1. Bonnie and Clyde: Arthur Penn’s 1967 classic about Depression-era bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.
2. In Cold Blood: Truman Capote’s legendary book about a murdered family in Kansas was a pioneering work of true-crime journalism, and the resulting film adaptation was just as powerful.
3. Dog Day Afternoon: In August 1972, John Wojtowicz and Sal Naturile held up a Chase Manhattan Bank in Brooklyn, took some hostages, and were eventually taken down by police.
4. Goodfellas: Martin Scorsese’s mythic gangster film is easily one of the best ever to be based on real events. Drawn from crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi’s Wiseguy, the film recounts the story of Henry Hill, a player in the New York mafia who gave evidence against his fellow gangsters and entered the Witness Protection Program.
5. Donnie Brasco: FBI agent Joseph Pistone spent six years undercover infiltrating organized crime families in New York using the alias Donnie Brasco.
6. Catch Me If You Can: Time for a mental health break: Steven Spielberg’s film is about a criminal, but it’s also far more light-hearted than the rest on this list, thanks to the nature of the crimes.
7. Monster: Aileen Wuornos was a prostitute and serial killer who killed seven johns in Florida between 1989 and 1990, claiming they’d been attempted to rape her. Female serial killers are a rare occurrence.
8. Alpha Dog: Based on the life and times of Jesse James Hollywood (real name!), Alpha Dog follows a young drug dealer named Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) who kidnaps the younger brother of a rival and eventually has the boy murdered.
9. Zodiac: Another sadly overlooked film, David Fincher’s 2007 masterpiece Zodiac is a harrowing examination of the Zodiac serial killer and the way his mythos gripped the nation and sent investigators into often obsessive tailspins.
10. M: Fritz Lang’s first sound film, 1931′s M is considered one of the best films of the black-and-white era.
Alpha Dog & Bully are very underrated films
ReplyDeleteM is also wonderful and for a 1931 film holds up very well.
ReplyDeleteRecently saw Goodfellas-excellent film. Not for the queasy-some scenes were difficult to watch. It gives a good look at the very shallow and limited lives of the gangsters and their deluded wives..
Dont' forget the British film 10 Rillington Place which starred Richard Attenborough and John Hurt, about the infamous Christie/Evans case. This case "helped" change the law and brought about the end of the death penalty for murder in the UK.
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