Body of Lies 2008

Body of Lies is a 2008 American action-spy film directed by Ridley Scott. Set in the Middle East, it follows the attempts of the CIA and Jordanian Intelligence to catch "al-Saleem", a fictional jihadist terrorist. Frustrated by their target's elusiveness, differences in their approaches strain relations between a CIA operative, his superior, and the head of Jordanian Intelligence.William Monahan's screenplay, based on the novel of the same name by David Ignatius, examines contemporary tension between Western and Arab societies and the comparative effectiveness of technological and human counter-intelligence methods. The film was shot largely on location in the United States and Morocco, after authorities in Dubai refused permission to film there because of the script's political themes. The film's photography sought to emphasize the contrast between the gold and dust of the desert and Arab cities, and the blue and gray of bureaucracy and Washington. Accordingly, they used natural light wherever possible. Marc Streitenfeld arranged the musical score.
       Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a CIA case officer in Iraq, tracking a terrorist called Al-Saleem (Alon Abutbul). He meets Nizar, a member of the terrorist organization who is prepared to offer information in return for asylum in America. Despite his boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe)'s objections, Ferris agrees to shelter Nizar. Nizar is used as a pawn to draw out the rest of his cell, when he is captured Ferris is forced to shoot him to prevent him from exposing Ferris' identity. Furious at Hoffman's refusal to act on the information Nizar provided, Ferris and his associate Bassam (Oscar Isaac) go to search a safehouse in Balad, Iraq, which Nizar had told them of. There, Ferris observes men burning records and attempts to bluff his way in, but is exposed. In the ensuing shootout and chase, Ferris and Bassam's vehicle is hit by an RPG. Ferris and some salvaged discs are rescued by helicopter but Bassam is killed in the explosion.
Meanwhile, unknown terrorists plan to follow up off-screen bus bombings in Sheffield with more attacks in Manchester but blow themselves up when the police arrive at their house. Recovered from his injuries, Ferris is assigned to Jordan to continue searching for Al-Saleem, where he meets with Hani Salaam (Mark Strong), head of the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate.
Hoffman finds an Al-Saleem safe house in Jordan and orders Ferris to surveil it. Simultaneously, Hoffman organizes another 'side operation' via a local agency operative named Skip (Vince Colosimo) and that he is to conduct an operation without Ferris' knowledge. Skip employs the use of an agency asset, Ziyad Abishi who blows cover to a terrorist from the safe house, as he flees to inform his colleagues of their exposure, Ferris makes chase and kills him in such a place and manner that one might believe the death to be random. Salaam (via 'back channels') corroborates the acceptance of killing by those whom remain at the safe house; and Ferris accuses Hoffman of running "side operations" which interfere and (at least) undermine operational integrity of primary operation and tells Hoffman to stop. While going to the hospital to receive rabies shots for bites suffered during the pursuit and elimination of the terrorist, Ferris meets a nurse named Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani), and he begins developing romantic feelings for her. The bombers strike again in an Amsterdam flower market, and kill at least 75 people.
Initial release: October 10, 2008 (USA)
Director: Ridley Scott
Running time: 128 minutes
Featured song: If the World
Screenplay: William Monahan

The Living Daylights 1987

The Living Daylights (1987) is the fifteenth entry in the James Bond film series and the first to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's title is taken from Ian Fleming's short story, "The Living Daylights". It was the last film to use the title of an Ian Fleming story until the 2006 instalment Casino Royale.The beginning of the film resembles the short story, in which Bond acts as a counter-sniper to protect a Soviet defector, Georgi Koskov. He tells Bond that General Pushkin, head of the KGB, is systematically killing British and American agents. When Koskov is seemingly snatched back, Bond follows him across Europe, Morocco and Afghanistan.
        James Bond—Agent 007—is assigned to aid the defection of a KGB officer, General Georgi Koskov, covering his escape from a concert hall in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia during the orchestra's intermission. During the mission, Bond notices that the KGB sniper assigned to prevent Koskov's escape is a female cellist from the orchestra. Disobeying his orders to kill the sniper, he instead shoots the rifle from her hands, then uses the Trans-Siberian Pipeline to smuggle Koskov across the border into Austria and then on to Britain.
In his post-defection debriefing, Koskov informs MI6 that the KGB's old policy of Smiert Spionam, meaning Death to Spies, has been revived by General Leonid Pushkin, the new head of the KGB. Koskov is later abducted from the safe-house and assumed to have been taken back to Moscow. Bond is directed to track down Pushkin in Tangier and kill him in order to forestall further killings of agents and escalation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the West. Although Bond's prior knowledge of Pushkin initially leads him to doubt Koskov's claims, he agrees to carry out the mission when he learns that the assassin who killed 004 (as depicted in the pre-title sequence) left a note bearing the same message, "Smiert Spionam.".
Initial release: 1987
Director: John Glen
Featured song: The Living Daylights
Initial DVD release: October 17, 2000
Prequel: A View to a Kill

Born on the Fourth of July 1989

Born on the Fourth of July is a 1989 American film adaptation of the best selling autobiography of the same name by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic.Tom Cruise plays Ron Kovic, in a performance that earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Oliver Stone (himself a Vietnam veteran) co-wrote the screenplay with Kovic, and also produced and directed the film. Stone wanted to film the movie in Vietnam, but because relations between the United States and Vietnam had not yet been normalized, it was instead filmed in the Philippines. The film is considered part of Stone's "trilogy" of films about the Vietnam War—following Platoon (1986) and preceding Heaven & Earth (1993).
         The film begins with Ron Kovic's childhood during a summer in Massapequa, New York. He plays war in the woods, attends a Fourth of July parade, plays and wins at a local neighborhood baseball game, and watches President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, which later inspires him to enlist in the Marines.After Ron Kovic and his classmates hear an impassioned lecture about the Marine Corps, Ron decides to enlist. He misses his prom because he is unable to secure a date with his love interest, Donna. He confronts her at the prom and has a dance with her on his last night before leaving.
Initial release: December 20, 1989 (USA)
Director: Oliver Stone
Prequel: Platoon
Sequel: Heaven & Earth
Screenplay: Oliver Stone, Ron Kovic

Lions for Lambs 2007

Lions for Lambs is a 2007 American drama film about the connection between a platoon of United States soldiers in Afghanistan, a U.S. senator, a reporter, and a California college professor. It stars Tom Cruise, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. It was the first Cruise/Wagner Productions film since the company joined with United Artists subsequent to Cruise's falling out with Paramount Pictures in 2006.
             Two determined students at a West Coast university, Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Peña), at the urging of their idealistic professor, Dr. Malley (Redford), attempt to do something important with their lives. They make the bold decision to commission in the army to fight in Afghanistan after graduating from college.Dr. Malley also attempts to reach talented and privileged, but disaffected, student Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield), who is not at all like Arian and Ernest. He is naturally bright, comes from a privileged background, but has apparently slipped into apathy upon being disillusioned at the present state of affairs. Now, he devotes most of his time to extra-curricular activities like his role as president of his fraternity. Malley tests him by offering a choice between a respectable grade of 'B' in the class with no additional work required or a final opportunity to re-engage with the material of the class and "do something." Before Todd makes his choice, he must listen to Dr. Malley's story of his former students Arian and Ernest and why they are in Afghanistan.
Initial release: December 25, 2008 (USA)
Director: Bryan Singer
Initial DVD release: May 19, 2009
Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander
Awards: BMI Film Music Award

Valkyrie 2008

Valkyrie is a 2008 American-German historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country. Valkyrie was directed by Bryan Singer for the American studio United Artists, and the film stars Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the key plotters. The cast included Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp and Tom Wilkinson.
         During World War II, Wehrmacht Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) is severely wounded during an RAF air raid in Tunisia, losing a hand and an eye, and is evacuated home to Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Major General Henning von Tresckow (Branagh) attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler by smuggling a bomb aboard the Führer's personal airplane. The bomb, however, is a dud and fails to detonate, and Tresckow flies to Berlin in order to safely retrieve it. After learning that the Gestapo has arrested Major General Hans Oster, he orders General Olbricht (Nighy) to find a replacement. After recruiting Stauffenberg into the German Resistance, Olbricht presents Stauffenberg at a meeting of the secret committee which has coordinated previous attempts on Hitler's life. The members include General Ludwig Beck (Stamp), Dr. Carl Goerdeler (McNally), and Erwin von Witzleben (Schofield). Stauffenberg is stunned to learn that no plans exist on the subject of what is to be done after Hitler's assassination.
Initial release: December 25, 2008 (USA)
Director: Bryan Singer
Initial DVD release: May 19, 2009
Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander
Awards: BMI Film Music Award

Lone Survivor 2013

Lone Survivor is a 2013 American war film written and directed by Peter Berg, and starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster and Eric Bana. It is based on the 2007 nonfiction book of the same name by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson. Set during the War in Afghanistan, the film dramatizes the failed United States Navy SEALs mission Operation Red Wings, in which a four-man SEAL reconnaissance and surveillance team was tasked to track Taliban leader Ahmad Shah.
   The film is based on SEAL Team 10's failed mission: Operation Red Wings on June 28, 2005, to capture and kill notorious Taliban leader, Ahmad Shah, during the War in Afghanistan.
Initial release: December 25, 2013 (USA)
Director: Peter Berg
Running time: 121 minutes
Adapted from: Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
Awards: BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Action Movie, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture, BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor in an Action Movie

Three Kings 1999

Three Kings is a 1999 satirical war film written and directed by David O. Russell from a story by John Ridley about a gold heist that takes place during the 1991 Iraqi uprising against Saddam Hussein following the end of the Persian Gulf War. The film stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze.
The film opens with an Iraqi Army soldier trying to surrender as U.S. troops mop up loose ends following the end of the Gulf War. U.S. Army Reserve Sergeant First Class Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg) shoots him in the confusion over how to handle stray soldiers, earning him the admiration of his bumbling comrades, Private First Class Conrad Vig (Spike Jonze) and Specialist Walter Wogeman (Jamie Kennedy). Boisterous celebrations continue into the night, until Staff Sergeant Chief Elgin (Ice Cube) breaks up the party.
Initial release: September 27, 1999 (USA)
Director: David O. Russell
Cinematography: Newton Thomas Sigel
Screenplay: David O. Russell
Awards: Political Film Society Award for Peace, BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Breakthrough Performer, Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director, Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Action Team (Internet Only), Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film

The Great Dictator 1940

The Great Dictator is a 1940 American comedy-drama and anti-Nazi film starring, written, produced, scored, and directed by Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Wikipedia
Initial release: October 15, 1940 (New York City)
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Screenplay: Charlie Chaplin
Characters: Hynkel, A Jewish Barber
Awards: New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Plot:During a battle in the last months of World War I, the protagonist, an unnamed soldier (known only in the credits as A Jewish Barber, played by Charlie Chaplin), is fighting for the Central Powers in the army of the fictional nation of Tomainia,[7] comically blundering through the trenches in combat scenes. Upon hearing a fatigued pilot pleading for help, the Barber attempts to rescue the exhausted officer, Commander Schultz. The two board Schultz's nearby airplane and fly off, barely escaping enemy ground fire. Schultz reveals that he is carrying important dispatches that could win the war. However, the plane loses fuel and crashes in a marsh. They both survive, but the Barber suffers from memory loss. As medics arrive, Commander Schultz gives them the dispatches, but is told that the war has just ended and Tomainia lost.

The Monuments Men (2014)

  An unlikely World War II platoon are tasked to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners.
Director: George Clooney
Stars: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Bill Murray

The Buzz: George Clooney's latest directorial effort has been called "this year's Argo" for its true-life political thrills and ensemble cast, and we also think it will play like a realer-world Avengers -- just replace superheroes with Oscar winners, nominees, etc. Savvy/ingenious casting should guarantee solid box-office performance on both sides of the Atlantic despite being pushed onto the 2014 calendar from its initial awards berth.

Lone Survivor 2013 Yahoo Trailer

Based on The New York Times bestselling true story of heroism, courage and survival, Lone Survivor tells the incredible tale of four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative who are ambushed by the enemy in the mountains of Afghanistan. Faced with an impossible moral decision, the small band is isolated from help and surrounded by a much larger force of Taliban ready for war. As they confront unthinkable odds together, the four men find reserves of strength and resilience as they stay in the fight to the finish.