01
RONIN (1998)
With the Cold War at an end, a band of former operatives accept employment from a terrorist organization to steal an object of great value from some underworld arms dealers.
This is seriously superior entertainment and the kind of grown-up action film we don’t see much these days. John Frankenheimer applies his prodigious talents to a script ghost-written by David Mamet and the results are a throwback Euro-style thriller with lots of muscle. Robert De Niro leads an international cast that includes Sean Bean, Jean Reno and Stellan Skarsgard in a story loaded with great action set pieces, chases, gun battles and lean dialogue.
This film features the last great cinema car chase. In fact, it has the last three great car chases.
02
FORT APACHE: THE BRONX (1981)
Paul Newman is a cop working toward retirement in the worst precinct in the NYPD. This one was produced with the high-minded idea of ripping the lid off the truth behind urban decay. The result is a plot-less exploitation movie with a whole lot of grindhouse elements. A good cast with Paul Newman, Ken Wahl, Rachel Ticotin and Pam Grier is wasted on a film created to shock Phil Donahue.
03
ÉCHAPPEMENT LIBRE / BACKFIRE (1964)
Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg are hired to smuggle a sports car loaded with gold from Barcelona to Beirut. But along the way Belmondo decides to take the car for himself and starts a chase across Europe as he stays one step ahead of the syndicate that hired him. Light, crime caper flick with great locales and a few solid car chases.
04
ASHFALL (2019)
A super-volcano on the North Korea/China border blows its top and threatens to bring the entire Korean peninsula to ruin. The only hope is a team of demolition experts who must slip into the hermit kingdom and plant a nuclear device. A disaster flick and desperate mission mash-up that’s pure popcorn, with plenty of action, great effects and welcome humor.
05
THE DROP (2014)
Tom Hardy appears to be just a guy who works behind the bar at a neighborhood joint in Brooklyn. But he hides a secret sorrow. His life grows sadder when the bar is robbed, leading to a cascading series of events that cannot end well for anyone. Lean and terse, with rising action, suspense and a cathartic climax.
06
DAUGHTER OF THE WOLF (2019)
Someone kidnapped Gina Carano’s son. Bad idea. Then they try to kill her at the drop off. Worse idea. This outdoor crime thriller is solid entertainment with a great opening and no-nonsense action scenes, including an unrecognizable Richard Dreyfuss.
07
DIAMOND 13 (2009)
Detective Gerard Depardieu looks into the murder of his former partner only to uncover a police conspiracy that reaches into the highest levels of the gendarmerie. Suspenseful, cynical and brutally violent with intrigue, betrayals, twists, chases and action.
08
PANIC ROOM (2002)
Jodie Foster and her daughter move into a pricey townhouse on the upper west side of Manhattan. What they don’t know is that their new home is already the target of home invaders. Seamless entertainment provided by David Fincher channeling Hitchcock. The deadly chess game played between Foster and the burglars leads to a number of hold-your-breath moments.
09
MASTER AND COMMANDER (2003)
Frigate captain Russell Crowe is tasked with pursuing the Acheron, a Yankee-rigged man-of-war crewed by French freebooters. This is top drawer, grown-up entertainment with a terrific cast, fiercely brutal action, strong character arcs and astounding attention to period detail.
10
SOUTHPAW (2015)
Jake Gyllenhaal is an undefeated light heavyweight champ and on top of the world until a personal tragedy takes everything he loves away. Boxing movies are essentially all the same, but this one has so much heart and so many amazing performances that the experience is deeply rewarding.
11
BARTON FINK (1991)
After rave reviews for his latest play, Barton Fink is invited out to Hollywood and offered a contract to write movies. Joel and Ethan Coen’s movie about writer’s block is, to my mind, the most accurate movie about the life of a writer ever made. It is hysterically funny, frightening and filled with unforgettable performances.
12
FIASCO IN MILAN (1959)
Vittorio Gassman and his crew of bumbling crooks are recruited by a self-described criminal mastermind to heist 80 million Lira from a cash transfer in Milan. Nothing goes as it should. Light and breezy crime caper with clever comic foils, laugh-out-loud sequences and a silly strip tease.