Drama > Oscar Drama > by Production Year

Advantages: Engrossing, well-cast and beautifully filmed
Disadvantages: Depressing perhaps

There are few Hollywood actors who can play depressed, disturbed, disillusioned or completely damaged characters better than that man Nick Nolte. Well maybe there are others but none could generate more empathy with the audience than him, considering his repertoire of dysfunctional performances in "The Good Thief", "Simpatico", "Mullholland Falls", "Cape Fear" and "Lorenzo's Oil" to name a few. It is precisely his convincing screen personality that ...
...Driver" fame) effort an excellent watch. Set against the rather Fargo-esque backdrop of an icy New Hampshire small town, this is a bleak story about a redundant policeman who is forced into self-introspection as every department of his life seems to collapse before his eyes. Told through the narrative of his brother (Willem Defoe), we see him go through a murder investigation, a custodial dispute for his daughter and an ongoing dissension with his ... Read review

Advantages: Theron and Ricci
Disadvantages: Little emphasis on the murders

Aileen is a prostitute with few friends. She hates her profession and hates the men that she has to rely on, but she needs the money to live. When she first meets Selby at a bar, she realises that she is a lesbian and rebuffs her. However, Aileen craves affection so much that she lets Selby into her life, and before much longer, they are living together. Aileen tries to change her ways, applying for jobs for which she has little in the way of qualifications. ...
...she is soon forced to return to prostitution. When she is attacked one night, she decides that enough is enough and fights back, killing her client. This is the first of many killings. Can she maintain her lust for blood and her relationship with Selby? Or will Selby give her lover up to the police? I went to see this film in the cinema when it first came out, purely out of curiosity about the female serial killer, Aileen Wuornos. And I came out ... Read review

Advantages: Chilling story
Disadvantages: None

...director, including films such as Mystic River, The Bridges of Madison County and Million Dollar Baby. The plot Three childhood friends, Jimmy Markum, Dave Boyle and Sean Devine are reunited over the murder of Jimmy's beautiful young daughter, Katie. Sean is one of the detectives assigned to the case and Dave, who has had some contact with Jimmy over the years, was one of the last people to see Katie alive. As a sub-plot, there is also the story ...
...the road, when they are stopped by two men claiming to be police. They force Dave into the car; after which he goes missing for several days, until he manages to escape. The three boys' friendship is never quite the same after this episode. As the investigation into Katie's death continues, it becomes clear that Dave, who didn't return home until very late that night and was covered in blood, is trying to hide something. But was it as innocent as ... Read review

Advantages: Wonderful acting and great setting
Disadvantages: Not for those afraid of a good cry

This is a story which really captures the heart. Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet are perfectly cast. Thompson as the practical Elinor who alway puts everyone and everything before herself and her emotions, and Winslet as Marianne, the flippant and dizzy girl who must grow into a woman. The movie's true as possible to the book by Jane Austen, and is perfect if your ideal night in is sitting with a box of chocolates and lots of tissues on the sofa, ...
...Dashwood family. Hugh Grant is wonderful as the slightly nervous, hopelessly muddled Edward Ferrars, the love interest of Elinor, and Greg Wise is the essence of the fun loving and dashing Willoughby who snares her heart. Alan Rickman is the good looking and secure, yet painfully overlooked Colonel Brandon, and very almost steals the limelight with his distraught portrayl of the Colonel. The setting is perfect, and there are some spectacular views. ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent film
Disadvantages: none

...vividly that incredible week at the beginning of September 1997 - the week Princess Diana died. Particularly I remember the complete shock, followed by an outpouring of public grief never known before and probably never likely to be known again in our lifetime, and the hostility vented against the Royal Family for not showing their emotions and instead opting for the 'stiff upper lip!' I was never a big Diana fan, although I did feel her death was ...
...to note that one of the things that this film did not do, at least in my mind, was to come down on one side or another and I think that all the events were depicted in a very honest way. The key players in this film are obviously the Queen herself, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, the Queen Mother and Tony and Cherie Blair. Princes William and Harry are not shown at all which I think was a very good decision as even after all the time that had elapsed ... Read review