Actor Sean Connery (1930)

The American drama film, Finding Forrester (2000), was written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. In the Bronx, sixteen-year-old Jamal Wallace doesn’t fully embrace his potential as an intelligent student. Instead, he chooses to spend his time playing basketball with his friends. They capture the attention of William Forrester, a local recluse who is known as somewhat of an urban legend in the neighborhood. One day, Jamal’s friends dare him to sneak into Forrester’s apartment, but their plan goes awry when Jamal is caught off guard and flees, ...

Entrapment (1999), a caper film directed by Jon Amiel and written by Ronald Bass, follows the story of Virginia ‘Gin’ Baker, an investigator for Waverly Insurance. When a priceless Rembrandt painting is stolen from a New York office building one night, Gin sets her sights on Robert ‘Mac’ MacDougal as a potential suspect. She believes him to be a skilled international art thief and pursues him relentlessly. Despite Gin’s suspicions and persistence, Mac confronts her and reveals that he knows she is investigating him. In an unexpected twist, ...

Playing by Heart (1998) is a comedic-drama film that follows the lives of various characters in Los Angeles. These include an older couple renewing their wedding vows, a theatre director and architect starting anew, a young woman seeking excitement, a gay man with AIDS and his distant mother, an unfaithful couple trying to reignite their marriage, and the husband exploring ways to overcome its dullness. As the plot unfolds, the audience discovers the interconnectedness between these seemingly unrelated individuals. Unhappily wedded Hugh frequently pursues women using a variety of falsehoods: claiming he caused the death of his wife and child in a car accident; stating ...

The Rock (1996) is an American action thriller movie, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It tells the story of Brigadier General Francis Hummel and his subordinate Major Tom Baxter, who lead a rebellious group of U.S. Force Recon Marines in a mission to steal fifteen VX gas-loaded M55 rockets from a heavily guarded naval weapons depot. The following day, Hummel takes over Alcatraz Island, capturing tourists and guards as hostages. He then contacts both the FBI and the Pentagon, making ...

Based on William Boyd’s 1981 novel and directed by Bruce Beresford, A Good Man in Africa (1994) is a comedy-drama film that portrays the tense relationship between English imperialists and the West African government of Kinjanja. Womanizing British diplomat Morgan Leafy faces consequences when he is found in bed with Celia, the wife of corrupt Presidential candidate Sam Adekunle. To make amends, Leafy is tasked with bribing an official who had rejected a lucrative project favored by Adekunle. However, to his dismay, the one person standing in his way is ...

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 ...

The Hunt for Red October (1990), directed by John McTierna, is an American spy thriller based on Tom Clancy’s bestselling novel of the same name. This action-packed film follows protagonist Jack Ryan in his first adventure. In November 1984, Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius takes command of Red October, a state-of-the-art Typhoon-class ballistic missile sub equipped with an undetectable ‘caterpillar drive’. As part of a training exercise, Ramius sets out to sea with former student Captain Tupolev aboard the Alfa-class attack sub V. K. Konovalov. ...

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) is a classic action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg with a screenplay by Jeffrey Boam. The story, originally conceived by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes, follows young Indiana Jones as he stumbles upon a group of grave-robbers while exploring caves in Utah in 1912. Despite evading the robbers and returning home with the stolen gold crucifix, Indy is eventually forced to hand it over to their employer, the town’s ...

The American film, The Untouchables (1987), was directed by Brian De Palma, produced by Art Linson, and written by David Mamet. It is set in Chicago during Prohibition, where notorious gangster Al Capone controls the illegal liquor industry. Bureau of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness is assigned to stop Capone’s illegal activities. His first attempt at a raid is unsuccessful due to corrupt police officers tipping off Capone. However, he meets veteran officer James Malone, who opposes corruption and offers to assist Ness. ...

Directed by Irvin Kershner, the spy film Never Say Never Again (1983) is adapted from Ian Fleming’s 1961 James Bond novel Thunderball, with inspiration from Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Fleming. Following a failed training exercise, MI6 agent James Bond is ordered by his superior M to undergo physical rehabilitation at a health clinic outside London. While there, he witnesses nurse Fatima Blush inflicting ...

The British heist comedy film, The Great Train Robbery (1978), was both directed and written by Michael Crichton. Based on his 1975 novel of the same name, the story revolves around Edward Pierce, a member of London’s elite society who is secretly a skilled thief. His plan? To steal a shipment of gold aboard the London to Folkestone train, intended as payment for troops fighting in the Crimean War. With two safes in the baggage car, each with two locks requiring four keys, Pierce enlists his accomplices including pickpocket Robert Agar, mistress Miriam, and chauffeur Barlow. A train guard named Burgess is also ...

The  spy film Diamonds Are Forever (1971) is the seventh installment in the James Bond series, produced by Eon Productions. It is based on Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name and was directed by Guy Hamilton, making it the second of four Bond films he directed. Agent 007, James Bond, is on a mission to capture Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who is creating look-alikes through plastic surgery. Bond eliminates one of Blofeld’s test subjects and eventually takes down the real Blofeld by drowning him in a pool of superheated mud. Meanwhile, as diamond ...

You Only Live Twice (1967) is the fifth installment in the James Bond series, produced by Eon Productions. Starring Sean Connery as the iconic MI6 agent, this film marks the directorial debut of Lewis Gilbert. When an unidentified spaceship hijacks American NASA spacecraft Jupiter 16 from orbit, tensions rise between the United States and Soviet Union. However, due to the spacecraft’s landing in the Sea of Japan, British intelligence suspects Japanese involvement. To further investigate, James Bond is sent to Tokyo under a new identity after faking his own ...

A Fine Madness (1966) is a Technicolor comedy-drama film directed by Irvin Kershner. It is based on the novel of the same name written by Elliott Baker in 1964. The story centers around Samson Shillitoe, a poet living in Greenwich Village with his supportive wife Rhoda, who works as a waitress. However, Samson’s struggles with writer’s block lead to outbursts of aggression and sadness. On top of this, he is constantly pursued by a debt collector for unpaid alimony to his ex-wife and faces potential arrest if he does not pay up. His troubles escalate when he ...

Thunderball (1965) is the fourth installment in the James Bond series by Eon Productions. Starring Sean Connery as MI6 agent James Bond, the film is an adaptation of Ian Fleming’s 1961 novel of the same name. Emilio Largo, a SPECTRE operative, hatches a plan to hold NATO for ransom by stealing two atomic bombs during a training exercise involving a Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan jet bomber. To aid his scheme, Largo enlists the help of Count Lippe and Angelo Palazzi. In order to blend in with the French Air Force pilot François Derval who is involved in the ...

Goldfinger (1964), the third film in the James Bond series, sees Sean Connery reprising his role as MI6 agent James Bond. Based on Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name published in 1959, the film follows Bond on a mission to Latin America where he destroys a drug laboratory and defeats an unnamed adversary by electrocuting them in a bathtub. From there, Bond travels to Miami Beach where his boss M has him observe bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger at a hotel. While spying on Goldfinger, Bond catches him cheating at gin rummy with the help of his employee Jill ...

The spy film, From Russia with Love (1963), is the second in the James Bond series created by Eon Productions. This movie features Sean Connery as MI6 agent 007, a role he previously played in Dr. No. Seeking revenge for the death of their agent in Jamaica, SPECTRE, an international criminal organization, hatches a plan to lure Bond into a trap by promising him access to a Lektor cryptography device from the Soviet Union’s consulate in Istanbul. The mastermind behind this scheme is Czechoslovak chess grandmaster Kronsteen and SPECTRE operative Rosa Klebb is appointed to oversee the mission. She ...

Terence Young’s spy film, Dr. No (1962), marks the beginning of the iconic James Bond series. Following the murder of MI6 Station Chief John Strangways and his secretary Mary in Jamaica, M assigns James Bond to investigate their deaths and determine if they are linked to Strangways’ work with the CIA. Bond faces danger right away when an enemy agent posing as a chauffeur attempts to kill him upon his arrival in Jamaica. Though Bond manages to turn the tables, the agent kills himself before he can be interrogated. Seeking answers, Bond meets with government officials, including principal secretary ...