Thriller
Jaws
(1975)
Peter Benchley (screenplay), Carl Gottlieb (screenplay), Peter Benchley (based on the novel by)
Won 3 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 15 nominations.
It's a hot summer on Amity Island, a small community whose main business is its beaches. When new Sheriff Martin Brody discovers the remains of a shark attack victim, his first inclination is to close the beaches to swimmers. This doesn't sit well with Mayor Larry Vaughn and several of the local businessmen. Brody backs down to his regret as that weekend a young boy is killed by the predator. The dead boy's mother puts out a bounty on the shark and Amity is soon swamped with amateur hunters and fisherman hoping to cash in on the reward. A local fisherman with much experience hunting sharks, Quint, offers to hunt down the creature for a hefty fee. Soon Quint, Brody and Matt Hooper from the Oceanographic Institute are at sea hunting the Great White shark. As Brody succinctly surmises after their first encounter with the creature, they're going to need a bigger boat.
JFK
(1991)
Oliver Stone (screenplay), Zachary Sklar (screenplay), Jim Garrison (book), Jim Marrs (book)
Won 2 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 43 nominations.
On November 22, 1963, president John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald is arrested for the crime and subsequently shot by Jack Ruby, supposedly avenging the president's death. An investigation concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby acted alone in their respective crimes, but Louisiana district attorney Jim Garrison is skeptical. Assembling a trusted group of people, Garrison conducts his own investigation, bringing about backlash from powerful government and political figures.
John Q
(2002)
James Kearns
2 wins & 8 nominations.
John Quincy Archibald's son Michael collapses while playing baseball as a result of heart failure. John rushes Michael to a hospital emergency room where he is informed that Michael's only hope is a transplant. Unfortunately, John's insurance won't cover his son's transplant. Out of options, John Q. takes the emergency room staff and patients hostage until hospital doctors agree to do the transplant.
John Wick
(2014)
Derek Kolstad
5 wins & 8 nominations.
With the untimely death of his beloved wife still bitter in his mouth, John Wick, the expert former assassin, receives one final gift from her--a precious keepsake to help John find a new meaning in life now that she is gone. But when the arrogant Russian mob prince, Iosef Tarasov, and his men pay Wick a rather unwelcome visit to rob him of his prized 1969 Mustang and his wife's present, the legendary hitman will be forced to unearth his meticulously concealed identity. Blind with revenge, John will immediately unleash a carefully orchestrated maelstrom of destruction against the sophisticated kingpin, Viggo Tarasov, and his family, who are fully aware of his lethal capacity. Now, only blood can quench the boogeyman's thirst for retribution.
John Wick: Chapter 2
(2017)
Derek Kolstad
4 wins & 10 nominations
Bound by an inescapable blood debt to the Italian crime lord, Santino D'Antonio, and with his precious 1969 Mustang still stolen, John Wick--the taciturn and pitiless assassin who thirsts for seclusion--is forced to visit Italy to honour his promise. But, soon, the Bogeyman will find himself dragged into an impossible task in the heart of Rome's secret criminal society, as every killer in the business dreams of cornering the legendary Wick who now has an enormous price on his head. Drenched in blood and mercilessly hunted down, John Wick can surely forget a peaceful retirement as no one can make it out in one piece.
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
(2019)
Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins
18 wins & 29 nominations
In this third installment of the adrenaline-fueled action franchise, skilled assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) returns with a $14 million price tag on his head and an army of bounty-hunting killers on his trail. After killing a member of the shadowy international assassin's guild, the High Table, John Wick is excommunicado, but the world's most ruthless hit men and women await his every turn.
Joker
(2019)
Todd Phillips, Scott Silver, Bob Kane (based on characters created by), Bill Finger (based on characters created by), Jerry Robinson (based on characters created by)
Won 2 Oscars. Another 109 wins & 222 nominations.
In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker.
Kill Bill: Vol. 2
(2004)
Quentin Tarantino, Quentin Tarantino (character The Bride), Uma Thurman (character The Bride)
Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 15 wins & 61 nominations.
The Bride continues her quest of vengeance against her former boss and lover Bill, the reclusive bouncer Budd and the treacherous, one-eyed Elle.
Kill List
(2011)
Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley
3 wins & 16 nominations.
Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.
Killing Zoe
(1993)
Roger Avary
2 wins & 1 nomination.
Zed has only just arrived in the beautiful Paris and already he's up to no good. Having just slept with a call girl, he spends a night on the town with his dangerous friends. They all decide to rob a bank the following day. There's only one problem: Zed's call-girl, Zoe, just happens to work at the bank which is to be robbed!
King of New York
(1990)
Nicholas St. John
1 win & 2 nominations.
After completing a lengthy prison sentence, one-time drug kingpin Frank White returns to New York intent on reestablishing his empire and making things as they were before he left. Others of course have taken over the business during his absence but that clearly isn't going to stop White. While he is gunning down the opposition, he decides he's going to give away the money he'll make to modernize the hospital in his old neighborhood. Drug dealers aren't the only thing he has to worry about however: a group of rogue cops decide they are going to take him down.
La Femme Nikita
(1990)
Luc Besson
Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 14 nominations.
Nikita est très jeune, elle a vingt ans, mais elle a emprunté une mauvaise voie. Pendant un hold-up avec sa bande, elle tue un policier et est condamnée à la prison à vie. Les services secrets, par contre, lui offrent une voie de sortie : devenir un agent spécial, prêt à tout, à leur service. Nikita accepte et commence ainsi un apprentissage très dur qui concerne non seulement les différents modes de tuer, de prendre la fuite ou de faire face à des situations imprévues, mais aussi la manière de se comporter en femme qui a de la classe, capable de se conduire avec aisance dans tous les milieux. Sous la conduite de Bob, Nikita arrive à freiner son caractère rebelle et à surmonter la terrible épreuve finale. Elle semble être devenue une personne différente et tombe amoureuse. Mais faut-il faire confiance aux services secrets ?
Lakeview Terrace
(2008)
David Loughery (screenplay), Howard Korder (screenplay), David Loughery (story)
1 nomination.
A LAPD officer will stop at nothing to force out the interracial couple who just moved in next door.
Law Abiding Citizen
(2009)
Kurt Wimmer
2 wins & 5 nominations.
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
Layer Cake
(2004)
J.J. Connolly (screenplay), J.J. Connolly (novel)
2 wins & 9 nominations.
A successful cocaine dealer gets two tough assignments from his boss on the eve of his planned early retirement.
Leon: The Professional
(1994)
Luc Besson
3 wins & 8 nominations.
Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.
Lethal Weapon
(1987)
Shane Black
Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination.
Martin Riggs is an L.A. cop with suicidal tendencies and Roger Murtaugh is the unlucky police officer with whom Riggs is assigned. Together they uncover a huge drug-smuggling operation, and as their success rate grows so does their friendship.
Life
(2017)
Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
7 nominations
Six astronauts aboard the space station study a sample collected from Mars that could provide evidence for extraterrestrial life on the Red Planet. The crew determines that the sample contains a large, single-celled organism - the first example of life beyond Earth. But..things aren't always what they seem. As the crew begins to conduct research, and their methods end up having unintended consequences, the life form proves more intelligent than anyone ever expected.
Limitless
(2011)
Leslie Dixon (screenplay), Alan Glynn (novel)
2 wins & 7 nominations.
An action-thriller about a writer who takes an experimental drug that allows him to use 100 percent of his mind. As one man evolves into the perfect version of himself, forces more corrupt than he can imagine mark him for assassination. Out-of-work writer Eddie Morra's (Cooper) rejection by girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) confirms his belief that he has zero future. That all vanishes the day an old friend introduces Eddie to NZT, a designer pharmaceutical that makes him laser focused and more confident than any man alive. Now on an NZT-fueled odyssey, everything Eddie's read, heard or seen is instantly organized and available to him. As the former nobody rises to the top of the financial world, he draws the attention of business mogul Carl Van Loon (De Niro), who sees this enhanced version of Eddie as the tool to make billions. But brutal side effects jeopardize his meteoric ascent. With a dwindling stash and hit men who will eliminate him to get the NZT, Eddie must stay wired long enough to elude capture and fulfill his destiny. If he can't, he will become just another victim who thought he'd found invincibility in a bottle.
Lost Highway
(1997)
David Lynch, Barry Gifford
1 win.
Fred Madison, a saxophonist, is accused under mysterious circumstances of murdering his wife Renee. On death row, he inexplicably morphs into a young man named Pete Dayton, leading a completely different life. When Pete is released, his and Fred's paths begin to cross in a surreal, suspenseful web of intrigue, orchestrated by a shady gangster boss named Dick Laurent.