What nearly became a standard Sylvester Stallone action vehicle ended up one of the greatest action-comedies of all time through the addition of Eddie Murphy. In "Beverly Hills Cop," Murphy's leading man energy is on full display, showing all the actor's humor, charm and mania in one of his best performances.
25 years ago, Julia Roberts won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for "Erin Brockovich," a film where she gives one of her finest performances to date. It's also one half of a magical year for Steven Soderbergh, who got two Best Director nominations at the Oscars (with "Erin Brockovich" losing to his other film, "Traffic"). The two films could not be more different, but this engaging and crowd-pleasing legal biopic shows why Roberts and Soderbergh are two of the best.
Speaking of Best Actress winners, "Hamnet" sees Jessie Buckley deliver a masterful powerhouse performance in Chloé Zhao's return to the Oscar race post-Best Picture/Best Director wins for "Nomadland." The film sees Zhao's previously displayed ability to capture humanity and the natural world molded onto a more traditional narrative structure, with rewarding and incredibly emotional results.
One of the rare franchises without a dud, it will be hard for the "John Wick" series to ever top what was accomplished in "Chapter 4." Every new character (such as Donnie Yen's Caine, soon to get a film of his own) adds rich texture to the world, while the intricate action sequences have never been more satisfying. This is a movie about friendship and also guns that shoot fire. That's beautiful.
Only a handful of comedies this century stack up against the absolute home run that is "Legally Blonde." Reese Witherspoon crafts one of the defining characters of the 2000s in sorority-president-turned-lawyer Elle Woods (who will soon be getting the prequel treatment on Prime Video).
Steven Spielberg waited a long time for his first Oscar, but it's hard to deny that "Schindler's List" is one of the director's greatest achievements. This historical drama sees all of the filmmaker's craft come together for an emotional, finely calibrated epic. In a career that includes a handful of the greatest movies of all time, this stands as one of Spielberg's best.
One of the most visually stunning animated films of the decade, "The Wild Robot" became a massive hit for Dreamworks after its 2024 release. And how couldn't it? The music is phenomenal, the laughter is big and the emotions are deeply felt. Watch it now as you eagerly await the sequel.
