Actor Jeffrey Wright (1965)

An American superhero film, The Batman (2022), is based on the DC Comics character of the same name. On Halloween night, Gotham City’s mayor, Don Mitchell Jr., is found dead and a man claiming to be the Riddler takes responsibility. Bruce Wayne, a wealthy recluse who has been operating as Batman for two years now, joins forces with the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) to investigate. During their investigation, Lieutenant James Gordon uncovers a message from the Riddler intended for Batman. The villain strikes again by killing Commissioner Pete Savage and leaving another message for Batman. As they dig deeper into the case, Batman and Gordon discover ...

No Time to Die (2021) is the latest installment in the James Bond franchise, marking its twenty-fifth film produced by Eon Productions. Madeleine Swann, as a young girl, witnesses her mother’s murder at the hands of terrorist Lyutsifer Safin. Safin’s family was previously assassinated by Swann’s father, Mr. White, under orders from Ernst Stavro Blofeld. In self-defense, Swann shoots Safin and escapes but falls into a frozen lake where Bond rescues her. Years later, after Blofeld’s arrest, Swann joins Bond on a trip to Matera where she convinces him to visit the grave of his former lover ...

The French Dispatch (2021) is an American comedy drama film. Written, directed, and produced by Wes Anderson from a story he co-created with Roman Coppola, Hugo Guinness, and Jason Schwartzman, it boasts a sprawling cast and tells three unique tales set within the fictional French foreign bureau of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun newspaper’s concluding edition. In the fictional French town of Ennui-sur-Blasé (translated as “boredom on jaded”), Arthur ...

The animated anthology series What If…? (2021–2024) is the fourth television installment from Marvel Studios in the popular Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Created by A. C. Bradley for Disney+, it explores alternate timelines within the multiverse and how major events from MCU films could have played out differently. The series features a star-studded cast, with Jeffrey Wright as the narrator known as the Watcher, and several MCU film actors reprising their roles. Bradley and director Bryan Andrews lead the ...

Directed by John Crowley, the American drama film The Goldfinch (2019) showcases Peter Straughan’s adaptation of Donna Tartt’s 2013 novel of the same name. Following the tragedy at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art where thirteen-year-old Theodore Decker’s mother is killed in a bombing, Theo is urged by a dying man to take a painting—The Goldfinch—and his engraved ring. He is then placed into foster care with the Barbours, the family of his best friend Andy, and forms a close bond with Mrs. ...

Westworld (2016–2022) is an American dystopian science fiction Western TV show created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy that premiered on HBO on October 2, 2016. It is based on the 1973 film by Michael Crichton with the same title. In the year 2050, Delos Inc. manages a number of theme parks, including Westworld, which simulates the American Old West. The park is populated by biomechanical robots known as ‘Hosts’ who are virtually indistinguishable from humans. These Hosts are designed to fulfill every wish of the ...

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015) is an American thriller directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Peter Craig and Danny Strong. It is adapted from Suzanne Collins’ novel Mockingjay (2010). After being assaulted by a brainwashed Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen recuperates in District 13. President Alma Coin holds back Katniss from heading to the Capitol until they take control of the last district, District 2. To persuade District 2 to join ...

An animated adventure film The Good Dinosaur (2015), created by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, presents an alternate history in which the asteroid that would have wiped out the dinosaurs passes harmlessly by Earth. In present day, Apatosaurus farmers Henry and Ida are raising their three children: Libby, Buck, and Arlo. While his siblings thrive in their tasks of leaving a mark on the family’s corn silo, Arlo struggles due to his timid nature. In an attempt to give him purpose, Henry entrusts Arlo with guarding the silo and helps him set a trap. Despite capturing a feral caveboy, Arlo cannot bring himself to harm ...

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) is a dystopian action film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Peter Craig and Danny Strong. It is based on Suzanne Collins’ novel from a decade earlier. Following their rescue from the destroyed arena of the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, Beetee, and Finnick Odair are taken to District 13, an underground district that has been leading the rebellion. There, Katniss is reunited with her mother and sister ...

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) is an American dystopian action film. It was directed by Francis Lawrence, with a screenplay from Simon Beaufoy and Michael deBruyn. The movie is based on the book Catching Fire, written by Suzanne Collins in 2009. After their joint victory in the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark live comfortably but struggle with emotional turmoil in District 12. Katniss remains distant from Peeta due to her traumatic ...

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) is an American drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Eric Roth, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer. Nine-year-old Oskar Schell, who lives in New York City with his parents Linda and Thomas Schell, has autism. He shares a special bond with his father, as they embark on missions to uncover clues in search of New York City’s ‘lost Sixth Borough’. These tasks push Oskar to explore his surroundings and engage with others, ...

The Ides of March (2011), directed by George Clooney, is an American political drama. The screenplay was written by Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon, based on Willimon’s play Farragut North. The film follows the story of Stephen Meyers, the junior campaign manager for Governor of Pennsylvania Mike Morris, as he competes against Arkansas Senator Ted Pullman in the Democratic presidential primary. Both ...

Source Code (2011), the U.S. science fiction action thriller film directed by Duncan Jones and written by Ben Ripley, follows the story of U.S. Army pilot Captain Colter Stevens as he wakes up on a Metra commuter train headed to Chicago. Confused and disoriented, his last memory was of flying a mission in Afghanistan. However, to those around him, including his friend Christina Warren, he appears to be Sean Fentress, a school teacher. As he shares his confusion with Christina, the train suddenly explodes while passing another train, resulting in the death of all ...

Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014) is a popular American period crime drama created by Terence Winter and aired on HBO. It takes place primarily in Atlantic City, New Jersey during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and features Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson, a notorious criminal. Winter drew inspiration from Nelson Johnson’s 2002 non-fiction book, Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, which focuses on the real-life kingpin Enoch L. ...

W. (2008) is an American biographical comedy-drama film that tells the story of George W. Bush, directed by Oliver Stone and written by Stanley Weiser. In 1966, George endures an initiation into Delta Kappa Epsilon at Yale University with his fellow students. Despite having a famous political family, he has no interest in their legacy. However, after getting arrested for causing a scene at a football game in New Jersey, his father offers to help him one last time. After graduating from Yale, George takes a short-lived job at an oil patch in Texas before revealing his true ...

Quantum of Solace (2008) is the twenty-second installment in the iconic James Bond series created by Eon Productions. Bond transports Mr. White, a detainee, from Lake Garda to Siena, Italy in his vehicle. While evading pursuers, Bond successfully delivers White to M, who questions him about the elusive organisation Quantum. When White reveals that their agents are ubiquitous, one of M’s protectors named Craig Mitchell shoots a guard and turns on her. In an attempt to apprehend Mitchell, Bond ends his life as White manages to escape. Further investigation of Mitchell’s residence in London leads Bond and M to learn about his connection with a man ...

Lady in the Water (2006) is a riveting fantasy thriller by acclaimed director M. Night Shyamalan, who also produced alongside Sam Mercer. The story follows Cleveland Heep, the newly appointed superintendent of a Philadelphia apartment complex, whose tragic past drives him to discover a mysterious Narf named Story in the pool. Just as he saves her from the clutches of a Scrunt, an eerie wolf-like creature camouflaged in grass, she reveals she has come to find the Writer – a person with magical powers who will pen a book that will save humanity. When Heep mentions ...

Casino Royale (2006) is the twenty-first film of the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is based on Ian Fleming’s novel of the same title and directed by Martin Campbell, with a screenplay written by Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis. The movie features Daniel Craig as Bond in his debut performance. In an effort to shake off the ...

Syriana (2005), an American political thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, is loosely based on Robert Baer’s 2003 memoir See No Evil. The movie was filmed in over 200 locations across five continents, including the Middle East, Washington D.C., and Africa. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Gaghan revealed that the film draws from his personal experiences meeting and interviewing powerful figures such as oil owners, media moguls, lobbyists, ...

Richard Condon’s 1959 novel, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), is a political thriller that tells the story of a prominent U.S. political family and their son’s involvement in a Communist conspiracy. The novel has been adapted into two feature films with the same title, released in 1962 and 2004 respectively. In the story, Major Bennett Marco and his infantry platoon are captured during the Korean War in 1952 by an elite Soviet commando unit. They are eventually brainwashed into believing that Sergeant Raymond Shaw saved their lives in combat, leading to him receiving the Medal of Honor. Years later, Marco, ...