Year Released: 1934 This screwball comedy follows a recently married spoiled heiress who gets entangled with a newspaper reporter who happens to fall in love with her. The film was directed and co-produced by Frank Capra and was welcomed by stunning reviews upon its release.
It Happened One Night is one of just three films to ever win all five of the major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The only two other films to ever pull that off have been The Silence of the Lambs and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
The Wages of Fear
Year Released: 1953 This French-Italian film is based on the French Novel Le salaire de la peur, which roughly translates to “the salary of fear.” It was hailed by critics everywhere when it debuted in the 1950’s and became the 4th highest earning film of the year in France.
The Wages of Fear earned a number of awards around the time of its release, including the Golden Bear Award at the 1953 Berlin Film Festival, and the 1954 BAFTA Award for Best Film.
Raging Bull
Year Released: 1980 Raging Bull stars a young Robert De Niro as a boxer rising up through the ranks, who falls in love along his way. Unfortunately, he has some issues expressing his feelings properly which sends him into a downward spiral that inevitably ruins chunks of his life.
The film holds a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes out of 69 reviews. Director Martin Scorcese won a Golden Globe for his work on the movie, which also won two Academy Awards — Best Actor for De Niro and Best Editing.
The Gold Rush
Year Released: 1925 One of Charlie Chaplin’s many famous films that he wrote, produced, and directed; The Gold Rush first came out in the middle of the 1920s. The film combines comedy with some very real struggles being faced by workers across America, which made it hugely popular.
Chaplin himself has said more than once that if he could be remembered for one film, this would be it. It was nominated for multiple Academy Awards: Best Music and Best Sound Recording.
Whiplash
Year Released: 2014 Whiplash premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won both the Grand Jury Prize for the drama category, and the Audience Award. It follows a jazz drumming student as he tries to learn and rise up at the (fictional) Shaffer Conservatory despite an abusive instructor.
The movie became critically acclaimed upon its release, and received a number of prestigious accolades, including three Oscars at the 87th Academy Awards show. It grossed nearly $50 million at the box office against a budget of just $3.3 million.