Drama
Midnight Express
(1978)
Oliver Stone (screenplay) , Billy Hayes (book) and William Hoffer (book)
Won 2 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 14 nominations.
On October 6, 1970 while boarding an international flight out of Istanbul Airport, American Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle 2 kilos of hashish out of the country, the drugs strapped to his body. He is told that he will be released if he cooperates with the authorities in identifying the person who actually sold him the hash. Billy's troubles really begin when after that assistance, he makes a run for it and is recaptured. He is initially sentenced to just over four years for possession, with no time for the more harsh crime of smuggling. The prison environment is inhospitable in every sense, with a sadistic prison guard named Hamidou ruling the prison, he who relishes the mental and physical torture he inflicts on the prisoners for whatever reason. Told to trust no one, Billy does befriend a few of the other inmates, namely fellow American Jimmy Booth (in for stealing two candlesticks from a mosque), a Swede named Erich, and one of the senior prisoners having already served seven years, an Englishman named Max, the latter two also in for hash related charges. One prisoner not befriended is Rifki, who wields power in the prison as the unofficial eyes and ears for the guards. As Billy, his family and his girlfriend Susan attempt through legal and diplomatic channels for Billy's release, Max tells him that the only way out is to "catch the midnight express" aka escape, which is what Jimmy is continually trying to do. When Billy's situation changes, he becomes more desperate in every sense of the word. It seems as if Billy has only two options: to let the prison ultimately figuratively then literally kill him, or to somehow regain control of his life through whatever means available.
Midsommar
(2019)
Ari Aster
27 wins & 74 nominations
Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) are a young American couple with a relationship on the brink of falling apart. But after a family tragedy keeps them together, Christian invites a grieving Dani to join him and his friends on a trip to a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village. What begins as a carefree summer holiday in the North European land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite their guests to partake in festivities that render the pastoral paradise increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing.
Miller's Crossing
(1990)
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
3 wins & 7 nominations.
Tom Reagan (played by Gabriel Byrne) is the right-hand man, and chief adviser, to a mob boss, Leo (Albert Finney). Trouble is brewing between Leo and another mob boss, Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito), over the activities of a bookie, Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) and Leo and Tom are at odds on how to deal with it. Meanwhile, Tom is in a secret relationship with Leo's girlfriend, Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), who happens to be the sister of Bernie. In trying to resolve the issue, Tom is cast out from Leo's camp and ultimately finds himself stuck in the middle between several deadly, unforgiving parties.
Milwaukee, Minnesota
(2003)
Richard Murphy
3 wins & 2 nominations.
Having lived his entire life under the watchful eye of his overbearing mother, Albert must fend for himself when an unidentified automobile suddenly kills her. Free for the first time, Albert quickly responds to the bait dangling in front of him, putting his aggressors against one another in a race for his trust. Using his skills that make him a gifted fisherman, Albert turns the tables on his seemingly doomed fate, capturing the heart of the woman most eager to deceive him, and fooling the man most intent on destroying him.
Mine
(2016)
Fabio Guaglione (screenplay), Fabio Resinaro (screenplay)
4 nominations.
In the middle of the desert, an area filled with 33 million blast mines scattered everywhere, marine sniper Sergeant Mike Stevens is on a mission to locate and neutralize the leader of a terrorist cell. After three months and six days in the desert, one single moment of hesitation is enough to blow the entire mission, and now Sergeant Stevens is stranded in a hostile guerrilla territory all alone, and to make matters worse, with his left foot on an active mine. Against the harsh environment, without water, the sergeant must stay glued to the spot and use his Marine training, his resourcefulness and his perseverance for the next 52 hours until a convoy arrives in his area. Between the scalding heat of the day and the freezing cold of the night, if Sergeant Stevens wants to survive, he must fight not only the mighty forces of nature but also the greatest adversary of them all: himself.
Monster
(2003)
Patty Jenkins
Won 1 Oscar. Another 26 wins & 22 nominations.
Based on the life of Aileen Wuornos, a Daytona Beach prostitute who became a serial killer.
Monsters: Dark Continent
(2014)
Tom Green, Jay Basu
2 nominations.
Ten years on from the events of "Monsters", and the 'Infected Zones' have now spread worldwide. In the Middle East a new insurgency has begun. At the same time there has also been a proliferation of Monsters in that region.
Moon
(2009)
Duncan Jones (story), Nathan Parker
Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 24 wins & 30 nominations.
Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
Mud
(2012)
Jeff Nichols
11 wins & 34 nominations.
14 year-old Ellis (Tye Sheridan) lives on a makeshift houseboat on the banks of a river in Arkansas with his parents. He sneaks out early one morning to meet his best friend, Neckbone (Jacob Lofland). The two boys set out to an island on the Mississippi River, where Neckbone has discovered an unusual sight-a boat, suspended high in the trees due to an extreme flood some time in the past. They climb the tree and into the boat only to find fresh bread and fresh footprints. Realizing that they are not the only ones who have discovered the treehouse boat, they decide to leave. When they reach the shore, they find the same footprint in their boat. And that's when they meet Mud (Matthew McConaughey). Mud is a gritty, superstitious character; his clothes are dirty, his tooth is cracked, and he needs help. He tells the boys he will give them the treehouse boat, his current hideout, in exchange for food. Neckbone is reluctant, but Ellis brings food to Mud, and they develop a tentative friendship. Ellis learns that Mud has killed a man in Texas, and police and bounty hunters are looking for him, but Mud is more concerned about reuniting with his longtime love, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Ellis agrees to help Mud escape with Juniper. Ellis and Neckbone carry out bold schemes in an effort to protect Mud and relay messages to Juniper, who is holed up in a fleabag motel, under constant surveillance by Carver, a Texas bounty hunter. Carver and his gang are intent on capturing Mud, on orders from the cold-blooded King. As the boys risk everything to reunite these seeming mythical lovers, Ellis's own ideas about love and romance are challenged by the strains in the relationships closest to him: his parents' marriage is dissolving while he himself falters in his efforts to impress May Pearl (Bonnie Sturdivant). Through it all, Ellis struggles to look for an example of love that he can believe in, learning about the unspoken rules and risks of love and the reality of heartbreak.
Mulholland Drive
(2001)
David Lynch
Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 42 wins & 53 nominations.
A bright-eyed young actress travels to Hollywood, only to be ensnared in a dark conspiracy involving a woman who was nearly murdered, and now has amnesia because of a car crash. Eventually, both women are pulled into a psychotic illusion involving a dangerous blue box, a director named Adam Kesher, and the mysterious night club Silencio.
Murder on the Orient Express
(2017)
Michael Green (screenplay by), Agatha Christie (based upon the novel by)
1 win & 25 nominations.
When a murder occurs on the train on which he's travelling, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.
Mystic River
(2003)
Brian Helgeland (screenplay), Dennis Lehane (novel)
Won 2 Oscars. Another 52 wins & 116 nominations.
In the summer of 1975 in a neighborhood in Boston, 3 kids, Dave Boyle and two of his friends, Jimmy and Sean, are playing on the sidewalk when Dave gets abducted by two men and endures several days of sexual abuse. Eventually, Dave escapes traumatized throughout adulthood. Jimmy is an ex-con and a father of three, whose daughter Katie, is found dead and Dave becomes the number one suspect. Sean is a homicide detective, investigating Katie's murder, ends up finding himself faced with past and present demons as more is uncovered about Katie's murder. Learning Katie had a boyfriend, ballistics later turn up a gun belonging to the father, which then puts her boyfriend as the suspect. Will Sean find out who killed Katie? Will Jimmy make it through the investigation? And will Dave ever find out what really happened when he was abducted?
Natural Born Killers
(1994)
Quentin Tarantino (story), David Veloz (screenplay), Richard Rutowski (screenplay), Oliver Stone (screenplay)
Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations.
Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
Near Dark
(1987)
Kathryn Bigelow, Eric Red
1 win & 8 nominations.
A mid-western farm boy reluctantly becomes a member of the undead when a girl he meets turns out to be part of a band of southern vampires who roam the highways in stolen cars. Part of his initiation includes a bloody assault on a hick bar.
New Jack City
(1991)
Thomas Lee Wright (story & screenplay),
1 win & 4 nominations.
The gangster Nino has a gang who call themselves Cash Money Brothers. They get into the crack business and not before long they make a million dollars every week. A cop, Scotty, is after them. He tries to get into the gang by letting an ex-drug addict infiltrate the gang, but the attempt fails miserably. The only thing that remains is that Scotty himself becomes a drug pusher.
No Country for Old Men
(2007)
Joel Coen (screenplay), Ethan Coen (screenplay), Cormac McCarthy (novel)
Won 4 Oscars. Another 148 wins & 122 nominations.
In rural Texas, welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss discovers the remains of several drug runners who have all killed each other in an exchange gone violently wrong. Rather than report the discovery to the police, Moss decides to simply take the two million dollars present for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, on his trail as he dispassionately murders nearly every rival, bystander and even employer in his pursuit of his quarry and the money. As Moss desperately attempts to keep one step ahead, the blood from this hunt begins to flow behind him with relentlessly growing intensity as Chigurh closes in. Meanwhile, the laconic Sherrif Ed Tom Bell blithely oversees the investigation even as he struggles to face the sheer enormity of the crimes he is attempting to thwart.
North Face
(2008)
Christoph Silber, Philipp Stölzl, Rupert Henning, Johannes Naber, Benedikt Roeskau (story)
4 wins & 6 nominations.
Based on a true story, North Face is a suspenseful adventure film about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps. Set in 1936, as Nazi propaganda urges the nation's ...
Nosferatu the Vampyre
(1979)
Werner Herzog
5 wins & 8 nominations.
Jonathan Harker is sent away to Count Dracula's castle to sell him a house in Wismar where Jonathan lives. But Count Dracula is a vampire, an undead ghoul living off of men's blood. Inspired by a photograph of Lucy Harker, Jonathan's wife, Dracula moves to Wismar, bringing with him death and plague... An unusually contemplative version of Dracula, in which the vampire bears the curse of not being able to get old and die.
Oldboy
(2003)
Garon Tsuchiya (story), Nobuaki Minegishi (comic), Chan-wook Park (screenplay), Chun-hyeong Lim (screenplay), Jo-yun Hwang (screenplay), Joon-hyung Lim
24 wins & 14 nominations.
An average man is kidnapped and imprisoned in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. He then is released, equipped with money, a cellphone and expensive clothes. As he strives to explain his imprisonment and get his revenge, Oh Dae-Su soon finds out that his kidnapper has a greater plan for him and is set onto a path of pain and suffering in an attempt to uncover the motive of his mysterious tormentor.
Oldboy
(2013)
Garon Tsuchiya (manga), Nobuaki Minegishi (manga), Mark Protosevich (screenplay)
4 nominations.
An advertising executive is kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his punishment, only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment.