Actor Matt Damon (1970)

All the Pretty Horses (2000), directed and produced by Billy Bob Thornton, is an American Western film based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name. After his family’s ranch is sold in 1949, cowboy John Grady Cole becomes homeless and implores his friend Lacey Rawlins to join him on a journey to Mexico for work. Along the way, they befriend a strange boy named Jimmy Blevins before parting ways. In their travels, they meet Alejandra Villarreal, an aristocrat’s daughter who captures Cole’s heart. The two become hired hands for Alejandra’s pleased father, but her wealthy aunt disapproves ...

The American sports film, The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), tells the story of Hardy Greaves, a senior who has experienced his fair share of health issues while playing golf. His late wife used to question why he continued to play ‘a game that seems destined to kill’ him. Despite this, Greaves shares his love for the sport by recounting his childhood hero: Rannulph Junuh. Junuh is the beloved son of Savannah, Georgia, known as a talented golfer from a privileged background. Alongside his stunning girlfriend Adele Invergordon, they appear to have the perfect life. However, after experiencing the horrors of World War I and losing his entire company in ...

In 3028, an American animated sci-fi film called Titan A.E. (2000) was directed by Don Bluth. The cutting-edge ‘Titan Project’ angers the Drej, a violent species of energy beings who see humans as a potential adversary. With the goal of eliminating humanity, the Drej launch a massive attack on Earth, forcing people to flee in search of safety. As Professor Sam Tucker leaves his son Cale in the care of his alien friend Tek and escapes on the spaceship Titan, he gives Cale a gold ring and assures him that there is still hope for their kind. After Earth is destroyed by the Drej, surviving humans become refugees ...

The American psychological thriller film, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), was written and directed by Anthony Minghella. It is based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel of the same name, and tells the story of Tom Ripley, a man who is approached by shipbuilding magnate Herbert Greenleaf in 1958 New York City. Greenleaf believes that Ripley attended Princeton with his son Dickie and offers him one thousand dollars to travel to Italy and convince Dickie to return to the United States. While on a luxurious ocean liner, Ripley assumes the identity of Dickie and forms ...

Dogma (1999) is an American fantasy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith. Two fallen angels, Bartleby and Loki, were banished from Heaven for insubordination and are now stuck in Wisconsin for eternity. After an intoxicated Loki stepped down as the Angel of Death at Bartleby’s suggestion, they come across a newspaper article that reveals a way for them to return home. It turns out that Cardinal Ignatius Glick is celebrating the reopening of his church in Red Bank, New Jersey with a “Buddy Christ” statue. According to the article, anyone who attends the festivities will be granted a plenary ...

Rounders (1998) is an American drama film, directed by John Dahl, that delves into the underground world of high-stakes poker. Mike McDermott, a gifted player and law student in New York City, has his sights set on winning the World Series of Poker. However, at an underground Texas hold ’em game run by Russian mobster Teddy ‘KGB’, Mike’s confidence leads to him losing his entire $30,000 bankroll in one hand. Determined to focus on school and keep his promise to his girlfriend Jo, Mike turns down mentor Joey Knish’s offer to stake him and instead takes on a part-time job. But when his friend ...

The director Steven Spielberg and writer Robert Rodat collaborated on Saving Private Ryan (1998), an epic American war film. During the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944, the U.S. Army faced heavy losses at Omaha Beach from German artillery and machine gun fire. Amidst the chaos, Captain John H. Miller of the 2nd Ranger Battalion takes charge of a surviving group and strategically infiltrates behind enemy lines for a successful victory. Unfortunately, word reaches the United States Department of War that three out of four Ryan brothers have been killed in action, with ...

Good Will Hunting (1997), an American drama directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, tells the story of a self-taught math prodigy from South Boston. Will Hunting, just twenty years old, has recently been released from prison and works as a janitor at MIT. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with his friends Chuckie, Billy, and Morgan. One day, Professor Gerald Lambeau challenges his graduate students with a difficult combinatorial mathematics problem on the blackboard. To everyone’s ...

The American legal drama film, The Rainmaker (1997), was both written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the 1995 novel of the same name by John Grisham. Unlike many other graduates from Memphis State University Law School, Rudy Baylor finds himself without a well-paying job and instead takes on part-time positions at a local bar. In dire need of employment, he meets the bar’s owner, J. Lyman ‘Bruiser’ Stone, who is known for being a ruthless but successful ambulance chaser. After hiring Rudy as an associate, Bruiser explains that ...

Edward Zwick’s film, Courage Under Fire (1996), tells the story of Lieutenant Colonel Serling during his time in the Persian Gulf War. In a chaotic nighttime battle, Serling mistakenly strikes and destroys a tank belonging to his own team. Tragically, this action results in the death of his friend, Lieutenant Boylar. The Army tries to conceal the details of the incident and honors Serling with a bravery medal before moving him to a desk job. Later on, he is assigned to investigate whether Captain Karen Walden should be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor as she was the leader of a rescue mission for a downed ...

The Good Old Boys (1995), an American Western television film, was helmed by Tommy Lee Jones and co-written by Jones and J.T. Allen. It was adapted from the novel of the same title by Elmer Kelton, published in 1978. The story centers on an older cowboy who is torn between his longing for independence and his duty to care for his family.

Geronimo: An American Legend (1993) is a historical Western film directed by Walter Hill and written by John Milius. It loosely chronicles the events leading to Geronimo’s surrender in 1886. The renowned healer reluctantly agrees, along with his fellow Apache, to settle on a reservation designated by the American government under the Indian Removal Act. Despite their efforts to adjust, many of the Apache struggle to let go of their traditional lifestyle while the government fails to fulfill its promise of protecting tribal lands from encroachment by American ...

The American drama film, School Ties (1992), directed by Robert Mandel, follows the story of 17-year-old David Greene. Despite his working class background in Scranton, Pennsylvania, David receives a scholarship to exclusive Massachusetts prep school St. Matthew’s Academy for his senior year due to his impressive grades and football skills. Before arriving at the school, he is involved in a fight with a nearby motorcycle gang who insults him for being Jewish, resulting in a bruised forehead. At St. Matthew’s, he meets his roommate Chris Reese and fellow teammates Rip Van Kelt, Charlie Dillon, Jack Connors ...