Catch Me if You Can - 2002

"Ah, people only know what you tell them, Carl."

A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor.

Frank William Abagnale, Jr. (born April 27, 1948) is an American security consultant known for his history as a former confidence trickster, check forger, impostor, and escape artist. He became notorious in the 1960s for passing $2.5 million worth of meticulously forged checks across 26 countries over the course of five years, beginning when he was 16 years old.

In the process, he became one of the most famous impostors ever,[3] claiming to have assumed no fewer than eight separate identities as an airline pilot, a doctor, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons agent, and a lawyer. He escaped from police custody twice (once from a taxiing airliner and once from a U.S. federal penitentiary), before he was 21 years old.[4]

He served fewer than five years in prison before starting to work for the federal government. He is a consultant and lecturer at the academy and field offices for the FBI. He also runs Abagnale & Associates, a financial fraud consultancy company

The Fugitive - 1993

The Fugitive is a 1993 American thriller film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was one of the few movies associated with a television series to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Dr. Richard Kimble, a successful vascular surgeon in Chicago, comes home one night to find his wife, Helen, fatally wounded by a one-armed man, and though he attempts to subdue the killer, the man escapes. The lack of evidence of a break-in, being the beneficiary of Helen's lucrative life insurance and a misunderstood 9-1-1 call led to Kimble being convicted of first-degree murder, for which he is sentenced to death. On his way to death row via bus, the other prisoners attempt an escape that wounds a guard and kills the driver, causing the bus to fall into the path of an oncoming train. Kimble barely escapes the bus's destruction—saving the guard's life by dragging him out of the bus—and flees into the night. Deputy Samuel Gerard and a group of US Marshals arrive, to locate and round up the escaped convicts while the injured are taken to a nearby hospital. Kimble sneaks into the same hospital to treat his wounds and change his appearance. While leaving the hospital, he is recognized by the injured guard, but escapes in an ambulance. Gerard and his team blockade a tunnel through a nearby dam to stop Kimble's escape, but Kimble abandons the vehicle and climbs into the storm water system. Kimble is eventually cornered by Gerard above the outlet of the dam spillway. Kimble dives over the edge and swims downstream, leaving no trail for the Marshals to follow.

Thelma and Louise - 1991

Thelma & Louise is a 1991 film co-produced and directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri, the film's plot revolves around Thelma and Louise's escape from their troubled and caged lives. It stars Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise, and co-stars Harvey Keitel as a sympathetic detective trying to trace them as they go on the run after killing a rapist. Michael Madsen plays the role of Louise's boyfriend. Brad Pitt (in his first significant film role) plays a robber out on parole.

Thelma & Louise became an instant critical and commercial success, receiving six Academy Award nominations and winning one for Best Original Screenplay (Khouri). Both Sarandon and Davis were nominated for their roles in the same category, Academy Award for Best Actress. However, the two lost the award to Jodie Foster for her role in The Silence of the Lambs.

Thelma Dickinson (Geena Davis) is a passive, goofy housewife, married to a controlling husband, Darryl (Christopher McDonald). Louise Sawyer (Susan Sarandon) is a single waitress who appears strong, organized and stern, with some unspecified trauma in her past. They head out in Louise's teal 1966 Thunderbird convertible for a two-day vacation of fishing in the mountains that quickly turns into a nightmarish situation before they even reach their destination, but which sees them change from victims of circumstance into outlaw heroines of the road.

The Shawshank Redemption - 1994

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

Adapted from the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, the film portrays the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker who spends nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover despite his claims of being innocent. During his time at the prison, he befriends a fellow inmate, Ellis "Red" Redding, and finds himself protected by the guards after the warden begins using him in his money laundering operation.

Despite a lukewarm box office reception that was barely enough to cover its budget, the film received favorable reviews from critics, multiple award nominations, and has since enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television, VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray. It was included in the American Film Institute's 100 Years: 100 Movies 10th Anniversary Edition.

The Tunnel (Der Tunnel) - 2001

In this acclaimed drama inspired by true events, Olympic swimmer Harry Melchior (Heino Ferch) defects from East Germany in the 1960s and hatches a daring plot to help his sister (Alexandra Maria Lara) and others flee East Berlin through a 145-yard underground tunnel. With the help of an engineer (Sebastian Koch), Melchior leads the risky plan, under constant threat of being discovered by the authorities.

Reign of Fire - 2002

REIGN OF FIRE (2002) is an action fantasy film directed by Rob Bowman and starring Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Gerard Butler, and Izabella Scorupco. It takes place in the year 2020 in England, after dragons have reawakened. The film grossed about $82 million on a $60 million budget.


This one is a major "what if" but it's about the possibilty that in 2008 during construction on the London Underground, a huge hibernating dragon awakens, incinerating the construction workers. The only survivor is 12-year-old Quinn Abercromby (Ben Thornton) whose mother, Karen (Alice Krige), was crew chief on the project. She is crushed by the dragon as she tries to escape to the surface with her son. The dragon flies out and suddenly dragons begin appearing, multiplying rapidly. It is announced that scientists discovered that dragons are a lost species that are responsible for the dinosaurs' extinction by burning them all to ash. The speculation was that dragons instinctually hibernate after destroying most of the earth's living creatures, waiting until the Earth repopulates.


Reign of Fire was filmed in Ireland, in the Wicklow Mountains. They were only allowed to film there under the condition that they clean up entirely after themselves, without damaging the landscape.


The film was shot at the time of an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Ireland which, due to restrictions in place, meant that many planned sequences could not be shot.


The design and construction of the dead dragon were provided by Artem and the special visual effects provided by The Secret Lab.

As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me - 2003

A moving story of perseverance and hope. A must see in the feel good department.

After escaping from a Siberian labor camp in the wake of World War II, German soldier Clemens Forell (Bernhard Bettermann) makes his way toward his wife and children, traveling more than 8,000 miles over the course of three long years to reach his final destination. Hardy Martins directs this critically acclaimed adaptation of the best-selling book by Josef Martin Bauer, a true story of survival and courage.

Waking Life - 2001

No human being interested in their own journey through life could walk away from this movie the same. Exploring every facet of existential thought from self-actualization to the theory of an afterlife, this movie relies more on its diverse (and sometimes contradicting) ideas and ideologies more than the plot itself.

Think of 'Waking Life' as a documentary that interviews the greatest minds this world has to offer, while displaying the information through the eyes of a boy stuck in a dream. The visual aspects of the movie are a dream themselves. Unlike Richard Linklater's other frame by frame drawn over animations, 'Waking Life' assigns a different artist to each scene making for one hell of a piece of art.

'Waking Life' changed my world forever. I hope it does the same for you.

Defiance - 2008

This moving, dramatic film is based on actual events.  Daniel Craig stars as Tuvia Bielski, one of four Jewish brothers who escape from Poland into the forests of Belarus during World War II to lead a band of resistance fighters and create a safe haven for Jewish refugees.  The real-life sanctuary established by the Bielski brothers saved more than 1,000 Jews from persecution and death.  Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell and George MacKay also star.  I love this film.

Jumper - 2008

Hayden Christensen stars in this science fiction film based on the 1992 sci-fi novel by Steven Gould.   It's a thrill ride adventure.   The main character known as David Rice literally has the ability to jump from one place to the next instantaneously.    This motion-picture was brilliantly filmed in 20 cities in 14 countries between 2006 and 2007 (talk about an escape all over the world).    The plot unfolds as the handsome young man is chased by a secret society intent on killing him.  The ending leaves it open for a sequel that I hope will come sooner versus later. 

Beyond Rangoon - 1995

Beyond Rangoon is a 1995 dramatic film directed by John Boorman about Laura Bowman (played by Patricia Arquette), an American tourist who vacations in Burma (Myanmar) in 1988, the year in which an uprising takes place. The film was mostly filmed in Malaysia, and, though a work of fiction, was inspired by real people and real events.

This story is so reminiscent of current events in Libya and Egypt in early 2011.

Bowman joins, albeit initially unintentionally, political rallies with university students protesting for democracy, and travels with the student leader U Aung Ko throughout Burma.   There, they see the brutality of the military dictators of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), and attempt to escape to Thailand.  The film was an official selection at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, where it was one of the popular hits of the event.

The New Yorker magazine called the film a "fearless masterpiece" and Andrew Sarris declared himself "awestruck" by the film.

The film was a financial success only in France (where it opened number one and gained 442,793 visitors), though it was screened in many European countries.

The film may have had an impact beyond movie screens, however. Only weeks into its European run, the Burmese military junta freed Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi (depicted in the film) after several years under strict house arrest.  The celebrated democracy leader thanked the filmmakers in her first interview with the BBC Suu Kyi was re-arrested a few years later, but Beyond Rangoon had already helped raise world attention on a previously "invisible" tragedy: the massacres of 1988 and the cruelty of her country's military rulers.