Unforgiven

Director: Clint Eastwood

Writer: David Webb Peoples

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, and Frances Fisher

By the time Clint Eastwood made Unforgiven in 1992, he had a wealth of experience with the Western genre. So this time around, Eastwood opted to take a different track, crafting a revisionist Western that recontextualizes the genre and also serves as a comment of sorts on the kinds of roles that made Eastwood’s career in the first place. Set in the 1880s, the story revolves around a reformed bandit and repentant widower (Eastwood) who teams up with another retired gunslinger (Morgan Freeman) to track down two violent cowboys and reap a reward. What ensues is a meditation on the consequences of violence, mortality, and morality. Put simply, Unforgiven is one of the best and most essential Westerns ever made. – Adam Chitwood

The Graduate

Director: Mike Nichols

Writer: Calder Willingham and Buck Henry

Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels, Murray Hamilton, and Elizabeth Wilson

No movie hits to the heart of existential malaise quite like The Graduate. Although the film largely follows the plot beats of Charles Webb’s novel, director Mike Nichols found the unique mixture of laughter and despair in the tale of Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate who, unable to decide what he wants to do with his life, takes up sleeping with his significantly older neighbor, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). Nichols achieves a brilliant combination of humor and pathos as Ben tries to stake out a path for his life only to find dead ends and new problems. Although some may point to the movie as a quintessential coming of age movie, I’ve found The Graduate to be incredibly relevant in my teens, 20s, and 30s because it’s a movie that keeps coming back to how we never have it all completely figured out, and any attempt to have everything completely sorted is a fool’s errand. The Graduate intimately understands the comedy and the tragedy of that errand. – Matt Goldberg

Mad Max: Fury Road

Director: George Miller

Writers: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris

Cast: Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravtiz, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and Riley Keough

Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the greatest action movies ever made. The acclaim this prequel of sorts achieved when it was released in 2015 was well-deserved, and it holds up tremendously well as filmmaker George Miller truly pulled off a story that is wall-to-wall action – the film is one long car chase, with kinetic cinematography and stunts that will blow your mind. But what elevates Fury Road is it’s also a deeply feminist story of independence and empathy, as it follows a woman named Furiosa (Charlize Theron) who absconds with an evil post-apocalyptic dictator’s harem of wives in an act of revenge that eventually morphs into rescue. What an astounding piece of cinema. – Adam Chitwood

Wonder Woman

Director: Patty Jenkins

Writer: Allan Heinberg

Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen, and Elena Anaya

The best DCEU superhero movie by far, Patty Jenkins crafted a terrific origin story for Diana’s first lead outing on the big screen. The story puts the Amazonian (Gal Gadot) into World War I where she goes hunting for Ares, the God of War, to try and bring peace to mankind. However, her journey has her confronting the world in all its beauty and terror while also falling for pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). Wonder Woman embraces the heroism of its female superhero while also challenging her beliefs and forcing her to grow and change. It’s a difficult balancing act, especially as it carries the weight of being a feminist icon, but Jenkins pulls it off with style to spare. – Matt Goldberg

Se7en

Director: David Fincher

Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker

Cast: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, and Kevin Spacey

David Fincher had a rough start with his first feature Alien 3, but he bounced back tremendously with his 1995 film Se7en, solidifying himself as an astoundingly talented director to watch. Set in an unnamed city that appears to be rotting from the inside out, the film follows two detectives – one on the verge of retirement (Morgan Freeman) and one newly promoted (Brad Pitt) – as they hunt a serial killer who appears to be killing based on the seven deadly sins. The performances are wonderful all around, and the story builds to one of the most upsetting twists in movie history. – Adam Chitwood