Actor Harvey Keitel (1939)

The film The Irishman (2019) is a Martin Scorsese-directed and produced epic gangster movie, based on Steven Zaillian’s screenplay adapted from the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. It follows the story of Frank Sheeran, an elderly Irish-American WWII veteran living in a nursing home, who reflects on his past as a hitman for the Italian-American Mafia. Sheeran starts off as a delivery truck driver in 1950s Philadelphia and begins selling meat shipments to local gangster ‘Skinny ...

Isle of Dogs (2018) is a stop-motion animated comedy film written, produced, and directed by Wes Anderson, narrated by Courtney B. Vance. In the year 2038, a canine flu outbreak hits Japan, affecting the fictional city of Megasaki. The virus poses a threat to humans as well. In response, Mayor Kenji Kobayashi implements a decree banishing all dogs to Trash Island. This decision is made despite Professor Watanabe’s pleas for more time to find a cure. The first dog to be deported is Spots Kobayashi, a white and black-spotted canine who happens to be the bodyguard of ...

Youth (2015) is a comedy-drama film by writer and director Paolo Sorrentino. This marks his second English-language work. The story follows septuagenarian friends Fred Ballinger and Mick Boyle, who are currently vacationing at a luxurious spa in the Swiss Alps called Wiesen. Fred, a retired classical music composer, is approached by a representative for Queen Elizabeth II during their stay. The Queen wishes to grant him a knighthood and invites him to perform his popular composition ‘Simple Song #3’ at Prince Philip’s birthday concert. However, Fred declines the offer, stating that he has no interest ...

Rio, I Love You (2014) is a cinematic collage of love in Brazil with an international cast. As the third installment of the Cities of Love series, Rio, Eu Te Amo brings together 10 talented directors from diverse backgrounds and presents 10 unique tales of love set in different neighborhoods of the city. Each segment captures the essence and charm of its specific location through a heartwarming encounter between two individuals. The film not only entertains, but also aims to promote cultural understanding and appreciation by showcasing both local and universal expressions of love. 1. Dona ...

The comedy-drama film, The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), is written and directed by Wes Anderson. A teenage girl pays a visit to the monument of the author who wrote ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ and finds inspiration in his story. This author was inspired to write the book during his stay at the once-luxurious hotel located in the European mountainous country formerly known as Zubrowka. Despite its current dilapidated state in 1968, the hotel holds a special place in the heart of its owner, Mr. Zero Moustafa. He shares with the author how he came to acquire it and why he continues to keep it open despite not ...

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) is an American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson and co-written with Roman Coppola. Set on the New England island of New Penzance, 12-year-olds Sam Shakusky and Suzy Bishop cross paths at Camp Ivanhoe, a Khaki Scout summer camp run by Scout Master Randy Ward. While Sam is an orphan, Suzy lives with her parents Walt and Laura, both lawyers, and her younger brothers in their home named Summer’s End. Despite their similar introverted nature and intelligence beyond their years, they first meet during a church performance of ...

Director Jon Turteltaub and producer Jerry Bruckheimer released National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), an American action-adventure film. The story takes place five days after the Civil War’s end, as John Wilkes Booth and Michael O’Laughlen, members of the KGC, ask Thomas Gates to decipher a message copied into Booth’s diary. Though Thomas decodes the Playfair cipher, he realizes that Booth and O’Laughlen have ulterior motives to aid the Confederacy. In a race against time, Thomas burns the cipher pages and shares the keyword with his son ...

Arthur and the Invisibles (2006) is a French live-action/animated film directed and co-written by renowned filmmaker Luc Besson. The movie is based on Besson’s children’s book series, which includes Arthur and the Minimoys and Arthur and the Forbidden City. Set in Northeastern Connecticut during the year 1960, the story follows 10-year-old Arthur Montgomery as he lives with his grandmother Daisy on a quiet farm. His grandfather, Archibald, has recently gone missing and his parents are away searching for work. While listening to Daisy’s ...

Be Cool (2005) is an American crime comedy film based on Elmore Leonard’s novel of the same name. It serves as the sequel to Leonard’s 1990 novel Get Shorty, which was also adapted into a film in 1995. The story centers around Chili Palmer, a mobster who becomes disenchanted with filmmaking and turns to the music industry following the public murder of his friend Tommy Athens, who owned a struggling record label. Chili offers to help Tommy’s widow, Edie Athens, revive the business which is in debt to hip-hop producer Sin LaSalle for $300,000. ...

National Treasure (2004), an American action-adventure film from Walt Disney Pictures, tells the story of Benjamin Franklin Gates. He is an American historian and treasure hunter who was taught by his grandfather, John, about a secret clue passed down from Charles Carroll in 1832. According to the story, this clue leads to a hidden treasure in America that was left behind by the Knights Templar, Founding Fathers, and Freemasons. Despite Ben’s belief in the tale, his father Patrick remains skeptical and dismisses it as nonsense. Along with his friend Riley Poole, a computer expert, Ben leads an expedition funded by Ian Howe to search for the Charlotte – a ...

The psychological thriller, Red Dragon (2002), is an adaptation of Thomas Harris’s 1981 novel. Directed by Brett Ratner and written by Ted Tally, the story follows FBI agent Will Graham in 1980 as he seeks assistance from forensic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter in a case. After working together on a psychological profile of a killer, Graham becomes convinced that the murderer is also a cannibal. However, when Lecter realizes Graham is getting close to discovering his true identity, he stabs him. Despite this attack, ...

U-571 (2000), a submarine film directed by Jonathan Mostow and co-written by Sam Montgomery and David Ayer, takes place during the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942. After successfully sinking an Allied convoy ship, German U-boat U-571 is heavily damaged by depth charges from a British destroyer. The boat’s captain, Kapitänleutnant Günther Wassner, sends out a distress call which is picked up by American intelligence. In response, the US Navy modifies their submarine S-33 to resemble a German supply vessel in order to ...

Fail Safe (2000), a televised broadcast play, is based on the Cold War novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. Taking place during the height of tensions between the United States and Soviet Union in the early-to-mid-1960s, an unidentified aircraft approaches North America from Europe. In response, U.S. Vindicator bombers from Strategic Air Command (SAC) are sent to their designated fail safe positions near the Russian Far East. These bombers have strict orders not to continue past their fail safe points without receiving a specific attack code. Although the initial ...

James Mangold wrote and directed Cop Land (1997), a neo-noir crime drama. Garrison, New Jersey is the home of several police officers from the 37th Precinct of the NYPD: Lt. Ray Donlan, Det. Leo Crasky, and officers Gary Figgis, Jack Rucker, Frank Lagonda, and Joey Randone. Taking advantage of a department regulation loophole by becoming ‘auxiliary transit cops’, Donlan and his group are shielded from the scrutiny of the NYPD’s Internal Affairs division. Sheriff Freddy Heflin also protects them, making them virtually untouchable. Heflin has always aspired to join the NYPD but was unable to do so due to ...

From Dusk till Dawn (1996), a thrilling American action horror film, was both directed and written by esteemed filmmakers Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. In the opening scene, fugitive brothers Seth and Richie Gecko commit a violent robbery at a liquor store that results in the deaths of a clerk and Texas Ranger. As they flee, they accidentally cause the building to explode. Later on, while hiding out in an inn room, Seth is livid to discover that his brother has killed a hostage they had taken. In another part of town, Jacob Fuller, a pastor struggling with grief ...

Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed the American independent film, Pulp Fiction (1994). The narrative of the film deviates from chronological order and centers around three separate protagonists: Vincent Vega, a hitman; Butch Coolidge, a prizefighter; and Jules Winnfield, Vincent’s business partner. It opens with a diner robbery by a couple and then transitions between the three story lines before concluding back at the diner. Throughout the film, there are seven distinct narrative sequences, marked by intertitles. Summary. As Pumpkin and Honey Bunny dine at ...

Rising Sun (1993), an American buddy cop crime thriller directed by Philip Kaufman, takes place at the newly opened Los Angeles headquarters of Nakamoto, a Japanese keiretsu. At a commencement gala, call girl Cheryl Lynn Austin is discovered dead after an apparent violent sexual encounter. LAPD Lieutenant Webster ‘Web’ Smith and John Connor, a former police captain with expertise in Japanese affairs, are tasked with acting as liaisons between the Japanese executives and the investigating officer – Smith’s former partner Tom Graham. As they begin their investigation, Connor and Smith review ...

Drama film Dangerous Game (1993), by director Abel Ferrara and writer Nicholas St. John, follows motion picture director Eddie Israel’s journey from New York City to Hollywood, California. There, he rehearses ‘Mother of Mirrors’ with actors Sarah Jennings and Francis ‘Frank’ Burns, depicting a turbulent marriage between ‘Russell’, once a successful breadwinner, and his newly devout wife ‘Claire’. As the characters’ tensions rise onscreen, Eddie begins a relationship with Sarah and encourages Frank to use his drug ...

Point of No Return (1993) is an American action film directed by John Badham. In Washington, D.C., Maggie Hayward is a drug addict convicted of murdering a police officer during a robbery shootout, and is about to face lethal injection. However, her demise is faked and she instead receives a proposition from ‘Bob’, a spy. Reluctantly agreeing to cooperate, she undergoes extensive training including martial arts, firearms, etiquette, and computer use under the guidance of Senior Operative Amanda. Through this training, Maggie transforms into a refined and elegant woman. At dinner with Bob, she learns about ...

Directed by Abel Ferrara, Bad Lieutenant (1992) is an American neo-noir crime film that follows an unnamed NYPD police lieutenant portrayed by Harvey Keitel. The story begins with the lieutenant dropping off his two sons at Catholic school before indulging in cocaine and driving to Union Square where he discovers a double homicide. In exchange for drugs from the crime scene, the lieutenant gives a bag of drugs to a dealer, smoking crack during the transaction. He then proceeds to get drunk and participate in a threesome with two women at an apartment before visiting a ...