Donnie Brasco [1997]

"In 1978, the US government waged a war against organized crime. One man was left behind the lines."

BASED ON A TRUE STORY

Director: Mike Newell
Writers: Joseph D. Pistone (book), Richard Woodley (book)
  Stars: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Michael Madsen

Storyline

This true story follows FBI agent Joe Pistone as he infiltrates the mafia of New York. Befriending Lefty Ruggiero, Pistone (under the name Donnie Brasco) is able to embed himself in a mafia faction lead by Sonny Black. Ruggiero and Pistone become tight as the group goes about collecting money for 'the bosses'. Eventually, the group become big time when Black himself becomes a boss, all the while Pistone collects evidence. However, the trials and tribulations of the undercover work become more than Pistone can bear. His marriage falls apart and to top it off, the mafia suspect a mole in the organization. The real dilemma is afforded to Pistone, who knows if he walks away from the mafia, Ruggiero will be the one punished.

Hackers [1995]

" Hack The Planet!"

Director: Iain Softley
Writers: Rafael Moreu 

Stars: Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie and Jesse Bradford

Storyline

A young boy is arrested by the US Secret Service for writing a computer virus and is banned from using a computer until his 18th birthday. Years later, he and his new-found friends discover a plot to unleash a dangerous computer virus, but they must use their computer skills to find the evidence while being pursued by the Secret Service and the evil computer genius behind the virus.

Gone Baby Gone [2007]

"Everyone Wants The Truth... Until They Find It."

Director: Ben Affleck
Writers: Ben Affleck (screenplay), Aaron Stockard (screenplay) 

Stars: Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and Casey Affleck

Storyline

When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detective freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons - they're not cops and they know the tough Boston neighborhood in which they all live. As the case progresses, Kenzie and Gennaro face drug dealers, gangs and pedophiles. When they are about to solve their case, they are faced with a moral dilemma that could tear them apart.

Tower Heist [2011]

"Ordinary guys. An extraordinary robbery."

Director: Brett Ratner
Writers:  Ted Griffin (screenplay), Jeff Nathanson (screenplay)
  Stars: Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller and Casey Affleck

Storyline

Josh Kovacs is the manager of a residential apartment in New York. He is close to all the tenants, especially Arthur Shaw, a financier. One day Shaw is arrested by the FBI for fraud. Josh thinks it's a misunderstanding that can be resolved. But later he learns that the employees' pension which he asked Shaw to handle is gone. When one of the employees tries to kill himself, Josh's views of Shaw change. He goes to see him and loses his temper. He loses his job. The FBI agent in charge of Shaw tells him that Shaw might walk and recovering the pension fund is unlikely. She tells him that it's been rumored that Shaw has 20 million laying around if he needs. Josh thinks he knows where it is. So with two other employees who also lost their jobs and an evicted tenant, they set out to get into Shaw's penthouse to get the money. But they realise they need the assistance of someone who knows what they are doing...

Cellular [2004]

"If the signal dies so does she."

Director: David R. Ellis
Writers: Larry Cohen (story), Chris Morgan (screenplay) 

Stars: Kim Basinger, Chris Evans and Jason Statham

Storyline

A young man receives a call on his cellular phone from a woman who says she's been kidnapped, and thinks she's going to be killed soon, along with her husband and son who the kidnappers have gone after next. The catch? She doesn't know where she is... and his cell phone battery might go dead soon.

American Psycho [2000]

"Killer inside."

Director: Mary Harron
Writers: Bret Easton Ellis (novel), Mary Harron (screenplay)

Stars: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux and Josh Lucas

Storyline

Patrick Bateman, a young, well to do man working on wall street at his father's company kills for no reason at all. As his life progresses his hatred for the world becomes more and more intense.

Salt [2010]

"Who is Salt?"

Director: Phillip Noyce
Writers: Kurt Wimmer

Stars: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor

Storyline

Evelyn Salt is a CIA agent and highly respected by all, including her boss, Ted Winter. Out of the blue, a Russian spy walks into their offices and offers a vital piece of information: the President of Russia will be assassinated during his forthcoming visit to New York City to attend the funeral of the recently deceased U.S. Vice President. The name of the assassin: Evelyn Salt. Concerned about the safety of her husband, who she cannot contact, she goes on the run. Winter refuses to accept that she is a mole or a double agent but her actions begin to raise doubts. Just who is Evelyn Salt and what is she planning?

Unthinkable [2010]

"How far would you go to protect your country?"

Director: Gregor Jordan

Writers: Peter Woodward

Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Carrie-Anne Moss and Michael Sheen

 

Storyline

 

A convert to Islam sends the U.S. government a tape showing him in three nondescript storage rooms, each of which may contain a nuclear bomb set to detonate in less than a week. Helen Brody, an FBI agent in L.A., is tasked with finding the bombs while a CIA "consultant," known as H, interrogates the suspect who has allowed himself to be caught. The suspect, whose wife and children have left him and disappeared, seems to know exactly what the interrogation will entail. Even as H ratchets up the pressure, using torture over Brody's objection, the suspect doesn't crack. Should H do the unthinkable, and will Brody acquiesce? Is any Constitutional principle worth possible loss of life?

The Mechanic [2011]

"Someone has to fix the problems."

Director: Simon West

Writers:  Richard Wenk (screenplay), Lewis John Carlino (screenplay)

Stars: Jason Statham, Ben Foster and Donald Sutherland

 

Storyline

 

Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It's a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry (Donald Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed - he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve (Ben Foster) approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop's trade. Bishop has always acted alone but he can't turn his back on Harry's son. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.

The Crow [1994]

"Real love is forever."

Director: Alex Proyas

Writers:  James O'Barr (comic book series and comic strip), David J. Schow (screenplay),

Stars: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott and Rochelle Davis

 

Storyline

 

A poetic guitarist Eric Draven is brought back to life by a crow a year after he and his fiancée are murdered. The crow guides him through the land of the living, and leads him to his killers: knife thrower Tin-tin, drugetic Funboy, car buff T-Bird, and the unsophisticated Skank. One by one, Eric gives these thugs a taste of their own medicine. However their leader Top-Dollar, a world-class crime lord who will dispatch his enemies with a Japanese sword and joke about it later, will soon learn the legend of the crow and the secret to the vigilante's invincibility.

The Untouchables [1987]

"Never stop fighting till the fight is done"

BASED ON A TRUE STORY

Director: Brian De Palma

Writers:  Oscar Fraley (suggested by book), Eliot Ness (suggested by book)

Stars: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery and Robert De Niro

 

Storyline

 

Federal agent Elliot Ness assembles a personal team of mob fighters to bring Chicago crime boss Al Capone to justice using unconventional means during the mob wars of the 1920s. This fictionalized account of the arrest of Al Capone is heavy on style and gunfire. The end shootout combines a baby carriage and stairs with a nod to Eisenstein's 'The Battleship Potemkin'.

The Next Three Days [2010]

"What if you had 72 hours to save everything you live for?"

Director: Paul Haggis

Writers: Paul Haggis (screenplay), Fred Cavayé (screenplay)

Stars: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks and Liam Neeson

 

Storyline

 

Lara Brennan is arrested for murdering her boss with whom she had an argument. It seems she was seen leaving the scene of the crime and her fingerprints were on the murder weapon. Her husband, John would spend the next few years trying to get her released, but there's no evidence that negates the evidence against her. And when the strain of being separated from her family, especially her son, gets to her, John decides to break her out. So he does a lot of research to find a way.

Takers [2010]

"Everyone's after something"

 

Director: John Luessenhop
Writers: Peter Allen, Gabriel Casseus

Stars: Chris Brown, Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen and Matt Dillon

 

Storyline

 

A seasoned team of bank robbers, including Gordon Jennings (Idris Elba), John Rahway (Paul Walker), A.J. (Hayden Christensen), and brothers Jake (Michael Ealy) and Jesse (Chris Brown) Attica successfully complete their latest heist and lead a life of luxury while planning their next job. When Ghost (Tip T.I. Harris), a former member of their team, is released from prison he convinces the group to strike an armored car carrying $20 million. As the "takers" carefully plot their strategy and draw nearer to exacting the grand heist, a reckless police officer (Matt Dillon) inches closer to apprehending the criminals.

Out of Sight [1998]

"Opposites attract."

 

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writers: Elmore Leonard (novel), Scott Frank (screenplay)  

Stars: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez and Ving Rhames

 

Storyline

 

A career bank robber busts out of jail (Clooney) with the help of his buddy (Rhames) and kidnaps a US Marshal (Lopez) in the process. When the two cons head for Detroit to pull off their final big scam, the Marshal is put on their case but she finds she is attracted to one of them and has second thoughts about bringing them in.

Faster [2010]

"Justice is swift. Vengeance is faster."

Director: George Tillman Jr.
Writers: Tony Gayton, Joe Gayton
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton and Maggie Grace

 

 

Storyline

 

An ex-con sets out to avenge his brother's death after they were double-crossed during a heist years ago. During his campaign, however, he's tracked by a veteran cop and an egocentric hit man.

The Tourist [2010]

"The Perfect Trip - The Perfect Trap"

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Writers: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (screenplay), Christopher McQuarrie (screenplay)
Stars: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Paul Bettany

 

 

Storyline

 

Elise (Angelina Jolie) sits next to an American tourist, Frank (Johnny Depp), on a train going to Venice. She has chosen him as a decoy, making believe that he is her lover who is wanted for police. Not only will they need to evade the police, but also the mobster whose money her lover stole.

Red [2010]

"Still Armed. Still Dangerous. Still Got It."

Director: Robert Schwentke

Writers: Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber
Stars: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman

Storyline

 

Frank (Bruce Willis) is retired, bored and lonely living off his government pension in a nondescript suburb in an equally nondescript house. The only joy in Frank's life are his calls to the government pension processing center when he gets to talk to his case worker Sarah (Mary-Louis Parker). Sarah is as bored and lonely as Frank and marks her conversations with the unknown Frank and her spy novels as the only things fun in her life. When something in Frank's past forces Frank back into his old line of work and puts an unwitting Sarah in the middle of the intrigue, Frank and Sarah begin a journey into Franks past and the people he used to work with. Like Frank they are all RED ... Retired Extremely Dangerous.

American History X [1998]

"Some Legacies Must End."

Director: Tony Kaye
Writer: David McKenna
Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong and Beverly D'Angelo

Storyline

 

Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing three thugs who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

The Kingdom [2007]

"How do you stop an enemy who isn't afraid to die?"

Director: Peter Berg
Writer: Matthew Michael Carnahan
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper and Jennifer Garner

Storyline

 

After a terrorist attack to an American housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where families and the spy Francis Manner are murdered, FBI agent Ronald Fleury blackmails the South Arabian consul to get five days of investigation in the location. He travels with agent Grant Sykes, Janet Mayes and Adam Leavitt to revenge their friend and try to find the responsible for the bombing. The agents find all sorts of difficulties in their investigation, but they are supported by Colonel Faris Al Ghazi that advises the team how to act in a hostile environment.

Traitor [2008]

"The truth is complicated."

Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Writers: Jeffrey Nachmanoff & Steve Martin
Stars: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce and Archie Panjabi

Storyline

 

Samir Horn is a former soldier, a devout Moslem, and U.S. citizen in the Middle East selling bomb detonators to Islamic radicals. He joins their cause as both the FBI and a rogue CIA agent track him. Horn escapes a Yemeni prison, goes underground in France where he proves his abilities, and is sent to the United Starts to choreograph a simultaneous and multiple terror attack. Will the intelligence agencies talk to each other, and can Horn be stopped?