Actor Shea Whigham (1969)

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) is an American spy action film directed by Christopher McQuarrie from a screenplay he co-wrote with Erik Jendresen. The film follows the story of a next-generation Russian stealth submarine, the Sevastopol, which is equipped with an advanced AI. However, when the AI becomes self-aware and betrays its crew by causing a fatal attack, IMF agent Ethan Hunt must take action. He travels to the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Desert to retrieve a crucial key piece from Ilsa Faust, an MI6 agent who is on the run. In order to ...

The Gray Man (2022) is an American action thriller directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney. In 2003, senior CIA official Fitzroy visits a prisoner who had been convicted of killing his abusive father to protect his brother. Eight years later, Fitzroy offers the man his freedom in exchange for working as an assassin in the Sierra program. In 2021, code-named “Sierra Six,” he is on a mission in Bangkok with fellow agent Dani Miranda to eliminate a target ...

Perry Mason (2020–2023), an American period drama on HBO, was created by Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald. It premiered on June 21, 2020, starring Matthew Rhys as the iconic character from Erle Stanley Gardner’s novels. The series was renewed for a second season by HBO in July of the same year. However, showrunners Jones and Fitzgerald left the project in April 2021 and were ...

Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker (2019) is an American psychological thriller film with a screenplay co-written by Scott Silver. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, the loosely based DC Comics story follows Arthur Fleck, an aspiring stand-up comedian and clown living in Gotham City during the early 1980s recession with his mother Penny. Despite suffering from a neurological disorder that causes uncontrollable laughing fits, Arthur relies on social services for medication. Randall, his co-worker, gives him a revolver after he is ...

Homecoming (2018–2020) is an American psychological thriller TV series based on the Gimlet Media podcast of the same name. It was created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg and first premiered on Amazon Prime Video on November 2, 2018. Heidi Bergman, a former social worker, had worked at the Homecoming Transitional Support Center under the Geist Group – a live-in facility that supposedly helped soldiers adjust to civilian life. However, four years later, Bergman has moved on and now works as a waitress. She struggles to remember her time at Homecoming until a U.S. ...

Drew Goddard wrote, directed, and produced Bad Times at the El Royale (2018), an American neo-noir thriller with multiple intertwining plotlines. The once-popular hotel, situated on the border of California and Nevada, lost its gambling license and is now managed solely by heroin addict Miles Miller. It was in this same hotel in 1959 that Felix O’Kelly met his demise after hiding a bag of money under the floorboards of his room. Ten years later, four new guests arrive: Catholic priest Daniel Flynn, singer Darlene Sweet, salesman Laramie Seymour Sullivan, and hippie Emily Summerspring. As they check into their ...

The crime thriller film City of Lies (2018) follows the Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation into the killings of rappers Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. In 2015, investigative reporter Darius ‘Jack’ Jackson from the Los Angeles Times is assigned to cover the Notorious B.I.G.’s murder. Jackson seeks out retired and disgraced LAPD detective Russell Poole for information. Through a series of flashbacks, Poole shares his belief that Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight bribed corrupt officers to carry out Wallace’s murder and conceal it. In 1997, Poole is tasked with looking into the shooting of off-duty black officer Kevin ...

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) is a thriller directed by Stefano Sollima and written by Taylor Sheridan. After ISIS commits a deadly bombing in Kansas City, CIA agent Matt Graver is recruited by the U.S. government to investigate. Suspecting involvement from Mexican drug cartels, Graver enlists Alejandro Gillick and collaborates with Department of Defense officials to instigate conflict between rival factions. To maintain plausible deniability, Graver seeks assistance from PMC official Andy Wheeldon for mercenaries, helicopters, and communication equipment. Meanwhile, ...

Kong: Skull Island (2017), directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, is an American monster film produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It serves as a reboot of the King Kong franchise and the second installment in the MonsterVers. In 1944, two World War II fighter pilots – American Hank Marlow and Japanese Gunpei Ikari – parachute onto an island in the South Pacific after a dogfight. However, their close combat is interrupted by a giant ape. Almost three decades later, U.S. government agent Bill Randa recruits former British Special Air Service Captain James Conrad ...

Knight of Cups (2015) is an American experimental drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick. It tells the story of a young prince, whose father, the king of the East, sends him on a mission to find a pearl in Egypt. However, upon arriving, he is offered a drink that causes him to forget his royal identity and fall into a deep slumber. The King sends out many messengers in search of his son, hoping to guide him back home. As a child, Rick would often hear this tale from his father. Now grown and working as a screenwriter in Santa Monica, he yearns for something more meaningful but doesn’t know where to ...

Agent Carter (2015–2016), an American television series, was created by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely for ABC. It is based on the Marvel Comics character Peggy Carter and follows her roles in Captain America: The First Avenger and the short film Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter. Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the show maintains continuity with the franchise’s films and other television series. Starring Hayley Atwell as Captain America’s Peggy Carter, it is set in 1946 after World War II has ended. Dealing with a ...

American Hustle (2013) is a black comedy crime film, helmed by director David O. Russell and written by Eric Warren Singer. The movie drew inspiration from the real-life FBI Abscam operation that took place during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Set in 1978, it follows the tale of con artists Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser, who have teamed up to pull off various scams. To improve their schemes, Sydney assumes the guise of ‘Lady Edith Greensly’, an English aristocrat. Despite their successful partnership, Irving is torn between his love for Sydney and his ...

Savages (2012) is an American action thriller film directed by Oliver Stone, based on Don Winslow’s novel of the same name. It follows best friends Chon and Ben, marijuana growers in Laguna Beach. After smuggling seeds out of Afghanistan, Chon, a former Navy SEAL, teams up with Ben, a University of California graduate in business and botany. With their unique strain of marijuana gaining popularity, the pair amass wealth while also dedicating time and money to charitable efforts in Africa and Asia. They are also both openly involved with Ophelia Sage. However, their ...

The American exploitation action film, Machete (2010), was helmed by directors Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis. In the story, Mexican Federal Machete Cortez and his younger partner embark on a rescue mission for a kidnapped girl in Mexico. Tragically, during the operation, Machete’s partner is killed while the girl stabs him in the leg before meeting her own fate. To make matters worse, Machete’s corrupt Chief betrays him to powerful drug lord Rogelio Torrez, who not only kills Machete’s wife but also implies that his daughter may be next. As a ...

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. ...

Pride and Glory (2008), directed by Gavin O’Connor, is an American crime drama that follows the Tierney family. Patriarch Francis Tierney Sr., who serves as Assistant Chief of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), is joined by his wife Maureen, son Francis Jr. and daughter-in-law Abby, along with their three kids Caitlin, Francis III, and Bailey. The family also includes daughter Megan and her husband Jimmy Egan, along with their two children Shannon and Matthew. The 31st Precinct is in good hands with Deputy Inspector Franny at the helm, while his brother Ray works in the Missing Persons Squad after ...