12 Monkeys is an unparalleled sci-fi thriller with strong performances by Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, and Madeleine Stowe. Terry Gilliam's direction elevates it to another level. It's also a confusing movie to follow until the fatalistic ending that will clear up the mystery. What's impressive is the number of red herrings, including Brad Pitt's character, that put everybody on the wrong track.

The Manchurian Candidate is a brilliantly made political thriller picture with the most complex editing imaginable. Now, remember the book was written in 1959 and the film was released in 1962 which was more than one year before JFK's assassination. The President knew all about it and gave the filmmakers his expressed approval to go ahead with the project. Pretty chilling stuff.

Birth. Evolution. Mankind. Age. Exploration. Universe. Death. 2001: A Space Odyssey...you'll never see anything like it, a brilliant visionary picture that's abstract, beautiful, complicated, and simple all at once. Considering the year the movie was made in—and that's not 1968—but 1963 which is five years of work to make the vision possible.

Cutter's Way is a brilliantly made picture featuring a veteran cripple who's seemingly unhinged as he takes a swarthy, handsome-looking guy along on a wild goose chase. The only question remains: does he buy his conspiracy theory? It's impossible to know for sure, even after the suspenseful ending. Of course, John Heard is unforgettable.

Vertigo is a technically, visually, psychologically, and brilliantly crafted neo-noir. All of the elements including acting, screenplay, in/exterior sets, fashion, sound, score, and cinematography come together so well, that it's a rare achievement. It exemplfies what a legendary director Alfred Hitchcock was and why his movies are constantly revered to this day. There's something about them that remains timeless.

Chinatown is the quintessential neo-noir picture. Everything about the film is meticulously crafted. It starts with Robert Towne's screenplay which is followed up with the exquisite cinematography and an unparalleled cast of Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston. The final line "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown" is unforgettable.

The most definitive Hitchcock picture made, The 39 Steps is the gold standard that many espionage pictures have failed to match. Robert Donat has never been better, and Lucie Mannheim deserves credit for setting the tone. The formula of Alfred Hitchcock's many films can be readily found in The 39 Steps.

JFK is an incredible masterpiece, representing Oliver Stone's best. Outstanding are the acting, storytelling, and, most of all, editing. The best moment is when Jim Garrison, after learning the real plot from Donald Sutherland's character, summed up the startling discovery by saying, "The size of this is...beyond me."

Black Christmas is regarded as one of the earliest slasher films made and was influential in the making of Halloween and Friday the 13th, outshining both of them in the suspense department. The acting is quite good and keeps the tension taut throughout. The last fifteen minutes of the detectives trying to trace the calls is terrifying. Oh, how the weird obscene phone calls that would never stop. They're so bizarre that the feeling of suspense is doubly heightened.

The Swimmer is a strange, disturbing movie, but Burt Lancaster is a dream. In fact, he said it was the best work he had ever done in his career and called it Death of a Salesman in swimming trunks. Once again, it's a strange, disturbing movie because the story is so frustrating that I want more details about Neddy to know what happened to him in the past. The ending is haunting to watch.

Anyone asking me this question, "Can you tell me the greatest horror movie ever made?", my answer will always be Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It's bar none the best I've ever seen. There's no monster, blood, gore, or violence whatsoever. It's just the beautiful use of subtlety to create frightening scenes.

This is the grandfather of the film noir genre. Humphrey Bogart will always be iconic as Sam Spade, the anti-hero private dick everybody imagines when they read the pulp detective stories. The cinematography is top-notch, the script is marvelously done, and the mood can't be any more noirish. It's "the stuff that dreams are made of."

A brutal British gangster masterpiece, Get Carter is that good and clever. The reason why it's so is that when the characters are introduced at the beginning of the film, little do I know they'll play an important role in the murder mystery. It's just that the plot takes time to thicken and...oh, how it thickens. This is Michael Caine at his finest.

If there's an automatic must-see film noir, it's D.O.A. with Edmond O'Brien. Shot on location in San Francisco and Los Angeles, it's a brilliant movie, one of the rarest with a strong start and a strong finish. The gist of the story is unbelievable which goes like this: "Frank Bigelow, told he's been poisoned and has only a few days to live, tries to find out who killed him and why." If that's not compelling enough, then nothing else is.

Dolores Claiborne is a superbly haunting flick. It's a fine piece of work by Taylor Hackford who has done a great job in the storytelling department. Kathy Bates is pretty much a one-woman tour de force, recapturing the same magic from Misery that saw her win the Oscar. Judy Parfitt is at her best, too.

Tommy Lee Jones is the master of organization, telling people to get on it and do their jobs and refusing to take no for an answer. That's why he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor although he was in a leading role. Harrison Ford is brilliant as Dr. Richard Kimble while Andreas Katsulas will always be that one-armed guy.

Kevin Costner is the show and looks great in whites. He has a famous movie moment with Sean Young when they start making love in the back of the limo, but once her character is killed, that's when the movie takes off. From there on, the race is on to see who will be left holding the bag which is fun to watch.

If you want to see the best haunted house movie made, then make it Burnt Offerings. Karen Black is the show while Oliver Reed is magnificent. The final ten minutes is the very definition of the phrase: "The suspense is killing me." Because of the shocking ending, you'll go, "Damn," and then watch the movie all over again.

Lorenzo's Oil is about Ordone's son who was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) and the parents' quest to find a miracle cure for the deadly genetic disease because they refused to stand still and watch him die without taking any action. Nick Nolte gives a brilliant performance as the father.

In the vein of And Then There Were None, Predator is the one of the best sci-fi horror pictures of all time and is a hell of a ride. This is about muscles, guns, and blowing up things. Arnold Schwarzenegger is unforgettable as Major Dutch. So are his lines: "Get to da choppa!!!" and "If it bleeds, we can kill it."

"It's just you and me now, sport." Forget The Silence of the Lambs. Manhunter is the original. If you want to understand the word "genius," look no further than the "Moment of the Truth" scene when Will Graham began to figure out the identity of the killer. It's brilliant stuff. In reality, a serial killer can remain elusive for years. Logging hundreds of thousand hours, it only takes one trivial piece of evidence or sheer luck like a routine motor vehicle violation for the detectives to catch him finally.

The Killers is a tough, gritty, and stylized film noir with wonderful performances, especially by Edmond O'Brien. Ava Gardner is the femme fatale. It also features Burt Lancaster's screen debut. Initially confusing, the story gets better over time with the narration style being reminiscent of Citizen Kane. It helps a great deal when two tough guys are cast: William Conrad and Jack Lambert.

Nobody played Philip Marlowe better than Robert Mitchum. It's just terrific writing. "This car sticks out like spats at an Iowa picnic." "She had all 'A's', none of them on a report card." "There was something about Abraham Lincoln's picture that loosened him up." "She gave me a smile I could feel in my hip pocket." "I'll bet you five dollars you can't find a state they're not wanted in." "$50, $10 extra if you bleed in my boat."

Shot on location in Hungary, Citizen X is the story of how an infamous serial killer was captured in the USSR which took many years due to bureaucrats and limitations in technology and manpower. What's not revealed is after investigating over 150,000 citizens, the authorities incidently solved more than 1,000 unrelated crimes including 95 murder and 245 rape cases. Now, that's what you call "looking at the bright side of a negative situation."

If you loved Burnt Offerings, The Changeling should be right up your alley. Only this time it's not a horror but a murder mystery movie. The story is intelligent: the house communicates with the newly moved-in inhabitant to right a wrong. George C. Scott, as usual, is excellent. In short, it's a must-see film.

Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter is the best true crime book ever written. You hear a lot about Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Scientology, but Charles Manson came way, way before them and borrowed a lot from its teachings via The Process. The result is two nights of Helter Skelter that disturbed everybody afterwards.

Murder on the Orient Express is completely star-studded (twenty-nine Oscar nominations and nine wins including one honorary award), but nobody tops Albert Finney's performance. It's the only film adaptation that Agatha Christie was satisfied with, and she's most pleased with Finney's portrayal of the famed detective but didn't like his mustache.

Humphrey Bogart and black-and-white photography are a match made in heaven. This time, it's Gloria Grahame who steps up to the plate and matches him scene for scene in In a Lonely Place. The results are terrific. Lots of credit go to Nicholas Ray for his direction which is a lost art nowadays. The same thing is said for Humphrey Bogart's acting.

Many films about the supernatural and telepathy tend not to work out, but Don't Look Now is heads and shoulders above them. It's a superb psychic thriller classic with a final chilling climax. The reason why is the terrific chemistry between Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. The ten-minute sequence of them making love and getting dressed to go out stands as one of the best ever.

Move over, Julia Roberts...Richard Gere shows what a high-priced escort is and, more importantly, how to do it well with class. American Gigolo is a fantastic neo-noir with lots of style. The Armani clothes that Gere wears, he introduces the brand in a big way. Lauren Hutton does an admirable job of keeping up with Richard Gere who's simply unbeatable.

Two acting powerhouses come clashing each other in In the Heat of the Night: Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. As Virgil Tibbs, Sidney Poitier is magical and has two iconic scenes: "They call me MISTER Tibbs!" and when he slapped Mr. Endicott back. Of the latter, you could hear a pin drop in the middle of the Deep South.

Based on Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A Soldier's Story is one of the most remarkable pictures made with a top-flight black ensemble cast. Howard E. Rollins is terrific and has a powerful screen presence while Adolph Caesar gives a performance that's timeless. Not to miss is the outstanding job by Denzel Washington.

The Usual Suspects starts off slowly and won't take off until Kevin Spacey gets going which is why he ended up with the Oscar win. While at that, Chazz Palminteri deserves credit, too. The ending is terrific and surprising and is among the best ever. Also, the lineup scene is funny and authentic because the actors couldn't stop laughing after Stephen Baldwin went ballistic with his line.

And Then There Were None is Agatha Christie's most famous book. One salient aspect that makes this a through and through classic whodunnit picture is the quality of acting. Everybody has done a great job of heightening the suspense.

Sometimes, a bunch of all-stars get together to do an important film, and this one is among them which was based on Randy Shilts' seminal book of the AIDS coverage. The performances are excellent; my favorite is Richard Gere's which may feel two minutes long but is still powerful. The other great one is Jeffrey Nordling as the French-Canadian airline steward.

I believe it's a standard procedure that all witnesses are to be included in the list for a court case, but in Jagged Edge, it's been a neverending parade of surprise witnesses. Also, I believe dissecting the murder scene is part of it. Yet this doesn't happen, either. No matter, Jagged Edge is superb for entirely different reasons because it's a thrilling whodunnit mystery with a great Robert Loggia performance.

The acting is flawless. Relying on it, John Sayles takes his time to unpeel the layers to get to the core of the mystery which is surprisingly human and real. He also does a good job of paying attention to the debate of revisionist and actual history of Texas.

Combine Texas, sins of the past, and evil James Caan, and you'll find a terrific yarn in Flesh and Bone. Dennis Quaid makes the story work by portraying an emotionally damaged character. When James Caan shows up, watch out. He and Dennis Quaid take the film to another level by making it more eerily haunting. Gwyneth Paltrow is brilliant as well.

David Cronenberg delivers a story that's driven by two parallel threads: the things that are happening to the little girl and the role-play therapy sessions between her mother and the psychotherapist. What's not immediately clear from the outset is the connection between the two. When the revelation is made in the last fifteen minutes, it clarifies what the mystery is about.

Adapted from a Agatha Christie's novel, Witness for the Prosecution is a classic Billy Wilder picture. Charles Laughton gives the most outstanding performance while Marlene Dietrich is fantastic. The ending is the cherry on top of the cake.