Actor John Hawkes (1959)

The crime drama film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), written, directed, and co-produced by Martin McDonagh, follows Mildred Hayes in the fictional town of Ebbing. Seven months after her teenage daughter Angela was raped and murdered, Mildred is still grieving and frustrated with the lack of progress in the investigation. To draw attention to the case, she rents three abandoned billboards near her home and displays provocative messages: ‘Raped While Dying’, ‘And Still No Arrests?’, ‘How Come, Chief Willoughby?’. Her actions catch the attention of Bill Willoughby, the ...

The popular American anthology crime drama television series True Detective (2014–2024) was created by Nic Pizzolatto and first aired on HBO in 2014. Each season features a new narrative, cast, and setting. The initial season was met with critical acclaim and impressive ratings for HBO, winning numerous awards for its exceptional acting, cinematography, writing, and direction. While the second season received mixed reviews, it still maintained high viewership. The third season was positively reviewed but experienced a decrease in viewership. Now in its fourth season, titled True Detective: Night Country and set ...

Eastbound & Down (2009–2013) is an American sports comedy television series that aired on HBO, created by Ben Best, Jody Hill, and Danny McBride. The first season received an initial order of six episodes from HBO, with producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay at the helm. Ferrell’s production company, Gary Sanchez Productions, produced the show which premiered on February 15, 2009. The second season, consisting of seven ...

American Gangster (2007), a biographical crime film, was directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by Steven Zaillian. Set in 1968, it follows the story of Frank Lucas, who worked as the right-hand man for Ellsworth ‘Bumpy’ Johnson, a Harlem mob boss. After Johnson’s death from a heart attack, Frank delves into the heroin trade by sourcing it directly from Thailand and smuggling it into the United States through returning Vietnam War soldiers. He markets his product under the name ‘Blue Magic’, which quickly gains popularity due to ...

The movie Miami Vice (2006) was written, directed, and co-produced by Michael Mann. Based on the hit TV show from the 1980s, for which Mann served as executive producer. While undercover at a club to arrest a pimp named Neptune, Miami-Dade detectives James ‘Sonny’ Crockett and Ricardo ‘Rico’ Tubbs receive an urgent call from their former informant Alonzo Stevens. Worried for his wife’s safety, Stevens reveals he is leaving town and asks Rico to check on her. It turns out that Stevens had been working as an FBI informant but has now been compromised. The detectives quickly contact FBI ...

Hardball (2001) is an American sports drama/comedy film directed by Brian Robbins. Conor O’Neill, a gambler, finds himself in debt with two bookies after secretly betting $6,000 on his late father’s account. A corporate friend suggests that he coach a team of troubled African-American fifth graders from Chicago’s ABLA housing projects for ten weeks in exchange for a weekly payment of $500. Focused on getting his paycheck, Conor arrives at the baseball field to meet an eclectic group of players, including Andre Ray Peetes, a witty captain who forms a strong bond with Conor; Kofi Evans, a hot-tempered ...

The Perfect Storm (2000), an American disaster drama film directed by Wolfgang Petersen, is based on the 1997 creative non-fiction book of the same name by Sebastian Junger. In October 1991, the commercial swordfishing boat Andrea Gail returns to port in Gloucester, Massachusetts with a poor catch. Boat owner Bob Brown mocks Captain Billy Tyne for his ‘cold streak’. Determined to prove himself, Billy convinces the crew to join him for one final late-season fishing trip. They venture out beyond their usual grounds on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, leaving ...

Playing God (1997) is an American dramatic crime thriller directed by Andy Wilson and written by Mark Haskell Smith. The protagonist, Eugene Sands, loses his medical license due to operating while under the influence of amphetamines and opiates. He gets entangled with a crime boss named Raymond Blossom after saving a stranger’s life in a bar with an emergency procedure to inflate their collapsed lung. Blossom hires Sands as his private doctor, tending to his associates when they cannot seek medical attention elsewhere, as well as providing care for the crime lord ...