Buzzworthy Suggestions for Crime Films

Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but also include comedy, and, in turn, is divided into many sub-genres, such as mystery, suspense or noir.

Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identified crime film as one of eleven super-genres in his screenwriters’ taxonomy, claiming that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The other ten super-genres are action, fantasy, horror, romance, science fiction, slice of life, sports, thriller, war and western. Williams identifies drama in a broader category called “film type,” mystery and suspense as “macro-genres,” and film noir as a “screenwriter’s pathway” explaining that these categories are additive rather than exclusionary. Chinatown would be an example of a film that is a drama (film type) crime film (super-genre) that is also a noir (pathway) mystery (macro-genre).

Favorite Film Noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the “classic period” of American film noir. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression. Film noir encompasses a range of plots: the central figure may be a private investigator (The Big Sleep), a plainclothes policeman (The Big Heat), an aging boxer (The Set-Up), a hapless grifter (Night and the City), a law-abiding citizen lured into a life of crime (Gun Crazy), or simply a victim of circumstance (D.O.A.). Although film noir was originally associated with American productions, the term has been used to describe films from around the world. Many films released from the 1960s onward share attributes with films noir of the classical period, and often treat its conventions self-referentially. Some refer to such latter-day works as neo-noir. The clichés of film noir have inspired parody since the mid-1940s.

Buzzworthy: 5 Steps to Danger (1956) • Ace in the Hole (1951) • The Asphalt Jungle (1950) • Berlin Express (1948) • The Big Heat (1953) • The Big Sleep (1946) • Conflict (1945) • Detour (1945) • Double Indemnity (1944) • Experiment Perilous (1944) • Flamingo Road (1949) • Gilda (1946) • The Harder They Fall (1956) • High Sierra (1941) • I Wake Up Screaming (1941) • In a Lonely Place (1950) • Key Largo (1948) • The Killers (1946) • The Killing (1956) • Kiss Me Deadly (1955) • The Lady from Shanghai (1947) • Laura (1944) • Leave Her to Heaven (1945) • The Lineup (1958) • The Long Night (1947) • The Maltese Falcon (1941) • Mildred Pierce (1945) • Niagara (1953) • Night and the City (1950) • The Night of the Hunter (1955) • Nightmare Alley (1947) • Notorious (1946) • Out of the Past (1947) • Pickup on South Street (1953) • Possessed (1947) • The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) • Scarface (1932) • Scarlet Street (1945) • Shadow of a Doubt (1943) • Shield for Murder (1954) • Spellbound (1945) • Strangers on a Train (1951) • Sunset Blvd. (1950) • Sweet Smell of Success (1957) • The Third Man (1949) • Thunder Road (1958) • To Have and Have Not (1944) • Touch of Evil (1958) • White Heat (1949) • The Woman in the Window (1944)

Favorite Cons and Con Artist Films

Con artists are people who perform confidence tricks: an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as “a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct […] intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial”, as they “benefit con operators (‘con men’) at the expense of their victims (the ‘marks’).” Films about con artists can be dramatic films but are often comedies.

Buzzworthy: American Hustle (2013) • Catch Me If You Can (2002) • The Color of Money (1986) • Confidence (2003) • Criminal (2004) • Curly Sue (1991) • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) • A Fish Called Wanda (1988) • The Good Liar (2019) • The Grifters (1990) • Heartbreakers (2001) • Heist (2001) • House of Games (1987) • The Hustler (1961) • I Care a Lot (2020) • Kingpin (1996) • The Ladykillers (2004) • Matchstick Men (2003) • Midnight Run (1988) • Nine Queens (2000) • Now You See Me (2013) • Ocean’s Eleven (2001) • Paper Moon (1974) • Six Degrees of Separation (1993) • The Spanish Prisoner (1997) • The Sting (1973) • The Brothers Bloom (2008) • Trading Places (1983) • The Usual Suspects (1995) • White Men Can’t Jump (1992)

Favorite Cop Films

Cop films include dramas, comedies, and hybrids centered around police officers, detectives, sheriffs, or other law enforcement officers. They are often a subgenre of action films, and many “buddy films” are also cop films.

Buzzworthy: 21 Jump Street (2012) • American Gangster (2007) • Bad Lieutenant (1992) • Beverly Hills Cop (1984) • Blade Runner (1982) • Bullitt (1968) • Chinatown (1974) • Cop Land (1997) • The Day of the Jackal (1973) • The Departed (2006) • Dick Tracy (1990) • Die Hard (1988) • Dirty Harry (1971) • Dog Day Afternoon (1975) • Donnie Brasco (1997) • End of Watch (2012) • Face/Off (1997) • Falling Down (1993) • Fargo (1996) • The French Connection (1971) • The Fugitive (1993) • Gone Baby Gone (2007) • Heat (1995) • Hell or High Water (2016) • Hot Fuzz (2007) • In the Heat of the Night (1967) • Infernal Affairs (2002) • Inside Man (2006) • L.A. Confidential (1997) • Lethal Weapon (1987) • Mad Max (1979) • The Maltese Falcon (1941) • Manhunter (1986) • Men in Black (1997) • Miss Congeniality (2000) • Mystic River (2003) • The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) • No Country for Old Men (2007) • Police Academy (1984) • Reservoir Dogs (1992) • RoboCop (1987) • Rush Hour (1998) • Se7en (1995) • Serpico (1973) • A Shot in the Dark (1964) • The Silence of the Lambs (1991) • Speed (1994) • Super Troopers (2001) • Touch of Evil (1958) • Traffic (2000) • Training Day (2001) • Wind River (2017) • Witness (1985)

Favorite Courtroom or Legal Drama

A legal drama, or a courtroom drama, is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines “courtroom drama” as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the film’s narrative. Legal dramas have also followed the lives of the fictional attorneys, defendants, plaintiffs, or other persons related to the practice of law present in television show or film. Legal drama is distinct from police crime drama or detective fiction, which typically focus on police officers or detectives investigating and solving crimes. The focal point of legal dramas, more often, are events occurring within a courtroom, but may include any phases of legal procedure, such as jury deliberations or work done at law firms. Some legal dramas fictionalize real cases that have been litigated, such as the play-turned-movie, Inherit the Wind, which fictionalized the Scopes Monkey Trial. As a genre, the term “legal drama” is typically applied to television shows and films, whereas legal thrillers typically refer to novels and plays.

Buzzworthy: 12 Angry Men (1957) • Anatomy of a Murder (1959) • The Client (1994) • Compulsion (1959) • Dark Waters (2019) • The Devil’s Advocate (1997) • Erin Brockovich (2000) • Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile (2019) • A Fall from Grace (2020) • A Few Good Men (1992) • The Firm (1993) • Fracture (2007) • Guilty as Sin (1993) • High Crimes (2002) • I Want to Live! (1958) • Inherit the Wind (1960) • Jagged Edge (1985) • The Judge (2014) • Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) • Just Mercy (2019) • The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) • Mangrove (2020) • Marshall (2017) • Michael Clayton (2007) • Murder in the First (1995) • On the Basis of Sex (2018) • The Pelican Brief (1993) • The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) • Philadelphia (1993) • Presumed Innocent (1990) • Primal Fear (1996) • RBG (2018) • Runaway Jury (2003) • To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) • The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) • The Verdict (1982) • Witness for the Prosecution (1957) • You Don’t Know Jack (2010) • The Young Philadelphians (1959)

Favorite Gangs, Mobsters, and Organized Crime Films

A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The genre is differentiated from Westerns and the gangs of that genre.

Buzzworthy: American Me (1992) • Analyze This (1999) • Blood In Blood Out (1993) • Boulevard Nights (1979) • Boys N The Hood (1991) • Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) • A Bronx Tale (1993) • Bugsy Malone (1976) • Carlito’s Way (1993) • Casino (1995) • The Departed (2006) • Donnie Brasco (1997) • The Freshman (1990) • Gangs of New York (2002) • Get Carter (1971) • The Godfather (1972) • The Godfather Part II (1974) • Goodfellas (1990) • Gotti (1996) • Gotti (2018) • I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (2003) • The Irishman (2019) • Johnny Dangerously (1984) • The Krays (1990) • Legend (2015) • Little Caesar (1931) • Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) • Mean Streets (1973) • Mi Vida Loca (1994) • My Family (1995) • New Jack City (1991) • The Petrified Forest (1936) • Prizzi’s Honor (1985) • The Public Enemy (1931) • Scarface (1932) • Scarface (1983) • Shaft (1971) • Snatch (2000) • The Untouchables (1987) • Walk Proud (1979) • Zoot Suit (1981)

Favorite Heist Movies

The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime film, consisting of films that focus on the planning, execution and aftermath of a large robbery. One of the early defining heist films was The Asphalt Jungle (1950), which Film Genre 2000 wrote “almost single-handedly popularized the genre for mainstream cinema.” This one minted so many bits of the heist movie narrative that it’s hard to imagine the genre without it: a hand-picked crew of specialists pulled together by a newly liberated mastermind; the big scene where the brilliant plan is outlined; a vault they said couldn’t be broken; an invisible security system to be broached; and a gradual unravelling of the plan which tests the accomplices’ allegiances. Similar films using this formula were Armored Car Robbery (1950), The Killing (1956), and The Getaway (1972). By the 1990s, heist films “experiment and play with these conventions” incorporating things like comedy into heist stories.

Buzzworthy: American Animals (2018) • The Asphalt Jungle (1950) • Baby Driver (2017) • Bound (1996) • Casino (1995) • Dead Presidents (1995) • Dog Day Afternoon (1975) • Drive (2011) • Focus (2015) • Goodfellas (1990) • The Great Train Robbery (1903) • The Great Train Robbery (1978) • Heat (1995) • Hell or High Water (2016) • How to Steal a Million (1966) • Inception (2010) • The In-Laws (1979) • Inside Man (2006) • The Italian Job (1969) • The Italian Job (2003) • Jackie Brown (1997) • The Killing (1956) • The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) • Layer Cake (2004) • Logan Lucky (2017) • The Misfits (2021) • Now You See Me (2013) • Ocean’s 11 (1960) • Ocean’s Eight (2018) • Ocean’s Eleven (2001) • Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) • Ocean’s Twelve (2004) • Once a Thief (1965) • Once Upon a Time in America (1984) • Point Break (1991) • Quick Change (1990) • Red Notice (2021) • Reservoir Dogs (1992) • Rififi (1955) • Ronin (1998) • The Score (2001) • Send It Off (1996) • Sexy Beast (2000) • Snatch (2000) • Sneakers (1992) • The Split (1968) • The Sting (1973) • The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974) • Thief (1981) • The Thomas Crowne Affair (1968) • The Thomas Crowne Affair (1999) • The Town (2010) • The Usual Suspects (1995) • The Vault (2021) • Widows (2018)

Favorite Prison Movies

Favorite dramatic or comedic film dealing with life in jail, prison, or other form of incarceration.

Buzzworthy: 12 Monkeys (1995) • American Factory (2000) • American History X (1998) • American Me (1982) • Bad Boys (1983) • Big Stan (2007) • Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) • Blood In, Blood Out (1993) • Bronson (2008) • Brubaker (1980) • Brute Force (1947) • Celda 211 (2009) • Con Air (1997) • Cool Hand Luke (1967) • Dead Man Walking (1995) • Death Race (2008) • Escape From Alcatraz (1979) • Escape Plan (2013) • The Experiment (2001) • The Experiment (2010) • Felon (2008) • Get the Gringo (2012) • The Great Escape (1963) • The Green Mile (1999) • Gridiron Gang (2006) • Half Past Dead (2002) • The Hurricane (1999) • I Love You Phillip Morris (2009) • In Hell (2003) • In the Name of the Father (1993) • The Informer (2019) • Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) • Law Abiding Citizen (2009) • Let’s Go to Prison (2006) • Lockout (2012) • The Longest Yard (1974) • Maximum Conviction (2012) • Midnight Express (1978) • Papillon (1973) • Papillon (2017) • The Shawshank Redemption (1994) • Sleepers (1996) • Stir Crazy (1980) • Stone (2010)

Favorite True Crime Films

True crime is a genre that examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 percent focus on tales of serial killers. True crime comes in many forms, such as books, films, podcasts, and television shows. Many works in this genre recount high-profile, sensational crimes such as the JonBenét Ramsey killing, the O. J. Simpson murder case, and the Pamela Smart murder, while others are devoted to more obscure slayings. True crime works can impact the crimes they cover and the audience who consumes it. The genre is often criticized for being insensitive to the victims and their families and is described by some as trash culture.

Buzzworthy: 3096 Days (2013) • The Afflicted (2011) • All the Money in the World (2017) • American Animals (2018) • American Hustle (2013) • An American Crime (2007) • The Black Dahlia (2006) • Bonnie and Clyde (1967) • Boys Don’t Cry (1999) • Bully (2001) • Catch Me If You Can (2002) • Changeling (2008) • Cleveland Abduction (2015) • Dog Day Afternoon (1975) • Erin Brockovich (2000) • Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile (2019) • Foxcatcher (2014) • The Girl Next Door (2007) • Goodfellas (1990) • Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) • Hoodwink (1981) • I, Tonya (2017) • In Cold Blood (1967) • The Informant (2009) • Inherit the Wind (1960) • Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) • Karla (2006) • The Krays (1990) • The Laramie Project (2002) • Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) • Monster (2003) • My Friend Dahmer (2017) • Pain & Gain (2013) • The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) • Spotlight (2016) • Straight Outta Compton (2015) • The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) • Wolf Creek (2005) • You Don’t Know Jack (2010) • Zodiac (2007)

Favorite Whodunnit Mysteries

A whodunit or whodunnit (a colloquial elision of “Who [has] done it?”) is a complex, plot-driven variety of a detective story in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the clues from which the identity of the perpetrator may be deduced before the story provides the revelation itself at its climax. The investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric, amateur, or semi-professional detective. This narrative development has been seen as a form of comedy in which order is restored to a threatened social calm.

Buzzworthy: Appointment with Death (1988) • Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) • The Big Sleep (1944) • Brick (2015) • Charade (1963) • Chinatown (1974) • Clue (1985) • Dark Places (2015) • Death on the Nile (1978) • Deathtrap (1982) • Diabolique (1954) • Dial M for Murder (1954) • Evil Under the Sun (1982) • Fargo (1996) • Foul Play (1978) • The Fugitive (1993) • Game Night (2018) • The Girl on the Train (2016) • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011) • Gone Baby Gone (2007) • Gone Girl (2014) • Gosford Park (2001) • Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) • Knives Out (2019) • L.A. Confidential (1997) • Laura (1944) • The Long Goodbye (1973) • The Lovebirds (2020) • The Maltese Falcon (1941) • Memento (2000) • The Mirror Crack’d (1980) • Murder By Death (1976) • Murder on the Orient Express (1974) • Murder on the Orient Express (2017) • Mystic River (2003) • The Name of the Rose (1986) • The Nice Guys (2016) • North By Northwest (1959) • Oldboy (2003) • The Pink Panther (1963) • Primal Fear (1996) • Prisoners (2013) • Rashomon (1950) • Rear Window (1954) • Rebecca (1940) • Se7en (1995) • Sherlock Holmes (2009) • Shutter Island (2010) • The Silence of the Lambs (1991) • A Simple Favor (2018) • Sleuth (1972) • Strangers on a Train (1951) • Ten Little Indians (1965) • The Thin Man (1934) • The Third Man (1949) • The Usual Suspects (1995) • Vertigo (1958) • Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) • Witness for the Prosecution (1957) • Zodiac (2007) • Zootopia (2016)

Buzzworthy Suggestions for Other Awards

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