True crime has been all the rage in Hollywood for a lot longer than it seems. In fact, telling stories about real-life criminals goes back to the very beginnings of film. Over the years some of our favorite movies, from The Untouchables to Goodfellas and more have told the (somewhat) true events of some very famous criminals' lives. Here is our list of some of our favorite movies about real-life mobsters and bad guys.

Al Capone - The Untouchables

Robert De Niro famously gained a bunch of weight to play legendary Chicago mob boss Al Capone in The Untouchables. Though the story is really about Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) and the crew that took down Capone in the 1930s, De Niro stole the show with his amazing performance and he was rewarded with an Oscar for it. There's a reason it's considered one of the best gangster movies of all time.

Jimmy Conway - Goodfellas

There is no doubt that Goodfellas had to feature prominently on this list. Almost every character in the movie is based on a real mobster and, of course, the great Robert De Niro puts in another all-time great performance in this one as Jimmy Conway, who was based on the real-life gangster Jimmy "The Gent" Burke.

Jimmy Hoffa - The Irishman

Al Pacino sure knows how to play a mobster. Of course, at the top of any list is the fictional Michael Corleone in the Godfather movies, but he also has played some famous real-life criminals, like notorious union boss Jimmy Hoffa in The Irishman. Though his performance is, predictably, a little over the top, it's still the best in the movie.

Frank Lucas - American Gangster

Gangster Frank Lucas was a kingpin in New York City in the 1970s who revolutionized the drug trade in the U.S., specifically in Harlem. He spent years in prison for his crimes, but he's gone down as a legendary criminal since. In American Gangster he's played brilliantly by the great Denzel Washington as one of the best gangsters in film history.

Frank Costello - The Departed

It's easy to make fun of Jack Nicholson's sketchy Boston accent in The Departed, but what he nails in the role is the intensity of Whitey Bulger, who his character, Frank Costello, is loosely based on. While the movie isn't a true story, per se, many of the characters were based on real-life cops and robbers, including Costello. Like Bulger Costello is terrifying.

Lefty Ruggiero - Donnie Brasco

Lefty Ruggiero has gone down as one of the most notorious gangsters for what he did wrong - namely bringing the undercover police officer Joseph D. Pistone, better known as Donnie Brasco, into the Bonanno crime family. In the movie Donnie Brasco, Al Pacino plays the luckless Ruggiero wonderfully as a mobster who tries his best, but never really has things go his way.

Bugsy Siegel - Bugsy

Gangster Ben "Bugsy" Seigel left his mark on the world by basically inventing modern Las Vegas in the 1940s when he built the first hotel on what would become the famous Las Vegas strip. The movie Bugsy tells the story of Siegel and that hotel, The Flamingo with the great Warren Beatty in the title role.

John Dillinger - Public Enemies

During The Great Depression, the public was fascinated by criminals, gangsters, and mobsters. John Dillinger was at the top of the list of bank robbers that people just loved to follow the exploits of. Public Enemies covers quite of few of the famous criminals in Dillingers various gangs, and Dillinger himself is played wonderfully by Johnny Depp.

Ace Rothstein - Casino

Martin Scorsese's Casino is all based on real-life gangsters who moved out to Las Vegas to oversee the mob's investments in the city at the height of their influence in the 1970s. Sam "Ace" Rothstein, played by Robert De Niro, is based on Frank "Ace" Rosenthal, who was a legendary bookmaker and casino exec for the East Coast families.

Whitey Bulger - Black Mass

Whitey Bulger is one of the most infamous mob bosses in American history. Bulger ran the Winter Hill Gang in Boston for years before disappearing for decades after it got out that he was an FBI informant. Johnny Depp, who plays Bulger in Black Mass disappears into the role, playing it with the same smoldering intensity that the real-life Bulger was famous for.

Baby Face Nelson - O Brother Where Are Thou?

George "Baby Face" Nelson was a Depression-era gangster who gained popularity in the public eye for his brazen crimes and psychotic behavior. A heavily fictionalized version of Nelson features prominently in a couple of scenes in the Coen Brothers' classic O Brother Where Art Thou? played by Michael Badalucco.

Henry Hill - Goodfellas

This list absolutely has to include Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta, in Goodfellas. Not only is the Scorsese classic among the best mob movies ever made (with an amazing soundtrack), but Hill made himself into a celebrity as a result of the movie and his many appearances on The Howard Stern Show before his death in 2012.

Lucky Luciano - Mobsters

1991's Mobsters was a star-studded movie with a big budget that flopped pretty hard. It also failed to inspire critics. It did, however, have some pretty memorable portrayals of famous gangsters from the early days of organized crime in America. One of the most important figures in that history, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, is played by Christian Slater in the movie, and if we're honest, he's pretty good, despite the movie's failings.

Anthony Spilotro - Casino

Anthony Spilotro, who was the basis for the character Nicky Santoro played by Joe Pesci in Casino was pretty much exactly like Pesci played in the movie, according to most accounts. That's amazing to think about as the character seems so over the top it's hard to believe.

Tony Montana - Scarface

We just had to include Tony Montana in Scarface on this list, but calling the character based on a real-life gangster is a little tricky. Montana, played by Al Pacino, is a Cuban refugee in the movie, whereas the character was very loosely based on the real Scarface, Al Capone. It's not exactly the most direct analog, but it does follow the gangster in his rise to the top of the drug trade in Miami, much like Capone and booze in Chicago. So... sort of?

Frank Sheeran - The Irishman

Frank Sheeran is one of the most infamous mob hitmen of all time. He is also the titular Irishman in Netflix's The Irishman. He worked for Jimmy Hoffa, and, at least according to the movie, assassinated the union leader at the behest of mobster Russell Bufalino.

Nicky Barnes - American Gangster

American Gangster was mostly about the rise and fall of Frank Lucas in Harlem in the 1970s, but his biggest rival at the time, Nicky Barnes, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., also features prominently in the film. As portrayed in the movie, Barnes ran "The Council" and worked alongside the Italian mob families at the time.

Sonny Black - Donnie Brasco

Michael Madsen plays the character Sonny Black in Donnie Brasco who was based on the real-life mobster Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano. Napolitano was the leader of the crew, which included Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino in the movie). In real life, as in the movie, Napolitano trusted Brasco and ultimately was assassinated for that trust in 1981 when it was revealed that Brasco was really undercover agent Joe Pistone.

Frank Nitti - The Untouchables

To be clear, very little about the fictional Frank Nitti in The Untouchables is anything like the real-life Nitti. But, Frank Nitti was an infamous enforcer for Al Capone in the 1920s and '30s. In the movie, he has one of the most haunting mob deaths of all time, though it's completely fictional, as the real Nitti wasn't thrown off a building by Eliot Ness, but died many years later from a self-inflicted gunshot.

Mickey Cohen - Gangster Squad

One of the most important figures in the establishment of a mob influence on the West Coast and in LA and Las Vegas particularly was Mickey Cohen. Not only was he really the first "boss" in LA, but he also worked with Bugsy Siegel in the establishment of Las Vegas as a mob-run town in the early days. In Gangster Squad, a movie about the LAPD's case against Cohen, he is played wonderfully by Sean Penn.

Thomas DeSimone - Goodfellas

Tommy Devite, played by Joe Pesci in Goodfellas is one of the most unhinged mobsters ever portrayed on film. The character is based on the real-life Thomas DeSimone, who is part of the crew that Henry Hill is associated with. Some of the things that are likely true in the movie are his brutal murder of "Billy Batts" Bentvena, and his death at what he thought was going to be the ceremony to induct him as a "made man" as portrayed in the movie.

John Patrick Looney - Road To Perdition

Road to Perdition is a great example of a movie based on a graphic novel that isn't about a superhero, and it's loosely based on the life of Irish mobster John Patrick Looney. John Rooney, played by Paul Newman, was one of the most influential gangsters in northern Illinois in the early 20th Century.

Jimmy Hoffa - Hoffa

Decades before Al Pacino played the infamous union boss Jimmy Hoffa in The Irishman, another all-time great, Jack Nicholson, played him in Hoffa. The biographical film about Hoffa was a box office bomb when it was released in 1992 co-stars (and was directed by) Danny DeVito, and while Nicholson's performance wasn't loved by all the critics, he was earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor.

Pretty Boy Floyd - Public Enemies

Director Michael Mann's 2009 hit Public Enemies has a whole bunch of characters based on real people on both sides of the law. One of those notorious bad guys was Pretty Boy Floyd who wasn't part of the gang led by John Dillinger but was tracked by the same G-man, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale in the movie). Pretty Boy Floyd was played, appropriately, by Channing Tatum.

John Gotti - Gotti

One of the most ridiculed gangster movies of all time has to be Gotti. It's hard to recommend it as something to be watched and enjoyed, we couldn't leave it - or the performance by John Travolta as the infamous mob leader John Gotti - off this list. It's all just so... silly.

Russell Bufalino - The Irishman

Russell Bufalino, played by Joe Pesci in The Irishman, was the boss of his own family in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He was closely associated with the Five Families in New York City, and his cousin, William Bufalino, was Jimmy Hoffa's lawyer.

John Dillinger - Dillinger

One thing you really have to love about Tom Hardy is that he's pretty fearless in the roles he takes on and never plays it safe. In Capone, the English actor takes on the role of legendary Chicago mobster Al Capone. It's all about the end of Capone's life, after he'd been in jail for years and had lost his spot at the top of the Chicago outfit. It's a weird movie, to be sure, but Hardy is great.

Paul Vario - Goodfellas

Paul Sorvino plays the character Paul Cicero, based on Paul Vario in Goodfellas. That's a lot of Pauls! First name aside, Paul Vario was the caporegime in the Lucchese crime family who was put in jail in part on the testimony of Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta in the movie). Sorvino was one of the most memorable parts in a very memorable movie as the quiet, but powerful, boss of the crew Hill was a part of.

Kevin Weeks - Black Mass

Jesse Plemons' portrayal of Kevin Weeks, an associate and enforcer with the Winter Hill Gang in Black Mass is one of the best performances in a movie filled with great performances. Alongside Whitey Bulger, Weeks was a brutal henchman who eventually turned against the mob and became a snitch, snitching on his boss, which is pretty ironic.

Baby Face Nelson - Public Enemies

Unlike the version of Baby Face Nelson in O Brother Where Art Thou?, the version played by Stephen Graham in Public Enemies is much closer to the real gangster. He's psycho, but he's pleasant. It's the perfect role of Graham and the performance is a real highlight of the film.

Al Capone - Capone

You really have to appreciate Tom Hardy's choice of roles. He rarely takes the easy ones. Instead he challenges himself, like playing the aging Al Capone in Capone. The film is all about the end of Capone's life, after he's served his prison time and lost his spot at the top of the Chicago outfit. It's a powerful man in completely decline mentally and physically. It's really a fantastic performance in an uneven movie.

Billy Batts - Goodfellas

William "Billy Batts" Bentvena, played by the great Frank Vincent (who is a master at playing mobsters) in Goodfellas is really only in one scene in the whole movie, but it's become such an iconic moment, when Nicky (Joe Pesci) stabs him to death with pen, that we had to include the real-life gangster on this list.

Netflix has established itself as one of the best streaming services you can subscribe to, offering an impressive array of original movies and TV series. Over the years its films have starred the best of the best in Hollywood and even racked up numerous Academy Awards. Check out 32 of the most popular original movies to ever hit the Netflix schedule.

Damsel

Millie Bobby Brown stars in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's action-adventure flick Damsel, playing a young woman named Elodie, who gets the opportunity to marry into royalty. However, she quickly finds out the deal is meant to fulfill an ancient pact made by the royal family, and she is forced to fight for her life against a vengeful dragon.

The Mother

Jennifer Lopez drew in a number of Netflix subscribers with her action thriller The Mother. JLo plays the titular character, a former Army operative who goes after the criminals who kidnapped her 12-year-old daughter Zoe (Lucy Paez), who she gave up for adoption at birth for Zoe's own protection.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

One of the best movies of 2022 — Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery — was a Netflix original. Starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc and a murderer's row of A-list talent, including Ed Norton, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr. and Kate Hudson, the Rian Johnson murder mystery quickly surpassed its 2019 predecessor to become one of Netflix's most-watched movies of all time. The layered nature of the mystery involving Norton's billionaire Miles Bron and his luxe private island likely even inspired repeat viewings from its audience in order to catch all the clues.

Extraction

If anything "good" can be said about 2020, it's that people sure were streaming a lot of movies. The action/thriller Extraction, starring Chris Hemsworth, was a popular choice, too, with its graphic novel-inspired story of a black ops mercenary on a quest to save the kidnapped son of a drug lord.

Red Notice

When you've got a stacked cast of Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, along with an intriguing plot that sees an FBI profiler teaming up with an art thief to catch an even bigger art thief, what's not to love? Throw in those actors' signature charm (or smarm) and an amusing script, and you've got Red Notice becoming one of, if not THE, most popular Netflix originals ever.

Don't Look Up

Adam McKay's Don't Look Up boasted several Oscar winners in its cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Mark Rylance and Meryl Streep, and audiences were all too eager to show up for the apocalyptic political satire. The story is of two astronomers trying to warn the world about an impending comet that will destroy Earth, with their logic largely being met with indifference.

The Adam Project

In The Adam Project, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds) crash-lands in 2022 and meets his 12-year-old self (Walker Scobell). Young Adam is dealing with the loss of his dad in addition to school bullies, and this movie gives us plenty of laughs, tons of heart and an idea of what a smart-mouthed Ryan Reynolds might have been like as a tween.

Bird Box

Bird Box was an absolute phenomenon in 2018, with Sandra Bullock starring as Malorie Hayes, a woman trying to protect herself and two children in a post-apocalyptic world full of entities that caused death to those who looked at them. The movie became Netflix's most-watched film (at the time) within 28 days of its release and remains one of the streamer's most popular flicks.

Leave The World Behind

Netflix audiences sure do seem to like an apocalyptic thriller, and that proved true again in 2023 with Leave the World Behind. The movie starred Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke as the Sandfords, who were guests at the vacation rental owned by Mahershala Ali's G.H. Scott at the start of the end of the world. Sam Esmail's film is a tense statement on racism, class bias and, somehow, our obsession with Friends reruns.

The Gray Man

In The Gray Man, an action thriller from the Russo Brothers, Ryan Gosling stars as the CIA operative known as Sierra Six. The agent uncovers some dark secrets about his employers, putting him on the run from a former colleague and a network of international assassins. The film is considered one of the best action movies of 2022, thanks in part to Chris Evans' deliciously villainous turn as Lloyd Hansen.

We Can Be Heroes

We Can Be Heroes struck a chord with Netflix viewers of all ages, as it was both a standalone superhero film but also a sort-of legacy sequel to the 2005 movie The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. The flick was a huge hit for Netflix, as the children of famous superheroes are tasked with working together to save their parents, who have been kidnapped by aliens.

Purple Hearts

Streamers beware! Purple Hearts left viewers emotionally wrecked when the romantic drama hit Netflix. Nicholas Galitzine stars as Luke Morrow, a recovering addict and Marine being deployed to Iraq, and Sofia Carson as Cassie Salazar, a type 1 diabetic who has to work multiple jobs in order to afford insulin. Despite having just met, Cassie and Luke decide to get married for the benefits, and it would be a shame for me to spoil the emotional roller coaster that follows by saying anything more.

The Unforgivable

Sandra Bullock has had her share of streaming movie success on Netflix, and in 2021's The Unforgivable, she portrayed Ruth Slater, a woman who has just finished serving a 20-year prison sentence for killing a sheriff who tried to evict her and her then-5-year-old sister Katie from their home. Upon her release, she sets out to reconnect with Katie.

The Irishman

Even Martin Scorsese jumped on the Netflix bandwagon with his 2019 gangster film The Irishman, which starred Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel, among others. The film racks up plenty of streaming minutes with its 209-minute runtime, but the 10 Academy Award nominations don't hurt either.

The Kissing Booth 2

In the rare instance of a sequel being better than the original, The Kissing Booth 2 surpassed its predecessor in popularity with its Summer 2020 release. Joey King returned in the sequel as Elle Evans, along with Joel Courtney and Jacob Elordi as Lee and Noah Flynn. This time around Elle and Noah were navigating a long-distance relationship as Elle struggled to choose where her future would take her.

6 Underground

Not only is 6 Underground one of Netflix's most-watched movies, it's also one of the streamer's most expensive. The Michael Bay action thriller had a reported budget of $150 million and starred Ryan Reynolds as one member of a group of vigilantes who fake their death in hopes of taking down a ruthless dictator. Despite success on the streaming platform, a planned sequel was scrapped due to not-so-positive reviews.

Spenser Confidential

Spenser Confidential was a pretty by-the-book buddy copy movie, but Mark Wahlberg and Winston Duke drew people in as former Boston police officer Spenser and aspiring MMA fighter Duke, respectivly. Spenser gets Duke to help investigate the murder of two ex-co-workers, one of whom the former was suspected of killing.

Enola Holmes

In Enola Holmes, Millie Bobby Brown portrays the little sister of famous detective Sherlock Holmes. Brown is charming and funny in this action-packed flick and audiences liked it so much that Netflix ordered more.

Roma

Alfonso Cuarón’s 2018 drama Roma won three Academy Awards of the 10 it was nominated for, so it's so surprise that this Netflix original is popular amongst viewers. Shot in black and white, Roma does tackle some tough themes in its tale of a Mexico City housekeeper in the 1970s, but the performances are amazing, especially those of Marina de Tavira and Yalitza Aparicio.

Army Of The Dead

Army of the Dead is what happens when you take Zack Snyder, throw in some Ocean's Eleven and sprinkle in a healthy dose of zombies. Who could resist that? Why would you want to?

The Old Guard

Another film that likely got a streaming boost from the pandemic days was The Old Guard. Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne are among the stars of this comic book adaptation, which received critical praise for its plentiful action and portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters.

Murder Mystery

Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler play a married couple in the comedy Murder Mystery, which, yes, is also a murder mystery. Nick and Audrey find themselves in the middle of a complex family situation after being invited to a party on a billionaire's yacht, and it gets even more complicated when that billionaire winds up dead.

Troll

Two years after its release in 2022, Troll boasted the most views of any non-English Netflix original. The Norwegian monster movie follows a motley crew of people who must work together against an ancient troll that was awoken in the mountains.

Blood Red Sky

Vampires meet plane heist in the 2021 action-crime-horror-vampire-thriller Blood Red Sky, which sees an ailing woman going up against a group of terrorists attempting to hijack an overnight flight. The movie was viewed 50 million times in its first month, making it the streamer's most successful German title.

Society Of The Snow

For fans of survival films, Society of the Snow chronicles the true story of a rugby team from Uruguay whose Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes mountains in 1972. The film was nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best International Feature Film and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

The Platform

Making statements on imprisonment, class and poverty, the dystopian thriller The Platform sees a man voluntarily check himself into a prison where inmates are housed in vertical cells and fed once a day via a platform. The platform is filled with food at the top, but less and less is available to each inmate the further it descends.

All Quiet On The Western Front

The 2022 war epic All Quiet on the Western Front was the third adaptation of the 1929 novel of the same name. The Netflix original was the most successful version, too, boasting seven British Academy Film Awards from 14 nominations and four Academy Awards from nine nods among its many accolades.

Hustle

Adam Sandler may be known for his comedy, but Netflix audiences have learned not to sleep on his more dramatic turns either. Hustle features the Sandman as Stanley Sugerman, a down-on-his-luck NBA scout who longs to be a coach. Stanley finds a player in Spain who might just earn him the respect he deserves, but getting Bo Cruz (played by real-life professional basketball player Juancho Hernangómez) ready for the NBA draft turns out to be more challenging than he anticipated.

Extraction 2

Chris Hemsworth's first go as Tyler Rake was a big win for Netflix, so imagine the delight of audiences to discover that Extraction 2 was even more thrilling. The black ops mercenary is back on another mission, and this one is wall-to-wall action, including an iconic prison break scene that's edited into a 21-minute, action-packed one-shot.

The Man From Toronto

An action-comedy starring Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, The Man from Toronto may not have gotten the most positive reviews, but that didn't stop Netflix subscribers from hitting Play to see the hilarity that ensued when an assassin and a screw-up were mistaken for each other at a vacation rental.

The Tinder Swindler

It's hard to resist a good true crime story, and The Tinder Swindler was all the rage when it hit Netflix. The documentary explored the story of Simon Leviev, who connected with people on Tinder and swindled them into giving him money by saying he needed to escape his enemies.

Luther: The Fallen Sun

It's no secret why Luther: The Fallen Sun struck a chord with Netflix viewers, as Idris Elba reprised his role from the popular series Luther for a Netflix film continuation. Co-starring Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis, The Fallen Sun sees the titular detective attempting to stop a wealthy serial killer.

They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and these crime dramas certainly prove that. Yes, some of the biggest, most acclaimed titles in the genre are actually fictionalized dramatizations of real-life crimes, from horrifyingly true serial killer sprees to shocking cases of financial fraud to deep dives into organized crime. Just as harrowing as the best true crime documentaries, these stories combine legality, morality and humanity, making for a truly chilling watch. Here is our list of 32 great films that are actually inspired by true events. 

The Irishman

The ninth collaboration between actor Robert De Niro and director Martin Scorsese, this critically acclaimed 2019 gangster epic chronicled the life of Frank Sheeran (De Niro), a truck driver turned alleged mafia hitman who became involved with the Bufalino crime family in the 1950s and later the powerful Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). The Oscar-nominated drama — which also starred Joe Pesci, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, and Harvey Keitel — is based on the 2004 nonfiction book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. 

Spotlight

One of the greatest journalism movies of all time, this 2015 American drama follows The Boston Globe's "Spotlight" team, a real-life group of investigative journalists (played by Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and Brian d'Arcy James) who uncovered the massive scandal of child assault within the local Catholic Archdiocese. Though some creative liberties were taken in telling the story (ex: some events were depicted happening before they actually did in real life), the 2016 Best Picture winner was based on news articles published by the IRL Spotlight team.

Casino

Set in the 1970s and early '80s when Las Vegas was run by the mob, this Scorsese classic was adapted from Nicholas Pileggi nonfiction book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. Like the book, the film follows Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro), a low-level mobster tasked by his bosses to oversee operations at the Tangiers Casino. His job is made harder by the company he keeps, including mafia enforcer Nicky Santora (Joe Pesci) and con artist showgirl Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone). 

Zodiac

Not only is Zodiac one of the best movies of the 2000s, but it's arguably one of the best cinematic thrillers of all time. And to make things even more scary, the 2007 David Fincher film is based on a true story. Yes, the Zodiac Killer was a real-life serial murderer who terrorized the Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the case continues to be one of the country's most infamous unsolved crimes. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. star in the tense mystery.

JFK

This 1991 political epic directed by Oliver Stone examines the investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner). While the president's murder was a very real and very tragic moment in American history, the film controversially delves into conspiracies surrounding JFK's death, including that Lee Harvey Oswald was a scapegoat and the shooting was part of a coup d'état to get Lyndon B. Johnson into office.

Monster

Charlize Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her transformative portrayal of Aileen Wuornos, a longtime Daytona Beach call girl who became a serial killer and murdered seven of her male clients between 1989 and 1990. The directorial debut of Patty Jenkins, the 2003 biographical drama accurately portrayed Wournos's troubled childhood and her later crimes but fictionalized certain elements of Aileen's life, including her relationship with lover Selby Wall (played by Christina Ricci).

Dog Day Afternoon

“Nobody would ever do what I did,” declared John Wojtowicz in the documentary The Dog. “That’s why they made a movie about it.” The movie he's talking about is, of course, the 1975 Sidney Lumet classic Dog Day Afternoon, which stars Al Pacino as Sonny Wortzik — a man based on Wojtowicz himself — a first-time crook who leads a robbery at a Brooklyn bank, only for it to turn into a hostage situation. 

The Big Short

This white-collar crime drama from Adam McKay takes viewers straight inside the corruption and greed of the 2008 U.S. financial crisis. Based on Michael Lewis's book of the same name, the film is built around an ensemble of characters — Wall Street guru Michael Burry (Christian Bale), hedge-fund specialist Mark Baum (Steve Carell), banker Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) — who saw the collapse of the housing market coming before anyone else did and decided to take cruel advantage of it.

Goodfellas

One of the most iconic movie characters of the '90s, Henry Hill (played by a perfect Ray Liotta) was enamored with mob life ever since he was an Italian-American kid in Brooklyn. We doubt, though, that he expected his life of crime to go quite the way it did, with addictions, prison sentences, and informing against those closest to him (Robert De Niro's Jimmy Conway, Paul Sorvino's Paul Cicero). Even more surprising, the riches-to-rags story is true: Hill was a real mobster and Goodfellas was adapted from the nonfiction book Wiseguy by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi. 

Memories of Murder

An absolutely stunning mystery from director Bong Joon-ho, the 2003 neo-noir Memories of Murder is centered on a series of murders and rapes plaguing a village in rural South Korea in the 1980s, with a veteran local detective (Song Kang-ho) and a younger detective (Kim Sang-Kyung) working together to crack the case. The story was loosely based on the real-life Hwaseong serial murders, South Korea's first confirmed serial murders, which have remained unsolved for nearly forty years. 

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

In this 2018 biopic on author-turned-forger Lee Israel — featuring a spectacular lead performance from Melissa McCarthy, who took over the role after Julianne Moore was fired — director Marielle Heller delves into the real-life desperation of Israel after she loses her job and is unable to get any writing published. Though she first takes to selling memorabilia and books in order to make ends meet, the scribe realizes that forging celebrity letters (Fanny Brice, Noël Coward, Dorothy Parker) is not only a lucrative business but also a viable artistic outlet for her own creativity. 

Bonnie And Clyde

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were American bandits and serial killers whose crime spree during the Great Depression escalated from robbing lowly stores, gas stations and even rural funeral homes to major banks. In this 1967 classic by Arthur Penn, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty portray the title characters, whose misdeeds get even more violent and messy — especially with fellow gang members like Clyde's older brother Buck (Gene Hackman) and his wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons) — as time goes on. 

The Wolf Of Wall Street

The accuracy of Martin Scorsese's 2003 crime comedy has come into question in the decade since the film came out — it's based on the memoir of former stockbroker and financial criminal Jordan Belfort (portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio), who weaves a tale of debauchery and fraud at a Wall Street brokerage firm in 1990s New York City. Though Belfort himself took issue with the movie's oversimplification of his own money crimes, he acknowledged that Scorsese and Co. accurately captured the "overall feeling" of those years. 

Judas And The Black Messiah

With this powerful 2021 crime drama, director Shaka King and screenwriters Keith and Kenny Lucas wanted to change how the Black Panther Party is perceived. After Bill O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) is offered a plea deal by the FBI, he infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the organization to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton (an Oscar-winning turn by Daniel Kaluuya). "It was quite essential to make sure that we presented the Panthers in a more realistic way and not the character that they’ve become, you know, the militant Black guys in black berets carrying guns," Keith Lucas told CinemaBlend. 

Summer Of Sam

Director Spike Lee is famous for accurately capturing moments of New York City culture and history, and he definitely does that with this 1999 crime thriller, which is focused on the 1977 serial murders by David Berkowitz, a.k.a. the Son of Sam, and how the horrific crimes affected a group of fictional residents in an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx. The cast includes John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito and Michael Badalucco, playing Berkowitz himself. 

She Said

A very recent piece of American crime history, this thorough and riveting #MeToo drama trails The New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor (portrayed by Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, respectively) as they work to expose the sexual abuse allegations against powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Adding a devastating extra layer of realism, the film also features some of Weinstein's real-life victims, including actress Ashley Judd, who appears as herself.

In Cold Blood

Truman Capote’s formative nonfiction novel In Cold Blood — which details the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas — has been adapted multiple times for screens big and small. However, the first was this 1967 film directed by Richard Brooks, which stars Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as the infamous criminals. The "quasidocumentary" vibes were boosted by the fact that Brooks filmed where the crimes occurred, including the real Clutter home.  

Catch Me If You Can

A story like Frank Abagnale Jr.'s is so wild, it can only be true: in this 2002 Steven Spielberg-directed jaunt based on Abagnale Jr.'s semi-autobiographical book of the same name, Leonardo DiCaprio — giving one of his best performances — plays the crafty teenager who performed several million dollars worth of cons, impersonating a Pan Am pilot, a Georgia doctor and a Louisiana parish prosecutor along the way. Joining DiCaprio in the Catch Me If You Can cast is Tom Hanks as Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent tailing Frank Jr., and Christopher Walken as Frank Abagnale Sr.

Lost Girls

Amy Ryan leads this heartbreaking 2020 Netflix drama as Mari Gilbert, a desperate mother who, in searching for her missing daughter Shannan (Sarah Wisser), launches an investigation that leads police to the unsolved murders of young sex workers on the South Shore barrier islands of Long Island, spanning from the early '90s to the 2010s. The case of the Gilgo Beach serial killer made headlines in 2023 when a suspect was charged with the murders of six of the women. 

Till

After the brutal, racially charged murder of her 14-year-old son Emmett Till in August 1955, Mamie Till-Bradley dedicated her life to the relentless pursuit of justice for her son's death, famously insisting on an open casket funeral for her son to reveal what had been done to him. This 2022 biographical drama is a worthy memorial to the young man, with Danielle Deadwyler starring as Till's mother, who became an icon of the American Civil Rights Movement for her work in education and racial justice. 

Hustlers

In a role that many believed would nab Jennifer Lopez an Oscar nomination, the triple threat portrayed veteran stripper Ramona Vega in the Lorene Scafaria-directed dramedy Hustlers. Vega leads a group of New York City pole dancers who begin to steal money by drugging stock traders and CEOs who visit their club, and then run up their credit cards. Though the heist is inspired by true events, there were big differences between the movie and the real story, so much so that Samantha Barbash — the danger who inspired Lopez's character — sued producers for $40 million. (That defamation suit was dismissed.) 

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

A courtroom masterpiece from Aaron Sorkin, this 2020 legal drama is based on the infamous 1969 trial of a group of anti–Vietnam War protesters — played by an A+ ensemble cast that includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Strong, and John Carroll Lynch — who were charged by the federal government with conspiracy and more, arising from the countercultural protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. 

Richard Jewell

Just one of many Clint Eastwood movies based on a true story, this 2019 bio-drama depicts the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Georgia, and its aftermath, told from the perspective of the security guard, Richard Jewell (played by Paul Hauser), who first discovered the explosive device. Though initially hailed a hero for alerting authorities and saving the lives of countless spectators, Jewell was later wrongly suspected by the FBI of having planted the device himself, an investigation that was even bigger than the movie showed.  

House Of Gucci

Based on Sara Gay Forden's 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, this 2021 Ridley Scott flick certainly offers all of that, with Lady Gaga scoring a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani, the Italian socialite who was convicted in a highly publicized trial of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci. And, yes, we're talking about that Gucci, which means that the onscreen fashions are as unforgettable as the story itself.

Psycho

Yes, the Hitchcock horror classic — which gave cinema the most iconic shower scene of all time —is actually inspired by a true story. Adapted from Robert Bloch's 1959 novel of the same name, the story of shy motel caretaker Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and his domineering mother was loosely based on the case of convicted Wisconsin murderer and grave robber Ed Gein who, like Bates, was a solitary murderer living in rural isolation, was raised by an overbearing mother, and dressed in women's clothes to impersonate their deceased parent. 

Natural Born Killers

This romantic crime film — directed by Oliver Stone, with a story by Quentin Tarantino and a cast led by Juliette Lewis and Woody Harrelson in one of his best roles — sparked a bit of irony when it was released in 1994. Natural Born Killers was loosely based on the true crimes of Caril Ann Fugate and Charles Starkweather, a young Nebraska couple who went on a killing spree throughout the Midwest in 1958. 

Heavenly Creatures

Starring Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in, astonishingly, their feature film debuts, this critically acclaimed 1994 drama from Peter Jackson is based on the notorious Parker–Hulme murder case. It tells the true story of Pauline Rieper (Lynskey) and Juliet Hulme (Winslet), two outcast girls growing up in 1950s New Zealand, whose intense relationship culminates in the premeditated killing of Parker's mother. 

Foxcatcher

Steve Carell chillingly transformed himself to play John du Pont, the multi-millionaire heir turned murderer at the center of Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher. A wrestling enthusiast, Du Pont recruits two Olympic gold medalists Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) and his older brother David (Mark Ruffalo) to coach wrestlers to the top of those podiums. One of those brothers would end up the victim of Du Pont's gun, making John to this day the only member of the Forbes 400 richest Americans to be convicted of murder.

BlacKkKlansman

Loosely based on the 2014 memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth, the '70s-set Spike Lee drama follows the first Black detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department as he sets out to infiltrate and expose the local Ku Klux Klan chapter. With John David Washington as Stallworth (the actor even got to meet the real man during filming), the cast also includes Topher Grace as KKK grand wizard David Duke, Corey Hawkins as civil rights leader Kwame Ture and Adam Driver as Stallworth's fictional partner, Detective Flip Zimmerman.

Molly's Game

Molly Bloom's 2014 memoir — in which she recounts the true story of how she went from being a U.S. competitive skier to running an illegal, underground poker empire for Hollywood celebrities, business tycoons, and even the Russian mob — was adapted by Aaron Sorkin for his directorial debut, with Jessica Chastain portraying Bloom. Though Sorkin was reportedly reticent to call the film a "poker movie," the drama does up the realism by featuring many scenes of actual gambling from the film's extras, who were all professional poker players.

Party Monster

Set in the Club Kids party scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s in New York City, Party Monster tells the shocking story of Michael Alig (played by Macaulay Culkin), the infamous party promoter who was convicted of felony manslaughter after killing his fellow clubgoer Andre "Angel" Melendez in a confrontation over a drug debt. The film is based on Disco Bloodbath, the memoir of Alig's former friend James St. James, portrayed in the film by Seth Green. 

Serpico

Garnering Al Pacino's first Best Actor Oscar nomination, Serpico sees the iconic actor as the titular character, Frank Serpico, an idealistic New York City detective who struggles with the corruption found within the New York City Police Department. As in real life, Serpico's work as a whistleblower against the police force led to a governmental investigation by the Knapp Commission and later earned the officer the NYPD Medal of Honor. 

Comedian Jim Norton thinks Spider-Man stinks. If you listen to Norton on his daily SiriusXM talk show Jim and Sam – or follow his new Youtube Channel with his wife titled Nikki and Jim – this should come as no surprise. Norton thinks a lot of people stink. But Spidey fans who returned to theaters a few weeks back to revisit Raimi’s initial 2002 film got to see Norton in his celebrated cameo role, playing one of the many New Yorkers who hate Spider-Man’s guts. The scene looked like this:

However, it could have gone VERY differently. What follows is an entertaining conversation with Jim Norton about his past film roles, his current radio and YouTube endeavors, and his plans to take his act back on tour. 

‘He stinks, and I don’t like him.’

During a recent conversation with Jim Norton on behalf of his new YouTube Channel, the comic and actor opened up about his day on set shooting the lines for his brief shot in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, still one of the best Spider-Man movies ever made. And the way that Norton remembers it, things got pretty raunchy. According to the comic:

Norton went on to joke that Spider-Man being back in theaters has led to a fresh wave of recognition on the streets of his native New York City. Norton told CinemaBlend:

From Spidey to Scorsese

Norton of course has gone on to do so much more in the wake of his Spider-Man appearance. A longtime staple of the legendary Opie and Anthony Show, Norton continued his run on SiriusXM by teaming with co-host Sam Roberts for Jim and Sam. He stayed active on television and movies by appearing in such credits as Louis CK’s Louie, Chris Rock’s Top Five, and Kevin Smith’s films Cop Out and Zack And Miri Make a Porno.     

Some might argue that Norton hit the apex of his film career, though, when he portrayed iconic comedian Don Rickles in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, a part he was offered after working with Robert De Niro on the 2016 film The Comedian. Norton says that Scorsese also watched a few of his stand-up specials, which helped convince the director that he could step into Rickles’ enormous shoes. What Scorsese didn’t know is that Norton was going through his own issues off screen at the time. The comic, who has become notorious for seeking photographs with noted celebrities, told us:

Have no fear, though. Norton eventually kept his eye on the prize. As he continued to explain:

Norton’s days now are filled with his SiriusXM show, and the channel he’s launching with new wife Nikki Norton. He’s also hitting the road for the rest of the year, with tour stops for his stand-up routine scheduled for Boise, Portland, Tempe, Las Vegas, Tampa, and more. Visit Norton’s official site for details.

Many of the best movies ever made are over three hours long. It’s not unusual for the greatest Best Picture winners to be longer than three hours, for example. Here is our list of 32 movies that prove that being long often means being great. 

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

Epic in scope and epic in length are usually the first two things you think about with Lawrence of Arabia. Not only is it one of the best movies ever, it’s one of the longest. Clocking in at an astounding 227 minutes, the nearly four-hour movie never lags or gets boring. Peter O’Toole is brilliant as T. E. Lawrence and the cinematography is among the greatest ever seen on film. It’s truly a masterpiece. 

The Right Stuff (1983)

One of the great injustices by the Academy was rewarding Terms of Endearment the Best Picture award in 1984 over The Right Stuff. History has since proven which of the two is more enduring, and it's the one that is one of the best movies about the Cold War. With a running time of 192 minutes, it still feels too short to learn everything about the early days of the US space program. The pacing is perfect. 

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

The MCU’s Infinity Saga constituted a whooping 22 films, and the pinnacle of the story came in the 21st movie, Avengers: End Game, in 2019. Befitting its status as the endgame, as it were, this entry in the MCU cannon stretches out just over three hours. While it’s long for a superhero movie, it never feels bloated. While it’ll never be considered one of the best movies of all time by critics, fans certainly do. 

Gone With The Wind (1939)

The longest movie to ever win the Best Picture Oscar is Gone With The Wind, at almost four hours long, if you include things like the opening overture and the intermission. It was a long day at the movies back in the ‘30s when this Civil War epic was released, but that didn’t deter anyone. To this day it is still the most financially successful film ever, when factoring in inflation. 

The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013)

It’s hard to believe director Martin Scorsese and the cast of The Wolf Of Wall Street managed to keep up the frenetic pace of that movie for three hours. It’s a white-knuckle ride through the ups and downs of the main character, Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, that never gives the audience a chance to catch its breath. 

Oppenheimer (2023)

The 2024 Best Picture winner, Oppenheimer is truly a masterpiece. On its surface, a three-hour movie about theoretical physics and congressional hearings sounds about as fun as a root canal, but in the capable hands of director Christopher Nolan, it just pops off the screen. Across the three hours, only a few minutes of which is the actual bomb going off, the movie takes audiences on an amazing journey and never lets up. 

Schindler's List (1993)

The 195-minute epic Schindler's List might be director Steven Spielberg’s greatest achievement, and that is really saying something, given Speilberg’s amazing career. Not only did the director make it long, but the decision to make it black and white was also bold. It certainly proved that audiences in 1990 were able to handle all of it, most importantly the weighty nature of the film. It’s a movie that is really hard to watch twice, but everyone needs to see it once. 

The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (2003)

To its fans, there is no better cinematic trilogy than Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. The finale of the series The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King took home the Oscar for Best Picture which was as much a tribute to the whole franchise as it was reward just it. With a runtime of just over three hours, it’s the longest of the trilogy and for many, the best. 

Dances With Wolves (1990)

Kevin Costner has made a few epics in his career, but his first was Dances With Wolves. Costner directed and starred in the Civil War-era epic that clocks in at one minute over three hours. It was an enormous hit when it was released in 1990, making hundreds of millions on a $22 million budget. It cleaned up at the Oscars as well, taking home seven of the 11 that it was nominated for, including Best Picture and Best Director for Costner. 

Malcolm X (1992)

Spike Lee’s most ambitious movie to this day is 1992’s Malcolm X, starring Denzel Washington as the titular character. At 202 minutes, it’s also Lee’s longest movie. The movie is a deep dive into the life and politics of Malcolm X, the controversial Civil Rights leader in the 1960s. Washington, and the rest of the cast, is brilliant and Lee’s direction is perfect for the subject matter.

The Godfather Part II (1974)

It’s rare in this world that a sequel meets or, in some opinions, surpasses the original, but The Godfather Part II falls into that category. While the original Godfather is long, with a running time of just under three hours, The Godfather Part II is almost 3 and a half hours. It has a lot of story to tell, jumping back and forth between Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) and a young version of his father, Vito, played by Robert De Niro. 

Ben-Hur (1959)

In the golden age of Hollywood, sprawling epics weren’t unusual, but Ben-Hur stands out for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the insane chariot race that even many decades later is one of the most exciting things ever filmed. It’s rare for a film to go longer than 3 and a half hours, but Ben-Hur does. 

The Irishman (2019)

Martin Scorsese is usually considered one of the finest directors of the last five decades, and while The Irishman isn’t one of his best, it’s still really, really good. It’s also one of his longest, clocking in at 209 minutes as it tells the huge story of mobster Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) and the murder of Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). 

The Deer Hunter (1987)

Have you ever wondered what it was like to attend a Russian Orthodox wedding…in real time? That’s what you get with The Deer Hunter. Okay, so it’s not really “real-time” but it sure feels like that. Still, the movie, with a runtime of 184 minutes, is one of the most intense movies in the history of film and one of the best movies about Vietnam. It’s a harrowing journey for every character in the movie and for audiences along for the ride. 

JFK (1991)

Oliver Stone’s JFK is not the most historically accurate movie ever made, but it is endlessly entertaining. The all-star cast and wild story made for a very fun movie. So fun, in fact, that viewers hardly notice the three-hour-plus runtime. 

Killers Of The Flower Moon (2023)

Director Martin Scorsese loves to make long movies. His 2023 masterpiece Killers Of The Flower Moon is no exception. There is a lot of story to tell in Killers, so the director needs every bit of the 206 minutes it takes to tell it. The acting performances are amazing and the period set pieces are beautiful. All in all, it’s everything you want from an epic. 

Gandhi (1982)

Ben Kingsley's performance in Gandhi is fantastic. Playing a mythical figure like Mahatma Gandhi can’t be easy, but he brings everything to the role. The film itself is one of the best biopics ever produced, and with a runtime of 3 hours and 11 minutes, it gives audiences everything about the Father of India’s life from a student in London to the leader of the most effective non-violent uprising in human history.

Titanic (1997)

A huge boat deserves a huge movie, and there is none bigger than James Cameron’s Titanic. The insanely popular movie, which won 11 Oscars and has made over $2 billion at the box office will forever be considered as one of Hollywood’s greatest triumphs. The gaudy box office numbers are matched by the film’s length, which totals 3 hours and 15 minutes. Interestingly, the actual Titanic took less time to sink, at 2 hours and 40 minutes. 

Cleopatra (1963)

At over 4 hours long, Cleopatra is epic in every single way. The production was legendary, as it was way over budget and took way longer than it was supposed to take. Elizabeth Taylor is amazing, as are Richard Burton and Rex Harrison. The movie was a huge hit, but only a moderate financial success because of the budget overruns, but it is truly one of the best of old-time holidays.

Gettysburg (1993)

One of the longest movies ever produced by Hollywood is Gettysburg, the Civil War epic that tells the story of one of the most important battles in United States history. It is revered by Civil War buffs and historians for it’s accuracy in portraying the battle from both sides of the conflict. With the theatrical release coming in at 4 hours and 12 minutes and the directors cut adding another 20 minutes or so, it’s a movie that takes commitment, but that commitment is rewarded. 

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Director David Lean is no stranger to long movies. The scope of many of his movies is huge and Doctor Zhivago is no exception. Long heralded as a true Hollywood classic, Doctor Zhivago isn’t the best of Lean’s movies, and it hasn’t aged as well as some of his other films, but it’s still a fantastic movie even at 192 minutes. 

The Green Mile (1999)

This one is the most surprising in the list, because it doesn’t feel like a 3-hour+ movie, but it is. The Green Mile is beloved by many, especially Stephen King fans, who rank it among the best of the many movies adapted from his books. Michael Clarke Duncan shines in this movie, along with the rest of the great cast, in a story that pops all the way through its long runtime. 

Magnolia (1999)

Paul Thomas Anderson is not afraid to make a long movie, but surprisingly the only one of his films to surpass the three-hour mark is Magnolia. It’s a movie that has a lot of story to tell, so the runtime is justified and the acting performances along make it all worth it. 

Avatar: Way Of The Water (2022)

Avatar: Way Of The Water’s 3 hours and 12 minute running time didn’t intimidate audiences, who turned out in droves to see the follow-up to also wildly popular Avatar. The movie made more than $2 billion at the box office, which is just incredible for a movie of its length. 

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

No one ever expects a comedy to run more than three hours, but It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is well over in some of its versions. There have been multiple versions released, but the longest is the 197-minute version released by the Criterion Collection in 2014. The original version released in theaters was a mere 159 minutes long. 

Spartacus (1960)

Despite their epic nature, Stanley Kubrick’s films are typically right around a tight two hours. The one exception is Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas and Sir Laurence Olivier. The film, with its legendary “I am Spartacus” scene, is the longest of Kubrick's career at 3 hours and 17 minutes. 

Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)

Reaching just under the 3-hour mark, Judgment at Nuremberg is a minute short of the mark meant for this list, but it’s such an epic movie, that we couldn’t leave it off. Director Stanley Kramer brought in an all-star cast including Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster, among others, to tell this important story of the Nazis on trial after World War Two. 

Hamlet (1996)

Hamlet is probably William Shakespeare’s most revered work and Kenneth Branagh’s treatment of it on film is worthy of the play’s status. It’s a truly epic production with an unbelievably talented cast including Branagh as the titular Prince of Denmark. It’s also just over four hours long, as the first and to-date only full version of the play put on film. 

Che (2008)

Depending on how you count Che, it’s either two movies, Part 1 and Part 2, each about a hundred and 135 minutes long, or, as director Steven Soderbergh intended, one 267-minute movie. The scope of the movie is, obviously, huge, as it follows the revolutionary life of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, played by Benicio del Toro. It’s a serious commitment, but worth it, like so many of the movies on this list. 

The Seven Samurai (1954)

Akira Kurosawa is easily the most influential and revered Japanese filmmaker in history and one of his most loved films, The Seven Samurai, is also one of his longest. The movie runs 207 minutes and there is never a dull moment. It’s easy to see why Kurosawa has had such an effect on those who have followed him. 

Ryan's Daughter (1970)

Though it was not as critically acclaimed as his other films, David Lean’s Ryan's Daughter is still a really good movie. Audiences thought so too and despite the long running time, 195 minutes in the original theatrical release, it thrived at the box office. 

Logistics (2012)

Thought to be the longest movie ever made, the documentary Logistics has a full running length of 35 days and 17 hours. It follows, in reverse chronological order, a product made in China, shipped to Sweden, and purchased in a store, in real-time. From the store to the truck to the container ship to the Chinese factory. If it sounds boring, well, yeah, much of it is, but it's completely fascinating and there are shorter, edited versions available online to get a sense of the scope. 

Usually, when filmmakers set out to produce an epic three-hour movie, they have a story in mind that needs that long to tell. Not everyone loves them, but as these movies prove, it often works.

Mob movies bring a lot of destruction, and a lot death. Some of the most memorable death scenes stay with us long past walking out of the theater or turning off the TV. It's not always the most violent ones that spook us, though sometimes they do. Here is our haunting list of mob deaths in movies that we can't stop thinking about. (Obviously, big spoilers ahead for the movies mentioned in this list!) 

Sonny Corleone (The Godfather)

It's not like audiences are ever surprised to see Don Corleone's oldest son, Sonny, get taken out by Barzini's men by the toll booth in The Godfather. His famous "hot head" gets to him as he tries in vain to rescue his sister from her abusive husband. Still, there is something in that performance by James Caan that makes it unforgettable, he so wants to live and it takes a true barrage to take him down.  

Nicky Santoro (Casino)

Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) in Casino is a notorious hothead, never backing down from even the slightest insult. His unbridled recklessness eventually is his undoing when the mobsters from back east have had enough and order his hit. The brutality of the hit, done with baseball bats, will forever live in our nightmares. 

Sonny (A Bronx Tale)

Sonny's (Chazz Palminteri) death in A Bronx Tale isn't particularly violent, it's a straight up mob shooting. What makes it so freaky is how happy Sonny looks just before he gets it. He's at a party, enjoying life, when bang! he's gone. He never even sees it coming. 

Billy Batts (Goodfellas)

Actor Frank Vincent plays a great mob guy. In Goodfellas, which is one of the best movies of the '90s, he plays Billy Batts, the guy that tells Tommy (Joe Pesci) to go get his shinebox. Tommy doesn't like it very much, to say the least and later, when Billy is relaxed, he jumps him with the help of Henry (Ray Liotta) and Jimmy (Robert De Niro). It's a brutal beating, but he doesn't die right away, instead, Tommy is forced to stab him in the trunk of the car later. 

Tango (American Gangster)

Idris Elba plays a criminal well. Let's be honest, he plays everything well. One of his smaller roles in American Gangster is a dealer named Tango who's trying to take over Harlem. Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) gets insulted by Tango and his greed, so Lucas takes him out in the middle of the street, in broad daylight. No one saw it coming, and Tango didn't get his 20% of the package. 

Fredo Corleone (The Godfather II)

There is no more haunting on-screen moment on film than Fredo Corleone's (John Cazale) final moments on a boat, reciting a Hail Mary, in the middle of Lake Tahoe just before he meets his end. He had crossed his brother and insulted him, and while Michael (Al Pacino) waits until their mother has passed to do the deed, Fredo's time comes. 

Dominic (Once Upon A Time In America)

Dominic (Noah Moazezi) is one of Noodles' (played as an adult by Robert De Niro) best friends as a kid.  In one of the most touching and sad parts of the movie, Dominic is murdered in the streets by their boss-turned-enemy Bugsy. In a fit of rage, young Noodles attacks Bugsy, stabbing him to death before assaulting a police officer and getting carted off to jail. 

Jimmy Hoffa (The Irishman)

The Irishman isn't a perfect movie, and it plays fast and loose with some of the history, but it's not like every viewer didn't wait to see how they would portray the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Hoffa, whose body has never been found, was shot to death in the movie by Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), who is the Irishman in the title of the movie. Just when you think they won't show anything, Sheehan takes him out. 

Jimmy "Jump" Colt (King Of New York)

Laurence Fishburne is one of the best actors of our time, and there is no more haunting death scene in a mob movie than his death in King Of New York. The screams of agony as he's shot and laying on the ground will stay with us forever. 

Luca Brasi (The Godfather)

"Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes," is one of the most iconic lines ever. How he got to the fishes is terrifying. When Brasi (Lenny Montana) is strangled to death, the look on his face and the fear and intensity in his eyes is something no one could ever forget. The scene is so realistic, it's scary. 

"Hollywood" Dick Moltisanti (The Many Saints of Newark)

Patricide is always haunting, even when the father maybe deserves it. In The Many Saints Of Newark, Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola) violently murders his father "Hollywood" Dick Moltisanti (Ray Liotta). You can understand maybe where the rage comes from, but it doesn't make it easier to watch. 

Bill The Butcher (Gangs of New York)

For most of Gangs of New York, Bill The Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis) is the one dishing out the violence. That changes when he's confronted on the street by Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio) during the Civil War draft riot. Amsterdam brutally gets his long-awaited revenge on Bill by stabbing him to death with his father's knife. 

Johnny Ola (The Godfather II)

Fredo betrayed his brother in The Godfather II, and his partner in that was Johnny Ola, played by future Sopranos cast member Dominic Chianese. It stands to reason that Michael would be looking for revenge on Ola and he gets it when Ola is strangled to death on a balcony with a clothes hanger.

Carlito (Carlito's Way)

In Carlito's Way, Al Pacino plays Carlito Brigante, a gangster trying to go straight and stay out of prison. Sadly, as is too often the case, his criminal past won't let go of him and he finds himself back where he started, as a gangster. Because he tries so hard to turn his life around, his death at the hands of Benny Blanco from The Bronx (John Leguizamo) is especially tragic. 

Frank Nitty (The Untouchables)

The notorious gangster and henchman to Al Capone Frank Nitty is one of the creepiest roles in The Untouchables. Billy Drago's performance is evil personified in the best way. Finally, that evil is too much for the straight-laced Eliott Ness (Kevin Costner) has had enough and tosses him from a roof, and the screams on his way are terrifying. 

Billy Costigan (The Departed)

Just when you think Billy (Leonardo DiCaprio) is going to make it out of his undercover assignment in The Departed alive, his life ends in a millisecond. As the doors open to the elevator that is transporting an arrested Sullivan (Matt Damon) in, Billy is immediately dropped, almost mid-sentence by Trooper Barrigan (James Badge Dale). 

Walter McGinn (Gangs Of New York)

Walter McGinn (Brendan Gleeson) is one of the most likable characters in Gangs of New York which makes the beating he takes from Bill the Butcher all that much harder to watch. Bill murders him right in the street in front of everyone, shocking the characters in the movie and the audience watching. 

Joey Zasa (The Godfather III)

All three Godfather movies leave audiences' mouths agape at some of the murders. They aren't usually gory, but they are unforgettable. Even the lamented Godfather III provides one excellent moment like this. As he walks down the street, mob boss Joey Zasa (Joe Mantegna) is gunned down by Vincent Corleone (Andy Garcia) and we'll never forget it. 

Tommy Devito (Goodfellas)

Tommy Devito in Goodfellas is a bad guy, a really bad guy. Still, when he walks into the room thinking he's about to get made, only to realize at the last moment that he's actually getting murdered, it shocks us. Jimmy's reaction on the pay phone says it all, breaking the phone in a fit of anger and frustration. For audiences, it's simply shocking. 

Bar Patron (Casino)

One of the most shocking and brutal scenes in any mob movie is when Ace (Robert De Niro) and Nicky in Casino get into an argument with a random bar patron. Ace asks the man about his pen, and the man, not knowing who was dealing with, responds with an attitude. He learns quickly he messed with the wrong guys when Nicky used the pen to stab him to death. 

Lefty Ruggiero (Donnie Brasco)

Here is an example of why you don't even need to see the death to be haunted by it. Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino) in Donnie Brasco knows what fate lays before him. He quietly takes off his wedding ring and other valuables, careful not to let his wife see, walks out the door and audiences hear a shot. It's hard not to feel sorry for him. 

Moe Green (The Godfather)

There is a moment in The Godfather when Michael is settling all family business. A number of associates are killed, but none of those leave an impression on the audience like Moe Greene (Alex Rocco) taking a bullet right in his eye. 

Manny Ray (Scarface)

A great trick that mob movies pull is getting audiences to feel empathy for the violent thugs portrayed in them. There are few better examples than Scarface. Tony Montana (Al Pacino) and Manny Ray (Steven Bauer) might be blood brothers, but they are terrible people. Still, you can't help but feel terrible for both of them after Tony guns Manny down after catching Manny with his sister. 

Jim Malone (The Untouchables)

Sean Connery's Jim Malone in The Untouchables is finally what won an Oscar for the Scottish actor. He's the heart and soul of the movie, and the crew of agents tracking Capone. When he's gunned down in his apartment, it's heartwrenching. 

Frankie Carbone (Goodfellas)

Audiences don't see Frankie Carbone (Frank Sivero) get whacked in Goodfellas, but we'll never forget what he looked like when the cops found him in the meat truck. "He was frozen so stiff it took them three days to thaw him out for the autopsy," according to Henry Hill in the movie. 

The Horse (The Godfather)

The most brutal and terrifying scene in The Godfather isn't the death of a human but of a horse. When Jack Woltz wakes up with his prized racehorse's head in his bed, the blood-curdling scream is pure nightmare fuel. 

John Rooney (Road To Perdition)

Like so many other mob movies, audiences develop a bond with the characters in Road to Perdition, and when Tom Hanks' character guns down his mentor, John Rooney, played by the great Paul Newman, our collective hearts sink. His last words, "I'm glad it was you," are forever haunting.

Virgil (True Romance)

The late James Gandolfini doesn't have a huge role in True Romance but his fight and eventually death at the hands of Alabama (Patricia Arquette) is absolutely brutal and totally unforgettable. Gandolfini shows that terrifying rage in his eyes he later became famous for on The Sopranos.

Don Ciccio (The Godfather II)

Revenge plays a big role in the development of young Vito Corleone in The Godfather II. He completes his revenge mission by taking out Don Ciccio, the Don in Italy who killed his family and forced him to leave for the United States. Ciccio is an old man, and defenseless, which makes the stabbing all the more brutal and unforgettable. 

Johnny Boy (Mean Streets)

Somehow Mean Streets is often overlooked in both Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese's careers far too often. When De Niro's character Johnny Boy gets it at the end, it's at the hands of Jimmy Shorts, played by Scorsese himself. 

Bugsy Siegel (Bugsy)

Bugsy, starring Warren Beatty as Ben "Bugsy" Siegel is a pretty uneven movie, but there is no question that the scene toward the end when Bugsy meets his end is unforgettable. There is something about the way he never sees it coming that makes it so scary. 

Spider (Goodfellas)

One of Michael Imperioli's earliest roles was Spider in Goodfellas. Tommy really doesn't like Spider and audiences soon learn just how scary Tommy is when he shoots Spider in the foot for messing up his drink order. Later, it gets even worse when Spider insults Tommy and Tommy kills him. Who can forget Spider jumping on one foot? 

Mob movies have a way of imprinting themselves in our memory, and the haunting deaths are a big reason why. 

No actor wants to be typecast as a villain, but Jesse Plemons is just too damn good at playing them. Thus, ever since his sinister turn in the Breaking Bad cast as Todd, he has practically made a living playing characters that range from morally questionable (such as Agent Roy Mitchell in Judas and the Black Messiah) to stereotypically mustache-twirling (Prince Joachim in Jungle Cruise).

Believe it or not, the two-time Emmy-nominated former child actor has played a few roles that are worthy of empathy, which we will highlight in our following picks of the best Jesse Plemons movies and TV shows to watch right now. However, we cannot help but start with his biggest, baddest, and (arguably) most iconic role.

Breaking Bad (Netflix)

Desperate to be able to provide for his family after learning he is terminally ill, a high school chemistry teacher (five-time Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston) teams up with his former student (Aaron Paul) to start manufacturing and selling crystal methamphetamine, which sparks a slow, dramatic change to his morality.

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: For how despicable Walter White became over the course of Breaking Bad’s groundbreaking five seasons from 2008 to 2013, he is a freaking angel when compared to the cruel, inhumane, and soulless Todd, whom Jesse Plemons began playing on its final season and would reprise in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, through harrowing flashbacks to Jesse Pinkman’s time under his captivity.

Stream Breaking Bad on Netflix.
Buy Breaking Bad on Amazon.

Also try streaming El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie on Netflix.

Black Mirror: U.S.S. Callister (Netflix)

A charismatic space traveler (Jesse Plemons) bravely, wisely, and compassionately leads his loyal crew on a dangerous journey through the farthest reaches of space… or so it seems.

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: Similarly to how he portrayed Todd, Jesse Plemons lures you in with a seemingly harmless, almost sympathetic demeanor before pulling the rug right from under you in one violent jolt with his Emmy-nominated performance in one of the best Black Mirror episodes, “U.S.S. Callister” - a stunning ode to old school Star Trek with a disturbing, technophobic twist.

Stream Black Mirror: U.S.S. Callister on Netflix.

I’m Thinking Of Ending Things (Netflix)

An unnamed young woman (Irish actress Jessie Buckley) joins her new boyfriend (Jesse Plemons) on a trip to meet his mother (Toni Collette) and father (Dave Thewlis) at his secluded childhood home, where bizarre circumstances cause her to question the nature of her relationship and her own life as she knows it.

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: Another Netflix original in which Jesse Plemons’ moral compass and trustworthiness are put into question is the 2020 movie, I’m Thinking of Ending Things - an impeccably strange and thoroughly unnerving adaptation of Ian Reid’s novel, that writer and director Charlie Kaufman adapts into one of his most defining works. 

Stream I’m Thinking Of Ending Things on Netflix.

Game Night (Amazon Rental)

A married couple (Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams) who regularly have friends over for evenings to play harmless games are in for their most memorable instance of such an occasion (if they can survive it), when the husband’s brother (Kyle Chandler) offers to be the host this time.

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams’ characters question the moral compass and trustworthiness of the creepy cop who lives next door (Jesse Plemons, who also gets to reunite with Friday Night Lights’ Kyle Chandler) in 2018’s Game Night - a surprisingly clever and uproariously funny dark comedy, directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.

Rent/Buy Game Night on Amazon.

Like Mike (HBO Max)

An orphaned teenager (Shad “Bow Wow” Moss) becomes an NBA star with the help of a pair of shoes that once belonged to Michael Jordan which, after a freak electrical accident, magically give him extraordinary athletic abilities.

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: Jesse Plemons was “breaking bad” even as a child actor, when he played the resident bully at Lil Bow Wow’s orphanage in 2002’s Like Mike - one of the best sports movies for kids that the whole family can enjoy.

Stream Like Mike on HBO Max.
Rent/Buy Like Mike on Amazon.

Friday Night Lights (Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, Tubi)

A Texas high school football team and their dedicated head coach (Kyle Chandler) struggle to stay on top while falling under the pressures of life and from being one of the nation’s top-ranking academic athletics programs.

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: Speaking of sports, Jesse Plemons’ first major role on a hit series came when he was hired for the Friday Night Lights cast as high school football player Landry Clarke - one of the most likable characters (a rarity for the actor now) on one of TV’s most beloved athletic dramas.

Stream Friday Night Lights on Netflix.
Stream Friday Night Lights on Hulu.

Stream Friday Night Lights on Peacock.
Stream Friday Night Lights on Tubi.

Buy Friday Night Lights on Amazon.

Fargo, Season 2 (Hulu)

A deadly shooting at a local diner has a tangentially life-changing effect on a State Trooper (Patrick Wilson), a seemingly innocent married couple (Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst), and a small criminal organization in 1970s Minnesota.

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: In his first Emmy-nominated TV role, Jesse Plemons plays a meek butcher’s assistant who becomes embroiled in a different kind of bloody mess with his wife (Kirsten Dunst, who became Plemons’ real-life romantic partner) in the second season of Fargo - FX’s arresting anthology crime series loosely inspired by Joel and Ethan Coen’s Oscar-winning 1996 masterpiece.

Stream Fargo, Season 2 on Hulu.
Buy Fargo, Season 2 on Amazon.

The Irishman (Netflix)

An elderly man (Academy Award winner Robert De Niro) reminisces about the decades he spent loyally working as a hitman for the mafia and how that career tragically intersected with his friendship with labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Academy Award winner Al Pacino).

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: Jimmy Hoffa’s unofficial “adopted son” (and unwitting accomplice to his mysterious disappearance), Chuckie O’Brien, in the allegedly fact-based 2019 Netflix original movie The Irishman was Jesse Plemons’ first role as directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese, who would later cast the actor in his upcoming historical crime drama, Killers of the Flower Moon.

Stream The Irishman on Netflix.

Judas And The Black Messiah (HBO Max)

To avoid serving time in prison and to make some good cash, a young thief (Oscar nominee Lakeith Stanfield) accepts an offer from a shady FBI agent (Jesse Plemons) to be an informant for Chicago’s chapter of the Black Panther party, and unexpectedly comes to admire the chairman, Fred Hampton (Academy Award winner Daniel Kaluuya).

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: While he is not exactly playing a criminal this time, you will not remember Jesse Plemons’ role as Roy Mitchell too fondly by the Judas and the Black Messiah ending - director Shaka King’s powerful, Oscar-winning retelling of a shocking and unjustly overlooked tragedy in the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

Stream Judas And The Black Messiah on HBO Max.
Buy Judas And The Black Messiah on Amazon.

Other People (Netflix)

After recently breaking up with his boyfriend, a New York comedy writer (Jesse Plemons) must confront his dysfunctional relationship with his conservative family when he moves back in with them to help care for his terminally ill mother (former Saturday Night Live cast member Molly Shannon).

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: In 2016, Jesse Plemons gave one of the most honest and heartfelt performances of his film career in Other People - a deeply emotional, but effectively funny, story loosely inspired by writer and director Chris Kelly’s own life experiences.

Stream Other People on Netflix.

Vice (Hulu)

Politician Dick Cheney (an almost entirely unrecognizable Christian Bale in Oscar-winning makeup) rises to unprecedented power in the United States government from his discreet position as Vice President of the administration headed by George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell).

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: Other than the fact that Jesse Plemons plays him, I suppose it is not too surprising that the most likable and sympathetic character in writer and director Adam McKay’s Vice is a fictional character named Kurt, who also narrates this dazzling, inventive 2018 satire for reasons I will not give away.

Stream Vice on Hulu.
Rent/Buy Vice on Amazon.

The Power Of The Dog (Netflix)

A charming, yet domineering, ranch hand (Benedict Cumberbatch) ungraciously taunts his brother’s (Jesse Plemons) new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and her feeble son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), until he and the young man begin to grow unexpectedly close.

Why it’s worth checking out if you like Jesse Plemons: Jesse Plemons reunites with his real-life love, Kirsten Dunst, onscreen and has the advantage of not being the most brutally antagonistic character in the 2021 Netflix original, The Power of the Dog - a stunning return for The Piano director Jane Campion, based on Thomas Savage's Neo-Western novel.

Stream The Power Of The Dog on Netflix.

In addition to Martin Scorsese’s aforementioned Killers of the Flower Moon, set for a 2022 release on Apple TV+, Jesse Plemons is also starring opposite Jason Segel and Lily Collins in the home invasion thriller, Windfall, which is expected to come out that same year. He is also currently filming the HBO Max exclusive true crime miniseries, Love and Death.

Robert De Niro has been in some spectacular movies, and Martin Scorsese has directed some phenomenal films. But for my money, the best flicks are the Martin Scorsese movies that feature Robert De Niro. The two have been good friends for decades, and Scorsese has directed De Niro in a total of nine films. Dating all the way back to 1973’s Mean Streets, the two have worked together in the ‘80s and ‘90s (Goodfellas came out in 1990), took a break for most of the 2000’s, and then worked together again with 2019’s The Irishman.

The thing is, out of those 9 films, I would say that at least 8 of them are masterpieces. And if I was going to judge the films alone, I’d probably put Goodfellas at number 1. But I don’t want to do that list. Instead, I’d rather focus on De Niro’s performances in those 9 films. In some of these movies, De Niro is the protagonist, and in others, he’s more of a side character. But in all of them, De Niro acted his heart out, making every last one of them memorable. Are you talking to me?

Oh, and minor spoilers up ahead.

9. New York, New York (1977)

Starring Liza Minnelli as a pop singer, and Robert De Niro as a saxophonist back in the 1940s, De Niro plays one of his typically charming, albeit, volatile characters, but this time in a love story with Minnelli’s character. De Niro actually learned to play the sax for this role, but he still had to be overdubbed since it looked the part, but apparently didn’t sound the part. Overall, it’s an okay performance.

I suppose my biggest complaint is that the movie isn’t doing anybody any favors. De Niro can be scary at times when he’s raging at Minnelli’s character, and he can be fun-loving when he’s up on the stage. But I feel like he’s done the same performance in other movies, but better. An overall forgettable movie, and a mostly forgettable performance, unfortunately.

8. Mean Streets (1973)

There is a great album by The Minutemen titled, What Makes a Man Start Fires?, which reminds me of De Niro’s performance in the movie, Mean Streets, as what kind of man blows up a mailbox? Robert De Niro plays a hood up to no good. Meanwhile, his friend played by Harvey Keitel, feels conflicted since he wants to look out for De Niro’s character, but also wants to move on, too, and get away from the mob.

I love De Niro’s performance in this, but it may be a bit too over the top since it kind of overshadows the rest of the cast. That’s not to say that it’s bad, as it’s not. It’s brilliant! But it reminds me of Natalie Portman’s Oscar-winning performance in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, in that it’s so great that it kind of lessens the rest of the already excellent movie, if that makes any sense. Harvey Keitel’s performance just kind of gets lost beside De Niro’s is what I’m saying.

7. The Irishman (2019)

Scorsese’s and De Niro’s most recent collaboration, The Irishman, features De Niro as supposed hitman, Frank Sheeran. The film also stars Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, amongst many others. De Niro is mostly the protagonist of the story as he befriends Pacino’s Jimmy Hoffa character, while also watching him in case he gets out of line in his duties. What follows is a story that goes back and forth in Sheeran’s life, where he reminisces on his past while living in a hospital.

I like De Niro’s performance in The Irishman, but it’s actually the inverse of Mean Streets in that his performance gets overshadowed by Pacino’s Hoffa portrayal. Let’s just say this. If this was De Niro’s last performance with Scorsese (It thankfully won’t be since he’ll be in Killers of the Flower Moon), it would likely be considered more of a footnote in an otherwise fantastic career than anything else.

6. Goodfellas (1990)

You ever watch The Animaniacs? There was this great skit called The Goodfeathers, where it parodied The Godfather and Goodfellas using pigeons. Well, of the three pigeons, which were supposed to represent Ray Liotta’s, Joe Pesci’s, and Robert De Niro’s characters in Goodfellas, De Niro’s pigeon, Bobby, was the least interesting. He was kind of like the mediator between Liotta’s (Squit) and Pesci’s (Pesto)’s pigeons.

And that’s kind of how I see De Niro’s performance in Goodfellas. Sure, De Niro’s performance as the Irish-American, Jimmy Conway, is both inviting to Liotta’s character and intimidating. But the film, which is about a young man who rises up the ranks in the mafia, is kind of great outside of De Niro’s performance. When I think of Goodfellas, De Niro’s character is always the third character I think of. Not bad, but definitely not his best, either.

5. Casino (1995)

There’s an argument to be made about whether Casino is better than Goodfellas, and it all goes to Robert De Niro’s performance in this mid-‘90s gangster film. De Niro plays a Jewish-American sports handicapper who’s tasked by the Chicago mafia to oversee a Casino in Vegas. Things go well at first, but the film also chronicles how things go south over the course of time.

I prefer De Niro’s performance in Casino to Goodfella’s because he’s the star this time, and I love to see him sweat. He’s not the confident killer he is in many other films, but rather, somebody who’s really struggling. You don’t see that often with De Niro, but when you do, it’s appreciated.

4. Cape Fear (1991)

De Niro plays intimidating characters well, but in Cape Fear, he got creepy. Playing a rapist who studies the law and goes after the public defender who put him away, De Niro got super shredded for this role. But the best part is just how gross he is as Max Cady, especially when he’s kicking it with the prosecutor’s teenage daughter, played by Julliette Lewis.

This is a really dark performance, and it’s uncomfortable to watch. You get totally absorbed with De Niro’s performance and it gets to the point that you legitimately hate him. It’s a visceral role and one of his best with Scorsese.

3. The King of Comedy (1982)

The King of Comedy is sometimes called a satirical black comedy drama film, but I don’t see anything funny about it. De Niro plays a man who’s obsessed with fame and is seeking out any means to break in as possible. It feels like he thinks that comedy just seems like the best route for him. But De Niro’s performance in this makes me even more uncomfortable than Cape Fear did, which is insane.

It’s all because Max Cady in Cape Fear feels like a character, while Rupert Pupkin, who even kidnaps a celebrity to get what he wants, feels very real. He sinks into his own head and has delusions of grandeur, and it’s an extremely dark and nuanced performance that gives me the creeps.

2. Taxi Driver (1976)

Possibly Scorsese’s darkest film, De Niro plays a taxi driver who is becoming more and more disenchanted with the world. It gets to the point that he believes he’s going to clean up the streets himself, just like some public service vigilante.

Travis Bickle was an incel before the term even existed. In my mind, this is De Niro’s most nuanced performance as he plays the kind of man that you can both sympathize with, but also not want to step foot near. His deteriorating mind is gradual at first, but then sharp. It’s my favorite De Niro/Scorsese performance, but I know everybody’s else favorite…

1. Raging Bull (1980)

The film that won Robert de Niro his Best Actor trophy, Raging Bull is about the kind of man who would openly tell somebody to punch him in the face. Playing real life boxer, Jake LaMotta, De Niro is both in tremendous shape, and also in not so tremendous shape, as the film chronicles his boxing career as well as what happened afterward.

Though I find Travis Bickle’s story much more compelling, one can’t help but love all the facets and nuances of De Niro’s performance in Raging Bull. He’s likable at times, but also so terrifying to everybody around him that it’s sometimes hard to even stomach. Raging Bull is not only De Niro’s best performance with Scorsese. It’s probably his greatest performance of all time.

And that’s the list. But which of these is your favorite De Niro performance in a Scorsese film? Sound off in the poll below. And if you want to know things like what we think are the best Martin Scorsese movies, then make sure to stop by often.

This poll is no longer available.

It’s no secret that it’s the Golden Age of the comic book movie, especially as Marvel Cinematic Universe films dominate the moviegoing conversation year after year. But in 2019, revered Taxi Driver and Goodfellas filmmaker Martin Scorsese took a major dig at the genre when he declared that Marvel-type movies are “not cinema” and likened them to “theme park” movies. Ahead of The Suicide Squad, director/writer James Gunn fired back at the director's criticisms, though he later pointed out a deep respect for Scorsese's body of work.

When Martin Scorsese’s initial comments went viral ahead of the release of The Irishman, James Gunn shared his disappointment in his comments. The Guardians of the Galaxy director said that Scorsese is one of his top five favorite living directors, but didn’t necessarily appreciate the judgement toward a topic that includes his work. More recently, Gunn has forwarded the conversation with these remarks:

James Gunn shared his point of view while speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. During the conversation, Horowitz asked the director how he felt to be a filmmaker that has to come to the defense of superhero films time and time again when comments such as Martin Scorsese's have surfaced. Gunn continued with this:

James Gunn said he could understand and make sense of some of Martin Scorsese’s comments about the genre, even pointing to his own experiences watching directors flush down inspired visions for commercial products. But in the case of his movies, he felt it was unfair for The Departed filmmaker to throw them under the bus when every one of them is not like the other.

He called the comments “irritating” overall because Martin Scorsese hasn’t seen his movie specifically, and James Gunn knows full well he is trying his best to make something out of the ordinary from the other films of the genre. Scorsese isn’t the only one. Francis Ford Coppola, Ridley Scott, David Fincher and even Tim Burton have been critical of superhero films as they reign in Hollywood today, whilst actors like Aquaman’s Jason Momoa have jabbed back. James Gunn later clarified his comments after his quote starting circulating to be more positive on the Scorsese front and to note there was no "feud" between the two directors.

James Gunn’s latest movie is The Suicide Squad, a reimagining of the DC property that sees a group of villainous outcasts coming together for a shady mission. It comes to theaters and HBO Max on August 5. Gunn will next return to Marvel to make Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as Martin Scorsese films his next movie Killers of the Flower Moon.

The Irishman brought together four of the most iconic figures in gangster film history - Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci - for one of the biggest gangster films of all time, in both scope and budget. While the film, released in 2019, may still be relatively fresh in fans’ minds, the process of making The Irishman was a long one for Scorsese and company for a variety of reasons. Here’s a sampling of just some of the things that went into making The Irishman with these eight behind-the-scenes facts.

The Irishman Took The Greenlight Away From Another Scorsese/De Niro Collab

Back in 2007, it had been 12 years since Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro had worked together, with Casino being their last film. The wheels were in motion for the iconic duo to finally reunite, but it wasn’t for The Irishman. In fact, The Irishman completely killed the project they were discussing at the time.

In a Hollywood Reporter profile piece for The Irishman, it was shared that Paramount’s Brad Grey was ready to give the greenlight for Frankie Machine, which would see De Niro play a retired hitman drawn back for another job. However, while doing research for Frankie Machine, De Niro read Charles Brandt’s book about Frank Sheeran, I Heard You Paint Houses. After talking with Scorsese, the pair felt a stronger connection to Sheeran’s story.

As De Niro’s producing partner Jane Rosenthal recalled, Grey had little qualm with swapping a greenlight for a development deal, and that was how work on what would become The Irishman began.

Joe Pesci Took A Long Time To Convince To Do The Irishman

One of the biggest draws of The Irishman - besides the given of it being a Martin Scorsese film - was that it would bring together Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, an iconic trio appearing all together for the first time on the big screen. However, it wasn’t easy getting Pesci to agree to do the film.

Since Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998, Joe Pesci had only appeared on screen in two movies - The Good Shepherd (a cameo for a film directed by De Niro) in 2006 and Love Ranch in 2010. Pesci was in de facto retirement, during which he was filling his time by performing jazz under the name Joe Doggs.

But the team behind The Irishman were not going to take no for an answer. Reports were that they asked Pesci 50 times (Scorsese quipped to Entertainment Weekly it was probably more) with him saying no. De Niro even joked about it during an appearance at the 2016 Guys Choice Awards.

Pesci, of course, eventually relented. Scorsese said in multiple interviews that a key reason was that Pesci’s role as Russell Buffalino was different than the roles he had in Goodfellas or Casino.

Jane Rosenthal, in Criterion’s The Irishman making-of documentary, said there was never any doubt in their minds that Pesci would say yes. “[T]here are certain times that no is not an option.”

How The Irishman Production Reminded Al Pacino Of The 1970s Era Of Filmmaking

The Irishman was the first film that Martin Scorsese did for a streaming company. The production used digital de-aging technology so that De Niro, Pacino and Pesci could play their characters at different ages. But despite all of these 21st century components, working on The Irishman reminded Al Pacino of the kind of filmmaking he first experienced on sets like The Godfather and others in the New Hollywood era of the 1970s.

A big reason for that was because The Irishman was not made by the traditional studios. With an estimated budget of $159 million, most studios didn’t want to make a three-and-a-half hour soulful gangster film starring octogenarians, especially in a market dominated by the “theme-park” cinema of today, as Scorsese has called it. Netflix, which has earned a reputation for letting filmmakers tackle unique and different stories, swooped in and gave Scorsese and The Irishman just about everything they needed.

The De-Aging Technology Was Tested By Reshooting A Goodfellas Scene

The Irishman spans 50 years, covering Frank Sheeran’s story from how he got involved in the mafia as a hitman, his relationship with Jimmy Hoffa and his final days living with regret. Scorsese didn’t love the idea of casting younger versions of Sheeran, Hoffa and the other characters when he had three of the greatest actors ever available at his disposal. So the director opted to experiment with digital de-aging technology, relying on some past work to test how good the tech was.

Working with Pablo Helman from Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Robert De Niro performed a scene from Goodfellas, which at the time was about a 25-year difference. Helman, in the Criterion documentary, described what they used for the test as a “band-aid” setup for what they would use in the film, but it did its job, with the crew calling the results of the test a “home run.”

From the test to production, the technology, and how they were able to capture it, only got better.

The Camera Used For De-Aging Shots Was Called The “Three-Headed Monster”

Using digital technology to alter an actor’s appearance isn’t new. But Scorsese was not going to put his actors in motion-capture suits, with a bunch of dots on their faces the sizes of golf balls, as he described it, saying it would be in their way. So instead, Helman and the visual effects team developed a camera they dubbed the “three-headed monster.”

The setup used for the de-aging effect was comprised of three cameras, the main camera and what Helman called “witness cameras,” which were infrared cameras. These witness cameras (on the right and left of the main camera) would capture specific information about the image’s lighting from four markers on the actor’s heads only able to be picked up by infrared.

There wasn’t just one three-headed monster on set either. Scorsese wanted to shoot with multiple cameras. Despite the connotation, the cameras were crafted so that, as cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto recalled, they were pretty much always shooting with two of these cameras on set, “at least.”

Bobby Cannavale Was Star-Struck By His Irishman Co-Stars

Bobby Cannavale didn’t join the cast of The Irishman as a doe-eyed, young actor new to Hollywood. Cannavale has worked with the likes of Paul Giamatti, Cate Blanchett and The Rock. In fact, he had already been directed by Martin Scorsese (HBO’s Vinyl) and starred alongside Al Pacino (Danny Collins). But even he couldn’t help but be in awe, particularly with De Niro and Pesci.

Ray Romano told a story in the Criterion documentary of one scene that he and Cannavale shared across from these acting legends:

Sometimes, even well-known actors, have to pinch themselves, I guess.

Al Pacino Would Listen To Jimmy Hoffa Speeches Before Scenes

Many actors have different processes when they are playing real people and whether they want to meet them or not. Al Pacino seems to fall in the latter camp. He told interviewers that he found it valuable when playing real-life figures in the past (like Frank Serpico or Jack Kevorkian) to meet with them and create a connection. However, when playing Jimmy Hoffa in The Irishman that obviously was not a possibility. So how did Pacino help build his portrayal?

Ray Romano once again had the behind-the-scenes nuggets. Romano noticed that Pacino would wear headphones before the cameras rolled on a scene. Romano said that when doing more dramatic roles he likes to listen to music to get him in the proper mood, so he asked Pacino what he was listening to. Pacino told him it was recorded speeches that Hoffa made throughout his life, and he would listen to them right up to action.

Scorsese Chose To Reuse A Diner From Goodfellas For Irishman Scene

Sometimes you can go home again, or in this case back to a diner that you already immortalized in another gangster film nearly 30 years prior.

When shooting a diner scene between Robert De Niro and Paul Herman, the production design team assumed the Goodfellas diner was off limits for The Irishman. But after showing Scorsese a multitude of options, he basically said the diner in Goodfellas was great, can they just shoot there?

One thing that Scorsese did not know when returning to the diner was that it had been renamed to the Goodfellas Diner. No word as to whether it is now called the Goodfellas/Irishman Diner.

The Irishman is available to watch on Netflix. Check back with CinemaBlend on updates to Scorsese’s next film, Killers of the Flower Moon.

They say that “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime” - a phrase that, I imagine, takes on a whole new meaning for fans of crime movies since they prefer to spend most of their time watching stories about how people ended up behind bars. I would also imagine that they spend a lot of time browsing through a good chunk of original Netflix movies because, with exclusive Netflix movies such as The Irishman or the recently released The Trial of the Chicago 7, I cannot think of a streaming service better suited for a crime fiction (or even non-fiction) aficionado.

In addition to the other famous gritty thrillers like Drive or Mean Streets, darkly comic capers such as Pineapple Express or the sequels to 2001’s Ocean’s Eleven remake, or twisted documentaries like Abducted in Plain Sight or Surviving R. Kelly, Netflix is the exclusive home for even more criminally entertaining movies and morbidly fascinating non-fiction features about the world’s worst (or, maybe, just the most misunderstood) people. It has made such a killing (no pun intended) off of the genre that you almost wonder if the platform would do just as well by adopting a purely crime-based schtick, a la Shudder’s dedication to providing all horror all the time.

In reality, I do not see such a drastic change in its catalog happening anytime soon, but I have no doubt they will continue to serve plenty more stories of murder, thievery, and other heinous sins for years to come. However, for now, you can enjoy these 12 Netflix original films and documentaries based on such topics, starting with a feature-length spin-off to one of the most acclaimed TV crime dramas of all time.

El Camino (2019)

After escaping the clutches of a neo-Nazi group, a young former crystal meth manufacturer (Emmy-winner Aaron Paul) seeks a new beginning, but must risk life and limb to take care of some unfinished business first.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: Picking up immediately after the events of the Breaking Bad series finale, El Camino chronicles Jesse Pinkman’s blistering race against time to break free of his past mistakes, complimented by brutal flashbacks of his life in captivity and fun appearances of a few familiar faces.

Stream El Camino on Netflix here.

1922 (2017)

Strange events begin to plague a farmer (Thomas Jane) and his teenage son (Dylan Schmid) after they carry out a plan to cure their financial woes, which involves the murder of his wife (Molly Parker), in early 1920s Nebraska.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: Loosely inspired by true events, 1922 is another classic tragedy in the vein of Edgar Allan Poe’s the “Tell-Tale Heart,” but seeing as it is also based on a novella by Stephen King, you can expect it to go in a much more peculiar, and terrifying, direction.

Stream 1922 on Netflix here.

The Devil All The Time (2020)

A young former soldier (Bill Skarsgard) going to extreme lengths to save his ailing wife (Haley Bennett), a murderous couple (Jason Clarke and Riley Keough) scoping out “model” victims, a devoted preacher on the run (Robert Pattinson), and other accounts of shady individuals are tangentially related to the core story of this haunting, post-World War II morality tale.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: Tom Holland leads the star-studded cast of The Devil All the Time - yet another Netflix original rural period piece about ordinary people in very bad situations - based on the book by Donald Ray Pollock, who also serves as the film’s narrator.

Stream The Devil All The Time on Netflix here.

American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020)

A widely publicized investigation ensues after the disappearance of Colorado housewife Shannan Watts and her two daughters, leaving her husband, Chris, a prime suspect.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: Produced by James Marsh, director of the Academy Award-winning Man on a Wire, American Murder: The Family Next Door is the latest attempt from Netflix to make you question who in your life is worth trusting with this original documentary profiling the heartbreaking 2018 crime.

Stream American Murder: The Family Next Door on Netflix here.

The Irishman (2019)

An aging, former labor union official (Robert De Niro) recalls his long career as a mafia hitman and reveals his connection to the shocking disappearing of Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: While The Irishman is, admittedly, inspired by one man’s unproven personal account of an otherwise true story, with direction by Martin Scorsese and a top-notch cast of acting veterans (including an out-of-retirement Joe Pesci), you will be convinced you are seeing history unfold right before eyes by the end of this Oscar-nominee’s three and one half-hour runtime.

Stream The Irishman on Netflix here.

The Highwaymen (2019)

In the 1930s, two former Texas Rangers (Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson) travel across the country in search of a notorious pair of criminals known as Bonnie and Clyde.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: Everybody knows the story of the legendary bank robbing duo, thanks in part to the 1967 film starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, but not as many know about the lawmen who stopped them, which is just what The Highwaymen, from director John Lee Hancock, sets out to do and succeeds beautifully.

Stream The Highwaymen on Netflix here.

The Trial Of The Chicago 7 (2020)

A group of political activists face unfair treatment and discrimination while attempting to prove their innocence after an intended peaceful protest of the Vietnam War ends in violent conflict with Chicago police in 1968.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: A heavy-hitting cast (including Yahya Adbul-Mateen II and Michael Keaton, to name a few) and genius screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (who also directs) bring the infamous true story of The Trial of The Chicago 7 to life in a highly entertaining and powerfully poignant way.

Stream The Trial Of The Chicago 7 on Netflix here.

Team Foxcatcher (2016)

A documentary examination of the relationship between promising American wrestler Dave Schultz and John du Pont - the elderly, wealthy sports enthusiast who funded his Olympic training before inexplicably shooting him in cold blood.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: While it does follow the events that inspired Foxcatcher, the 2014 film starring Steve Carell in an Oscar-nominated performance as John du Pont, Team Foxcatcher goes even more in-depth about the development of the titular team’s formation at Du Pont’s home wrestling facility and the investigation that followed after he caused his star athlete’s tragic demise.

Stream Team Foxcatcher on Netflix here.

22 July (2018)

A harrowing dramatization of the terrorist attack that killed more than 70 young attendees of a Norwegian Labor Party Youth Camp on July 22, 2011.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: Told in three parts (from the perspective of the survivors, political leaders of Oslo, and lawyers involved in the case), 22 July is a rich, pulse-pounding retelling of the devastating mass murder and its aftermath from the director of Captain Phillips and three of the Jason Bourne movies, Paul Greengrass.

Stream 22 July on Netflix here.

Message From The King (2016)

A drifter from South Africa (Chadwick Boseman) will stop at nothing to find his younger sister in Los Angeles after suddenly losing all contact with her without explanation.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: An expectedly strong performance from the late Chadwick Boseman carries Message from the King, a story of the lengths one will for family and the crushing revelations that tend to come from such journeys.

Stream Message From The King on Netflix here.

Amanda Knox (2016)

An in-depth observation of the sensational trial and eventual acquittal of a young woman for the 2007 murder of her roommate and fellow exchange student in Italy.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: The titular, polarizing subject of the Emmy-nominated documentary feature Amanda Knox is profiled through archive footage and intimate interviews with the many people involved with the case, including the Knox herself.

Stream Amanda Knox on Netflix here.

The Lovebirds (2020)

An average couple (Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani) are suddenly thrown into an unusual night of violence, murder, and mystery that puts their relationship to the ultimate test.

Why It Is A Great Netflix Original Crime Story: I figured that after a long binge of such dark and depressing features (especially that Amanda Knox doc) you might be in need of a lighthearted palette cleanser, and that is what just what the The Lovebirds (a romantic comedy with a criminal edge picked up by Netflix in the wake of Covid-19) can do, without diverting too far the morbid content you may prefer.

Stream The Lovebirds on Netflix here.

What do you think? Is The Lovebirds the kind of comic caper that appeals to the lover of both mirth and macabre in you, or could it have been darker? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on the most criminally entertaining movies and TV shows available to stream, as well as the other varieties that can be found among Netflix’s exclusive content, here on CinemaBlend.

The world has gone insane and there's nothing to do except sit and watch movies. Except, if you're Netflix, you've probably seen them all already, right? That's the only reason I can think of that would have led the Netflix Twitter account down the rabbit hole it recently jumped into. The streaming service did a survey of Al Pacino's wardrobe in his decades of films to answer one simple, and yet somewhat bizarre question. Has Al Pacino ever worn shorts in a movie?

Upon reflection, you'd probably think, as Netflix apparently did, that considering the movies we've seen where Al Pacino characters go to beaches and other very hot locations, he must have worn shorts at least once, except, apparently not as this excerpt from a longer-than-you-might-think Twitter thread shows.

In Scarface, apparently just wearing white suits is enough to stay cool on Miami Beach because he never wears shorts. In Donnie Brasco other people are wearing shorts on the beach, making the fact that Al Pacino is wearing long pants while lounging all the more obvious and slightly weird. Sure, tough guys maybe don't wear shorts all that often on screen but are you going to remark that an Al Pacino character in a movie looks silly in shorts when that character could almost certainly murder you? Yeah, I don't think so. If you're tough enough you can wear what you want.

I'm not saying that this is hard-hitting journalism that needed to be done, but it's at the very least entertaining. There's only one problem with it. Netflix apparently dropped the ball. While Netflix claimed at the end of the investigation that Al Pacino never wore shorts in a movie, some fans responding to the thread claimed that wasn't true. It seems there's a shot in early in the 1999 film The Insider where Al Pacino, in fact, does wear shorts.

Netflix at least, was honorable in its acceptance that the fans beat them on this one.

It's maybe not too shocking that Netflix missed The Insider. While the movie is actually excellent and was nominated for several Oscars, including a Best Actor nomination for Russell Crowe that he probably should have won, the movie was criminally overlooked and didn't win a single award. And it largely seems to have faded from memory ever since.

Of course, now that it seems that The Insider might be the only time Al Pacino ever wore shorts on camera in over 50 feature films, does he realize this? Did he realize while putting on the shorts in wardrobe that day that he'd never done that before? Did he hate it and have to be talked into wearing them? I have so many more questions now than I did when this started.

Martin Scorsese's The Irishman was a well regarded movie that received a lot of awards attention and critical acclaim. Many called it the best movie ever made by the director, who had already made some of the greatest movies of all time. However, that success came at a cost, and the cost, as it turns out was even higher than we thought because The Irishman's price tag was apparently significantly higher than was previously reported.

Initial reports were that The Irishman cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $175 million, which was already a pretty expensive movie, but now THR is reporting that the number is closer to $225 million.

The Irishman was always going to be an expensive movie. It had a cast that included Robert de Nro and Al Pacino, and you gotta figure Martin Scorsese had to make it worth Joe Pesci's while to come out of retirement, so the salaries alone were going to add up, but the much bigger expense was the digital effects. While The Irishman isn't all that different from some of Martin Scorsese's other mob-inspired films, at least in structure and story, the movie follows its characters over the course of decades, and so digital technology was used throughout the film to make actors like Robert De Niro appear younger.

Because so much of the movie deals with earlier time periods, The Irishman has potentially as many digital effects shots as your average superhero movie. And so fittingly, the movie apparently had a budget on par with one. Movie budgets can be difficult to nail down. Often the number called a "budget" doesn't include things like the marketing costs to promote the film, but sometimes it does. It's possible that the $225 million number is just the $175 million with the additional P+A numbers attached. In which case we now have a better idea what the final cost of making The Irishman was.

Alternatively, it could be that the $225 million is just a more accurate number for what the production process of the film cost, which would mean the final number after marketing is even higher. Considering that Netflix was initially looking to spend something in the range of $125 million to make the movie, the budget certainly ballooned, and even more than we previously thought.

The Irishman budget situation is potentially important because we know that the budget for Martin Scorsese's next movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, is now also a topic of concern. Paramount reportedly went looking for help with the budget of the film, which has resulted in the studio striking a deal with Apple. This was the same reason that Netflix ended up with Irishman and so one wonders if we could history repeating itself. That new film will co-star Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.

When it was revealed that Martin Scorsese's last movie, The Irishman was going to be a movie made specifically for Netflix, it was a huge move. One of the most popular directors in Hollywood for decades, a name that was synonymous with the mere concept of the theatrical experience, was going to release a movie that basically you would have to watch on TV. And it was a gangster epic, a movie right in the classic Scorsese wheelhouse. Well, it looks like maybe Martin Scorsese will get to explore streaming yet again, because his next movie looks to be going to Apple TV+.

It seems that the new film, an adaptation of the book Killers of the Flower Moon, was running into problems with financing, which led to Paramount looking elsewhere to find some money. They found that money from Apple, because, let's face it Apple has all the money.

The deal hasn't actually closed yet, but it's expected to happen in the next few days. It's also not specifically stated that Apple financing the film means it will be an Apple TV+ exclusive product, but it's difficult to imagine why Apple would be interested in financing the project if that wasn't part of the deal.

It's possible that Killers of the Flower Moon could still see some sort of theatrical run in addition to showing up on the Apple streaming platform. That's what happened to The Irishman, after all, and especially if there's a feeling Killers could be an awards contender, that could very well happen. And really, a period drama that will be directed by Martin Scorsese that will co-star Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro is exactly what you would probably produce if you were trying to build an Oscar contender in a lab.

According to Variety, Martin Scorsese envisioned this film to be a theatrical release rather than a streaming film, so it's unclear how this decision will go over with the larger project, but it seems that the film, which was looking to have a budget around $200 million, simply needed to find more financing.

This is another big get for Apple, which recently acquired the rights to Greyhound, the World War II drama starring Tom Hanks. Apple's service is almost entirely built around original content, so the service needs as much of it as possible if it's going to be successful.

Of course, when we'll actually see Killers of the Flower Moon on Apple TV+ or otherwise is still up in the air. The production is apparently in a holding pattern right now, mainly due to Leonardo DiCaprio's schedule. He's looking to potentially get involved in another film before beginning Killers. At this point, it seems likely nobody is in any particular hurry. For his part, DiCaprio has said he doesn't have an issue making films for streaming.

Best known for headlining the popular CBS family sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, which ran for over nine seasons, Ray Romano is certainly... well, loved. The affable and charmingly relatable actor-comedian is a sweet, endearing screen presence on his long-running sitcom, though his genial screen presence might prevent some from fully recognizing the strength of his acting talents.

Indeed, Ray Romano has proven himself to be an outstanding character actor; one who should be getting his full due. Especially in recent years, Romano has notably taken on more substantial and challenging roles, working with top-tier directors like Martin Scorsese in The Irishman and providing Oscar-worthy dramatic performances in Paddleton and The Big Sick. The Romaissance is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen. It's been a long time coming, too. Here are seven movies that prove Romano is a great actor.

The Irishman (Bill Bufalino)

In a stacked ensemble that includes acting giants like Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel, to name just a few, it might've been easy for Ray Romano to get lost in the shuffle that is Martin Scorsese's The Irishman. The three-hour crime epic is filled with various locations, characters and time changes. If it weren't for a master-class filmmaker like Scorsese at the helm, it might've been a disaster.

But it's excellent for several reasons, and while Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and especially Joe Pesci shine in their respective roles, Ray Romano is also quite excellent as Bill Bufalino, Frank Sheeran's (De Niro) long-standing union lawyer. He's dryly funny, cuttingly frank and more than capable of standing up to his acting legend co-stars. Romano plays a bigger role than some might expect in the Netflix original, and the movie is made all the better by his appearance.

The Big Sick (Terry Gardner)

For many moviegoers, The Big Sick was when they finally realized Ray Romano had what it takes to be a great actor. While he was already doing great work in other projects before this autobiographical indie dramedy came along, notably with shows like Parenthood and Vinyl (which wasn't great, but Romano was exceptional in it), this performance was a wake-up call for people to realize how good Romano could be. And that's certainly understandable since Romano is excellent in The Big Sick.

Playing the part of Terry Gardner, a struggling father who must battle the difficulties that come from his adult daughter being in an induced coma (all while her ex-boyfriend continues to linger around), Ray Romano is measured, soulful, darkly funny and emotionally honest. It's a beautifully authentic performance that should've garnered major award consideration. Alas, that didn't happen.

Paddleton (Andy)

For my money, Paddleton might very well be Ray Romano's best performance yet. While he's terrific in The Irishman's ensemble and his performance in The Big Sick was more commonly celebrated, Paddleton finally gives Romano the dramatic lead role he's been due for years. Not surprisingly, Romano's character portrayal is excellent, as it's powerfully raw, genuine, believable and captivating in its mundane melancholy.

The indie dramedy finds Ray Romano's Andy forced to abide his best friend's wishes to end his own life when his terminal stomach cancer proves too difficult. It's a movie that finds the life in the little things when it comes to the preparations one takes to medically end their life. For a movie with such a dour and bleak-sounding premise, Romano and his co-star, co-writer Mark Duplass, bring such warmth, humor and heart into their characters. The resulting movie fully showcases Romano's great capabilities as a dramatic performer.

Bad Education (Big Bob Spicer)

Most recently, Ray Romano gave another outstanding dramatic performance in Bad Education. He played Big Bob Spicer, a real estate agent and the head of the Roslyn School District in Long Island, New York. In this scandalous true-life story, Romano's character is ultimately a composite character who is meant to represent the parents and school board members who were duped by Frank Tassone's blinding charisma and failed to notice his decades of fraudulent actions.

The supporting turn, which joyfully allows Ray Romano to play up his nerdy side in a fun and ultimately sympathetic way, paves the way for the emotional significance of the main characters' misdeeds. It showcases the weight of their white collar crimes and the significance of their deceit on the gullible school board, one that aimed to shepherd hopeful high school students into Ivy League futures. It's another excellent supporting performance from Romano.

Ice Age (Manfred, a.k.a. Manny)

After five installments and diminishing returns, it's easy to forget that Ice Age — an animated franchise whose creative potential went the way of the dinosaurs — started on solid ground. Specifically, 2002's Ice Age is a charming, entertaining and heartwarming family movie that benefitted from smart writing, an abundance of heart and humor, and winning vocal performances — notably from Ray Romano as Manfred, i.e. Manny.

While John Leguizamo's Sid is the scene-stealer, Ray Romano's Manny is our central mammoth protagonist who gets the most rewarding character arc. As our grouchy, self-satisfied introvert who learns to open his heart and accept others, Romano gives a tender and understated vocal performance — the likes of which we rarely see from a major animated kids movie. By the end, it proves to be both gentle and rewarding — showing Romano's understated acting strengths, even when we're only hearing his voice.

Eulogy (Skip Collins)

By most measures, Eulogy is the sort of dark comedy ensemble piece that makes a small splash and gets forgotten over time. For me, though, it was the first time I saw Ray Romano as a promising dramatic actor — one who could push himself into darker and more mature roles, if given the opportunity. Outside of Everybody Loves Raymond's occasional downbeat moment, Eulogy was one of the earliest examples of Romano giving a more challenging and nuanced performance.

The film itself isn't particularly memorable — and it might not be worth remembering otherwise, truth be told — but it left an impression on me for a specific reason. As the mustachioed father, Skip Collins, the awkward and mild-mannered character played to the sitcom actor's strengths as a performer at this time. The intentionally more dramatic and toned-down role signaled a change that would be prevalent in his newer work.

Rob The Mob (Jerry Cardozo)

Similarly, 2014's Rob the Mob mostly flew under the radar upon release, but the true story crime dramedy provided Ray Romano with one of his earliest dramatic movie roles (even though, admittedly, it's filled with comedic moments) — notably a few short years before it became a common Hollywood trend (thankfully). He plays Jerry Cardozo, a New York Post columnist who reports on our two small-time crooks who become a modern-day "Bonnie and Clyde" couple when they pull off a series of robberies on the mob (hence, "rob the mob").

While the tonal shifts can make the movie jagged, the performances smooth the humps, including Ray Romano's appealing turn. While the actor doesn't flex his dramatic muscles as much as he would later on, Romano carries the world-weary weight of this well-experienced journalist, but doesn't lose sight of the humor or intrigue of this larger-than-life story.

What's your favorite Ray Romano performance? Let us know in the comment section below!

Since most of us are social distancing and staying in our residences in order to flatten that curve, keeping entertained is integral to staying sane. So naturally, plenty of people are turning to streaming movies and TV shows to pass the time, with Netflix naturally being a popular destination thanks to its mix of familiar favorites and ever-growing collection of original material.

If you’re a Netflix subscriber, then odds are you’ve streamed at least a couple Netflix original movies, if not a lot of them. But looking at the global picture, what are the Netflix cinematic offerings that are the most popular, that hordes of subscribers have turned out in force to check out in the comfort of their own homes? As it turns out, Bird Box, The Irishman and Roma are at the top of this particular list.

According to OLBG, Bird Box is the Netflix original movie favorite in 52 countries, with The Irishman being a favorite in 33 countries (including the United States) and Roma being a favorite in 32 countries. Triple Frontier and Death Note fell into 4th and 5th place, respectively.

With Roma coming out in late 2018, and both Bird Box and The Irishman arriving last year, it’s understandable why these three would rank as Netflix’s top three original movies worldwide. Both Roma and The Irishman were met with critical acclaim, including plenty of Oscar nominations, with Roma taking home wins in the Best Director, Best Cinematographer and Best Foreign Film. It should also be noted that when looking at each country’s favorite Netflix original overall, i.e. both movies and TV shows, Roma reigns supreme in Albania, Armenia and Mozambique.

As for Bird Box, while it was met with more mixed critical reception, it nonetheless collected a lot of views during its first weeks on Netflix, to the point that it was the platform’s most-watched movie of all time during its opening week. Let’s also not forget that Bird Box was popular enough to launch a blindfold challenge. Yes, it was just as misguided as it sounds, but it nonetheless goes to show how Bird Box pierced the cultural zeitgeist.

Of course, just because Bird Box, The Irishman and Roma are at the top of the popularity lists doesn’t mean other Netflix original movies are any slouches. For instance, despite being met with mostly negative critical reception, recent release Coffee & Kareem ranked at #3 on Netflix’s Top 10 earlier this week. And when opening the floor to non-Netflix originals, Blood Father and Badland were also getting a lot of views recently.

The film industry is in a weird place right now, and there’s still no clear time table on when movie theaters will start reopening. So for now, outside of one’s own movie collection, Netflix and other streaming sites are still your best bet for getting your fill of cinematic content. And hey, at least Netflix still has plenty of new original features on the way later this year, so it’s not like there’ll be a drought of fresh content.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news on Netflix’s many offerings and what it has coming up. You can also keep track of the theatrical side of the movies realm with our 2020 release schedule.

Following the release of The Irishman last year, there were some comments from director Martin Scorsese indicating the movie could very well be his last. That didn’t last very long, however, as Scorsese signed on for Killers of The Flower Moon with Leonardo DiCaprio. Only now the longtime director seems to be having the same budget troubles with the new film he had with The Irishman.

After Irishman got plenty of buzz during awards season this past year, it was significant news when the director announced Killers of the Flower Moon. Ultimately, Paramount signed on to produce the movie, but now reports are indicating Killers of The Flower Moon has now ballooned way over its initial budget and Paramount has asked Martin Scorsese to find another distributing partner.

How much is way over? If a report over at the Wall Street Journal is accurate, Killers of the Flower Moon is now estimated to cost a whopping $200 million+ to come to life. This is more than but still fairly similar to the $175 million The Irishman reportedly cost, in that case largely due to the CGI de-aging of some of the movie’s characters.

In that case, Paramount was also involved before the budget ballooned. Netflix ultimately took on the Martin Scorsese film to add a little prestige to its streaming lineup. This time around, could Netflix again be Martin Scorsese’s savior?

It’s an interesting question. A lot of the types of films Netflix has been pushing out over the last few years have been lower budget genre movies. Some splashier releases like 6 Underground and Spenser Confidential have paid off in viewership spades, and The Irishman did get a lot of awards nods (although fewer wins than may have been anticipated).

The real question is whether or not The Irishman was successful enough for Netflix to consider an even higher budget this next time around. Martin Scorsese is still a splashy name as a director, but $200 million is also a lot of dollars. For comparison's sake, The Irishman was a little cheaper to create, but Scorsese actually had to wait years to get it off of the ground due to budget concerns.

This time around it’s a little unclear what exactly the movie could involve that would justify a larger price tag than The Irishman, but the report does mention there have been preliminary talks with other studios (MGM, Universal) but also Apple and Netflix, so it seems the huge budget is not totally off the table at this point. Plus, you never know if Killers of The Flower Moon might end up being Scorsese’s last film and who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?

Killers of the Flower Moon is based on the book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, which follows a group of wealthy Osage Native Americans who have earned their money in the oil business. Despite their wealth – or more aptly because of it – they started to be killed off. The true story happened in the 1920s and would be another period drama and murder tale for Martin Scorsese.

So far, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro have signed on for the film – if it ultimately finds a home.

Joe Pesci didn’t make it out to the Academy Awards tonight (as evidenced by a photo of him being shown when the nominees for Best Supporting Actor were displayed), but at the very least his energy was represented at the show courtesy of an on-stage story shared by his Irishman co-star Ray Romano.

The Everybody Loves Raymond star took to the stage at the Dolby Theater alongside Sandra Oh to present the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and in a fantastic moment broke from the script to share a story about his experience working with Joe Pesci on the set of the recent Martin Scorsese film. You can watch the censored broadcast version by clicking play on the video below:

After telling a joke about actually being Charlize Theron under heavy make-up, Ray Romano decided to take his moment at the Academy Awards to tell the audience in attendance and at home an R-rated story about his own experience with artists on the set of The Irishman. He recounted watching the filmmakers do their work with awe… and then getting the boot from his co-star whose space he was apparently occupying. He said (with the help of a bit of amateur lip-reading):

Joe Pesci might not have won Best Supporting Actor tonight, losing out to Brad Pitt's performance in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, but at least he’s at the center of the best story told on stage thus far.

In The Irishman, Ray Romano has a small role as Bill Bufalino, who is the cousin of Joe Pesci's Russell Bufalino. He doesn't have a lot of screen time in the grand scheme of things, but he does have a key role to play, as he is the one who connects Russell with Robert De Niro's Frank Sheeran (not counting their random encounter at a gas station that served as their first meeting). It’s also definitely a more dramatic role than we’re used to seeing Romano play, but he’s now able to make us laugh with stories from behind the scenes.

The Academy Awards this evening have been full of memorable moments, and the night is far from over, as there are still winners in multiple key categories – including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Picture – that are waiting to be announced. Stay tuned with us here on CinemaBlend throughout the night, as we’ll continue to bring you stories about the highlights and opinions about the winners and losers!

Awards Season is always an exciting time for the film world, as the last year's most acclaimed work is recognized by the film academy. And after the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and BAFTAs it all comes down to the Academy Awards. Many filmmakers hope to one day get an Oscar of their own, and the final verdict will be revealed tonight, likely with a few snubs in tow as well.

This year has been an interesting season, one which saw streaming service Netflix emerge as a true behemoth in the film world. Movies like Marriage Story and The Irishman got their wide release via Netflix, and although there are plenty of other studios hoping to take home some Oscars as well. Todd Phillips' Joker was given the most nominations of 2020, competing for a whopping 11 categories tonight. But how will it all shake out? Fear not, because CinemaBlend will keep you updated as each category is announced. Check out the full Academy Award winner list below.

Best Picture

Ford V Ferrari

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story

1917

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Parasite

Best Director

Martin Scorsese, The Irishman

Todd Phillips, Joker

Sam Mendes, 1917

Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Bong Joon-ho, Parasite

Best Actress

Cynthia Erivo, Harriet

Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story

Saoirse Ronan, Little Women

Charlize Theron, Bombshell

Renee Zellweger, Judy

Best Actor

Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory

Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Adam Driver, Marriage Story

Joaquin Phoenix, Joker

Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes

Best Supporting Actress

Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell

Laura Dern, Marriage Story

Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit

Florence Pugh, Little Women

Margot Robbie, Bombshell

Best Supporting Actor

Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes

Al Pacino, The Irishman

Joe Pesci, The Irishman

Brad Pitt, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Best Original Screenplay

Knives Out

Marriage Story

1917

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Parasite

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

The Two Popes

Best Animated Feature

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

I Lost My Body

Klaus

Missing Link

Toy Story 4

International Feature Film

Corpus Christi, Poland

Honeyland, North Macedonia

Les Miserables, France

Pain And Glory, Spain

Parasite, South Korea

Best Documentary Feature

American Factory

The Cave

The Edge of Democracy

For Sama

Honeyland

Production Design

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

1917

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Parasite

Best Cinematography

The Irishman

Joker

The Lighthouse

1917

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Best Costume Design

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Film Editing

Ford v Ferrari

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Parasite

Best Makeup And Hairstyling

Bombshell

Joker

Judy

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

1917

Best Score

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story

1917

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Original Song

"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" Toy Story 4

"(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" Rocketman

"I'm Standing With You" Breakthrough

"Into the Unknown" Frozen II

"Stand Up" Harriet

Best Sound Editing

Ford v Ferrari

Joker

1917

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Sound Mixing

Ad Astra

Ford v Ferrari

Joker

1917

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Visual Effects

Avengers: Endgame

The Irishman

The Lion King

1917

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Animated Short

Dcera (Daughter)

Hair Love

Kitbull

Memorable

Sister

Best Documentary Short

In The Absence

Learning To Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)

Life Overtakes Me

St. Louis Superman

Walk Run Cha-Cha

Best Live Action Short

Brotherhood

Nefta Football Club

The Neighbors' Window

Saria

A Sister

Of course, there' always bound to be strong reaction to the Academy Award winners, and more than one person will be mad about subs. But the Film Academy is ultimately a subjective organization, and the winners are decided by those within the industry who are lucky enough to have a vote.

The past few years have seen an ongoing conversation about diversity and inclusion within the Academy, and how that reflects the way nominations and ultimately wins are decided upon. The 2020 Academy Awards once again inspired some backlash in this department, as all of the directors nominated are male, and the large majority of Acting nominees are white. We'll just have to see what moments inspire at the Academy Awards, and which go viral for all the wrong reasons.

The 2020 Oscars are almost upon us, as tonight’s celebration of the best movies at the box office in 2019 will eventually reveal the latest winner to claim the Academy Award for Best Picture. Of course, while most studios are probably prepared to take a financial bath in the name of such a prestigious honor, it still wouldn’t hurt for the nine nominated films to make some money for the accounting department’s troubles.

Out of curiosity, we took the nine Best Picture nominees and, in an exercise of comparative superiority, ranked them by their worldwide grosses to date. While some of these movies are still in theaters (and the figures listed are as of Friday, February 7), this is where the order currently stands.

Those results are sealed in their own metaphorical envelopes, even though their contents are known to the world. But, we didn’t gather together here for no good reason, so let’s open the results together, shall we? Here now are the 2020 Best Picture nominees, ranked from lowest grossing to highest.

#9. Marriage Story

Global Box Office: $2,300,000 (Estimated)

Marriage Story is one of two movies in the 2020 Oscars crop that is a bit hard to peg with an exact figure in terms of box office grosses. We say this because thanks to the film being a Netfilx-distributed title, theatrical release is pretty limited, which is strike one for any sort of total accuracy.

Still, without Netflix releasing its numbers for North American theatrical release, and the limited release in international territories bringing in what it did, Marriage Story is at the bottom of the best picture nominee pile in terms of its settlement with moviegoers. Though who knows what the planned Chinese theatrical release will do for those numbers, should it still take place as planned, in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis.

#8. The Irishman

Global Box Office: $8,000,000 (Estimated)

On a similar scale to Marriage Story, director Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman was put into a limited release in North America, due to continuing disagreement between Netflix and major theatrical exhibition chains. Though even with that particular stumbling block, there was a substantial gain to be had over its streaming service sibling.

Many independent theaters, as well as a month long exclusive run at New York’s Belasco Theatre, helped The Irishman bringing a rather impressive sum, on top of some interesting first week viewership numbers on their native platform. But again, this is based off of an estimate, as Netflix has not released the figures for how much this film made at this time.

#7. Jojo Rabbit

Global Box Office: $65,465,404

Moving into the lowest ranking wide release competitor, writer/director Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit took in the lowest amount of money for a widely released 2020 Best Picture nominee. This end result ended up performing in favor of the international audience, as the split that makes up the $64.5 million result is slightly higher in that particular column.

Grossing roughly $28.6 million domestically and $36.9 million internationally, Jojo Rabbit started modestly in a mid-October limited release platform on the domestic front. By time the film started its wide release strategy, there was definitely a buzz, but the film only ever cracked into the top 10 a handful of times.

#6. Parasite

Global Box Office: $163,119,346

Examining the balance between domestic and international grosses is going to be particularly interesting in some cases when discussing 2020’s Oscar nominees for Best Picture. One case in point is co-writer/director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, which performed modestly in domestic theaters, but cleaned up around the world.

Out of the total $163.1 million, only $33.2 million came from the U.S. The rest of the phenomenal result for this hotly buzzed candidate to upset the Best Picture race came from the foreign market, which brought in over 10 times the film’s budget.

#5. Little Women

Global Box Office: $164,616,717

From the word go, writer/director Greta Gerwig’s Little Women has been a box office assassin. Delivering consistently fantastic results, the film actually skipped a limited release platform and started out as a wide release.

What’s even more impressive is that Little Women is one of those cases where the domestic box office outweighs the international figures. Seeing as the film has recently crossed the $100 million mark it was predicted to clear earlier this week, the $64.6 million brought in internationally is not too far behind, but distant enough for this to be a bit of a surprise.

#4. Ford v. Ferrari

Global Box Office: $222,197,462

No matter if you call it Ford v. Ferrari, like those in the US do, or Le Mans ’66, like most of the rest of the world, director James Mangold’s racing biopic has been hell on wheels. Though if you want to compare the finish line results on those same dividing lines, the results aren’t too far off.

With the domestic tally weighing in at $115.6 million and the international result clocked at a solid $106.9 million, those numbers have a variance around $8.7 million between the two. Thanks to this real life story of racing superiority and love of sport, it looks like the box office has found something the world can agree on once again.

#3. 1917

Global Box Office: $253,119,104

As far as the Best Picture nominees for 2020 are concerned, the World War I epic 1917 is sitting pretty as the odds on favorite for who will take home the Academy Award for Best Picture. Co-writer/director Sam Mendes’ vision of a real time fight to the front has impressed critics and audiences, and did so with a pretty impressive showing.

Considering the film opened in limited release on Christmas day, and went into wide release on January 10, the fact that it’s at a cumulative total of $253.1 million so far is something pretty special. It’s the result of another pretty close horse race between domestic an international box office, with $122.5 million coming from the domestic side and the international portion giving $130.6 million to the cause.

#2. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Global Box Office: $373,967,035

While writer/director Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood may have shown the fortunes of Leonardo DiCaprio’s actor/bon vivant Rick Dalton on the decline, the film itself was met with some pretty warm results upon its summer release. In fact, those extra months may have helped propel it to the runner up spot of this year’s Oscar nominees.

$142.1 million came in from the domestic grosses, with $231.8 million roaming in from overseas, which probably explains part of why Once Upon A Time In Hollywood did so well at the Golden Globes this past January. But have domestic audiences and professionals noticed the film enough to make it a winner at The Oscars? We’re ready to make some frozen margaritas and find out ourselves.

#1. Joker

Global Box Office: $1,071,869,171

Out of this year’s Best Picture nominees, there was one winner at the box office that cleared the rest of the competition by leaps and bounds. While it may have started out as a joke to some, co-writer/director Todd Phillips and Warner Bros quickly proved that the Joker was no laughing matter in terms of box office firepower.

Not only was the $335.1 million domestic haul and its complementary $736.8 million result of Joker’s box office punchline enough to make it the most profitable comic book movie of all time, it was also what made the DC Comics anti-hero picture the highest grossing R-rated film of all time. Beating out Deadpool 2 for those particular honors, it was enough to make everyone sit up and take notice.

The box office results of 2020's Best Picture nominees tells one story, but what will the narrative unfolding during tonight's Oscars look like? There's only one way to find out, and that's by watching the 92nd Annual Academy Awards, which start tonight at 8 PM ET on ABC!

A few weeks ago, we published a piece titled “The Top 10 Films Of 2019, According To CinemaBlend” – a feature generated by analyzing the average out-of-five scores given to every film members of our staff saw in the previous calendar year. It’s become a bit of a tradition on the site, as we’ve run similar articles annually going back to 2015, and last year we even introduced a new mid-year variant.

Now we’ve taken that same general idea and applied it in a new direction: ranking the nominees for Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards.

All nine of the films up for the top prize at the Oscars were seen by at least 18 members of the CinemaBlend staff, many of us working hard in recent weeks to catch up with titles we missed last year (explaining why the rankings and scores here are slightly different than those in the Top 10 of 2019 feature). Our final analysis? It’s most definitely a crop of movies that we seriously dig. Without further ado, let’s dive into the rankings!

#9. Ford v Ferrari

Average Score: 3.8055556/5

It can’t really be said that James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari was CinemaBlend’s “favorite” new release of 2019, placing 27th overall in our site-wide ranking, but it’s certainly a film that our staff appreciates. It’s a story that’s pretty basic as far as sports movies go, but also one hell of a ride thanks to incredible and tense action sequences and fantastic performances from both Matt Damon and Christian Bale. We wouldn’t be surprised in the least if it wound up winning some major technical awards during the Oscars (it’s nominated in three other categories), but it’s not exactly our number one pick for Best Picture.

#8. Joker

Average Score: 4.0909091/5

Todd Phillips’ Joker stunned the film world when it wound up earning more Academy Award nominations than any other 2019 release earlier this month – a grand total of 11. Because of this, it’s unlikely that the movie walks away from the show totally empty handed (Joaquin Phoenix has some strong odds in the Best Actor category), and there are select members of the CinemaBlend staff who would whole-heartedly cheer if it were to win the biggest prize of the night. Controversial as the comic book adaptation may be, it earned no score below a three in our company survey… though also didn’t end up with an average particularly close to the top.

#7. The Irishman

Average Score: 4.1136364/5

Martin Scorsese might be 77 years old, but he still makes films with the energy of a 20-year-old, and The Irishman is a truly stunning piece of work. It took the filmmakers years and years to actually get the project made, ultimately needing technology to catch up with his grand vision, and what he has created fits every definition of epic. As many have pointed out, it’s definitely what you might call “a lot of movie,” requiring a three-and-a-half hour runtime to tell its story, and that surely dinged its final score, but it most definitely is a piece of art that is greatly appreciated in the CinemaBlend offices.

#6. Marriage Story

Average Score: 4.2272727/5

Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story just missed out on the holy quintinity of Academy Award nominations – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress – as Baumbach didn’t get the nod in that second category, but it richly deserves all of its recognition. Both Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson deliver some of the best work of their respective careers with emotional and captivating performances, and it’s fascinating that every viewer who watches it takes something different away from the central conflict and story. Four of the 22 members on the staff who saw it give it 5/5 scores, and nobody gave it lower than a 3.5.

#5. Jojo Rabbit

Average Score: 4.2857143/5

The CinemaBlend staff is filled with movie fans who are very much on the same wavelength when it comes to the wild and hilarious sensibilities of Taika Waititi, and being a film that is very much pure Taika, Jojo Rabbit was most definitely one of our team’s most beloved features from last year (hence it ranking at #6 on our end-of-year list. The World War II satire does a remarkable job executing a very complex tone – finding cartoonish comedy in Nazi-controlled Germany – and it’s stunning how it’s able to have your rolling with laughter one minute, and crying the next. It’s a powerful and relevant piece of work, and a favorite among the crop of Best Picture nominees.

#4. Little Women

Average Score: 4.3095238/5

Coming out at the very, very end of 2019, not everyone on the CinemaBlend staff had the opportunity to see Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, and as a result it just missed out being on our Top 10 of 2019. That’s changed in the weeks since, though, and the result has been an improved average score that demonstrates it as one of our team’s favorites among the Best Picture nominees. This is a film that is sweet, stunning, and overloaded with charm – brought to life with brilliant performances from the entire ensemble. And no, we don’t know why Greta Gerwig didn’t get a Best Director nomination either.

#3. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Average Score: 4.3260870/5

While Quentin Tarantino owns two Academy Awards (both for writing), three of his movies have been up for Best Picture in the past, and none of them have won. That means that Once Upon A Time In Hollywood winning this year would be a long overdue achievement for the filmmaker – and there’s not a person on the CinemaBlend staff that would be overly upset with the turn of events. In totality it’s a beautiful and loving tribute to the legendary titular city/industry, but also an exciting piece of revisionist history that features some of the best performances we saw on the big screen last year.

#2. Parasite

Average Score: 4.5476190/5

Alfonso Cuarón's Roma wound up turning a lot of heads when it became the first foreign language film in years to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and just 12 months later Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite makes us question why it isn’t the norm (it’s pure hubris to assume all of the greatest movies are English-speaking). While the story is set in South Korea, the true power of its satire is that it’s universal in its themes, and it weaves a brilliant story that whacks you upside the head halfway through with a twist you could never see coming. It’s surprising, witty, clever and powerful right up to the end.

#1. 1917

Average Score: 4.5952381/5

World War I is easily one of the most extensively covered international events in cinematic history, and yet director Sam Mendes – in collaboration with genius cinematographer Roger Deakins – found a whole new way to let audiences experience the conflict with 1917. The combination of the single take photography with the ticking clock plotline creates a phenomenal immersive experience unlike anything found in your typical war movie, and just the way it’s all pieced together is magnificent. We here at CinemaBlend love it, and collectively as a team it’s our favorite to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

How would you rank this year’s class of nominees for Best Picture at the Oscars? Hit the comments section to let your voice be heard, and stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more of our award season coverage!

This poll is no longer available.

While not exactly gender-diverse, this year’s race for Best Picture at the Academy Awards is an interesting one. In addition to there being an interesting mix of genres represented in the films up for the prize, the 2020 class has filmmakers who have taken very different paths to where they are today. It’s a mix of legends and first-time nominees, and the result is that it’s hard to precisely predict who will end up walking away with the trophy.

We here at CinemaBlend have our own thoughts on the proceedings, and in recent weeks members of our staff have been letting their voices be heard by ranking the nominees in all of the major Oscar categories. Votes were only cast by those who saw every film in a given category, and each vote ranked the five nominees from most to least deserving (a "1" being the best, and a "5" being the lowest). Those scores have been averaged, and those averages have generated the order you see below.

#5. Todd Phillips, Joker

Average Rank: 4.5789474

If you time traveled to 2010 and told random movie fans that Todd Phillips would one day be up for Best Director at the Oscars, it would probably inspire a fair bit of laughter. After all, ten years ago Phillips was best known for making broad comedies like Old School, Road Trip, and The Hangover, which weren’t exactly movies sending out awards screeners. That being said, Phillips’ profile as a filmmaker has changed a great deal in recent years, and Joker is excellent evidence of that.

Phillips had a chance to express the deepest parts of his dark sensibilities with the DC Comics adaptation, and what he has crafted is a disturbing and impressively atmospheric feature unlike any comic book movie we’ve seen before. The feeling that you need to take a shower after watching Joker is evidence of its effectiveness, as the film gets under your skin in all the ways that it should.

#4. Martin Scorsese, The Irishman

Average Rank: 3.8947368

The Irishman is a project that has been with Martin Scorsese for years – long imagined as a film that would not only reunite him with fellow legends Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, but also give him his first opportunity to work with Al Pacino. But the director had to bide his time, waiting for the industry to catch up with vision of what the movie could be. It took more than a decade for it to get done, but what he accomplished with the project is truly extraordinary.

There are 20-year-old directors to struggle to manage the reins of an 80 minute comedy, but the 77-year-old Martin Scorsese builds The Irishman in all of its three-and-a-half hour glory like a sculptor with a scalpel, designing one of the most incredible works he’s ever done.  It’s a tremendous blend of classic and modern cinema techniques, and a remarkable journey that only Scorsese could deliver.

#3. Bong Joon-ho, Parasite

Average Rank: 2.2105263

This is the first year that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have recognized the work of Bong Joon-ho, but the reality is that the filmmaker has been delivering extraordinary work for years. Each of his movies explores new genre and theme, but all of his work is marked by fantastic camerawork and sharp commentary. One could make a strong argument that the director’s work has been overlooked by the Academy before, but at the very least that’s not happening this year with what is his best work to date.

Parasite is a mind-blower of craftsmanship, with every scene delicately building the escalating plot, the narrative striking many different tones, and it upending expectations each step of the way. It’s a shocking and brutal examination of class warfare with no detail left overlooked, and an incredible achievement for Bong Joon-ho as a director. In short, it was ranked as CineamBlend’s number one film of 2019 for a reason.

#2. Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Average Rank: 2.2105263

Quentin Tarantino’s work has changed a great deal over the course of his career. When he first started in the 1990s he earned acclaim for his tremendous contributions to the crime genre, but since the start of the 21st century, and the release of Kill Bill, his films have become far more experimental. An extension of this, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is unlike any movie that he’s ever made, but infused with all the greatest elements of his sensibilities, it easily ranks as one of his greatest contributions to cinema.

The statistical tie between Tarantino and Bong Joon-ho in the rankings was broken by the former having more #1 votes (six versus four), and he finishes here higher than he did in our vote for Best Original Screenplay, where Once Upon A Time In Hollywood finished in third. Still, while our staff didn’t deliver it the ballots for the Best Director trophy, there is a lot of love here at CinemaBlend for Tarantino’s epic journey through Los Angeles in 1969.

#1. Sam Mendes, 1917

Average Rank: 2.1052632

Making a film is tremendously hard work. It involves coordinating hundreds of people, executing a plan that is guaranteed to change along the way, and managing input from a wide variety of sources, all while dealing with the immense pressure that comes from the money invested in the project. To purposefully make the whole process infinitely harder by attempting something as intrepid as capturing the feeling of everything being in a single shot is, on paper, a crazy thing to do – but that just emphasizes the magnificence of what Sam Mendes has accomplished with 1917.

There is an incredible urgency added to the plot of the film through its stylistic choices, and Mendes’ collaboration with cinematographer Roger Deakins has resulted in one of the most audacious and impressive war movies of all time. You can’t help but marvel at the technical achievement that’s seen in the final product on the big screen, but that gets taken to the next level when you take into consideration the level of synchronization that was necessary to achieve everything. It’s a remarkable accomplishment, and one that the CinemaBlend team feels makes Sam Mendes deserving of the 2020 Oscar for Best Director.

As for who will actually win the award, we won’t find that out until tomorrow night when the Academy Awards are broadcast around the globe. We have tons more coverage of the event coming your way, so stay tuned, and be on the lookout for more of our rankings of the Oscar nominees in the top categories.

This poll is no longer available.

Martin Scorsese is arguably the greatest living film director. He has made some of the most well regarded and remarkable films of the last several decades. With The Irishman, there's a not insignificant corner of cinema that believes that he might have actually produced his masterwork. Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in a collection of Academy Award nominations, including nods for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

To be sure, there's something about The Irishman that makes it feel like it's the movie Martin Scorsese was always working toward. It follows a member of organized crime, a particularly popular subject of Scorsese movies, and tells us an entire life story. It digs deep not only into the motivations and the actions of Frank Sheeran, but into the consequences, and the guilt that can come from such actions. As Scorsese recently told Variety, his desire to explore these greater questions, themes that come with mortality, was exactly the main reason he wanted to make the movie in the first place. According to the director...

The Irishman covers practically the entire adult life of its main character, played by Robert De Niro. We see the world evolve in the background as we follow Frank Sheeran through his life working within organized crime and the Teamsters Union. The film is narrated to us by an aged Sheeran who is looking back on the life he has led. Martin Scorsese says he wanted to deal with themes of mortality and responsibility, that he wasn't afraid to embrace these concepts that most of us try and avoid.

Because of The Irishman's reflective nature, it feels right that the movie directed by Martin Scorsese includes Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and even Joe Pesci in its cast. These people are part of a generation of filmmakers that, almost certainly, are doing their own looking back in a lot of ways. It's the sort of movie that only a group like this could make, and one they could only make at this point in their careers.

That The Irishman is a great piece of work from Martin Scorsese is not a topic of debate. The only real question right now is if the movie will win a volume of little gold statues equal to its perceived greatness. We'll find out on Sunday evening.

Just because a character only has a secondary role in a story doesn’t mean they can’t shine brightly, and this year’s class of nominees for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards is tremendous proof. These men easily stole scenes from some of the best stars in the world, in some of the best movies released last year. They are all very well-deserving of the honor bestowed by simply being up for the prize… but only one of them can actually win, and on that front the CinemaBlend staff has opinions.

In the run up to the big show on Saturday, we have surveyed the members of our team for their opinions on the eight major Oscar categories – with voters being only eligible to cast their rankings if they saw all of the films up for a particular award. Nominees were ranked from one to five (“1” being the highest, and “5” being the lowest), and the averaged results have resulted in the rankings of the Best Supporting Actor category that you’ll find below!

#5. Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Average Rank: 3.9166667

When it comes to the Academy Awards, Tom Hanks is one of the most successful in history, having been nominated six times, and won twice (he is only one of 34 people to do the latter). Because of this, it’s a surprise to basically nobody that he is up for yet another prize this year, and he really does some fantastic work in Marielle Heller's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood. Overall, he’s not our top choice to win the Best Supporting Actor trophy, but he does still deliver a laud-worthy turn.

Everybody who grew up watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is well-aware of the very specific energy that was projected by the late Fred Rogers, and Tom Hanks’ work to capture it in the film truly is a special thing to watch. It’s always a challenge for the biggest stars to totally disappear into their roles, but that’s exactly what Hanks does here, and it’s both emotional and beautiful.

#4. Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes

Average Rank: 3.75

Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes doesn’t work without a pair of exceptional performances. How could it? At its core level the entire movie is about a pair of men working to relate to one another, and if one of the men is delivering a constant series of false moments then everything falls apart. As it happens, though, The Two Popes is a great movie, and a big part of that is the excellent work done by Anthony Hopkins opposite Jonathan Pryce.

The film is a fictionalized account of how Pope Benedict abdicated his position within the Vatican, opening it for Pope Francis to become the new leader of the Catholic Church, and the work Hopkins does as the former is fantastic. Benedict deeply feels that the best future for his religion rests in conservative teachings, and espouses strong beliefs in that regard, however, he is also haunted by actions that have led the church down a horrific path – and Hopkins plays every element of it perfectly. He may not be CinemaBlend’s pick for the Oscar, but certainly deserves the recognition he’s received for his excellent performance.

#3. Al Pacino, The Irishman

Average Rank: 3.1666667

Given their incredible respective legacies, it’s crazy to recognize that Al Pacino and Martin Scorsese never made a movie together before The Irishman, but what’s considerably less surprising is the impressive quality of work they were able to create through their collaboration. Pacino’s Jimmy Hoffa is a force of nature in the decades-spanning gangster epic, and it’s a part that only could have been brought to life with the actor’s famous dynamism.

This is the first time that Pacino has been up for an Academy Award since he won Best Actor in 1993 for Scent Of A Woman, and while he may not repeat that big success, his performance in The Irishman is going to leave a long impression on movie fans. The factual accuracy of the events depicted might be a touch questionable, but Pacino certainly made the role his own.

#2. Brad Pitt, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Average Rank: 2.5

While Brad Pitt technically has an Oscar, having produced the Best Picture-winning 12 Years A Slave, he has never taken home the coveted prize for his acting work – despite being nominated three times. It seems crazy someone who has made such a massive impact on cinema and pop culture hasn’t received the prestigious prize. And while he may not be CinemaBlend’s top choice to win Best Supporting Actor this year, you can be sure that folks around here wouldn’t be upset at all if he took home the trophy for his work in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

Cliff Booth is a man with a rough history, but who is content with and confident in who he is, and it’s an attitude that takes him to some pretty wild places in Quentin Tarantino’s epic tale of Los Angeles in 1969. Whether Cliff is feeding his incredibly well-trained dog Brandy in his trailer, or smashing in the faces of murderous cultists, Brad Pitt is clearly having a ball playing the character, and it translates to the audience loving watching him. It’s some of the best Pitt has done in his career, which is really saying a lot.

#1. Joe Pesci, The Irishman

Average Rank: 1.6666667

Joe Pesci has spent most of the 21st century as a retired actor, only taking small roles in a couple of feature films. His performance in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman in the first really substantial part he's had since 1998's Lethal Weapon 4. It’s a remarkable fact to consider when you watch him play Russell Bufalino, because it’s genuinely the best supporting actor performance featured in any 2019 film, and it makes you realize that tremendous talent never really goes away no matter how out of practice one may be.

We here at CinemaBlend were totally bowled over by Joe Pesci’s work in The Irishman, as evidenced by the fact that he actually has the best average rank score across any category we polled for (75% of our voters ranked him at the top). It’s a totally different kind of performance than we’ve ever seen from the actor, as he has a much softer energy in the part than any of his other iconic roles, and it’s a turn that we feel makes him deserving of winning Hollywood’s highest honor.

Do you agree with the results of our ranking? Who do you think should win Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars this year? Hit the comments section with your thoughts, answer our poll below, and stay tuned here on CinemaBlend as we continue to break down the seven major categories.

This poll is no longer available.

CinemaBlend participates in affiliate programs with various companies. We may earn commission when you click on or make purchases via links. Also, don't gamble if you can't afford to lose the money you're gambling. Nothing is ever a sure thing, and if losing the money is going to hurt, don't put it in jeopardy. This article should in no way be considered surefire advice or the sign you need to start gambling. It's not. Use your head.

I like gambling. I also like movies. Unfortunately, the world does not let these things overlap nearly enough. If you’re into betting on sports, cards or playing the ponies, the options are almost limitless. There are even sites where you can place bets on The Academy Awards (you can sign up here!). There are so many businesses with greedy outstretched hands just waiting to take your money, but apart from some fantasy box office leagues, the options on movies are typically limited. As far as I know, there aren’t any casinos offering futures bets on Rotten Tomatoes scores, though if that exists, please please post about it in the comment section.

The Academy Awards, however, is the one event a year in the movie space that is widely and consistently gambled on. Much of the action comes in the form of friendly ballot pools, and if the people I speak to participating in these pools are a fair representation, almost everyone is terrible at it. So, I’m here to help, at least on all the categories that aren’t short films or documentaries or involve sound awards. You’re on your own there.

For all the major and semi-major categories, I’m going to give you my choice as to who I think is going to win and who is the most intriguing option for the odds. Now, if you’re not a degenerate gambler, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Why would you ever pick something that’s probably not going to win?” Good question. It all depends on what you’re gambling on. If you’re filling out an office pool in which the only goal is to get the highest number of winners, then you should always pick the nominee you think is going to win. If you are being offered odds in a particular category, though, then the goal is to find someone who you think is more likely to win than their odds indicate.

Let me give you an overly simple and stupid example to prove my point. Let’s say your sister-in-law says she’s going to paint her bathroom, but she doesn’t tell you what color she’s choosing. Now, she’s probably going to choose some version of grey. Most of her house is grey, but you also know her favorite color is blue and now again, she gets a little crazy and tries something out of the ordinary. So, let’s say the odds of grey are 2 to 1. That means if you bet $10 and win, you get $20 back. But let’s say the odds on blue are 20 to 1. That means if you bet $10, you get $200 back. If you think there is a reasonable chance that it’ll be blue, even if it will probably be grey, you should bet on blue because the payoff is so much higher.

Make sense? Then let’s roll…

Best Picture

To me, this is the deepest and strongest Best Picture field in a long time. There were a ton of great movies in 2019, and there was actually a pretty solid overlap between movies critics enjoyed and movies fans enjoyed. You can technically gamble on any of the 9 nominees, but there are really only 4 options in play: 1917 (-250), Parasite (+275), Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (+800) and Joker (+1600). Joker might seem tasty at 16 to 1, but it hasn’t won many lead-up awards and there are a lot of people who hate this movie for feeling too much like early Martin Scorsese and for allegedly not being deep enough.

I think Parasite is definitely in play. It’s a really well-liked movie and there are some who would love to see the top honor go to a non-English film. That being said, some Academy voters embarrassingly won’t watch it because it has subtitles and others will just select it for Best International Film and consider it a way to reward two different movies. So, if it were me, I’d roll with the favorite and just get a terrible return on 1917 or I’d consider Once Upon A Time In Hollywood as a surprise win paying you back 8X.

What Will (Probably) Win: 1917

What I’d Gamble On: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Best Director

No offense to Martin Scorsese or Todd Phillips, but they should be happy with their nomination and except nothing more. The Irishman has completely run out of steam and while I think Phillips did a nice job with Joker, most of what people like about that movie is Joaquin Phoenix’s performance. So, the real options here are Sam Mendes (-1400), Bong Joon-Ho (+550) and Quentin Tarantino (+1200). I could see a longshot case for Tarantino getting this partially because Once Upon A Time is great and partially as a celebration of his career since he’s allegedly only making one more movie, but he just hasn’t won many of the precussor awards. He lost at the Critics Choice (Mendes and Joon-Ho tie), the Golden Globes (Joon-Ho) and the Directors Guild (Mendes). So, let’s throw him out.

Everything about 1917 screams well-directed movie. You can just see the elite level of planning and the direction in what was accomplished. He deserves to be the favorite and will probably win, but Bong Joon-Ho is very much alive. He seems to be very well-respected and well-liked in the industry, and if enough voters power through the subtitles, he could win. I think there’s like a 1 in 3 shot he takes this, which is worth it from a gambling standpoint.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Sam Mendes

Who I'd Gamble On: Bong Joon-Ho

Best Actor

Joaquin Phoenix is the overwhelming favorite here at (-2500). That means you’d have to bet $25 to win back $1. That’s really rough and hard to make worth it, especially when Adam Driver is only (+1000) for Marriage Story. I could maybe talk myself into flushing money down the toilet if he was (+2000) or something, but I just don’t think he actually wins 1 out of 10 times. Sometimes you just need to pass.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Joaquin Phoenix

Who I'd Gamble On: Nope. Nope. Nope.

Best Actress

Renee Zellweger (-2000) has been dominate throughout the awards season. She’s won the SAG, Critics Choice and Golden Globe, as well as top honors from other critics groups. It would be an awfully big surprise if she didn’t pick up the Oscar, especially since her nearest competitor Scarlett Johansson (+750) is double nominated in Best Supporting, which means she may split some of her own vote since many Academy members will not want to select her twice.

Who Will Probably Win: Renee Zellweger

Who I'd Gamble On: I'd Sit This One Out

Best Supporting Actor

Brad Pitt (-2400) is almost certainly going to win here, but this is one of the few acting categories in which I would still consider putting in some money. Joe Pesci (+900) is definitely the clear second place. He’s well-liked by the Academy (he won previously for Goodfellas), and he’s picked up the occasional award during this season, most notably the New York Film Critics Circle. Given everyone thought we’d never see him again as well, he also has a nice coming out of retirement narrative going for him.

+900 is a little weak on the payout. I’d love to see something like +1200, but I do think Pesci has a non-zero chance. So, if you feel like pushing your luck, I’d certainly try this over betting against Zellweger or Phoenix.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Brad Pitt

Who I'd Gamble On: Joe Pesci

Best Supporting Actress

Laura Dern (-1600) is considered the weakest of the four acting frontrunners, but real talk, -1600 is still pretty damn strong. She is the prohibitive favorite and should be after winning at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, SAG Awards and the Critics Choice Awards. It also feels like her year given she’s never won before and also turned in a very solid performance in Little Women, another well-liked Best Picture nominee. If you want to bet against her, Margot Robbie (+850) and Florence Pugh (+1000) are considered the strongest alternatives. It’s honestly hard to imagine either of them winning.

Many thought if Robbie was nominated it might be for her performance in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and while Pugh is spectacular in several older Amy Little Women scenes, most people seem to agree she seemed a little old for the young Amy scenes. I’m not super confident in Dern, but I just don’t know that I’m confident enough in anyone else to vote for them.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Laura Dern

Who I'd Gamble On: I'd Move Along

Best Animated Featured

Here we go! This is the first category in which I’m running to put my money in. I love Toy Story 4 (-150). It’s considered the favorite here and should be because it’s the best and most famous movie in the category, but voters do not seem to like it nearly as much as the general public. Maybe it’s because it’s the 4th installment in the series. Maybe there’s just some fatigue against Disney right now, given Frozen 2 was somehow not even nominated.

Toy Story 4 lost at the Golden Globes to Missing Link. It lost at the Annie Awards to Klaus and lost at the BAFTAs to Klaus. I’m not saying Toy Story 4 is definitely going to lose. It could easily win, but I’m certainly not betting on something that probably has a less than 50% chance of winning when I’m getting -150 odds. That’s insane. Give me Klaus (+125) or even Missing Link (+950).

Who Will (Probably) Win: Toy Story 4... I Guess

Who I'd Gamble On: Klaus

Best Cinematography

1917 (-2000) almost even feels too low. That’s crazy to say given it was a really strong year for cinematography. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (+1400) is just a treat visually, especially in a lot of the scenes on Hollywood sets. Joker (+1400) also has a really effective, almost grainy quality to the way it was shot, and The Irishman (+2000) and especially The Lighthouse (+1400) are beautiful-looking movies too. Everyone involved with the cinematography should be really proud of themselves here, but 1917 was stitched together to look like it was almost shot in one take. It could have come off as so gimmicky and stupid, but it doesn’t because it’s all planned out so well. I also haven’t heard anyone talk about getting a headache or getting too confused which has been a problem with some extended tracking shots, especially chaotic tracking shots, in the past.

Who Will (Probably) Win: 1917

Who I'd Gamble On: Nothing

Best Costume Design

Every nominee in this category is either a period piece or looks in such a way that it’s meant to make you feel like it’s a period piece (Joker +4000). That’s not surprising since the Academy isn’t giving out awards for going to Banana Republic and buying bland button-up shirts. The frontrunner here is Little Women (-300), and that’s probably deserved. Not only did we get period appropriate costumes, we also got period appropriate costumes for the characters at two different points in their teenage/ early adulthood years. There’s a hell of a lot of difference between how 13-year-olds dress and how 17-year-olds dress. It’s not like the characters went from 37 to 41 over the course of the movie.

I think both Jojo Rabbit (+275) and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (+600) are very much in play, especially since Dolemite Is My Name wasn’t nominated for I have no idea what the hell reason. I like Jo Jo as a slepper pick here. The costumes in that movie are fantastic, especially everything associated with Scarlett Johansson. There’s also a good balance between war stuff and fashionable old timey clothes.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Little Women

Who I'd Gamble On: Jojo Rabbit

Best Makeup And Hairstyling

I will give you exactly one reason I think Bombshell (-600) is going to win and exactly one reason I don’t think it’s going to win. Are you ready? In the not going to win column, people really don’t like voting for movies they didn’t like that much, and I don’t think Bombshell was that well liked. It didn’t get a Best Picture nomination, nor did it pick up any non-acting technical nominations outside of this one. On the going to win column though, they made Charlize Theron look exactly like Megyn Kelly. I mean… just look at the pictures. It’s stunning. How could you vote against that?

Joker (+400) is considered the strongest competition here. His makeup certainly looks good, and there’s some good work done with the side characters. I guess I wouldn’t be shocked, but for me, it’s Bombshell.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Bombshell

Who I'd Gamble On: Passssss

Best Original Screenplay

This is a really fascinating category. Parasite (-200) is considered the favorite with Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (+150) also a strong contender. If Quentin Tarantino would win, he’d tie Woody Allen for the most Oscar screenplay wins. I think many thought his victory was almost a foregone conclusion, but Parasite has really been coming on strong over the past few weeks. The buzz is building and more and more people are seeing it.

I’m not a big bet on the favorite guy, but I feel great about Parasite and -200 is not that bad. If you want to go crazy, I also don’t hate Knives Out as a wild longshot at +4500. That movie is really well liked, and it was very widely seen.

Who Will Probably Win: Parasite

Who I'd Gamble On: Parasite (Or Knives Out As A Fun Longshot)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Jojo Rabbit (-250) is definitely the frontrunner, but I’m not really sure it should be a -250 frontrunner. There was a lot of frustration and outrage when Greta Gerwig was not nominated for Best Director for Little Women. She’s nominated here for the screenplay. She did good work on it, and on top of that, I think a lot of voters would like to see her have a moment on stage. Little Women (+180) should be considered a real threat here and offers a way better return on your money. The Irishman (+900) is a really, really great screenplay in my opinion, but at some point, we need to just admit that movie has lost all its momentum.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Jojo Rabbit

Who I'd Gamble On: Little Women

Best Editing

There are three live choices here, and I have no idea who is going to win. Parasite (-125) is certainly a well edited movie, and there is a lot of love for it, given the six nominations. Ford V Ferrari (+130) is a much less popular movie, but its great editing is also a bit more noticeable. Those racing scenes are so well put together. They find the perfect balance between showing speed and chaos but also letting the viewer understand what’s going on. The Irishman (+550) is also a very well edited movie, and this is Thelma Schoonmaker’s 8th nomination, which tells you how much voters like her.

I’m going to go with Parasite here because I like picking the more well-liked movie, but I think any of these three are decent picks. I’d stay away from Jojo Rabbit (+3000) and Joker (+3500), both of which feel like sucker bets.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Parasite

Who I'd Gamble On: Parasite

Best Original Song

This has to be Elton John for Rocketman (-850), right? I realize Rocketman wasn’t particularly well-liked by the Academy and didn’t get nearly as many nominations as it deserved (sorry Taron Egerton), but there’s also no real competition here. Harriet (+550) is, I guess, the biggest spoiler possibility, but I don’t think people like that movie very much either, at least outside of Cynthia Erivo’s performance. The same could be said for Frozen 2 (+1000), which wasn’t even nominated for Best Animated Feature. “Into The Unknown” is also way worse than “Let It Go”, and deep down, everyone knows that.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Rocketman

Who I'd Gamble On: Not This Category

Best Production Design

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (-200) has incredible production design. The movie is visually beautiful, and there are so many great little details in the backgrounds of shots. It also moves to a lot of different locations. Parasite (+400), however, does a spectacular job of utilizing its house. By the end of the movie, you have a really good sense of the location almost as an additional character. 1917 (+250) also does an amazing job with all of its trenches and a few scenes that are indoors. I wouldn’t be mad if any of these movies won.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Who I'd Gamble On: Parasite

Best Visual Effects

This category has already gone through so many changes to conventional wisdom. First, it was widely assumed Avengers: Endgame (+190) would win as a way to say thank you to such a well-liked movie that would probably miss out elsewhere. Then The Irishman (+500) came out and people liked the effects way, way better than expected; so, that seemed like a pretty clear winner. Then 1917 (-125) came out and quickly emerged as a threat in basically every category. Now it’s considered the leader here. I’m not entirely sure that’s fair. I think Endgame and The Irishman probably both did more complicated things, but it’s hard to bet against 1917. Still, I’m going to do it here. I think this is the category where the Academy nods at Marvel and how much Endgame worked. That’s the movie I’d bet on, and I kinda think it would be the favorite too.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Avengers Endgame

Who I'd Gamble On: Avengers Endgame

Best Score

This is one of the biggest surprise categories for me. The score from Joker (-450) is nice. It's very well done, and I'm certainly not opposed to it winning, but I'm a bit surprised 1917 (+300) hasn't been stronger in the lead-up. Not only is the movie likely going to dominate on Oscar night, it's composer Thomas Newman's 15th nomination! 15! He's never won either. This could have finally been his moment to celebrate, but I just don't think I can bet against Joker. Outside of Joaquin Phoenix, this seems to be the one part of the movie everyone loves. It's not going to get a ton of votes for Best Picture, and if people want to reward something about the movie outside of the acting, I think it's going to be this.

Who Will (Probably) Win: Joker

Who I'd Gamble On: Passsss

The 2020 Oscars are almost here, and this year's show promises to be an exciting one. There are several great movies nominated in all of the major categories, and while there are some clear front runners, none of the big contests look to have entirely obvious winners. One of the more competitive races is Best Adapted Screenplay, where the writers of four films also nominated for Best Picture will go up against each other alongside a movie with two of the strongest acting performances of the year.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of opinions about this year's Academy Awards around CinemaBlend, and so, in an attempt to let everybody's voice be heard, the staff here at the site was given the chance to rank the nominees in the eight biggest Oscar categories. In the case of Best Adapted Screenplay, every member of the CinemaBlend staff that saw all of the nominated titles ranked each of the five nominees from most to least deserving (a "1" being the best, and a "5" being the lowest). Those scores have been averaged, and those averages have generated the order you see below.

#5. Todd Phillips & Scott Silver, Joker

Average Rank: 4

Joker made a lot of headlines before it was released, and it made just as many after we had all seen it. It was certainly an unlikely sort of film to wear the label "comic book movie," but for many that was exactly what made it so intriguing. While a majority of the praise has been reserved for Joaquin Phoenix's Golden Globe-winning performance, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided that the script was also worthy of recognition, giving it one of the five slots in the Adapted Screenplay category – though only one on-staff voter felt it is the film most deserving to take home the trophy.

Joker is a deep dive into the world of an unstable man and with each step that world, and Arthur Fleck, unravel further. It would likely be a compelling character drama even if the DC comics character names weren't included, and it's only because it's based on a DC property that the script qualifies as an adapted work; the story is not based on any specific previous version of the character. While Joker is arguably a strong favorite in some other categories, its placement here on our list shows just how stiff this competition is.

#4. Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes

Average Rank: 3.6666666

The Two Popes is, by far, the simplest of the films nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. It's a movie that consists almost entirely of scenes featuring just two people sitting in a room and having a conversation. On the one hand, not a lot happens, but on the other, to make such an idea even work you need to have a pair of exceptional performers, and they need to have a dynamite script to work with. Both Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce are nominated in acting categories, and Anthony McCarten's script, essentially the third pillar of this production, is fittingly nominated as well.

With The Two Popes not securing a Best Picture nomination, it feels like the film could be the long shot in the screenplay race, but at the same time the film's simplicity lets the script shine in ways that some of the others on this list might are unable to do. Whether or not you know anything about the Catholic Church, there's something truly compelling about the conversations of faith and life and football that these two men have. And what's most impressive is that none of these conversations actually happened, as the film is based on Anthony McCarthen's fictionalized play, The Pope. The Two Popes is more like a thought experiment that considers what would have happened if these two men of deep faith ever truly sat down to talk – and though impressive, not our top pick for this particular prize.

#3. Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit

Average Rank: 2.8333333

As of this writing, it is unclear exactly what form of madness writer/director Taika Waititi is suffering from. However, that's one of only a few explanations for the existence of Jojo Rabbit, a film about a member of the Hitler Youth near the end of World War II who has an imaginary friend that takes the form of Adolf Hitler himself, played by Waititi. The film is a biting satire on the dangers of conformity and tribalism that makes the audience laugh, cringe, and cry in equal measure. The balancing act is delicate, but the script never waivers in its focus, and never feels heavy handed.

The Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar will be Taika Waititi's personal time to shine if he takes it home. While Jojo Rabbit is up for Best Picture, he personally missed out on a Best Director and Best Supporting Actor nomination, so this is his only shot at an individual award this year. Several on the CinemaBlend team think this is actually the Best Adapted Screenplay of the year, with a third of our voters ranking it at the top, though there were some that place it lower in the stack, resulting in its middle of the pack spot.

#2. Steven Zaillian, The Irishman

Average Rank: 2.3333333

Based on the book I Head You Paint Houses, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman tells the story of a gangster who claims to have been the one who shot Jimmy Hoffa. It's a story about a man that spends most of his life in organized crime, so it's far from shocking that Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro were the right people for this particular job. From a screenplay standpoint, though, the most surprising thing about it is just how strong the movie is, even with its hefty three-and-a-half hour runtime.

There are those that have argued The Irishman is too long, but you won't find many of them around CinemaBlend. Nearly half of voters called this one the best adapted screenplay of the year. However, there were enough differing opinions to keep it out of the top spot., making our pick...

#1. Greta Gerwig, Little Women

Average Rank: 2.1666667

Greta Gerwig may have been left out of the Best Director conversation this year at the Academy Awards, but if CinemaBlend has its way (at least collectively) she'll leave the Oscars this Sunday with the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. What makes Gerwig's script for Little Women so remarkable is that she takes the story – the most well known on this list prior to its adaptation and one of the most well known in American literature – and makes it feel entirely new. Gerwig makes people love a character they've hated for over 100 years. She should get a prize for that alone.

Greta Gerwig's Little Women screenplay does what arguably every great adaptation should do: take something that already exists, and look at in a new way to present a new and wholly original perspective. If the Academy agrees, then Gerwig may in fact win the Oscar.

Have you seen all of this year's nominees in the Best Adapted Screenplay category? Hit us up in the comments with your ranking, and answer the poll below with your number one pick. Also, stay tuned here on CinemaBlend in the coming days as we dive into more of the major categories!

This poll is no longer available.

With just five days separating us from the 2020 Oscars, the pressure is mounting as the nominees race towards the finish line. And if you’re looking to place some last-minute bets on who will win the top honor of Best Picture, you’re going to want to know who the oddsmakers favor, right? Well, if the current figures hold up, placing that bet on director Sam Mendes’ war epic 1917 is the way you win.

Numbers have been crunched, and the odds for the entire Best Picture race have been compiled. Which has resulted in the field being broken down into the following odds:

While director Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite seems to be touted as a last minute spoiler for the Best Picture race, the oddsmakers at US-Bookies have the World War I drama still at the top of the pack. And as far as the runner up in the Best Picture race is concerned, this spread sees Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood acting as the first runner up.

As we descend down the ladder of Oscar odds, those hoping movies like Joker or The Irishman could snag the top prize look to be bound to board a train of disappointment. Though at least their odds are better than that of the bottom two tiers of the 2020 Best Picture race, as Jojo Rabbit and Marriage Story are at 50/1 odds of winning, with Ford v Ferrari and Little Women both clocking in at 100/1.

While it’s true anything can happen between now and Sunday’s ceremony, these guesses are pretty educated, considering all the awards shows for various professional guilds have already taken place and seen the films in the top of the crop rewarded quite frequently. So really, if you want to make the best bet, you’re going to want to stick with the top three choices in the pack.

Still, Best Picture upsets have happened in the past couple of years that have us wary of placing a wager of any kind. Let’s not forget the two big surprises when it came to recent Oscar history, as Moonlight and Green Book were films that, while being in the conversation, felt like they had little chance of winning. Which made both of their victories all the more surprising, and has us still clutching our wallets protectively to this very day.

All will be revealed when the 92nd Academy Awards are held on Sunday night, airing on ABC starting at 8:00 PM ET. And if you’re looking to catch up on as many nominated films as possible before Sunday’s show, check out our feature on where you can stream some of this year’s most notable awards contenders.

Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is three and a half hours. So one would imagine all the actors would be given a lot to say, right? Except Anna Paquin only says seven words in the entire movie as the daughter of the titular “Irishman," Robert De Niro’s Frank Sheeran. It’s been a subject of controversy since the release of the 10-time Academy Award nominated Netflix film. Now, the director has touched upon why Paquin was chosen for the role. In Scorsese’s words:

The Oscar-winning actress’ role in The Irishman has stirred controversy about being perhaps underutilized, but Martin Scorsese explains that he cast her because he knew could pull off the role with little to say. He worked with Anna Paquin a lot to communicate the emotion of her character through body language and eye contact.

Martin Scorsese also talked about how balanced the playing field is between men and women in Oscar-nominated roles. Here’s what he said to Variety:

If you don’t count repeated Oscar nomination from the likes of Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Joe Pesci, the performance Oscar nominations between men and women in Martin Scorsese’s films are neck and neck. Cate Blanchett’s role in The Aviator, Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver, and Sharon Stone in Casino are just a few of the female recognition brought upon by Scorsese’s direction.

But, seven words is seven words. And it’s tough to argue that Anna Paquin didn’t deserve better. Maybe if Peggy was played by a less-established actress we wouldn't be having this conversation. When Robert De Niro was asked about his on-screen daughter’s lack of dialogue, he said there could have been more but said the performance she had was “terrific and it resonates."

When The Irishman cast introduced their movie at the SAG Awards, the controversy resurfaced the moment Anna Paquin went on stage with some of the cast to talk about the movie. Here was the general reaction among viewers:

Yep, not tough to beat seven words. But, here’s how Anna Paquin sees it:

Despite her short amount of dialogue, the actress has still been praised for her performance. Her role as Peggy Sheeran has been called the “heart” of the Oscar-nominated drama. The movie is packed with talent between Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Ray Ramano, Harvey Keitel, and Jesse Plemons. The Irishman is streaming on Netflix right now.

The Witcher was launched into the spotlight, sparking conversation, theories, and even more Geralt in a bathtub memes. As is the case with any TV show, though, The Witcher’s first season wasn’t perfect — what with all the confusing timelines and such — and a sophomore season presents the perfect opportunity to improve on what didn’t work in Season 1. Naturally, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is already planning some big changes for Season 2.

While it was a huge hit with fans, there were many critics who weren’t very kind in their reviews, though the showrunner had a response to the negative reactions. Still, The Witcher Season 1 proved incredibly popular. But even Lauren Schmidt Hissrich wants to tweak some things to help make the series even better, so don’t expect the series to be the same when it does return. Here’s what she said on The Writer Experience podcast about the changes in store for Season 2:

It sounds like The Witcher will have a bit of a clean slate in Season 2 and the changes seem like an opportunity to make an even better show, to build upon the story being told while ironing out the kinks from the first season. Personally, I’m not opposed to the alterations, as any and all changes become a big part of a series’ evolution. One can only hope that the changes will make The Witcher all the more exciting in Season 2. Totally different Nilfgaard armor? Bring it on!

While Henry Cavill gave a production update about The Witcher Season 2 in January, the Netflix series won’t return to the streaming service for a while. While fans wait for more on Season 2, Netflix has heard the call for more Witcher content and is planning an anime film called The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.

The anime will be set in the same universe as The Witcher TV series, though it doesn’t have a release date scheduled yet. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates. In the meantime, you can watch The Witcher Season 1 on Netflix. For more on what to watch, be sure to check out our 2020 midseason schedule for all premiere dates and times.

Awards season is upon us. The 2020 Academy Award Nominations have been announced! This year the field is competitive with plenty of surprises and snubs. So, we decided to partner with AMC to give readers a chance to show off their ballots. We want to know who you think will take home the coveted awards. Just let us know who you think will win in each category below! One ballot will be randomly selected to receive two $40 gift cards courtesy of AMC on Monday, February 10th.

And if you haven't been able to check out all the movies yet, please consider heading over to AMC theaters. Many of the nominees are still playing, and there's no experience quite like seeing a great movie in a crowded theater. You can grab tickets here.

As for the ballot below, it's simple. Just go through each category and choose who you think is going to win, not necessarily who you think should win. Then give us an email address so we can contact you if you're the winner. You may also receive other content-related emails from us. They're great, but if you have bad taste or just don't like a cluttered inbox, you can opt out at anytime. Good luck!

Official Rules: Just fill out the above ballot and leave your email address so we can copy you. The giveaway ends at 5 p.m. CT on Sunday, February 9th. The winner is chosen at random and will be notified via email and given 3 days to respond. Only U.S. residents over the age of 18 may apply. Prize packs will be emailed directly to the winner. No purchase necessary. Participants can be disqualified for any reason. Failure to comply with the rules will result in disqualification and subsequent mockery. Any shipping issues are not the responsibility of CinemaBlend. Good luck!

This week, the Academy made the big announcement that everyone has been waiting for: the Oscar 2020 nominations. The Academy Awards nominations went as expected. Joker has been dominating award season and the Oscars was no exception. It received the most Oscar nominations with 11. Luckily, for those who want to watch Joker before the Academy Awards airs, it’s among the Oscar nominated films that are already streaming.

Many of the Academy Award nominated films have months before they’ll appear on major streaming service. However, there are still a ton of Oscar nominated films that are already streaming, giving you plenty to watch before the big show.

Joker

Nominated for: 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Actor in a Leading Role

Todd Phillips directs Joaquin Phoenix in one of the most discussed films of 2019, Joker.

Joker adds some humanity to one of DC Comics most infamous villains. It shines a light on Gotham's society and makes the audience wonder if Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is really the villain or victim of the story. Joker is available to rent or purchase on various major streaming services, including Amazon Prime Video and Google Play. Stream it HERE.

The Irishman

Nominated for: 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Directing

The Irishman stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. Based on the real life story of Frank Sheeran, The Irishman is a crime drama from legendary film director Martin Scorsese. It follows Frank (Robert De Niro) as he goes from truck driver and WWII veteran to a hitman involved with the Buffalo crime family. As a Netflix original movie, The Irishman is available to stream on Netflix. Stream it HERE.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Nominated for: 10 Academy Awards, including Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Cinematography, and Best Picture

Quentin Tarantino pays tribute to the golden age of Hollywood with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Set in 1969, TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) deal with the changing industry and the effects it has on them as professionals. Margot Robbie also stars in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Quentin Tarantino’s latest film is available to rent or purchase digitally on most major streaming video platforms (Vudu, Google Play, Amazon Prime Video, etc.). Stream it HERE.

Marriage Story

Nominated for: 6 Academy Awards, including Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actor in a Leading Role

In Marriage Story, Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) and Charlie (Adam Driver) are going through a divorce, and Noah Baumbach shows all the agony, devastation, and healing that comes with the process. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver give two of the most raw and emotional performances of their careers in Marriage Story. Marriage Story is one of Netflix’s many originals that received Oscar nominations this year. Stream it HERE.

Parasite

Nominated for: 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best International Feature Film

Bong Joon-ho co-wrote and directed Parasite, a portrait of two families and the class system that liberates and shackles them. Parasite is an international gem that is a social commentary film, thriller, and black comedy. Parasite is available to purchase on Amazon Prime Video and other streaming video platforms. It’ll be available to rent on January 28. Stream it HERE.

The Two Popes

Nominated for: 3 Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Adapted Screenplay

The Two Popes is a Netflix original film based on the Anthony McCarten play The Pope. It follows two popes with vastly different views, and shows how they must find a middle ground for the future of the Catholic Church. Anthony Hopkins plays Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce plays Pope Francis. The Two Popes is available to watch on Netflix. Stream it HERE.

Harriet

Nominated for: 2 Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Original Song

Cynthia Erivo stars in Harriet, a film based on the life of Underground Railroad conductor and Moses to her people Harriet Tubman. It follows her journey as she frees slaves all across America. Janelle Monae and Leslie Odom also star in Harriet. The movie will be available to rent on January 18. Stream it HERE.

Honeyland

Nominated: 2 Academy Awards: Best International Feature Film and Best Feature Documentary

Honeyland is a documentary film about beekeeper Hatidze Muratova, who finds her livelihood and life thrown into disarray when a new family moves nearby. Hatidze embraces the new family giving them advice and affection, but soon the patriarch realizes the opportunity with selling honey and becomes competition for her beekeeping and honey business. Honeyland is available to stream through a Hulu subscription. Stream it HERE

Judy

Nominated for: 2 Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Renee Zellweger takes on the iconic singer and actress Judy Garland in Judy. The film goes through Judy’s struggles and triumphs as a woman constantly under the watchful eye of the public. Rent or purchase Judy, Renee Zellweger’s return to award season, on Amazon Prime Video and multiple other streaming platforms. Stream it HERE.

Toy Story 4

Nominated for: 2 Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song

Toy Story 4 brings together Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), and the gang for one more adventure. The toys face the challenge of finding a new purpose, visit old friends, and combat new enemies. Toy Story 4 isn’t available on Disney+ yet, but it is available to rent or buy on multiple video platforms, including Vudu, Google Play, and Amazon Prime Video. Stream it HERE.

Pain And Glory

Nominated for: 2 Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best International Feature Film

Pedro Almodovar teams up once again with Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz for Pain and Glory. Antonio Banderas plays Salvador Mallo, a film director facing a creative, personal, and mental crisis, so he begins to recall important people and moments in his life. Pain and Glory is available to purchase on Amazon Prime Video and other video platforms. The film will be available to rent on January 21. Stream it HERE.

Breakthrough

Nominated for: Best Original Song

This is Us’s Chrissy Metz stars in Breakthrough, a movie about a woman’s faith being tested when her adopted son, played by One Day at Time’s Marcel Ruiz, after falling through a frozen lake, struggles to survive. Topher Grace, Mike Colter, and Josh Lucas also star. Breakthrough is available to stream on HBO Now or Go, and it’s available to purchase on multiple streaming platforms, like Amazon Prime Video and FandangoNow. Stream it HERE.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Nominated for: Best Animated Feature Film

Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and Toothless go on one final adventure in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. It’s the final installment of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. Hiccup tries to find a Dragon utopian place called “The Hidden World,” and Toothless begins to bond with a female dragon called Light Fury. See how the journey ends in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which is available on Hulu. Stream it HERE.

I Lost My Body

Nominated for: Best Animated Feature Film

The French animated film I Lost My Body follows a severed hand trying to make his way back to the man who owns it, Naoufel (Dev Patel). It’s the journey of Naoufel falling in love with Gabrielle (Alia Shawkat) and how that might have led to the separation from his hand. It also highlights important moments through the hand and Naoufel’s life. Netflix acquired the rights to I Lost My Body, and it is available to stream on there. Stream it HERE.

Klaus

Nominated for: Best Animated Feature Film

Netflix’s Klaus is a retelling of the origin story of Santa Claus. It stars Jason Schwartzman, J. K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, and Will Sasso. The film follows Jesper (Jason Schwartzman), the spoiled son of a Postmaster General, and a giant toymaker named Klaus (J.K Simmons). The two men work together to deliver homemade toys to the children of Smeerensburg and restore the town’s joy. Stream Netflix’s family animated adventure Klaus HERE.

Missing Link

Nominated for: Best Animated Feature Film

In Missing Link, Zach Galifianakis voices Mr. Link, a lonely 8 feet tall furry creature who leaves his home to find his long lost relatives. Mr. Link soon forms a trio with Sir Lionel (Hugh Jackman) and Adelina (Zoe Saldana). Together they form their own family. Missing Link is available to stream through a Hulu subscription. Stream it HERE.

Jojo Rabbit (Available February 4)

Nominated for: 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit follows a German boy, Jojo (Roman Griffin), as he starts to challenge his beliefs when he learns that his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) has been hiding a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), in the attic. His imaginary friend, Hitler (Taika Waititi) makes things even more complicated. Jojo Rabbit isn’t currently streaming, but it’ll be available on February 4, a few days before the Academy Awards. Available soon HERE.

A Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood (Available February 4)

Nominated for: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

In A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Tom Hanks takes on the role of TV legend Fred Rogers, also known as Mister Rogers. The film is about Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod (Matthew Rhys)’s friendship. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood will be available to purchase on February 4. Available to stream soon HERE.

Better get to streaming all these Oscars 2020 nominated films soon, because the Academy Awards airs on February 9 at 8:00pm EST.

While director Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is enjoying a pretty exciting ride as a 10 time Academy Award nominee, there’s still a fair amount of controversy as to how this film has depicted the death of former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa. The questionable reality of the story presented in the film has now been even more scrutinized, as Frank Sheeran’s lawyer, Glenn Zeitz, says that the film, and the book it was based on, got the story absolutely wrong.

Hired as Frank Sheeran’s lawyer 40 years ago, Zeitz has recently come out and stated that the story woven by both Sheeran himself, as well as by author Charles Brandt in his now landmark best-seller “I Heard You Paint Houses,” is a fabrication at best, and part of a chain of unreliability at worst.

With a lot of Netflix viewers having already watched The Irishman, and the film’s Oscar campaign beginning to heat up, it’s a good time to review how the film depicted its version of Jimmy Hoffa’s death, and just why Glenn Zeitz thinks that scenario isn’t right.

How The Irishman Depicts Jimmy Hoffa’s Death

In the events depicted in The Irishman, we see Robert De Niro’s Frank Sheeran being tasked with assassinating Al Pacino’s Jimmy Hoffa. The hit is ordered by Sheeran’s friend, mob boss Russell Buffalino, played by Joe Pesci.

While on their way to a wedding in the midwest, Buffalino informs Sheeran that he’s to fly out to Detroit, and aid in the pickup and elimination of Jimmy Hoffa. Thanks to his former friends in organized crime disapproving of his warpath to reclaim his presidency of the Teamsters union, the once powerful man was now a target to be dealt with.

As seen in The Irishman, Hoffa was taken to a house by Frank Sheeran and some friends, shot twice at close range, and eventually cremated to seal the deal. His disappearance is reported the day after the crime is supposedly committed.

What Frank Sheeran’s Lawyer Said About Jimmy Hoffa’s Death

In his recent interview with The Washington Post, Glenn Zeitz was revealed to have consulted the FBI investigation into Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance, and has even used his own files from years of serving as Frank Sheeran’s lawyer, to build a case that Sheeran wasn’t the person behind the supposed assassination of Hoffa.

All of that effort and research has led to the following assertion made by this recent story:

While Frank Sheeran and Russell Buffalino may have been headed out to the wedding of Bill Buffalino’s daughter roughly a half hour away from Detroit, Zeitz has no confidence that Sheeran’s execution of the Hoffa hit could have taken place. Strangely enough, depending on when you spoke with Mr. Sheeran himself, he would have agreed with his lawyer.

Frank Sheeran’s Interesting History Pertaining To The Hoffa Hit

That chain of events, which comes from narrative “I Heard You Paint Houses” claims to be the truth, has been disputed by many a source ever since its release. However, in an added twist to this story by The Washington Post, the greatest contradictions to that story have come from Sheeran himself.

Further along in the story debunking Frank Sheeran’s involvement with the death of Jimmy Hoffa, this particularly interesting piece of information was provided:

This is on top of the times where Frank Sheeran allegedly distanced himself from the Jimmy Hoffa hit, as the man who was really known by the alias “Big Irish” has also threatened to sue people who have connected him to the infamous potential murder.

All of this adds up to the fact that if we’re going by the public record, as well as those maintained by the FBI and Glenn Zeitz, there’s no definitive “confession” by Frank Sheeran that he did kill Jimmy Hoffa. And that, ultimately, causes us to question just how this effected director Martin Scorsese’s prolonged quest to make this film, as this controversy is so baked into the story at this point that it’s hard to avoid.

Martin Scorsese’s Reaction To The Irishman Controversy

As the subject of how accurate Frank Sheeran’s various stories surrounding Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance has been an evergreen discussion surrounding The Irishman’s source material, there’s obviously the question of how Martin Scorsese feels about the subject.

Naturally, the director was asked about how important he felt the truth to Sheeran’s claims were, and in an interview with EW, Scorsese made his opinion of “the truth” bluntly clear:

Rather than focus on whether or not Frank Sheeran committed the murder The Irishman makes its pivotal event, Martin Scorsese and writer Steven Zaillian were concerned with showing the personal evolution of Sheeran. While his actions and his attitudes inform where he is at any given point in time, that’s not where the film puts its main focus.

In the end, The Irishman is still a compelling narrative that provides a possible solution to one of the greatest mysteries in American crime. But that’s all the film gives to its audience, as the source material’s accuracy will always be under suspicion until the cold hard truth is provided. Judging by how Glenn Zeitz’s files, and even those of the FBI, are protected to a certain degree, we may never see that day come. So for now, if you’re interested in knowing the definitive truth behind Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance, the answer is that for now, we simply don’t know what that is.

Don’t let that get in the way of a good story though, as The Irishman is available on Netflix, for your own personal enjoyment. Provide, of course, you’re looking for some interesting historical fiction with a slightly spiritual side.

As of this week's announcements, the 2020 Academy Awards will see 34 individual movies fight it out for honors throughout the Oscars’ various categories of distinction. Out of those 34 movies, there are 18 that scored only a single nomination to their credit, with four films having only two to their name.

But when it comes to those last 12 films we’re going to mention by name, we’ve got heavy hitters that have received at least three nominations, with the high water mark boosting one film up to 11 nominations. From Joker to The Two Popes, and every film in-between, these films are the most represented in this year's class of contenders.

Now let's open the envelopes and run down what movies got the most Oscar nominations in 2020. And the most prolific nominees are…

Joker (11 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Film Editing, Best Makeup/Hairstyling, Best Score, Best Picture, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing & Best Adapted Screenplay

Arthur Fleck’s transformation from social misfit into the figure head of a chaotic movement is the premise behind co-writer/director Todd Phillips’ Joker. A radical reinterpretation of the DC Comics villain, Phillips is nominated for both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as being a co-nominee for the film’s Best Picture honors as one of its producers.

But that’s only the beginning of the steamrolling Joker has given the rest of the field, as Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Arthur has landed him a Best Actor nomination at this year’s Oscars. This is Phoenix’s fourth nod overall, and the third in this particular field. Depending on who you talk to, this could be his best chance to finally take home some gold, as well as the overall movie to beat at 2020’s Academy Awards.

1917 (10 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Makeup/Hairstyling, Best Score, Best Picture, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects & Best Original Screenplay

Inspired by stories his grandfather told him about the First World War, director Sam Mendes’ recent hit 1917 is a film that takes place during a real time race against time to deliver an important message. As we follow Lance Corporals Blake and Schofield (Dean-Charles Chapman & George MacKay, respectively) through the battlefield and into the trenches, perilous obstacles are presented to our protagonists, and there’s no room to cut away from the action.

That approach to 1917’s narrative is undoubtedly why, on top of Best Picture honors, the film has gotten crucial Oscar nominations as Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Visual Effects. Mendes himself is also well represented, as he shares the Best Picture nomination, and also has additional nods for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, alongside co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (10 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing & Best Original Screenplay

In the lazy, hazy days of 1969, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) try to get a handle on life as only characters in a Quentin Tarantino film could. But rather than go for what folks consider the typical QT picture, Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood plays mostly as a mix of nostalgia and self-reflection. Of course, there’s still plenty of Tarantino-isms, and that’s part of why the man could make history with his potential third win for Best Original Screenplay this year.

Put that together with DiCaprio and Pitt being nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, and this is another thoroughbred to watch out for at this dog and pony show. Altogether, 10 nominations have made their way into the hands of this particular film, and if it plays its cards right, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood could be a big winner, thanks to a slew of technical nominations.

The Irishman (10 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Supporting Actor (x2,) Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Film Editing, Best Picture, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects & Best Adapted Screenplay

A dream project for director Martin Scorsese, The Irishman fulfills a promise the man had so often made to bring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino onto the screen in the same picture. Showcasing the life and times of mob hitman Frank Sheeran (De Niro,) the Netflix original is a story of friendship, family, and guilt.

It’s also an acting powerhouse when it comes to the 2020 Academy Awards, as both Pesci and Pacino will be duking it out for Best Supporting Actor honors this year. Not to mention, Scorsese himself has a Best Director nomination that compliments his producer’s honors in the Best Picture nomination. But if there was an award this film should want to win, besides its major nominations of course, it would be that of Best Visual Effects, as it took a lot of impressive work to de-age the main cast for this generational epic.

Jojo Rabbit (6 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Supporting Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing & Best Production Design

Shifting gears into the next tier of competitors, director Taika Waititi’s anti-hate satire Jojo Rabbit has found itself in a pretty good niche when it comes to this year’s Oscar nominations. The story of young Jojo (Roman Griffin) and his confrontation of the Nazi ideals that took Germany by storm during World War II, this dramedy is a heartwarming laugh riot.

While Waititi himself missed out on a directing nomination in 2020’s Academy Awards race, the man does have two nominations, as a producer of the film as well as the writer of its Best Adapted Screenplay. But as far as Oscar history is concerned, Jojo Rabbit is where Scarlett Johansson sees the first two nominations ever in her career, with a nod for Best Supporting Actress headed her way.

Little Women (6 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Score, Best Picture & Best Adapted Screenplay

You may have heard about our next nominee, as writer/director Greta Gerwig’s Little Women is a silent but deadly box office powerhouse as of late. The story of the March Sisters and their relationships during the difficult years after their father’s passing, the film was snubbed when it came to Gerwig’s directorial efforts.

However, Gerwig herself does have a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay, along with other impressive nominations going to Saoirse Ronan for Best Actress and Florence Pugh for Best Supporting Actress. Rounding out the field are 2020 Oscar nominations for Best Costume Design, Best Score, and Best Picture; all of which bring Little Women’s awards profile to an exciting level of anticipation.

Marriage Story (6 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Score, Best Picture & Best Original Screenplay

Also frozen out of the director’s race is Greta Gerwig’s husband Noah Baumbach, who sees himself earning a similar backdoor into the Oscar nominations race in 2020 with his latest film, Marriage Story. Baumbach not only has a Best Original Screenplay nomination to contend for at this year’s Academy Awards, but he also has a producer’s credit that allows him to potentially win if this movie wins Best Picture.

Loosely based on his own experiences with divorce, Marriage Story also sees Adam Driver being nominated for the honors of Best Actor and Scarlett Johansson picking up a Best Actress nod herself. The pair’s incendiary chemistry, both in love and ruin, helped propel this film to prestige glory, as well as studio Netflix to an impressive 24 nominations overall - the most that any studio/distributor has seen in the Oscar nominations of 2020.

Parasite (6 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Director, Film Editing, Best International Film, Best Picture, Best Production Design & Best Original Screenplay

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho finds himself breaking into the Academy Awards this year, as his dark comedy thriller Parasite is up for 6 Oscar nominations. A story of deception, and all of the consequences that come with such a practice, this particular movie has found itself winning over critics and audiences alike. So the news that it has garnered nominations for both Best Picture and Best International Film should be no surprise.

And as for Bong Joon-ho himself, he’s personally up for a potential Best Director trophy, as well as honors for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. Though if you were to place your bets on which big ticket category Parasite is most likely to win, you might want to place some money on the Best International Film category; if Roma’s Oscar fate last year is any indication.

Ford v Ferrari (4 Nominations)

Nominated For: Film Editing, Best Picture, Best Sound Editing & Best Sound Mixing

Rounding out the field of Academy Awards nominees for 2020 are the last handful of films that have seen 3 to 4 nominations land in their respective buckets. And in the case of Ford v Ferrari, the bulk of those honors come from technical awards, as Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing are three of the four honors it’s vying for.

The story of how American automotive legend Caroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and English race car driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) collaborated on the car that would help a Ford win the 1966 Le Mans event, Ford v Ferrari missed out on a lot of other potential nominations, including acting honors for both Damon and Bale. But the film did manage to crash the party in the Best Picture nominations, which means that director James Mangold could still walk away with a trophy if the night pans out the right way.

Bombshell (3 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress & Best Makeup/Hairstyling

Out of the three actors that make up the core cast for director Jay Roach’s Bombshell, two performers found themselves walking away with Oscar nominations. Those aren’t bad odds if you’re Best Actress nominee Charlize Theron or Best Supporting Actress nominee Margot Robbie.

But somehow, Nicole Kidman’s portrayal of Gretchen Carlson, in a story about the misconduct of Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) and others at Fox News, was a no show when it came to nominations. With one other nod for Best Makeup/Hairstyling, Bombshell has clearly impressed the judges with its acting talents, and could be a spoiler in either race when you consider Olivia Colman's surprise Best Actress win for The Favourite last year.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (3 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Score, Best Sound Editing & Best Visual Effects

While Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker isn’t a major contender at this year’s Academy Awards, the 2020 Oscar nominations do see the film helping to set a new record. With his 52nd nomination for Best Score, composer John Willams is now the most nominated person living in Academy Awards history, with Walt Disney still holding the record at 59 nods.

As the concluding chapter of the Skywalker Saga happens to, oddly enough, be under the purview of the late Disney’s studio, it seems fitting that this great honor would accompany the almost assured nominations this film was going to garner in Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.

The Two Popes (3 Nominations)

Nominated For: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor & Best Adapted Screenplay

For a movie named The Two Popes, there’s an argument to be made that this Netflix original has the most impressive track record for this year’s Academy Awards nominations. We say this because as there are only two popes in this dramatized meeting between Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins) and Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce,) the fact that both have been nominated is pretty spectacular.

With Pryce in the running for Best Actor and Hopkins competing for Best Supporting Actor, The Two Popes will have its hands full when it comes to this year’s acting races. Though additional excitement is thrown in as writer and previous nominee Anthony McCarten is up for Best Adapted Screenplay honors in 2020’s Oscar nominated class.

The field competing for the 92nd Annual Academy Awards is pretty wide, based on the top contenders above. We'll see what the future holds when the ceremony takes place on February 9th, as it will be aired on ABC at 8 PM ET.

And we're off! The 2020 Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and there are probably some movies on that list you haven't seen yet -- and maybe some you wouldn't mind watching again before the big show. The 92nd annual Academy Awards will air Sunday, February 9, on ABC. You may not have time to watch every single nominee on the list, and some Best Picture movies like frontrunner 1917 and Little Women just came out in theaters and don't seem to be available for streaming before Oscar night. (That could change, though.)

Every Monday I recommend stuff to stream, so today I'm picking 10 must-watch Oscar nominees that are either already available to stream or will be ready for home viewing before Oscar night.

Joker

Joker led the 2020 pack with 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix, Best Director for Todd Phillips, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and more. Fun fact: Bradley Cooper is one of the producers, so if Joker wins Best Picture, he can accept. Joker is already out on digital for streaming at Amazon Prime, FandangoNOW, Vudu, Google Play, YouTube, etc. It's also available on Blu-ray with special features and commentary.

The Irishman

Netflix did very well for itself with Oscar nominations this year. Martin Scorsese's The Irishman earned 10 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor nods for Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, but nothing on the Best Actor front for Robert De Niro. Since The Irishman is a Netflix movie, that's where you can stream it. I know some people are trying to cut back on subscriptions, including to Netflix, and they're hoping The Irishman (and Marriage Story, etc.) gets a Blu-ray or DVD release. Roma became the first Netflix movie to get a DVD/Blu-ray release thanks to the Criterion Collection, with that special edition releasing in February. Fingers crossed for more.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood earned 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Original Screenplay for Quentin Tarantino, Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Supporting Actor for Brad Pitt, and more. Here's hoping Pitt gets to make another classic speech, like he did at the Golden Globes. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is already on digital and disc. You can stream it on Amazon, FandangoNOW, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, etc. If you just want to rent it, you can pay $6 on Amazon or buy it for $13.

Marriage Story

Marriage Story, like The Irishman, is a Netflix film, so that's where you can stream it. Marriage Story got six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Adam Driver, Best Actress for Scarlett Johansson, Best Supporting Actress for Laura Dern -- whether you wanted her to get the nod or not -- and Best Original Music Score and Original Screenplay. Johansson had never been nominated for an Oscar before and now she's nominated twice -- one nod for this movie, and the other for a movie listed below.

Parasite

As director Bong Joon-ho put it at the Golden Globes, don't let the "one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles" stop you from watching foreign films like Parasite! The movie was nominated for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, plus Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design, and Best Film Editing -- including that intentional continuity error. Parasite will be available for streaming Tuesday, January 14 -- aka the day after the Oscar nominations -- on Amazon and other digital platforms. The film will be released on Blu-ray/DVD on January 28.

Ford v Ferrari

Ford v Ferrari didn't get any acting nominations for Christian Bale or Matt Damon, but it was nominated for the top prize of Best Picture, along with Best Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, and Film Editing. If you haven't had a chance to watch it on the big screen, or you want to watch again at home, you'll have the chance soon. Ford v Ferrari is coming to digital platforms on January 28, so that's when you can stream it wherever you tend to rent or buy titles. If you want to wait for DVD/Blu-ray, you'll have to wait until after the Oscars on February 11.

Jojo Rabbit

Taika Waititi's dramedy set in Nazi Germany was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for Scarlett Johansson, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Film Editing. Jojo Rabbit is something of a surprise to me to get so many nods, even though it did get great reviews and audience scores. It didn't make much at the box office, but maybe after these Oscar noms it can get a re-release and pick up some money. Otherwise, people who haven't seen it yet will have to wait until it arrives on digital February 4, including Amazon, and then DVD/Blu-ray February 25.

The Two Popes

The Two Popes just showed up on Netflix on December 20, a few days before Christmas. Most of the Netflix chatter this year has been about The Irishman and Marriage Story, but it's worth watching this one if you haven't streamed it yet. Jonathan Pryce plays Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, with Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI. Both men were nominated for Oscars -- Pryce as Best Actor and Hopkins for Best Supporting Actor. I was hoping this would happen for Pryce, since he's 72 and this is his first Oscar nomination. It's very much earned, as you'll see. Since The Two Popes is a Netflix film, that's where you can stream it.

Judy

Renée Zellweger won the Best Actress in a Drama award at the Golden Globes, so she might be a frontrunner to win the Best Actress category at the Oscars for her role as Judy Garland. Judy was also nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The movie, following Garland later in her life, is currently available for streaming on Amazon, YouTube, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Vudu, or wherever you tend to rent/buy movies to stream. You can also check it out on Blu-ray/DVD if you prefer physical copies.

Harriet

Harriet was nominated for two Oscars -- Best Actress for Cynthia Erivo as Araminta "Minty" Ross/Harriet Tubman, and Best Original Song for "Stand Up." Kasi Lemmons' film earned an A+ CinemaScore from moviegoers polled opening night and got solid reviews from critics. Still, it didn't get a huge release in theaters so many fans may be unfamiliar with the movie and now curious to see first-time nominee Cynthia Erivo in the role. You can watch the movie on digital January 14 and check it out on DVD/Blu-ray on January 28. The release will feature extras including feature commentary and a deeper look into Harriet Tubman's story.

Of course, there are many more nominees you should stream if you have the time and if they are available before the February 9 broadcast. I hope you've seen the animated nominees, including Netflix's Klaus but also Missing Link and more. You can use Kanopy to stream Sama, which is nominated for Best Documentary. Kanopy is free to users nationwide who hold a partnered public or academic library card. Check out the full list of 2020 Oscar nominations and just schedule yourself out for the next month!

If you're looking for more streaming recommendations, I share suggestions every Monday and there are A LOT of past features you can check out:

• 5 Excellent Keanu Reeves Roles Worth Streaming On Netflix And Amazon

• 5 Sci-Fi TV Shows To Watch On Netflix: Our Streaming Recommendations

• 5 Documentary Series To Watch On Netflix: Our Streaming Recommendations

• 5 British TV Comedies On Netflix You Should Bloody Well Watch: Our Streaming Recommendations

• 3%, Occupied, Harlots, and Other Streaming Recommendations

• 5 Robert Downey Jr. Movies To Love 3000 On Netflix

• 5 Chris Evans Movies Worth Streaming On Netflix And Amazon

• 5 Ryan Reynolds Roles Worth Streaming On Netflix And Amazon

• 5 Will Smith Movies Worth Streaming Right Now On Netflix And Beyond

• 5 Refreshingly Non-Toxic Reality TV Shows Worth Streaming On Netflix

• 5 Joaquin Phoenix Movies Worth Streaming On Netflix And Amazon Ahead Of Joker

• 5 Stripper Movies Worth Streaming In Honor Of Jennifer Lopez's Hustlers

• The 5 Best Space Movies To Stream In Honor Of Brad Pitt's Ad Astra

• 11 Unbelievable True Crime Series Worth Streaming On Netflix

• 8 Movies With 100 Percent Ratings Worth Streaming Before Netflix's The Irishman

• 7 Paul Rudd Movies Worth Streaming On Netflix Before Living With Yourself

• 8 Movies With Twist Endings Worth Streaming On Netflix After Fractured

• Where To Stream Firefly And 10 Other Great Shows Cancelled After One Season

• Whodunit? 7 Murder Mysteries Worth Streaming On Netflix

• 12 Royal TV Shows Like Netflix's The Crown: Our Jolly Good Streaming Recommendations

• 11 Best Gangster Movies Worth Streaming Along With Netflix's The Irishman

• 11 Best Tom Cruise Action Movies Worth Streaming As We Wait For Top Gun: Maverick

• 13 Adam Driver Movies Worth Streaming, Including Netflix's Marriage Story (But Not Star Wars)

• 8 Carrie Fisher Movies Worth Streaming As Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Opens

• 8 TV Shows Worth Streaming On Netflix As You Wait For The Witcher Season 2

• 10 Disney+ Shows Worth Streaming As We Wait For The Mandalorian Season 2

What 2020 Oscar nominees do you plan to watch ASAP?

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is still trying to figure out just what to do with Netflix and other streaming services. Netflix only bothers to release films theatrically in order to contend for annual awards, television, not theatrical presentation, is always the focus. There's a feeling among some that Netflix shouldn't even be able to compete for awards like the Oscars, and yet, for the second year in a row, Netflix will be a contender, having received a number of nominations including a pair of Best Picture nods.

Last year, Alfonso Cuaron's Roma was the major Netflix representative at the Oscars, and the film eventually went home with the awards for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as Best Director for Cuaron. This morning the 2020 Oscar nominations were announced and Netflix had a very good morning, with a massive number of nominations for three separate films, The Irishman, Marriage Story, and The Two Popes.

Both The Irishman and Marriage Story received nominations for Best Picture, making two of the nine nominated films. Heading down the list, Martin Scorsese received another nomination for Best Director for Irishman. The two leads of Marriage Story, Scarlet Johansson and Adam Driver, were both nominated for their respective acting categories. Driver will be competing with Jonathan Pryce for his his role in The Two Popes.

Laura Dern was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category, but the real fight is taking place in Best Supporting Actor. Netflix has three of the five nominees as both Joe Pesci and Al Pacino were nominated for The Irishman, alongside Anthony Hopkins for The Two Popes.

The list goes on. Marriage Story was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, while The Irishman and The Two Popes both got nods in the Adapted Screenplay category. The Irishman also received additional nominations for Best Visual Effects, Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Cinematography, and Production Design. Marriage Story was also nominated for Best Score.

There were also a couple nominations for Netflix outside of these big three movies. Documentary American Factory was nominated in the Feature Documentary category, and finally, something of a surprise on the list, Netflix's animated Christmas movie Klaus saw a nomination in the Best Animated Feature category.

Of course, even with the odds in Netflix's favor based on this massive number of nominations, it's far from a guarantee that Oscar night will be a good night for the streaming service. Netflix had a great morning when the Golden Globe nominations were announced as well last month, but the awards didn't pan out. Laura Dern's Best Supporting Actress win for Marriage Story was the only award Netflix won in any of the film categories.

While the Academy may not be quite sure how to handle Netflix, it seems the streaming platform is only becoming more important to the Oscars as a whole. And there's a plus side for the audience as well. Anybody who has Netflix can now watch these nominees between now and Oscar night. Even if you haven't watched any of the other contenders, by watching Netflix you can get familiar with some major nominees, which might help the ratings of the award telecast itself.

At this past Sunday’s 77th Golden Globes Awards ceremony, Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed crime epic, The Irishman, was completely shut out, taking home no awards despite its five nominations. It was a surprising result (some might say a snub) for a film this acclaimed and prestigious, and let’s just say that some people took it better than others. Martin Scorsese has revealed one Irishman cast member’s hilarious reaction to the film’s Golden Globes losses, saying:

That's amazing. Clearly Harvey Keitel isn’t exactly a 'go down with the ship' kind of guy. As Martin Scorsese recalled to the crowd at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, as reported by the Washington Post’s Steve Zeitchik, Harvey Keitel didn’t take The Irishman’s losses at the Golden Globes particularly well. The actor, who plays Angelo Bruno in the film, saw The Irishman missing out on awards like Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, and he decided to abandon ship.

According to Martin Scorsese, Harvey Keitel saw that Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was faring better (it won three out of the five Golden Globe awards it was nominated for) and decided to change tables. And who could blame him? Who would want to sit with a bunch of losers like Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro? The Golden Globes are about having fun, and losing is no fun.

Show business folks, it’s a cutthroat business. Harvey Keitel wanted to be surrounded by winners, so he ditched The Irishman table and went to go sit with Quentin Tarantino and the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood cast. Like The Irishman, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood had a hugely talented ensemble cast, but Harvey Keitel wasn’t actually a part of it.

However, as any Winston Wolfe fans can attest, the actor has worked with Tarantino in the past in movies like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. So Harvey Keitel felt comfortable sitting with his frequent collaborator to make sure all of the losses of The Irishman didn’t rub off on him.

Ironically, another cast member of The Irishman actually showed up in both films: Al Pacino. But as far as I’m aware, Al Pacino stuck with The Irishman, in which he had a much bigger role, and didn’t join Harvey Keitel at the Once Upon a Time table. There's a lot of mutual love among this group though, with Quentin Tarantino citing The Irishman as his favorite movie of 2019.

Fortunately, Martin Scorsese doesn’t seem to have been too bothered by Harvey Keitel leaving or the losses, having lost out on many Golden Globes throughout his career. Plus, there are still more awards to come. At the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, The Irishman took home Best Picture and Joe Pesci scored Best Supporting Actor for the film.

Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to keep track of all the movies coming this year and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest awards season coverage.

Crying at movies is natural, despite what even the hardest of hearts will tell you. And at the end of director Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, it was that big old softy Alec Baldwin who was weeping moviegoer tears, and for a pretty valid reason: we’re probably never going to see the film’s dream team work together ever again.

During a recent conversation surrounding the Netflix awards contender, Baldwin described his experience with the film’s ending as only a true fan could:

With Scorsese finally delivering his long anticipated adaptation of Charles Brandt’s biography, “I Heard You Paint Houses,” the life and times of mob hitman Frank Sheeran made their way to the silver screen with a cast that was difficult to pull together for one last hurrah.

Keep in mind, The Irishman had long been touted as the movie that would finally team Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in a narrative worth watching, as well as the film that would bring Joe Pesci out of retirement. Throw in fellow Scorsese alum Harvey Keitel into the mix, and you’ve got a once in a lifetime group of talent that feels like a perfect cast list come true.

Anyone who’s a fan of Martin Scorsese’s filmography, as well as any cinephile worth their salt, knew that The Irishman was a hard prospect to pull together in the first place. So hearing that Alec Baldwin was crying during the end of the lengthy mob epic that could be Scorsese’s final film in the director’s chair makes a lot of sense.

Continuing to explain his reaction during an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Baldwin painted those initial thoughts with these details:

Alec Baldwin’s reflections on The Irishman feel like the perfect reaction to the sort of film Martin Scorsese was trying to make with that very picture. As a meditation on life, family, and the golden age of the mob, Scorsese tells a tale of regret upon further reflection of one’s past.

In its own symbiotic way, that message is even sadder when you think about how much more awesome it would have been to see the legendary director work with this crew in an earlier, younger era. But, as Joe Pesci’s Russell Buffalino reminded us oh so pointedly in The Irishman, albeit in a much different context, “It is what it is.”

Whether you cry because it’s over, or smile because it happened, film fans of all stripes can take comfort in the fact that The Irishman exists. Though, for the sake of maintaining peace, let’s hope Terry Gilliam doesn’t meet up with Alec Baldwin to discuss the film’s ending anytime soon.

The Irishman is currently available on Netflix, as well as limited theatrical release that might be playing in a theater near you!

The year 2019 is over and the "Roaring Twenties" are finally upon us (we need a new name for this decade, btw). The Golden Globe Awards have been dished out and the top 10 movies of the CinemaBlend team have been announced. The year was a rollercoaster release-wise, front loaded with superhero blockbusters accompanied by a fourth quarter filled with award contenders. Disney alone had six films that made over a billion dollars. Despite the money made by the mouse, the 2019 box office still fell short of the previous year, although not by much.

While the dollars and cents might not have added up, emotions and opinions were definitely not short-changed in 2019. Below is a breakdown of the top 10 films of 2019 from each member of the CinemaBlend staff who saw at least 50 new releases. Be sure to let us know your favorite film of the past year in the poll or comments section below!

Although 2019 closed the door on two of the biggest sagas to ever hit the big screen, 2020 is shaping up to be another blockbuster year, from the beginning of the MCU's Phase 4 to a resurgence of both classic and new horror movies. Make sure to let us know your favorite film of the year by using the poll or comments section below and keep up with everything new dropping this year with our 2020 release date schedule.

This poll is no longer available.

Movies based on fact are often subject to criticism. There are numerous instances where those associated with the events being portrayed on film don’t agree with the filmmakers behind these projects. It recently happened with a journalist Olivia Wilde played in Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, and Megyn Kelly said she would have made “edits” to Jay Roach’s Bombshell. Now, the stepson of a man being portrayed in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is speaking out about the Netflix film’s inaccuracies.

Jack Goldsmith has penned a New York Times letter calling out the legendary filmmaker for the various inaccuracies in The Irishman. His stepfather is Chuckie O’Brien, who Jesse Plemons plays in the Golden Globe-nominated drama. He talks about O’Brien living a “44-year humiliation” due to untrue stories of him and his associate Jimmy Hoffa (played by Al Pacino in the 2019 film).

Jack Goldsmith, who authored the book In Hoffa’s Shadow: A Stepfather, a Disappearance in Detroit, and My Search for the Truth about his stepfather in 2019, says he discovered the FBI’s violation of Chuckie O’Brien’s privacy by recording him and claims Martin Scorsese has crossed the line in a similar with the release of The Irishman. In his words:

Chuckie O’Brien’s stepson talks about how The Irishman looks to be the truth for many audiences who watch it and accept it as such. He talks about how contrary to the initial belief that O'Brien abducted Jimmy Hoffa through force and violence, the FBI actually has no longer suspected him of this crime for decades. Yet, since this information was not made public, he has been falsely accused in writings and films for years. Goldsmith continued with the following:

Jack Goldsmith talked about how his stepfather has been dreading the release of Martin Scorsese’s recent (last?) film, but it “turned out to be worse than he feared.” Chuckie O’Brien called the over-three-hour movie ”one of the greatest fake movies I ever saw.” He notably cites the close relationship between Hoffa and “The Irishman” Frank Sheeran (played by Robert De Niro) as not being nearly as close as the movie makes them out to be.

Chuckie O'Brien says he’s the person who served as an “intimate companion, driver, bodyguard and special troubleshooter” to Hoffa instead of Frank Sheeran. Chuckie asserts that he’d like to choke Martin Scorsese “like a chicken” and grab “that other pipsqueak” – referring to Robert De Niro. His stepson clarifies it’s not an actual threat. Yet, it certainly shows the 86-year-old man’s fury.

The Irishman is currently streaming on Netflix. Check out our accuracy fact check of the film.

You could argue that this decade is ending with one of the strongest years in recent memory. What’s funny, though, is that at the halfway mark of 2019, I thought I’d struggle to find enough movies to make up a 10 Best list. Then, the back half of 2019 came roaring on like the proverbial Lion in Winter, and it turned out that some very impressive movies (like Parasite, Ford v Ferrari and the hysterical Dolemite is My Name) found themselves on the outside of my personal Top 10, looking in.

That’s what happens when unquestionable masters such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino put out masterpieces, joined by the likes of Sam Mendes, Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig and the Safdie Brothers. It was a great year for Marvel, and a solid year for a classic D.C. villain. But when your favorite movie of all time (Avengers: Endgame) gets dethroned in the race to discover the BEST movie of 2019, you just know that this is a crazy year.

So, without further ado, here are the 10 Best Movies of 2019, as chosen by yours truly, Sean O’Connell, the Managing Director of CinemaBlend.

10. Little Women

What an exquisite movie. And one that I never thought we needed, but damn, and I thrilled it exists. After the fresh and vibrant coming-of-age comedy Lady Bird, the last thing I wanted was for Greta Gerwig to attempt yet another adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s seminal novel.

And yet, the cast is pitch perfect, the approach to the material is lively and effervescent, and Gerwig shows immense poise for only a second-time director. To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, you don’t always get what you want from a filmmaker. But sometimes, you get what you need.

9. Uncut Gems

Uncut Gems triggers an age-old conversation I love having with cinephiles: How many times does a movie need to work? Because Benny and Josh Safdie’s tense and edgy Uncut Gems works so well the first time through, as Manhattan con man Howard (Adam Sandler) tries to stay ahead of all the people to which he owes money.

But the extremely effective tightrope walk loses a little steam on repeat viewings, only because the mystery of where Uncut Gems can go dissolves. I don’t blame the Safdies for that. Their movie is still a hell of a ride. But repeat viewings knocked this move from Top 5 for me to number nine. Still terrific.

8. Rocketman

The movie-musical biopic that should have gotten all of the attention that went to the tepid Bohemian Rhapsody last year. Dexter Fletcher’s Rocketman tells Sir Elton John’s story in all of its R-rated glory, putting an incredibly fresh spin on some notably dusty classics by embracing the fantasy aspect of the piano maestro’s journey.

The wild card is Taron Egerton, who is brilliant as the ivory-tickling superstar. He’s larger than life (as John is, himself) and does his own singing and dancing, leading to a few arrangements on the Rocketman soundtrack that I actually prefer to the original Elton John tunes (Your Song and Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting being two examples).

7. 1917

The first time through, I focused on the gimmick. It’s impossible not to, with all due respect to director Sam Mendes. But when you tell me that Mendes and genius cinematographer are making a WWI movie in one “continuous” take (with a few cheats), you HAVE to pay attention to the gimmick. And it’s mesmerizing.

But on a second viewing, I got completely caught up in the story of the two soldiers (Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay) tasked with delivering a message in time to prevent a military slaughter. And the storytelling craft of Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns overwhelmed the one-shot aspect of 1917. It was still spectacular (and I have no clue how Mendes and Deakins staged some of the masterful shots in this brilliant movie), but the human element caught up with the technical element, leading to one unforgettable movie.

6. Joker

According to DC Comics, the Joker has no origin. Which gave director Todd Philips and actor Joaquin Phoenix a blank slate to figure out how an individual would morph into the Crown Prince of Crime in Gotham City. Phillips’ realistically grungy interpretation of Gotham is a huge part of the reason why I love Joker. You believe this decrepit hell hole could birth both a Joker and a Batman, who finally tries to clean up these disgusting streets.

But Phoenix’s transformation from Arthur to Joker is what makes this comic-book origin story an all-timer, with an appropriately vague ending that will have you questioning how much the unreliable narrator is messing with your head the entire time. Joker is exactly the movie that the Joker deserves.

5. Waves

Trey Edward Shults’ Waves knocked me completely on my ass… in the best way possible. It’s essentially two separate movies, one about tragedy, and one about picking up the pieces after a disaster. But you don’t know where either story is going while you are in them, and the writer-director so seamlessly transitions between the two, you know you are watching a master at work.

The cast, from top to bottom, is amazing. And the best part is that they’re relative unknowns, with Kelvin Harrison Jr., Taylor Russell and Alexa Demie carrying the bulk of the dramatic load. Waves wins the imaginary prize for Most Captivated An Entire Audience Was During A Pivotal Scene. I’ll never forget the sound my crowd made during THAT moment in this movie.

4. Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino can’t ever retire. Not when he’s still making movies as layered, laid-back, riveting and introspective as Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. His best movie since Pulp Fiction, this film celebrates QT’s home town, and the industry that props up every player who comes to L.A. seeking fortune and recognition.

The results are as hopeful and distressing as you might imagine, with the parallel story of a rising starlet (Margot Robbie) and a fading star (Leonardo DiCaprio), while Tarantino also injects a brilliant commentary about male friendship, and the bonds shared between like-minded brothers. Everyone in the cast is at the absolute top of their game, and Tarantino is in no rush to get anywhere, giving Hollywood a lavish, luscious and leisurely pace that improves with each repeat viewing.

3. Marriage Story

Noah Baumbach’s heartwrenching look at a marriage slowly being chipped away at until all that’s left is the raw nerve. Baumbach writes from a place of emotional honesty, presenting a situation in which both parties are right… and wrong. And what begins as an amicable split gets more and more complicated – as these things often do.

Adam Driver is spectacular. Scarlett Johansson reminds us how good she can be when handed the right script. But Marriage Story stands shoulder to should with Kramer vs. Kramer by populating all of its crucial side characters with outstanding character actors (Ray Liotta, Laura Dern, Alan Alda) who knock every scene they are given out of the park.

2. Avengers: Endgame

An impossible movie. Seriously, how on Earth can Avengers: Endgame exist? There’s a scene in Avengers: Endgame where Captain America (Chris Evans) calls out, “Hey Queens?” then throws Mjolnir through the air, and it’s snagged by Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who is wearing an Iron Spider suit designed by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) while carrying the Infinity Gauntlet. That exists, and in context, makes total sense.

Avengers: Endgame is every Marvel fans’ dream. It’s a deeply satisfying conclusion to the 23-film Infinity Saga that serves as both a fitting farewell for some characters and a suitable launch pad for others. No matter what happens in the MCU next, they’ll always be able to look back on Endgame and say, “We stuck the landing.” Excelsior, you superhero-movie geniuses. Thank you from the bottom of my geek heart for making this magic trick come to life on the big screen.

1. The Irishman

After I walked out of Joe and Anthony Russo’s Avengers: Endgame, I declared it my “favorite” movie of all time, surpassing my go-to answer of John McTiernan’s original Die Hard. Endgame remains my “favorite” movie of all time, but Martin Scorsese’s masterful The Irishman is, unquestionably, the best-made movie I managed to see in 2019.

The natural progression of the gangster pictures Scorsese made in both Goodfellas and Casino, The Irishman packs a reflective tone that stems from the director’s recent Silence to allow the weight of the criminal actions of its protagonists to hang over the final act of his story. Collaborating with Scorsese brings out the absolute best in three legends who’ve been giving far less than their finest on screen – Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and a retired Joe Pesci. And Steven Zaillian’s screenplay seamlessly marries three separate narratives into one clear storyline, a ridiculous balancing act that pays off on every level.

Ambitious, epic and masterfully crafted, The Irishman is the best movie of 2019.

This article contains major spoilers for the conclusion of Netflix's The Irishman. Please wait to read any further if you have yet to see the film.

If you found yourself checking your watch near the end of The Irishman, you’re not alone. Though Martin Scorsese’s latest film was a hit with critics, many film fans found it to be a bit too long -- including Terry Gilliam.

The renowned director recently told IndieWire that he was one of the few who actually got to see The Irishman in theaters, at the London Film Festival. And while he mostly enjoyed it, he admitted his wife fell asleep during the course of the film’s three-plus hour run time. Terry Gilliam also wasn’t exactly thrilled with the film’s ending:

Like Terry Gilliam, some fans have found multiple issues with The Irishman. There was the debate over whether the film should have a wider release, despite being produced by Netflix. Some feel that the movie, which follows real-life alleged hitman Frank Sheeran and his relationship with Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa, is just too damn long. Others have complained that Anna Paquin, who plays Frank’s aforementioned daughter Peggy, is woefully underused. And still more have taken issue with Martin Scorsese’s use of cutting edge de-aging technology so that the film’s stars, including Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, could play their characters over the course of several decades. Terry Gilliam had an opinion on that, too:

Terry Gilliam also made headlines for his controversial criticism of Black Panther. As for The Irishman, despite the lackluster fan response, it’s still a top awards season contender. It earned coveted Golden Globe nominations for Best Drama, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, plus nods to Al Pacino and Joe Pesci (though, surprisingly, not Robert De Niro). And it’s expected to have a strong showing when the Academy Award nominations are released on January 13, 2020.

The Irishman is currently streaming on Netflix.

Netflix has long been known as a great place for Netflix Originals on the TV front, but it's only recently been raising its game on Netflix original movies. In 2019, Netflix Films were some of the best movies of the year -- also some of the weirdest, boldest, most inspired, and most timely. We all have our favorites, but here are my choices for the 10 best Netflix movies of 2019, ranked from "worst" to best.

10. Fyre

Ah, the schadenfreude movie of the year. Actually, there were two of them. The Fyre Festival was such a tantalizing fail, it got dueling documentaries in 2019. Fyre streamed on Netflix, with Fyre Fraud on Hulu. Netflix's Fyre became infamous for event producer Andy King's admission that he almost performed oral sex to get water for festival attendees. He became a meme for that, but the documentary also showed the serious repercussions of the festival. While people at home gleefully laughed at the rich kids who spent thousands to attend the festival, there were also working people in the Bahamas who were stiffed by the event producers. Fyre tells that story too.

9. The Perfection

Netflix has some movies that are pretty far out there and several with odd twist endings. This is one of them. It's just a total mindfuck. The Perfection is the kind of movie that elicits strong reactions -- positive and negative. That's part of why it succeeds, in my opinion. I love the wild risks. Every time I thought this movie was about one thing, it became about something else. Essentially, the twisted psychological horror movie is about Allison Williams' talented cellist Charlotte, and her rivalry with her former academy's new star pupil Lizzie (Logan Browning). But it's also about a lot more. And let me just say, from Girls to Get Out to The Perfection, Williams does not get enough credit for pure balls-out commitment to polarizing roles.

8. El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

As a devoted fan of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, I loved El Camino ... and was also let down by it. Or maybe I was let down by my own expectations. What's fair on that front? The eternal fan question. I can't find fault with the acting or dialogue, and it was such a treat to see the Breaking Bad characters again and definitively see Jesse Pinkman starting his new life. And yet... so much of El Camino felt like deleted scenes from Breaking Bad. It didn't move the narrative forward enough for me. It ended where I hoped it would start. But on an emotional level, writer/director Vince Gilligan and actor Aaron Paul -- and Jesse Plemons, and Bryan Cranston, and our beloved Robert Forster -- knocked it out of the park. It was perfect comfort food and something I know I'll appreciate more with future viewings.

7. Always Be My Maybe

I still don't understand why we haven't spent all of 2019 talking about Randall Park's rap about punching Keanu Reeves. Best believe, it's the best song of 2019 from one of the best movies. This romantic comedy plays out pretty much how you expect it to, but if your movie entirely depends on shocking twists to be memorable, it's probably not a good movie. Always Be My Maybe is just a charming, funny, very real, and very romantic comedy. Ali Wong and Randall Park -- who helped write the movie -- are geniuses and I could watch them in everything. Also, Keanu is solid gold.

6. The Two Popes

Anthony Hopkins is always riveting, and he nails every nuance of Pope Benedict XVI, the more challenging man to grasp in The Two Popes. But still, this is Jonathan Pryce's movie, and should be the one to finally give him an Oscar nomination. He disappears into the future Pope Francis in director Fernando Meirelles' biographical film. Screenwriter Anthony McCarten adapted his own play for the Netflix movie, which just came out at the end of December 2019. While ambitious in its conversation topics -- morality, God, every other big picture topic -- the film itself isn't that ambitious in its scope. It mostly (and wisely) focuses on these two powerhouses of the modern Catholic church, offering a surprisingly warm and even funny look at how they may have interacted.

5. Marriage Story

Every generation gets its own divorce movie, and this one is perfect for our modern era. Noah Baumbach's Netflix dramedy finds the humor and beating heart in the breakup of a theater director (Adam Driver) and actress (Scarlett Johansson). The two stars give powerful performances, and I don't mean that much-dissected fight scene. I mean the smaller moments, the little details that make their relationship real and not just a cliché. Their lingering love for each other, and the casual realism -- like swearing in front of, and sometimes at, their kid without that becoming a thing. And when he read her letter in the end... Marriage Story doesn't cover new ground, but it's achingly real and more heartwarming than I expected. Aso, Laura Dern, Ray Liotta, and Alan Alda need a spinoff following their legal exploits. Netflix, you have your marching orders.

4. The Irishman

The Irishman is the kind of movie I appreciate more than I love. Martin Scorsese's movie is epic in every sense of the word, and what a coup for Netflix to land it. Most of the performances are outstanding, especially from Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro. Al Pacino is also a standout, but I've seen that performance from him before. That's my biggest complaint about The Irishman, which is worth holding to a particularly high standard. I'm not as fussed about the runtime as the lack of originality. It covers so much familiar territory from some of the same actors who've been making mob movies with Scorsese and company since Mean Streets and Goodfellas. But maybe it's like Marriage Story giving a new generation a new great divorce movie. Now we have another great crime movie. And I did love the ending.

3. Klaus

Klaus is an instant classic. My cynical heart grew at least two sizes watching the film, which is Netflix's first original animated movie. Maybe this should be its new niche. Jason Schwartzman voices the lead character of Jesper, the rich and lazy Postmaster General's son, who is sent to the dismal town of Smeerensburg and told he has to post 6,000 letters in a year or his father will cut him off. Once Jesper gets there, his own heart eventually melts and he changes the town in all the ways you already expect. No major twists there, you instantly know where it's going. But on the way is so much wit and warmth -- plus some of the most stunning frame-worthy visuals. I laughed out loud in a couple of places and sobbed like a lonely toddler toward the end. I can't wait to re-watch this movie every year.

2. Dolemite Is My Name

Rude, crude, raw, racuous, colorful, and campy, Dolemite is just a total joy. Eddie Murphy's R-rated comedy is a welcome shot of originality as well as 118 minutes of pure adrenaline. Unlike, say, The Irishman, there isn't an ounce of fat on Dolemite Is My Name. Murphy gives Rudy Ray Moore the kind of showcase any star would dream of, introducing the real-life comedian and blaxploitation filmmaker to a whole new audience. "I want the world to know I exist." And now they do. Side note: Between his supporting role in Dolemite and cameo on FX's What We Do in the Shadows, Wesley Snipes needs to make more comedies. Can't beat his timing.

1. American Factory

Netflix's best documentary of 2019 is also one of the best movies of the year, period. American Factory follows American and Chinese workers and management as the Chinese company Fuyao opens a factory in suburban Ohio. The fly-on-the-wall style humanizes everyone we see on screen without slanting in any direction. This movie does it all -- educates, infuriates, makes you think, makes you feel, makes you understand. Unlike so many of the titles above, American Factory is a time capsule. It perfectly captures everything real about 2019. We needed this film. Watch it here on Netflix.

While Netflix is still improving its selection of original scripted films, it is arguably the market leader for outstanding original documentary films. Netflix documentaries rank among the best across all outlets. With our current content surge, everyone from Hulu and Amazon to HBO has entered the doc game, but Netflix still holds its own. American Factory is a perfect example of that.

If I could give out honorable mentions to other Netflix movies of 2019, I'd go for Velvet Buzzsaw; High Flying Bird; I Am Mother; and maybe Paddleton. I probably wouldn't include Fractured; Earthquake Bird; Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator; Murder Mystery; The King; or 6 Underground, although they all started their share of conversations.

So those are my picks for the 10 best Netflix movies of 2019. That's not to say they were the 10 best movies overall, and I know you will have your own choices. What was the best Netflix movie of 2019, to you?

This poll is no longer available.

Are Marvel movies really “cinema?” This became a massive question in 2019 when Martin Scorsese, Hollywood icon and a brilliant director by every metric known to man, dismissed the crop of MCU blockbusters as nothing more than theme park rides that are chewing up valuable space at the multiplex. Mr. Scorsese, of course, is entitled to his opinion, but it caused a hell of a stir (because in 2019, we also need a lot of things to complain about online, naturally).

I’m trying to interpret this sly move by Scorsese’s daughter, Francesca. On her Instagram story (captured by Deadline), the merry prankster revealed that she wrapped her father’s Christmas presents in Marvel-themed paper.

Hilarious. I love everything about it… unless, she’s saying that these movies are LESS than film. That they’re the equivalent of holiday wrapping paper. That would be a savage indictment of the state of superhero filmmaking, delivered by the daughter of one of our generation’s greatest storytellers. It’s also very possible that I’m reading too much into this, and that the Scorsese’s just have a terrific sense of humor, and Francesca Scorsese knows exactly how to break her father’s balls. To quote Joe Pesci in the masterful The Irishman, “It is what it is.”

No matter what side of this debate you fall on, both Marvel and Marty had terrific years this year. Marvel Studios dominated the box office frame (and received near-universal critical praise) with its output of Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and the Sony collaboration of Spider-Man: Far From Home. All three soared past the $1 billion mark at the international box office, and Endgame is now the highest-grossing movie of all time.

Martin Scorsese, meanwhile, made a triumphant picture in The Irishman, reteaming with some of his most powerful collaborators (Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro, to name drop a few) to deliver a gut-punching coda to the type of Mafia-gangster picture Scorsese all-but perfected in Goodfellas and Casino. Though released by Netflix, the movie enjoyed a limited theatrical run, maintained its 3+ hour run time, and is expected to compete for numerous Oscars when the Academy announces its nominees in January.

So, can this blood feud end? I’m kidding. This is the most harmless debate in all of cinema. Scorsese makes some excellent points about studios and distributors being beholden to the tentpoles that prop up the annual release schedule. And he laments the fact that in 2019, he can’t get a movie like The Irishman made in the traditional studio system.

But audiences are finding his movies – and movies like Roma or 6 Underground – on streaming platforms. We have evolved. There’s room at numerous tables for all types of stories. And the joke by Francesca Scorsese was spot on. We hope Marty got a good laugh out of it.

Martin Scorsese is known as a prolific filmmaker, having produced massively successful movies for decades. Scorsese's work has pierced the pop culture landscape forever, and he's pretty much the king of gangster movies. The filmmaker has had countless hits including Taxi Driver, The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Gangs of New York. His latest work is perhaps his most ambitious. The Irishman spans decades of time and utilizes de-aging technology for the cast, and is currently streaming on Netflix. Although it looks like that might be Scorsese's final outing as a director.

The Irishman has been dominating the news cycle for a number of months, dating back to before its release on Netflix. Martin Scorsese went viral for not considering superhero movies "cinema", before the same time his 209-minute epic became available to stream. Now that The Irishman has been released and will attempt to get big nominations this coming Awards Season, Scorsese has opened up about the possibility of retiring. As he put it,

Do you hear that sound? It's cinephiles across the world weeping. Martin Scorsese has brought countless quality movies to theaters during his tenure as a director. But the 77 year-old filmmaker isn't sure if he has any more films inside of him. The Irishman could end up being his last.

Martin Scorsese's comments to The Guardian might be a bummer for movie fans, but you can't blame him for thinking about putting his feet up. Scorsese has directed a whopping 25 movies over the years, and The Irishman was no doubt an especially grueling process. The crime drama was a long time coming, with the filmmaker beginning work on it years ago. And now it's finally available for Netflix subscribers all over the world.

Related: Martin Scorsese's The Irishman: How Historically Accurate Was The Film, Starring Robert De Niro?

The Irishman is told on a scale that is massive, even for Martin Scorsese's standards. The story begins in the 1950s, and shows Robert De Niro's Frank Sheeran ascending in the crime world across the decades. He assembled a stunning cast to bring the story to life, with some of the actors being de-aged to tell the origin of their character. Joining De Niro are Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin and Jesse Plemons.

The Irishman is largely being considered a masterpiece, but Martin Scorsese has been working on it for a long time. And he wasn't sure exactly how it was going to go down. The filmmaker explained this process during his conversation with The Guardian, saying:

Martin Scorsese put his all into The Irishman, releasing it onto the world after a lengthy development, filming, and editing process. And given just how epic of a story the movie tells, it stands to reason that Scorsese might be flirting with the idea of retirement. Although he hasn't actually confirmed anything.

You can stream Martin Scorsese's The Irishman on Netflix now. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

December 2019 is an exciting month for movie fans. Some of the best films of the year come out during this month, and some critically acclaimed films receive wider release in December. Most years, this month is a busy one for moviegoers because of the wide range of options, everything from adventure movies to family classics to Oscar-buzz films all have their moments in December. It’s definitely one of the best times to go to the movies, and there's a little something for everyone here. Let’s take a look at some of the best movies in theaters now.

Jumanji: The Next Level (In Theaters)

Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, and Nick Jonas return for the sequel to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Jumanji: The Next Level adds the star power of Danny Glover, Awkwafina, and Danny Devito to this highly anticipated sequel. This film is just as fun, humorous, and charming as the original.

Knives Out (In Theaters)

In Knives Out, Rian Johnson directs an all-star cast that includes Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Michael Shannon. Rian Johnson does a brilliant job directing an equally brilliant ensemble of actors. Knives Out is a stylish and entertaining murder mystery that is a must-see film for Agatha Christie fans and beyond.

Black Christmas (In Theaters)

Black Christmas is a remake of the 1974 slasher film. In this version, it follows the Hawthorne College sorority girls as a stalker starts killing them off one-by-one. They decide not to just sit around waiting to become the latest victims, so the sorority girls fight back. 2019’s Black Christmas’ cast includes Imogen Poots, Aleyse Shannon, Lily Donoghue, Brittany O'Grady, and Cary Elwes. Black Christmas is a film for movie fans who want something a little gruesome this holiday season.

Bombshell (In Theaters)

Bombshell follows Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), and Kayla Pospisil) as they make allegations against Fox News founder Roger Ailes (John Lithgow). The film is based on the real life sexual harassment allegations made against Roger Ailes in 2016. Bombshell has already gained multiple award nominations for its three actresses, including Screen Actors Guild Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Critics’ Choice Movie Awards nominations.

Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (In Theaters)

Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys star in this biopic about everyone’s favorite neighbor, Fred Rogers. Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is mainly about the bond that forms between Mister Rogers and journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matt Rhys). Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is just the tear-inducing, Oscar-buzz film that you need to see this December, especially for Tom Hank’s mesmerizing and dynamic performance.

Richard Jewell (In Theaters)

Clint Eastwood directs Richard Jewell, a movie based on the true-life events of the 1996 Summer Olympics Centennial Olympic Park bombing, and the security guard accused of the bombing, Richard Jewell. Paul Walter Hauser plays Richard Jewell, and the supporting cast includes Sam Rockwell, Jon Hamm, Kathy Bates, and Olivia Wilde. Richard Jewell brings more awareness to how this tragic event destroyed the lives of many, including Richard Jewell.

Frozen II (In Theaters)

In Frozen II, Elsa (Idina Menzel), Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and Olaf (Josh Gad) leave Arendelle in search of answers about Elsa’s powers and their relation to her parents. Frozen II hit theaters in November and families have been flocking to the movies to see the latest Frozen adventure. With the Christmas spirit running rampant, Frozen II is bound to have a major box office resurgent.

Queen and Slim (Still Showing In Some Theaters)

Directed by Melina Matsoukas and written by Lena Waithe, Queen & Slim follows Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) and Queen (Jodie-Turner-Smith), who become outlaws after they kill a cop in self-defense. A video of the incident goes viral and they become a symbol for liberation. Queen & Slim gives us a modern day (innocent) Bonnie & Clyde with all the complexities that come from being black in America.

Joker (Still Showing In Some Theaters)

Todd Philips directs Joaquin Phoenix in one of the most talked about films of 2019. Joker hit theaters in October, but some cinemas are still showing the film. Joker has a January 7, 2020 DVD release date, so movie fans who want to see this award season darling before it leaves theaters only have a few weeks left.

Ford V Ferrari (Still Showing In Some Theaters)

Matt Damon and Christian Bale star in this sports drama. Ford V Ferrari is about Henry Ford’s team of race car developers and drivers who, with the hopes of finally defeating Ferrari’s racing team at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France, set out to build the Ford GT40. Ford v Ferrari is already receiving critical acclaim, especially forChristian Bale’s portrayal of race car engineer and driver Ken Miles.

The Irishman (Limited Release)

Martin Scorsese directs this crime film starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. The Irishman tells the true-life story of Frank Sheeran, a truck driver in the 1950s who gets involved with the mob and becomes a hitman. The Irishman had a limited theatrical release in early November, and then it became available to stream on Netflix in late November. The film is still available to view in some arthouse theaters nationwide.

Marriage Story (Limited Release)

Marriage Story follows an estranged husband and wife as they go through the legal proceedings of a divorce. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver star. Marriage Story is available on Netflix, but it is also showing in limited theaters. Johansson and Driver give stunning performances that you might want to experience on the big screen.

The Aeronauts (Limited Release)

Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne team up again in The Aeronauts. The biopic follows scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) and wealthy young widow Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) in 1862. The duo sets to break records by flying a balloon higher than anyone in history. The Aeronauts is a gorgeously shot movie about the spirit of perseverance and hope.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Coming Soon: December 20)

J.J Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the new Star Wars trilogy. Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe (Oscar Isaac) prepare for their final battle against the First Order. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is one of the most highly anticipated films of 2019. It’s set to break box office records, and hopefully becomes one of the best Star Wars films yet.

Cats (Coming Soon: December 20)

Arriving in theaters just in time for the holidays is the feature adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's beloved broadway musical production, Cats, directed by Tom Hooper. The star-studded cats... err, cast includes Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Rebel Wilson, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and more.

1917 (Coming Soon: December 25)

Sam Mendes directs 1917, a World War I drama about two British soldiers tasked with delivering a message deep within enemy lines. If they succeed, they help save over 1,600 men from a death trap. Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay play the two soldiers tasked with this nearly impossible quest. Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Richard Madden also make appearances. It’s the heart racing, captivating film that leaves an impression long after you exit the theater.

Little Women (Coming Soon: December 25)

Greta Gerwig directs the latest adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic Little Women. In the 2019 version, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen play the March sisters. Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, and Timothee Chalamet also star. With such a prestige cast, fans of the original book should be more than delighted with the latest versions of Jo, Beth, Amy, and Meg.

Judging the success of a Netflix film usually involves a bit of guesswork and oftentimes we don’t really know because the streaming service generally doesn’t release viewership numbers. But The Irishman isn’t just any Netflix film. This is Martin Scorsese’s long-in-development $175 million crime epic starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, so it’s kind of a big deal. Thankfully, Netflix has now revealed how many people have watched The Irishman, or at least most of it. Take a look:

According to Netflix Film’s Twitter, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman was watched by over 26.4 million accounts around the world in its first week in release. That is a pretty big number, and remember, that’s just accounts, not viewers. So the number of people who actually watched The Irishman is higher if you account for the people who share an account or those who watched the film with friends or family.

While 26.4 million accounts is no small feat, it is significantly smaller than the amount of viewers Netflix claimed for its sci-fi film Bird Box. That Sandra Bullock film set a Netflix viewership record with the streaming service claiming a whopping 45 million accounts watched it within the first week.

Whenever you dig into the murky waters of Netflix viewership, there’s always a question of how the streamer counts a subscriber as having watched a film. As if to head off this question right away, Netflix Film says that Netflix counts a viewer as anyone who completes 70% of a film.

So these viewership numbers do not mean that 26.4 million accounts watched The Irishman from start to finish. What it does mean though is that 26.4 million accounts, and therefore 26.4 million people or more, watched the majority of the crime epic. To get specific, for a three-hour and 29 minute movie, 26.4 million Netflix accounts watched at least 146.3 minutes, or almost two-and-a-half hour’s worth.

Now, as far as how these numbers stack up to what was previously reported. Last week, Nielsen offered up its viewership numbers for The Irishman, showing the film drew a total average minute audience of 13.2 million viewers in its first five days in release. In addition, according to Nielsen a large number of the initial viewers of The Irishman watched the long film in its entirety in one sitting.

These numbers were only for The Irishman’s first five days though and only for U.S. audiences so they don’t tell the whole story. But now we have a better idea of how many people around the world tuned in for the film.

These numbers certainly reflect a strong interest in the talked about film, indicating that the glowing reviews and buzz convinced audiences to tune in. And while some may have found the film boring, 26.4 million viewers sitting through over two hours of it would seem to indicate that wasn’t the prevailing opinion.

If Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman were a wide theatrical release, it would be much easier to measure its success because it would be in dollars and cents. But Martin Scorsese took his wildly expensive project to Netflix to get it made, thereby guaranteeing its existence, but largely foregoing the money it could have made in theaters.

Of course, The Irishman wasn’t just about drumming up viewership. Netflix wanted a masterpiece and it would seem that the company has its strongest awards slate to date thanks in large part to Martin Scorsese’s film.

The Irishman is now streaming. Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to see what big screen movies you can look forward to next year.

This morning may have only been the day we learned the nominees for the 2020 Golden Globe Awards, but the night already has its first big winner, Netflix. The streaming service had a huge day, picking up multiple nominations for four different films, The Irishman, Marriage Story, The Two Popes and Dolemite is my Name.

All four films picked up nominations in their respective categories for Best Picture, which means, in the case of the drama category, three of the five nominees are Netflix films. 1917 and Joker fill out the category to attempt to defend the honor of the traditional theatrical release.The same situation plays out in the Best Screenplay category as all three dramas are nominated, along site Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood and Parasite.

On the acting front, Eddie Murphy got a nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, and then the three dramas hold court once again. The two leads of Marriage Story, Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver each took a nomination in their respective categories. Laura Dern was also nominated for Supporting Actress in Marriage Story. Both of The Two Popes were nominated, Jonathan Pryce as Best Actor - Drama and Anthony Hopkins as Best Supporting Actor. Joe Pesci and Al Pacino will be competing against each other for Best Supporting Actor for their roles in The Irishman. Conspicuous by his absence, Robert De Niro was not nominated for his lead role in the film.

And to round out the nominations, Marriage Story took a nomination for Best Original Score and Martin Scorsese took his familiar place in the Best Director category for The Irishman. The only places Netflix didn't come away with at least one nomination were Best Original Song, Animated Feature, and Foreign Language Film.

And all this is just within the movie sphere, Netflix took home an armload of additional nominations on the television side of things thanks to shows like The Crown and Unbelievable.

This certainly isn't Netflix's first big day at the ball, but it's further evidence that the streaming service is a force to be reckoned with. We've seen Netflix with big movies in the past, but this year there are four big movies and even if no one movie sweeps the awards, Netflix could basically split the show up amongst itself and walk away with nearly every award.

Of course, the massive number of nominations is far from a guarantee of wins. There is some still competition in every category from the likes of Parasite, Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood. It's just as likely at this point that Netflix gets edged out in most categories and walks away with little to nothing.

On the plus side, if you're the sort of person who has trouble making it the theater to see a lot of movies, you can watch most of the Golden Globes nominees without leaving your home. Three of the four nominated Netflix films are available to watch right now. The fourth, The Two Popes, is set to drop on the service December 20, so you'll be able to watch it before the Golden Globes hits next month.

The Irishman was always going to be one of the more interesting films to be released in 2019. Even before Martin Scorsese made headlines for his views on comic book movies, the director shocked the industry in a big way when he decided to make his next film for the streaming service. Now that movie has been on the service for about a week, and we have some idea how many people have actually watched it, but that's really just the beginning of the story.

Netflix occasionally releases viewership numbers for its original movies, though largely doesn't. The streaming service hasn't yet done so for The Irishman, and it doesn't appear that it will. However, Nielsen has released its data on the films viewership and reportedly the film drew an average minute audience of 13.2 million people over the first five days of its release, starting November 27, and through the following weekend. That number includes a nearly 2.6 million average minute audience who watched the movie on its first day of Netflix availability.

As has happened with several high profile, and critically acclaimed Netflix movies, The Irishman was given a theatrical release in the weeks leading up to the Netflix debut. However, that release is designed specifically to qualify the movie for awards, not to bring in box office dollars. As such, the release was quite limited so many who might have been willing to see the movie on the big screen might not have really had the option.

While domestic box office numbers for The Irishman haven't been confirmed, it's estimated the movie has made something in the neighborhood of $6 million to date. That number would certainly have been vastly increased if the 17 million unique viewers who have apparently seen it on Netflix had paid $10 a piece to do the same thing.

On the one hand, Netflix is all about those subscriber numbers, not box office success, but then again, The Irishman wasn't exactly cheap to make, so every dollar could have been useful. It feels like a wider theatrical release, might have been warranted here, though many theater chains refuse to show Netflix films, so maybe such a thing wasn't possible.

How many of the Netflix viewers would have been willing to buy a ticket is impossible to say. However, in the case of The Irishman, the number might be smaller than you might think. According to Deadline only about 18% of the accounts that started the movie on day one actually streamed it in a single sitting. That's not outside of normal for a Netflix film, but considering The Irishman's three-and-a-half hour runtime, it's not too shocking people took advantage of the ability to pause, something they could not do in the theater.

However you look at it, The Irishman has been getting a lot of eyeballs since it debuted. It's also been getting a lot of critical praise and is already ending up on a lot of year end top 10 lists.

While some have quibbled about the extremely long runtime of Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman or the quality of the de-aging, one thing beyond reproach is the acting talent of those involved. The Netflix film assembled an all-star cast of acting heavyweights and character actors, any of whom would be a solid addition to another movie. To that end, Sony’s upcoming sequel Venom 2 has added a star from Netflix’s The Irishman.

Actor Stephen Graham, who plays Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano in Martin Scorsese’s crime epic, has joined Venom 2 according to Deadline. For the moment, Stephen Graham’s role in the sequel is being kept under wraps. So, for now, we’ll merely have to speculate whether he will be a good guy or a bad one and whether or not he’ll be sporting a symbiote sidekick.

The two time SAG ensemble award winner for Boardwalk Empire joins a cast that includes the returning Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams, as well as Woody Harrelson, who made a cameo as future Carnage, Kletus Kasady, in Venom and is expected to have a much larger role in the sequel.

Stephen Graham is also only the second new actor that has been reportedly added to the cast of Venom 2. The other is Oscar nominee Naomie Harris, who is in talks to play the villain Shriek in the film.

Stephen Graham may be new to comic book movie fare, as he is perhaps best known for gangster films like The Irishman, Snatch and Gangs of New York, but in Venom 2 he will be among old friends and frequent collaborators. The prolific actor previously starred with Venom star Tom Hardy in HBO’s Band of Brothers and the 2011 film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. More recently, the duo teamed up in the so-gritty-you-have-to-brush-your-teeth-afterwards TV series Taboo.

In addition to his frequent collaborations with Tom Hardy, Venom 2 also won’t be Stephen Graham’s first time working with Andy Serkis, who is replacing Ruben Fleischer as the director of Venom 2. Andy Serkis and Stephen Graham both star in the upcoming FX mini-series adaptation of A Christmas Carol, starring Guy Pearce.

In the new take on the classic holiday tale, Andy Serkis plays the Ghost of Christmas Past with Stephen Graham handling the role of Jacob Marley. One of the executive producers on A Christmas Carol? Tom Hardy. So, everyone involved should be pretty comfortable working with each other at this point.

We don’t yet know the story of Venom 2, but we do know that the sequel will be leaning into the relationship between Eddie Brock and his symbiote hitchhiker, which was such a highlight of the first film.

Venom 2 is now filming and is set to hit theaters on October 2, 2020. You can see Stephen Graham in The Irishman on Netflix now and check out our 2020 Release Schedule to keep track of all of next year’s biggest movies.

Quentin Tarantino has a movie out in theaters this year. Arguably, it’s one of his best films, ranking right up there (in my opinion) with Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. But does Tarantino actually think that his OWN movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is one of the best movies of 2019?

Not according to a Tweet by entertainment journalist Erick Weber, a member of the Broadcast Film Critics’ Association who covers the Oscar race for his site, Awards Ace. While attending an L.A. event on behalf of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Weber asked the director his three favorite movies this year, and was told:

Quentin Tarantino has been on that Crawl bandwagon for a few weeks now, professing his love for Alexandre Aja’s alligator thriller online recently. But apparently, in recent weeks, he caught up with Martin Scorsese’s masterful crime epic The Irishman, because now it leads the charge as the best movie released this year, according to Quentin Tarantino.

And do you know what? He’s right! Even with the existence of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – which is EXCEPTIONAL in its own right – the scope, ambition and accomplishment of The Irishman still triumphs over virtually every other movie dropped into theaters (or on streaming) this year. It’s miraculous, and I understand why Tarantino would fall in love with it.

In fact, I recently hit CinemaBlend’s own YouTube channel to tell you why any hate being directed at The Irishman was simply misguided and wrong. Listen to my reasoning.

For his third pick, Quentin Tarantino went with Doctor Sleep, and OK, that’s more than a little unexpected. Not that there’s anything wrong with Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. It’s actually quite good. But third best movie of the year? This leads me to suspect that Tarantino is more of a massive Stanley Kubrick fan, because Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep is a love letter to The Shining as much as it is an interpretation of King’s novel.

Or, Tarantino loves Rebecca Ferguson as much as I do.

It’s getting to be the end of the year, and Top 10 lists will be flying in from all corners of the industry. Some will be predictable. Others will be strange. I’m willing to bet that a LOT them are going to include Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, even though his personal list does not.

What’s the best movie that you have seen so far this year? Head to the comments and let us know your thoughts.