Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, William Petersen, Amy Brenneman, Alyssa Milano
It might be an unorthodox choice for an erotic thriller series, but Fear fits nicely in the subcategory of teen psychosexual titillators such as Poison Ivy and Wild Things, with an added rarity in the genre – the fabled homme fatale!
When Nicole (Reese Witherspoon) gets an eyeful of bad boy David (Mark Wahlberg), she can’t help but be charmed by his bulging muscles and chivalrous manners. But daddy Steven (William Petersen) is less trusting, so while he starts digging into his background, David’s true self emerges, and no amount of self-mutilation in her name can win Nicole back. Along the way, we get a Seattle rave, some smoldering dad-boyfriend eye contact, a thoughtfully assembled shrine and a memorable roller coaster ride.
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Starring: Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill, Penélope Cruz
The life of psychiatrist Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) is derailed after she nearly hits a girl with her car one night. Later, Miranda wakes up in her own mental hospital under the care of her peer, Pete Graham (Robert Downey Jr.). Completely disoriented, Miranda is accused of killing her own husband, but she has no memory of anything after she encountered the girl. Slowly Miranda begins to uncover what happened, but she has to escape the asylum to solve the mystery.
Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt, Paris Hilton, Jared Padalecki, Robert Ri’chard
With a cast mostly made up of pretty TV actors and, of course, Paris Hilton, House of Wax is more of an entry in the teen slasher genre than a remake of the 1953 Vincent Price vehicle of the same name. The tropes are there: broken down car, middle of nowhere, couples splintering off, weirdo locals – but the inventiveness comes from the wax museum set up, and the creepy villains, providing plenty of fun scares and memorable set pieces. The directorial debut of Jaume Collet-Serra, who would later make the very good Orphan and the best of the Liam Neeson actioners, House of Wax is an amusement park ride worth taking.
Starring: Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, Andrew Bryniarski
Accepting as fact that measuring up to Tobe Hooper’s masterpiece is impossible, approach the 2003 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as its own object and you will be rewarded with an entertaining horror spectacle that is somehow as slick as it is grimy. This mirrors the characters – the hip, attractive road trippers who are eventually ensnared by the unsightly locals, including an effectively menacing R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket) and Andrew “I was born to wear the mask” Bryniarski as Leatherface. Soppy with sweat and blood, it’s maximum excess, a true Michael Bay production stylishly directed by the guy who made the C+C Music Factory music videos.
Starring: Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Robert Musgrave, Andrew Wilson, Lumi Cavazos, James Caan
In Wes Anderson’s first feature film, Anthony (Luke Wilson) has just been released from a mental hospital, only to find his wacky friend Dignan (Owen C. Wilson) determined to begin an outrageous crime spree. After recruiting their neighbor, Bob (Robert Musgrave), the team embarks on a road trip in search of Dignan’s previous boss, Mr. Henry (James Caan). But the more they learn, the more they realize that they do not know the first thing about crime.
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Yolande Moreau
Amélie is a fanciful comedy about a young woman who discretely orchestrates the lives of the people around her, creating a world exclusively of her own making. Shot in over 80 Parisian locations, acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen; The City of Lost Children) invokes his incomparable visionary style to capture the exquisite charm and mystery of modern-day Paris through the eyes of a beautiful ingenue.
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Angela Bassett, Regina King
Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is sent to live with his father, Furious Styles (Larry Fishburne), in tough South Central Los Angeles. Although his hard-nosed father instills proper values and respect in him, and his devout girlfriend Brandi (Nia Long) teaches him about faith, Tre’s friends Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut) don’t have the same kind of support and are drawn into the neighborhood’s booming drug and gang culture, with increasingly tragic results.
Starring: Agathe Rousselle, Vincent Lindon, Garance Marillier, Lais Salameh
Content warning: TITANE contains explicit violence, nudity and bodily trauma.
TITANE: A metal highly resistant to heat and corrosion, with high tensile strength alloys, often used in medical prostheses due to its pronounced biocompatibility.
Starring: Michael Keaton, Maggie Q, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Patrick, Patrick Malahide, Lili Rich
Rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody (Samuel L. Jackson) and trained in the family business, Anna (Maggie Q) is the world’s most skilled contract killer. But when Moody — the man who was like a father to her and taught her everything she needs to know about trust and survival — is brutally killed, Anna vows revenge. As she becomes entangled with an enigmatic killer (Michael Keaton) whose attraction to her goes way beyond cat and mouse, their confrontation turns deadly and the loose ends of a life spent killing will weave themselves ever tighter.
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, Willem Dafoe, Ekaterina Baker, Billy Slaughter
Redemption is the long game in Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter. Told with Schrader’s trademark cinematic intensity, the revenge thriller tells the story of an ex-military interrogator turned gambler haunted by the ghosts of his past decisions, and features riveting performances from stars Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan and Willem Dafoe.
