North by Northwest (1959)
Hitchcock's 1959 spy thriller. Grant as the wrong man, Saint as the mystery woman, Mason as the urbane villain.
Tag: Ambiguity (Page 8)
1940sThe Maltese Falcon (1941)
Huston's 1941 directorial debut. The film that established American film noir as a coherent style.
1960sThe Exterminating Angel (1962)
Buñuel's 1962 surrealist drama. The Catholic Church, capitalism, ritual.
1980sDeathtrap (1982)
Lumet's 1982 stage-play adaptation. The script doubles back on itself three times.
1980sThe Dogs of War (1980)
Irvin's 1980 mercenary thriller. Christopher Walken leads a coup in a fictional African country.
1990sL.A. Confidential (1997)
Curtis Hanson's 1997 neo-noir on 1950s LAPD corruption. The rare adult crime film that respects its audience.
1950sHigh Noon (1952)
Fred Zinnemann's 1952 western shot in real time. The clock is the antagonist.
1950sRashomon (1950)
Kurosawa's 1950 film that gave English the word for unreliable narrative. Four versions of one crime, each true, each false.
1990sThe Sixth Sense (1999)
M. Night Shyamalan's 1999 ghost story with the most-quoted twist of its decade. Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, a script that earns its reveal twice.
AmbiguityDeath Wish (1974-1994)
Architect-turned-vigilante across two decades of declining quality. The series follows Paul Kersey, an architect whose wife is murdered and daughter assaulted in the original film, after which he becomes a vigilante.
2000sZodiac (2007)
David Fincher's 2007 procedural on the SF Zodiac killer investigation. Three protagonists, no killer caught.
2000sStreet Kings (2008)
David Ayer's 2008 LAPD corruption thriller. Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, James Ellroy on the screenplay.