many ways.

3. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998, directed by Steve Miner)

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Movie
Image Credit: Miramax Films.

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later is a slasher horror movie, the seventh installment in the Halloween franchise, and a direct sequel to 1981’s Halloween II. In the film, a post-traumatic Laurie Strode faked her death to hide from Michael Myers. However, while she’s working as the headmistress at a private boarding school in California, Michael finds her.

It’s arguably the most underrated film in the Halloween franchise, and people are coming to appreciate it more in recent years. Curtis plays Strode brilliantly again, as she tends to do. The excellent supporting cast includes Adam Arkin, Josh Hartnett, LL Cool J, and Michelle Williams. It also features a cameo from Curtis’ mother, Janet Leigh. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later is suspenseful, thrilling, and appropriately scary.

4. Queens Logic (1991, directed by Steve Rash)

queens logic Movie
Image Credit: Seven Arts.

Queens Logic is a coming-of-age comedy-drama movie about a group of lifelong friends who reunite in Queens for the bachelor party and wedding of one of them.

The outstanding ensemble cast includes Kevin Bacon, Linda Fiorentino, John Malkovich, Joe Mantegna, Ken Olin, Tony Spiridakis, and Tom Waits. Curtis plays the strange and wealthy Grace, who turns up at the party, and she does so in an exuberant fashion. Queens Logic is incredibly watchable, brilliantly performed, and funny, but also a bit too loaded with stereotypes.

5. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982, directed by Tommy Lee Wallace)

Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a sci-fi horror movie, the third installment in the Halloween franchise, and the only one not to feature or involve the iconic killer Michael Myers. In this one, a company called Silver Shamrock sells highly sought-after Halloween masks that kill the children who wear them with intentions to resurrect a bygone age of witchcraft.

It stars Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, and Dan O’Herlihy. Curtis’ role in this one is minimal and uncredited, as she briefly voices a telephone operator. It’s a highly original film with blatant anti-capitalist and anti-corporate themes. Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a bit messy, but it’s creative, creepy, fun, and gratifying.

6. True Lies (1994, directed by James Cameron)

True Lies
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.

True Lies is an action comedy based on the 1991 French comedy movie La Totale!. It’s about a U.S. government agent who finds balancing his double life as a spy with his familial duties tricky.

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Harry Tasker, the spy leading a double life, and Curtis plays his wife, Helen. They have great chemistry and give excellent performances. The fabulous supporting cast includes Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Eliza Dushku. True Lies is a laugh-out-loud action-packed romp with violence on the more cartoonish side.

7. The Tailor of Panama (2001, directed by John Boorman)

The Tailor of Panama Movie
Image Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing.

The Tailor of Panama is a spy thriller based on John le Carré’s 1996 novel. It follows the eponymous former convict turned tailor forced by an unscrupulous MI6 agent into spying on the Panamanian government.

Pierce Brosnan plays MI6 agent Andrew “Andy” Osnard, and Geoffrey Rush plays the tailor Harold “Harry” Pendel. Curtis plays Louisa, Pendel’s wife and the assistant to the administrator of the Panama Canal Authority. They’re all terrific and ably supported by Brendan Gleeson, Harold Pinter, Catherine McCormack, and Daniel Radcliffe. The Tailor of Panama is intelligent, dark, brilliantly satirical, and performed with buoyant energy and enthusiasm.

8. Blue Steel (1990, directed by Kathryn Bigelow)

Blue Steel Movie
Image Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Blue Steel is an action thriller about a female police officer who shoots and kills a robbery suspect on her first day of duty, then engages in a cat-and-mouse game with a murderer who becomes obsessed with her and whom she dates without realizing his nature.

Curtis plays Megan Turner, the officer who shoots the suspect on her first day. Blue Steel‘s story is pretty implausible, but the whole thing is incredibly watchable due to the appealing performances of Curtis and the excellent supporting cast, which includes Ron Silver, Elizabeth Peña, Louise Fletcher, Richard Jenkins, Tom Sizemore, and Clancy Brown. It’s stylishly directed and expertly combines elements that don’t usually go together.

9. The Fog (1980, directed by Joh Carpenter)

The Fog Movie
Image Credit: AVCO Embassy Pictures.

The Fog is a supernatural horror movie about a mysterious glowing fog that engulfs a small coastal town in Northern California. It contains the vengeful spirits of the leprous crew of a ship that crashed against the rocks there a century before.

The iconic cast includes Tom Atkins, Adrienne Barbeau, John Houseman, Hal Holbrook, Nancy Loomis, and Curtis’ mother, Janet Leigh. Curtis adeptly plays Elizabeth Solley, a young hitchhiker caught up in the town’s spooky events. The Fog is slow-building, chilling, suspenseful, and elegantly made, though the low production costs are sometimes evident in the special effects.

10. Dominick and Eugene (1988, directed by Robert M. Young)

Dominick and Eugene Movie
Image Credit: Orion Pictures.

Dominick and Eugene is a drama movie that follows the eponymous twin brothers, one of whom cares for the other due to an accident he suffered as a child rendering him intellectually disabled.

Dominick “Nicky” Luciano, the twin with the learning disability, is played by Tom Hulce, and his caring brother Eugene “Gino” Luciano is played by Ray Liotta. They’re both superb. Curtis plays Jennifer Reston, Gino’s love interest, and she’s also brilliant. Dominick and Eugene is a well-acted film that’s sentimental, wholesome, and impactful. It also deserves credit for compassionately dealing with its sensitive material.

11. Halloween (2018, directed by David Gordon Green)

Halloween 2018 Movie
Image Credit: Ryan Green-Universal Pictures.

Halloween is a slasher movie, the eleventh installment in the Halloween franchise, and the first part in a sequel trilogy that directly follows the 1978 film of the same name. In this one, a post-traumatic Laurie Strode prepares to face an escaped Michael Myers in a climactic battle on Halloween night, four decades after she survived his first murder spree.

It’s the best Halloween film since the original, as Curtis plays Strode for the first time since 2002’s terrible Halloween: Resurrection. She gives a formidable performance in a movie that’s a brilliant act of fan service. Judy Greer joins the cast, Will Patton plays the sheriff’s deputy and Strode’s love interest, and everyone acts brilliantly. Halloween is gruesome, suspenseful, and full of creative kills.

12. Veronica Mars (2014, directed by Rob Thomas)

Vernoica Mars Movie
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Veronica Mars is a neo-noir mystery comedy-drama movie and a continuation of the eponymous television series aired from 2004 until 2007. It follows the title character back to her hometown of Neptune, California, to investigate the murder of a former classmate allegedly at the hands of Mars’ ex-boyfriend.

Curtis has a minor role as Gayle Buckley, a woman who interviewed Veronica for a job, and she plays it well. Kristen Bell reprises her role as Veronica from the television show and is excellent. The terrific supporting cast includes Krysten Ritter, Jerry O’Connell, and Martin Starr. Veronica Mars is sharp, thrilling, character-driven, and sure to delight both fans of the series and those unfamiliar with it.

13. Daddy and Them (2001, directed by Billy Bob Thornton)

Daddy and Them Movie
Image Credit: Miramax Films.

Daddy and Them is a comedy-drama movie about a jealous and insecure married couple who go to the aid of one of their uncles when he gets jailed for attempted murder.

As well as directing, Thornton also stars in this one as Claude Montgomery, alongside Laura Dern as the other half of the above-mentioned married couple. Both stars perform well, as does the supporting cast, which includes Brenda Blethyn, Ben Affleck, Kelly Preston, Andy Griffin, and Curtis in a minor role as lawyer Elaine Bowen. At its heart, Daddy and Them is a lighthearted movie about family, and it features brilliant deadpan humor and is exceptionally well-written and directed.

14. From Up on Poppy Hill (2011, directed by Gorō Miyazaki)

From up on Poppy Hill
Photo Credit: Studio Ghibli

From Up on Poppy Hill is a Japanese animated drama movie set in 1963 about a group of teenagers in Yokohama who attempt to save their school’s beloved clubhouse from being knocked down in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

In the English-language version of the film, Curtis ably voices Ryoko Matsuzaki, the mother of the main character Umi and a medical professor studying in the United States. The rest of the excellent English voice cast includes Anton Yelchin, Gillian Anderson, and Bruce Dern. From Up on Poppy Hill is a nostalgic, sweet, easy-going movie with great characters and gorgeous animation. It’s one of Studio Ghibli’s finest, which is quite the compliment.

15. Escape from New York (1981, directed by John Carpenter)

Escape From New York Lionsgate
Image Credit: Lionsgate

Escape from New York is a sci-fi action movie set in a then-near-future United States in which New York has become the country’s only maximum security prison. The plot follows an ex-soldier who, now a prisoner, is given 24 hours to rescue the president from the city after Air Force One got hijacked in exchange for a pardon.

Kurt Russell stars as Lieutenant S.D. “Snake” Plissken, the man tasked with saving the president, in one of his most iconic roles. The terrific supporting cast includes Donald Pleasance, Lee Van Cleef, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, and Tom Atkins. Curtis goes uncredited in competently voicing the computerized narrator. Escape from New York is an action-packed, thrilling, fast-moving, and highly influential film.

16. Freaky Friday (2003, directed by Mark Waters)

Freaky Friday, Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan
Image Credit: Walt Disney Productions.

Freaky Friday is a fantasy comedy movie based on Mary Rodgers’s 1972 novel and the second live-action feature-length remake of that story. The plot concerns a mother and daughter who wake up one morning with their minds swapped into each others’ bodies, having received mysterious magical fortune cookies at a Chinese restaurant.

Curtis and Lindsay Lohan play the mother-and-daughter duo in this one, and they’re both excellent. Curtis exceptionally portrays a teenager in an adult’s body and throws herself into the role. Freaky Friday is funny, charming, and brilliantly acted, and the chemistry between Curtis and Lohan is glorious.

17. Trading Places (1983, directed by John Landis)

Trading Places Movie
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.

Trading Places is a festive comedy movie about an elaborate wager between two wealthy brothers putting an upper-class commodities broker and a poor street hustler to the test by forcibly swapping their lives after they inadvertently cross paths on the street.

With Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy playing the broker and hustler, respectively, Trading Places has some top-tier talent in their performing prime headlining. Curtis brilliantly plays Ophelia, a prostitute who helps the broker when he finds himself homeless, and it’s seen her breakthrough role as a serious actress. This movie has some controversial material that some may deem offensive in 2023, but Trading Places is undoubtedly a brilliant, expertly written, performed, and directed comedy.

18. Roadgames (1981, directed by Richard Franklin)

Road Games Movie
Image Credit: AVCO Embassy Pictures.

Roadgames is a slasher thriller about a trucker driving across Australia who, with the assistance of a hitchhiker, tries to track down a serial killer dumping the dismembered bodies of women along desolate highways after murdering them.

Curtis is on top form playing Pamela, AKA “Hitch,” the hitchhiker who helps the truck driver, Pat Quid, played by Stacy Keach, to track the murderer. Roadgames is terrifically suspenseful, almost in the mold of Alfred Hitchcock’s best thrillers, and has lots of moments that succeed in shocking viewers. It’s a tragically underrated slasher flick.

19. A Fish Called Wanda (1988, directed by Charles Chrichton)

a-fish-called-wanda
Image Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

A Fish Called Wanda is a heist comedy movie about a gang of diamond thieves who double-cross each other trying to locate stolen diamonds hidden by the group’s leader, resulting in shenanigans and carnage galore.

Its fantastic cast includes Monty Python legends John Cleese and Michael Palin, Kevin Cline, and the sultry Curtis as Wanda Gershwitz, a femme fatale who wants to locate the loot. A Fish Called Wanda received three Academy Award nominations, with Kline winning the gong for Best Supporting Actor. It’s intelligent, eccentric, frantic, hilarious, and British comedy at its best.

20. Knives Out (2019, directed by Rian Johnson)

Knives Out Movie
Image Credit: Lionsgate.

Knives Out is a mystery movie that follows master detective Benoit Blanc as he investigates the suspicious death of a wealthy, dysfunctional family patriarch at his Massachusetts mansion.

It has one of the most impressive ensembles in recent years, with Daniel Craig playing Blanc, Christopher Plummer playing the deceased patriarch, and Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, and Don Johnson playing other family and household members. Curtis superbly plays Linda Drysdale, the oldest daughter of the dead man. Knives Out is clever, compelling, suspenseful, twisty, and expertly performed and directed.

21. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert)

Everything Everywhere All at Once Movie
Image Credit: A24.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a sci-fi action comedy-drama movie about a Chinese-American immigrant who, under audit by the IRS, learns that she must save the multiverse by connecting with different versions of herself from parallel universes.

Despite its incredibly complex-sounding plot, Everything Everywhere All at Once is an immensely watchable film. It received a whopping eleven Academy Award nominations. It won an impressive seven, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan, and Best Supporting Actress for Curtis, who is phenomenal as IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdre and various alternative universe versions of the character. Other fabulous cast members include James Hong, Stephanie Hsu, Jenny Slate, and Harry Shum Jr. This movie is a fantastic assault on the senses. It’s funny, looks great, has perfect martial arts choreography, and is a blast from start to finish.

22. Halloween (1978, directed by John Carpenter)

Halloween
Image credit: Compass International Pictures.

Halloween is an independent slasher horror movie that follows Michael Myers, a psychopath committed to an asylum for murdering his teenage sister on Halloween night when he was six, as he escapes 15 years later, returns to his hometown, and hunts a female babysitter and her friends while his concerned psychiatrist pursues him.

Curtis plays the now-iconic Laurie Strode for the first time in this one, the babysitter Myers stalks. It was her film debut, and she was fantastic beyond her years. The supporting cast includes Donald Pleasance, P.J. Soles, Nancy Loomis, and Nick Castle as Myers.

Halloween is a masterpiece and one of the finest horror movies ever made. It’s deeply atmospheric, suspenseful, and genuinely scary, and it introduced us to one of the most memorable scores in cinematic history. It’s a must-watch on October 31st.


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Robert Pattinson’s 12 Best Movies, Ranked | Wealth of Geeks

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Robert Pattinson is one of the most fascinating actors of our time. From his breakout in the Twilight franchise to his extensive work in various independent films and recent return to major blockbusters, the actor has displayed an incredible range.

To celebrate his career thus far and highlight some films fans may not have seen, I’m ranking his twelve best movies. 

12. The Devil All The Time (2020)

Image Credit: Netflix.

Based on Donald Ray Pollock’s novel of the same name, The Devil All The Time is a brutally bleak film. The film follows Arvin (Tom Holland) as he comes of age during the 1950s and 60s, and encounters a variety of all too human horrors. Among them is Pattinson’s Preston Teagardin, a charismatic preacher who uses his influence to seduce underage girls. Pattinson gives a genuinely creepy performance that’s the best part of the film, which is otherwise well-made but almost comically cruel. 

11. Cosmopolis (2012)

Robert Pattinson Cosmopolis
Image Credit: Entertainment One.

David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis follows young billionaire currency speculator Eric Packer (Pattinson) as he travels around a Manhattan that’s just slightly different from the one in our world or time. He meets with his wife, his doctor, and several other people over the course of his day as his fortune begins to wither due to major speculation losses. The film succeeds more as a performance vehicle than as a film, as its lack of narrative momentum and the sometimes painfully stilted dialogue keep the audience at arm’s length. But as a performance vehicle, it’s a must-see for Pattinson fans. 

10. The Childhood of a Leader (2015)

Robert Pattinson The Childhood of a Leader
Image Credit: IFC Films.

The feature directorial debut of actor Brady Corbet, The Childhood of a Leader immediately announced a unique and exciting voice in filmmaking. The film centers on a young boy, the son of an American diplomat, who witnesses some of the negotiations that eventually become the Treaty of Versailles. But it’s not that political moment that the film is interested in. It’s how it shapes this young man and how his sociopathic tendencies combine with the lessons he learns during this time to create a future fascist leader. Pattinson plays another diplomat and friend of the child’s father, as well as the adult leader in a flash-forward. 

9. Damsel (2018)

Robert Pattinson Damsel
Image Credit: Magnolia Pictures.

Damsel centers on wealthy young man Samuel Alabaster (Pattinson), who leaves his comfortable home on the East Coast to become a pioneer and track down his beloved Penelope (Mia Wasikowska) after she’s been kidnapped. Or so he says. The Western is a broad black comedy in which Pattinson is entirely willing to play a naive, arrogant fool who has gotten in over his head. Like any good Western, it’s beautifully shot, and the equally silly and dark humor and biting satire of gender relations make for a delightful film. 

8. The Batman (2022)

Robert Pattinson The Batman
Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Matt Reeves’ The Batman offers another specific vision of the iconic superhero. The film draws heavily from serial killer mysteries and neo-noir to deliver a superhero movie that often feels more like a hyper-stylized gritty crime drama than a superhero movie. Pattinson’s performance as Batman/Bruce Wayne is also unlike any other Batman performance we’ve seen in live-action and lends the young vigilante a haunted and anti-social quality that’s far from the playboy persona we’ve seen Bruce Wayne put on in other films. Sadly the film is far too long at nearly three hours and becomes fairly paint by numbers in its final third which keeps it from landing higher on this list. 

7. Twilight (2008)

Twilight, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson
Image Credit: Summit Entertainment.

The movie that made Pattinson a household name remains one of the most fun teen movies of the 2000s. Twilight, based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer, tells the story of a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. But unlike the other versions of this story we’ve seen (and we’ve seen several), this time, the vampires are sparkly and live in a big house as a family. The movie certainly has its flaws, but as far as lighthearted high school movies from a specific era go, you can’t get much better than Twilight. 

6. The Lost City of Z (2016)

Robert Pattinson Lost City of Z
Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

The Lost City of Z is the rare biopic that’s unique; it helps that it’s not a music biopic or about a royal, but it’s still worth celebrating. The film, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by David Grann, tells the story of British explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) and his discovery of what he believed to be an ancient lost city deep in the Amazon rainforest. But the film doesn’t just tell of the discovery; it chronicles the entirety of Fawcett’s life, which included serving in World War I, several trips between England and Brazil, and desperate attempts to convince others of the city’s existence. Pattinson plays Henry Costin in the film, a devoted friend of Fawcett’s and fellow explorer who does all he can to ensure the success of their expeditions. 

5. Maps to the Stars (2014)

Robert Pattinson in Maps to the Stars
Image Credit: Focus World.

Pattinson’s second film with David Cronenberg doesn’t center him, but it doesn’t really center anyone. Maps to the Stars centers more on Hollywood as a place and the various lives of an industry family and those around them than any single character. It’s an ensemble film with a fantastic cast, including Julianne Moore, John Cusack, and the late great Carrie Fisher as herself. Pattinson plays a limo driver and aspiring actor who begins a romantic relationship with one of the family members. The film has several icky twists and turns and is perhaps Cronenberg’s most perverse film outside the body horror genre, and that’s a great compliment. 

4. The Lighthouse (2019)

The Lighthouse 2019
Image Credit: A24.

Among the several singular films in Pattinson’s career, The Lighthouse may be the most unique. The film, presented in black and white and with a 4:3 aspect ratio, tells the story of two lighthouse keepers, Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, who begin to go mad while isolated on a lighthouse island in the late 19th century. It’s equal parts comedy, fantasy, cat and mouse thriller, and horror film without ever feeling incohesive. It’s a remarkable movie, and both Dafoe and Pattinson are fantastic. 

3. Good Time (2017)

Robert Pattinson in Good Time
Image Credit: A24.

The film that should have earned Pattinson his first Academy Award nomination if not win, Good Time shows the actor transformed into Connie, a petty criminal from Queens determined to free his mentally disabled brother from police custody. The film is often painful to watch as we see Connie make increasingly desperate choices that place him and those around him in danger. It’s a brutally effective ride of a movie that deserves just as much attention as the writer/director Safdie brothers’ follow-up film, Uncut Gems. 

2. High Life (2018)

High Life
Photo Credit: A24.

High Life is celebrated French director Claire Denis’s first fully English language film, and Pattinson’s central performance plays a key role in making that transition a success. Pattinson plays Monte, the only surviving member of a space crew of death row inmates and their reproduction-obsessed doctor. The film jumps back and forth in time, showing Monte alone on the ship with his daughter and the events leading up to the other crew members’ deaths. It’s a film that overwhelmingly takes place on one spaceship but feels expansive in its scope because of the ideas it engages with about humanity, our place in the universe, and our social structures.

1. The Rover (2014)

Blank 1600 x 900 11
Image Credit: A24.

Pattinson’s best film is also one of his most underseen. The Rover is a post-apocalyptic western that follows two men, the hardened Eric (Guy Pearce) and mentally disabled Rey (Pattinson), as they track down the gang that stole Eric’s car. But things are complicated by the fact that Rey’s brother is a member of that gang. It’s a movie about survival in a cruel world and what we choose to place meaning when society collapses. The Rover is far from a fun film, but it’s achingly sincere in its exploration of where people find hope when all seems lost. 


Kyle Logan is a film and television critic and general pop culture writer who has written for Alternative Press, Cultured Vultures, Film Stories, Looper, and more. Kyle is particularly interested in horror and animation, as well as genre films written and directed by queer people and women. Along with writing, Kyle organizes a Queer Film Challenge on Letterboxd.


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