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

Blood Diamond 2006

Blood Diamond is a 2006 American-German political war thriller film co-produced and directed by Edward Zwick, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance conflicts, and thereby profit warlords and diamond companies across the world.Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1996–2001, the film depicts a country torn apart by the struggle between government loyalists and insurgent forces. It also portrays many of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels' amputation of people's hands to discourage them from voting in upcoming elections.
         It is 1999 and the troubled West African nation of Sierra Leone is ravaged by major political unrest. Rebel factions such as the Revolutionary United Front frequently terrorize the open countryside, intimidating Mende locals and enslaving many to harvest diamonds, which fund their increasingly successful war effort. One such unfortunate is fisherman Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), from Shenge, who has been assigned to a workforce overseen by a ruthless warlord, Captain Poison (David Harewood).On a particularly tense morning, Vandy discovers an enormous pink diamond in the riverbank and buries it in the soft earth. Captain Poison learns of the stone, but before he can act on this knowledge the area is raided by government security forces. Both men are subsequently incarcerated in Freetown along with Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), a white Rhodesian gunrunner jailed while attempting to smuggle diamonds into Liberia for corrupt South African mining executive Rudolph van de Kaap (Marius Weyers).
Initial release: December 8, 2006 (USA)
Director: Edward Zwick
Music composed by: James Newton Howard
Awards: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Screenplay: Marshall Herskovitz, Edward Zwick

The Aviator 2004

The Aviator is a 2004 American biographical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by John Logan, produced by Michael Mann, Sandy Climan, Graham King, and Charles Evans, Jr., and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn and Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner. The supporting cast features Ian Holm, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law as Errol Flynn, Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow, Willem Dafoe, Alan Alda, and Edward Herrmann. The film depicts the true story of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, who later became the world's wealthiest man, drawing upon numerous sources including a biography by Charles Higham. The picture centers on Hughes' life from the late 1920s to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder exacerbated by airplane crashes.The Aviator was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor in a Leading Role for DiCaprio,Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Alan Alda and Best Sound Mixing, and winning five for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Cate Blanchett. This feat would later be duplicated by Scorsese's film Hugo seven years later.
            In 1914, nine-year-old Howard Hughes is being bathed by his mother. She warns him of disease, afraid that he will succumb to a flu outbreak: "You are not safe." By 1927, Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) has inherited his family's fortune and is living in California. He hires Noah Dietrich (John C. Reilly) to run the Hughes Tool Company.
Following an interest in film and aviation, at the age of 22, Hughes begins directing the silent film, Hell's Angels. He becomes obsessed with shooting the film realistically and when the The Jazz Singer, the first partially talking film, premieres, he converts Hell's Angels to a sound film. As a result, it takes several years and an enormous amount of money to finish. Finally, despite press skepticism, Hell's Angels is a hit. However, Hughes is unsatisfied with the end result and orders the film re-cut after its Hollywood premiere. He later produces Scarface (1932) and The Outlaw (1943).
Initial release: December 25, 2004 (USA)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Running time: 170 minutes
Screenplay: John Logan
Awards: Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture – Drama, BAFTA Award for Best Film, Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Academy Award for Best Film Editing, Academy Award for Best Production Design, Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Composer, BAFTA Award for Best Makeup & Hair, BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, London Film Critics Circle Award for Director of the Year, MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Director, Satellite Award for Best Visual Effects, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Costume Design, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Production Design, PGA Producer of the Year Award for Motion Picture Producer of the Year, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Art Direction, Special Silver Ribbon, San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Production Design, BAFTA Award for Best Production Design

Gangs of New York 2002

Gangs of New York is a 2002 American historical drama film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of Lower Manhattan. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 non-fiction book, The Gangs of New York. It was made in Cinecittà, Rome, distributed by Miramax Films and nominated for numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture.The film begins in 1846 but quickly jumps to 1862. The two principal issues of the era in New York were Irish immigration to the city and the Federal government's execution of the ongoing Civil War. The story follows Bill "the Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) in his roles as crime boss and political kingmaker under the helm of "Boss" Tweed (Jim Broadbent). The film culminates in a violent confrontation between Cutting and his mob with protagonist Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his allies, which coincides with the New York Draft Riots of 1863.
        On February 6, 1846, at Paradise Square in Lower Manhattan's Five Points, a territorial battle of hand-to-hand combat between Bill "the Butcher" Cutting's U.S.-born nativist gang, the Natives, and "Priest" Vallon's Irish Catholic immigrant gang, the Dead Rabbits, concludes when Cutting kills Vallon, witnessed by Vallon's young son, Amsterdam. Cutting declares the Dead Rabbits outlawed but orders that Vallon's body be buried with honor. Amsterdam seizes the knife used to kill his father, races off, and buries it along with a medal his father gave him. He is later raised at Hellgate orphanage.
In late 1862, an adult Amsterdam Vallon returns to Five Points and reunites with an old friend, Johnny Sirocco, who reintroduces Amsterdam anonymously to Cutting. Amsterdam finds many of the former Dead Rabbits now loyal to Cutting, including "Happy Jack" Mulraney, who has become a corrupt police officer, as well as the racist McGloin. Amsterdam works his way into Cutting's inner circle, and learns that, each year, Cutting celebrates the anniversary of his victory over the Dead Rabbits. Amsterdam plans his father's revenge: to kill Cutting during this year's ceremony. Amsterdam becomes more deeply involved with Tammany Hall, the twisted political empire of Boss Tweed, who is heavily manipulated by Cutting.
Initial release: December 9, 2002 (New York City)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Featured song: The Hands That Built America
Awards: Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture, more
Screenplay: Steven Zaillian, Jay Cocks, Kenneth Lonergan