There’s a chase to cut to. Things must be kept brief. David Bowie released a ton of albums in the 1970s, which was his strongest decade, in terms of his music. And critically speaking, since the 1980s was good for him commercially, largely thanks to Let’s Dance being as big as it was. And the 1980s might’ve been stronger for Bowie, the actor, since he was in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, Labyrinth, and The Hunger that decade.

But the music… the 1970s was where it was at. Bowie did a bit of everything this decade, and he adopted different personas throughout, also switching up genres with just about every new album. There are 11 albums to get through, which makes this a bit more of an endeavor, as far as typing goes, than the usual top 10, but this decade for this artist is worth it.

11

‘Pin Ups’ (1973)

Well, before getting to the good stuff, there is Pin Ups. Maybe Pin Ups shouldn’t entirely be categorized as belonging among the “bad stuff,” yet it isn’t particularly great. It’s a covers album, basically. That makes it a bit less interesting, by default, since with the other David Bowie albums of the 1970s, you get pretty much nothing but originals that showcased Bowie’s songwriting abilities on top of his singing skills.

It’s just singing here. Bowie tackles a bunch of songs from the 1960s, and some of them don’t sound terrible, but little here feels impressive or essential. You’ll inevitably listen to Pin Ups if you’re a completionist, and feel compelled to hear it all, but if you’re not at that high a level of the David Bowie fandom, you don’t really need to give this one a spin, in all honesty.

10

‘Young Americans’ (1975)

Before anyone gets too concerned about this being only one place higher than Pin Ups, it has to be stressed that Young Americans is still good. This is where the good stuff starts; the fun begins. It is only the second-worst of the 1970s, for Bowie, because his 1970s was just so good. Or maybe too good.

If there’s a complaint to make here, or a justification as to why this isn’t ranked higher, it kind of starts and ends amazingly (thanks to the title track at the beginning and “Fame” being the closing track), but the rest of the album between those points is… not bad. Just not as good. It’s like a sandwich where the bread is somehow tastier than the filling. In this sandwich, the only ingredient you kind of need to take out is “Across the Universe.” It’s Bowie doing a cover of a great Beatles song, but he sort of mangles it. It’s probably worse than most of the covers on Pin Ups, which isn’t great.

9

‘Lodger’ (1979)

Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy concluded with Lodger, which sort of feels like a warm-up for Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980). Now, that album is pretty incredible, and was Bowie’s best non-1970s album until Blackstar came out in 2016, and probably exceeded it in quality, which is no small feat. That’s a bit of a distraction, though. Sorry. It could be a result of it feeling hard to know what to say about Lodger.

It is a pretty solid album, and it is admittedly more consistent than Young Americans, though that also means it doesn’t quite have the highs. The whole thing moves along well, and is more than listenable from start to finish, with the new waviness of it all being forward-thinking, as a 1970s release that sounds pretty darn ‘80s. “Look Back in Anger” is the closest thing to a highlight, though it feels like the album is, overall, screaming out for just one or two more proper/soaring highs.

8

‘Diamond Dogs’ (1974)

Bowie took some influence from Nineteen Eighty-Four when developing Diamond Dogs, and one of the tracks here is even called “1984.” It’s not like a full-on adaptation, though, even if that might’ve been the original plan. Diamond Dogs has some other influences, too, and is a generally offbeat and kind of eerie album at times, though it does have the undeniably catchy “Rebel Rebel” on it.

Actually, calling “Rebel Rebel” catchy and leaving it at that is doing it a disservice. The song’s immense, and one of Bowie’s very best albums. It can’t help but tower over most of the other tracks here, though the titular song here is also memorable. You get a couple of highlights, and then most of the rest of the album is generally some level of pretty good, or very interesting, or even a bit of both at the same time.

7

‘The Man Who Sold the World’ (1970)

If you’re after David Bowie albums that are growers, Low is probably the best of them, or the one that sounds the most different (in a good way) after a certain number of listens. But something similar can be said about The Man Who Sold the World. This one sounds fine for a while, and might not really feel all that worth digging into repeatedly, yet doing so does pay off.

It’s hard to explain it beyond that. Potentially, it’s Bowie going for a real rock sound for the first time, and succeeding incredibly well, because this does sound like a more confident album than the two he released in the 1960s. Well, nothing here is quite as good as “Space Oddity,” which is far and away the highlight of his second album, but this third album of his is one that’s strong from start to finish, and it houses some of his most underrated songs, too (the opening track perhaps most of all: “The Width of a Circle”).

6

‘Heroes’ (1977)

This was the second album in David Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy, recorded in… yeah, where you’d expect. Heroes is also the second one being mentioned here, in this ranking, meaning it’s kind of obvious that the first album in that trilogy is going to rank the highest. If you’re being pessimistic, or kind of blunt, then yeah, the Berlin Trilogy did technically get weaker with each album.

However, the title track on Heroes isn’t just the best of the songs on any of these three albums, but it might well be the single best song David Bowie ever recorded. It’s almost like nothing else matters when “Heroes” is as good as it is, yet there are some other solid rock songs here, alongside the more ambient/instrumental songs on the album’s back half. It’s the same thing he did structurally on the first Berlin Trilogy album… but more on that one in a bit.

5

‘Aladdin Sane’ (1973)

Sorry, Aladdin Sane. You are so very good, but there are four other David Bowie albums from the 1970s that are so very… gooder? Better. They’re even better, somehow. This is one of those albums that feels like it would be a peak album from any other artist, and not just any normal artist, but any genuinely strong artist. Aladdin Sane would be a respectable peak for most good-to-great artists.

It’s just one of several masterpieces from Bowie’s most fruitful decade, though. Again, consistency is key to this one being so good. It’s hard to pick highlights when everything feels like it could be, you know, a highlight. There are no lowlights; that much can be said comfortably. Highlights might well depend on the mood you’re in, because “The Jean Genie” is phenomenally energetic, “Time” is sweeping and moving, and then “The Prettiest Star” is rather romantic.

4

‘Low’ (1977)

Low was the first Berlin Trilogy album, and it’s not too hard to see why it initially proved divisive. It was a massive change of pace for Bowie, being more experimental than the other albums he’d done up until that point, and a bit mellower overall, too. Tracks like “Sound and Vision” and “Be My Wife” are still quite energetic, but Low has a second half that’s dominated by ambient and generally instrumental songs.

That’s where you can really feel Brian Eno’s influence, as a collaborator, since ambient music was something he’d been doing after leaving Roxy Music. And the music here is odd to try to comprehend upon a first listen, and maybe even after a dozen listens. Yet eventually, it clicks, and once it does, Low is fantastic. It’s not even in the top 3 here, sure, but most artists would kill to have their very best album (like, of all time) be even nearly as good as Low is.

3

‘Hunky Dory’ (1971)

It would make sense if David Bowie went from The Man Who Sold the World to something like Aladdin Sane, or the very strong album that came right before Aladdin Sane (it’ll be covered shortly), but no, there was a bit of a detour. That detour was Hunky Dory, which has its share of rock songs on it, sure, but it’s also a bit quirkier, and sometimes a good deal poppier. Yet calling it pop doesn’t feel quite right.

Hunky Dory is one of the more enigmatic and distinctive David Bowie albums, but at the same time, it’s also one of his most instantly engaging. Unlike with The Man Who Sold the World and Low, it’s appealing immediately, and contains so many perfect songs (especially “Changes,” “Life on Mars,” and the somewhat underrated “Quicksand”). It’s expertly paced, and eclectic while never running the risk of feeling inconsistent or messy. It’s uncannily, almost eerily good, and, as album #4, marked the first time Bowie recorded an outright masterpiece.

2

‘Station to Station’ (1976)

Before Low and the other Berlin Trilogy albums, David Bowie made Station to Station, which is probably his most bizarre and challenging album of the 1970s. Then again, it’s weird, yet it’s also easy to like some of the songs here, even on a first listen. There is a sense that most of them feel a little too long at first, because this is a 30-minute album with only six tracks… yet things do thankfully start clicking before too long.

Once you’ve listened to this a few times, you might well find yourself thinking that the title track, at 10 minutes, isn’t long enough. Bowie was in a bad place when he wrote and recorded Station to Station, by his own admission, though he did manage to make a brilliant piece of art during such a troubled time. It’s another difficult album to properly do justice with words, and commentary only goes so far. It does sound undeniably incredible, and unlike pretty much anything else out there, stylistically and musically.

Every year, an avalanche of K-drama content floods our screens, and while many of those shows stick and impact the K-drama landscape, some of those shows also get lost or left behind. They may not have fancy billboard ads or Netflix global top ten banners, but for those who discovered them, they are nothing short of perfect.

These are the forgotten gems, the dramas that slipped through the cracks, were overshadowed by bigger hits, and were overlooked by the public. To make things right by these greatly made shows, here are the forgotten K-dramas that are perfect from start to finish. Get your popcorn and tissues ready, and buckle up for a great ride.

‘The Light in Your Eyes’ (2019)

Image via JTBC

The Light in Your Eyes is fairly well-known, but only among hardcore K-drama fans; Han Ji-min plays Kim Hye-ja, an unemployed twenty-something who dreams of becoming a news anchor. When she uses a mysterious watch to save her father from a fatal car accident, she wakes up as a 70-year-old woman, now played by veteran actress Kim Hye-ja. The early episodes play like a whimsical, funny fantasy romance as elderly Hye-ja befriends Lee Joon-ha (Nam Joo-hyuk), a disillusioned, aspiring reporter working at a scam call center for the elderly.

While The Light in Your Eyes plays with whimsy, semi-romance, and time-traveling tropes, it also pulls the rug out from underneath our feet with a massive, surprising plot twist, changing the narrative almost completely—this is why the show is so worth a watch. Veteran actress Kim Hye-ja won the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the 2019 Baeksang Arts Awards for her performance, which is the highest possible accolade among Korean awards, while the drama remains one of the highest-rated Korean cable dramas ever. The Light in Your Eyes may be rarely mentioned in “best of” lists today, but it demands and rewards patience with a feeling that lingers for days after watching.

‘The Smile Has Left Your Eyes’ (2018)

Image via Studio Dragon

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes is a famous melodrama (among devoted fans) that aired on tvN in 2018, and it’s a slow-burn tragedy disguised as a mystery. Seo In-guk plays Kim Moo-young, who grew up as an orphan and has a photographic memory; he becomes a murder suspect after a university student’s death is reclassified from suicide to homicide. Veteran detective Yoo Jin-gook (Park Sung-woong) investigates him while trying to keep his little sister, Yoo Jin-kang (Jung So-min), from getting close to Moo-young. However, Jin-kang isn’t fooled by Moo-young’s mind games and finds herself drawn to him anyway, leading to a risky romance.

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes is a remake of the 2002 Japanese series Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi (which means the same thing as the Korean title translation); the show creates suspense well, tracing Moo-young and Jin-kang’s tangled shared history back to a dark, shared past. It’s filled with melancholy and dread, and the chemistry between the leads is palpable and beautiful, questioning whether people can truly change and whether love can really save and change a person for the better. Fans find The Smile Has Left Your Eyes to be one of the greatest melodramas of its time, praising its performances and emotional depth. Yet, it was overshadowed by larger dramas that year, making it a forgotten masterpiece of tragic romance.

‘Children of Nobody’ (2018–2019)

Image via MBC TV

If you’re a fan of mysteries and thrillers, Children of Nobody is one of the best K-dramas that delivers on that particular mix of genres. Kim Sun-a delivers a memorable performance as Cha Woo-kyung, a pregnant child counselor whose life unravels after she’s involved in a car accident and becomes convinced she killed a little girl, despite records saying that the victim was a boy. As she investigates, she partners with detective Kang Ji-heon (Lee Yi-kyung) to track down “Red Cry,” a vigilante murdering parents who abuse their children, while also chasing buried memories of her own traumatic childhood.

Children of Nobody is a brutal, unsettling exploration of child abuse, trauma, and the failures of the system that is meant to prevent such crimes; the show adds to its own mystery by using lines of poetry as recurring clues throughout the central plot. Of course, such a subject matter could easily be sensationalized, but Children of Nobody avoids that trap well; also, the performances, especially from its young cast, are all excellent, with Kim even getting a Grand Prize nomination. The show got widespread praise for its writing and emotional weight, and despite tackling one of the most difficult subjects any show can take on, Children of Nobody drew modest ratings during its original broadcast. It has been largely overlooked since, but it’s a perfect thriller that deserves a second look.

‘Lost’ (2021)

Image via JTBC

Lost might just be the most understated show on this list, and it’s one you’ll probably find to be the most relatable. Lost follows Bu-jeong (Jeon Do-yeon), a forty-year-old ghostwriter who is unfairly fired after a plagiarism dispute and, too embarrassed to tell her family, secretly takes a job as a hotel cleaning manager instead. She forms an unlikely bond with Kang-jae (Ryu Jun-yeol), a twenty-seven-year-old man scraping by as a male escort and stand-in, after he helps her through a low moment. It’s a slow-burn, character-driven drama about loneliness, failure, and the small daily moments of happiness and grace that keep people going, marking both leads’ returns to television after five years away from the small screens.

Lost was critically acclaimed for its performances, but it’s also the kind of show that doesn’t really present solutions or intricate plot twists that could save the protagonists from themselves. Many fans who were willing to sit with this kind of show hailed it a masterpiece; the reason it was overlooked was likely that the show’s network, JTBC, created the show as its tenth-anniversary special project, and it competed against flashier titles. Lost was largely overlooked and has faded from the cultural conversation, but it’s an atypical K-drama for those who appreciate quiet, introspective slice-of-life storytelling that trusts them to sit with discomfort rather than look away.

‘Mother’ (2018)

Image via tvN

Now we’re getting into sob territory, because like Lost, Mother will shatter your expectations when it comes to typical K-dramas. It is quite a heartbreaking show, though, so tread carefully. Mother is a remake of the acclaimed 2010 Japanese series of the same name, and it follows Kang Soo-jin (Lee Bo-young), a substitute teacher who discovers that one of her students, Kim Hye-na (Heo Yool), is being abused at home. In a moment of desperate impulse, Soo-jin kidnaps the girl to protect her, becoming her surrogate mother on the run. It’s a story about found family, sacrifice, and the lengths Soo-jin will go to protect a child that the system has failed.

Mother won Best Drama at the 2018 Baeksang Arts Awards, with the little girl, Heo Yool, taking home Best New Actress. She was selected from over 400 child actors for her acting debut, and she genuinely delivers one of the most astonishing performances you’ll ever see from someone so young. Despite the critical acclaim and award sweeps, Mother is rarely mentioned in the same breath as other K-drama classics, likely because its cable-network broadcast never reached the audience that its story deserved. This perfect, deeply human masterpiece of a show will also give you some hope, as Soo-jin represents people who still exist, willing to fight for fairness, justice, and a good life for all children.

‘Misaeng’ (2014)

Image via tvN

Misaeng is the greatest office drama ever made, and it’s almost criminal how forgotten it’s become. Im Si-wan stars as Jang Geu-rae, a former prodigy in the game of Go whose dream of turning professional collapses, forcing him into an internship at a trading company despite having no degree. He enters a high-stakes world, and his time there is a grueling, relatable portrait of office life, from pettiness and competitiveness to the desperate struggle to survive in an environment that would wear anyone down. Misaeng is led by an incredible ensemble that includes Lee Sung-min as Geu-rae’s gruff but ultimately soft-hearted department boss.

Misaeng is about resilience, friendship, and hard work that doesn’t need a romance to hold your attention for twenty episodes (though it has hints of one, for good measure). It swept award shows throughout Korea, but it also found a loyal audience among the office workers of the country, who often rushed home from work to watch a new episode of Misaeng. The show is rarely known nowadays because it’s a cable show that came out before tvN’s global expansion and has been largely forgotten by newer fans who came to K-dramas through streaming. It is a masterpiece, though; it’s flawless and perfectly crafted from start to finish.

‘Just Between Lovers’ (2017)

Just Between Lovers, also called Rain or Shine, is a romantic K-drama that should be a classic, and for those who’ve seen it, it is. Ten years after a mall collapse kills 48 people, survivors Lee Gang-doo (Lee Jun-ho) and Ha Moon-soo (Won Jin-ah) find their lives intersecting again when a construction project breaks ground on the site of the disaster. Gang-doo lost his father and his dream of playing professional soccer in the collapse; Moon-soo lost her younger sister and still has nightmares about it. As they’re pulled back into the tragedy’s orbit through work, they slowly, painfully learn to heal, not just with each other but alongside an ensemble of side characters also touched by the disaster in different ways.

Just Between Lovers is guided by the chemistry between Lee and Won, which is truly extraordinary, while all the characters are messy and broken, contributing to the realistic and relatable feel of the story. It has been called “a masterpiece” by longtime fans of the romantic drama genre, but despite that devotion, Just Between Lovers was overshadowed by bigger romance dramas that year and has largely faded from the broader cultural conversation. This is a great, highly understated perfect romance that deserves to be rediscovered, and anyone, regardless of attraction to the K-drama landscape, would enjoy this vulnerable story of love amid tragedy.

Advertisement

Just Between Lovers

Release Date

Advertisement

2017 – 2018-00-00

Network

JTBC

Advertisement

Directors

Kim Jin-won

Advertisement

Writers

Yu Bo-ra

Advertisement

• 
• 

Advertisement

Advertisement

Is there such a thing as a perfect crime? That’s debatable, but there is such a thing as a perfect crime movie. The crime drama has been a fan favorite among cinephiles for decades. From noir mystery thrillers to high-concept sci-fi action dramas, the evolution of the genre has produced some flawless films, ten of which we’re about to discuss.

The crime films on this list are considered some of the greatest of all time; in fact, they’re so good, they’re presented without flaws. These films represent the history of the genre, from early classics that set the tone for our obsession with crime movies to recent mysteries that have reinvigorated it today. While there are certainly more flawless crime flicks out there, these ten are some of the best of the best.

‘Dial M for Murder’ (1954)

Image via Warner Bros.

No director has mastered suspense quite like Alfred Hitchcock. His resume is filled with iconic crime thrillers, so this list could be limited to his work. But in order to spread the wealth, we’re selecting one of the finest: Dial M for Murder. Based on the play by Frederick Knott, Dial M for Murder follows Tony Wendice (Ray Milland), a retired tennis player who plots the murder of his wealthy wife, Margot (Grace Kelly), to inherit her fortune upon discovering her affair with crime-fiction writer Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings). When his hired assassin, Charles Swann (Anthony Dawson), is killed by Margot in self-defense, Tony must improvise, framing her for the meticulously staged, premeditated murder.

A masterclass in suspense, Dial M for Murder subverts the traditional murder mystery to depict the perfect crime. Rather than present a standard whodunit, Hitchcock gives the audience the ultimate crime setup: they watch the sinister, calculated plot unfold, making it an inverted detective story. Through dynamic shots, including specific angles, tight framing, and a focus on tense actions, the visual storytelling is just as important as the action itself. Tony is presented as a smooth individual who evolves into the perfect anti-hero. You find his moral compass despicable, but you continue celebrating his brilliance, hoping he can get away with murder, in a manner of speaking.

‘Heat’ (1995)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Michael Mann gathered one of the finest ensembles of stars to play cops and robbers in the classic ’90s thriller, Heat. The film explores the psychological game of cat-and-mouse between an obsessive LAPD detective, Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), and a ruthless, methodical career thief, Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), while examining how their professional pursuits destroy their personal lives. Despite being on opposite sides of the law, Heat showcases that, while they are masters at their crafts, their obsession runs deeper than they could possibly imagine, making them two sides of the same coin.

Known for the infamous diner scene, Heat is a brilliant character-driven crime drama that balances philosophical depth with revolutionary action. Mann’s piece is a mesmerizing dissertation on the perception of morality between two definitive roles: detectives are meant to be good, and thieves are meant to be bad. Heat proves that the line might be more blurred than previously believed. McCaulley and Hanna have mutual respect for one another, realizing that they are simply mirror images, doomed by their respective destinies. Heat works because Pacino and De Niro are titans of the screen, having a wealth of history in the crime genre already.

‘Inception’ (2010)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Not every crime film has to be completely realistic; just ask Christopher Nolan. Inception is not only a brilliant heist thriller, but it’s also science fiction perfection. It follows Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a professional thief who extracts corporate secrets by infiltrating his target’s dreams. Desperate to clear his name and reunite with his children, he is tasked with the impossible: planting an idea into CEO Robert Fischer’s (Cillian Murphy) subconscious.

Inception blurs the line between reality and imagination in a high-stakes thriller. Nolan prioritizes in-camera, practical effects over CGI to give the dream sequences tangibility, immersing the viewers in the heist itself. Between the rotating hallway fight scene and the explosive Parisian street scene, Nolan makes everything feel extraordinarily real. Cinephiles have believed that the film operates as a metaphor for the filmmaking process—Cobb is the director, Ariadne (Elliot Page) is the writer, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is the producer, Eames (Tom Hardy) is the actor, and Saito (Ken Watanabe) is the studio financier. If you follow that logic, it just makes Nolan a brighter visionary.

‘Knives Out’ (2010)

Rian Johnson not only reinvigorated Agatha Christie‘s style of crime stories, but crafted a lead character who could rival her greatest detective, Hercule Poirot: the character is Benoit Blanc, and the film is Knives Out. When wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) dies under mysterious circumstances, eccentric detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is anonymously hired to investigate. Blanc quickly discovers that the author’s wildly dysfunctional, greedy family has countless motives to kill him for his inheritance. But who was it?

Knives Out balances tense drama with colorful camp to craft a story of blackmail, an elaborate scheme, and a web of lies reminiscent of a classic murder mystery. Johnson brilliantly subverts the genre’s tropes by taking a structural gamble and revealing the apparent killer early into the film. Only it’s a red herring, giving the audience a chance to play along and discover who the real murderer is in a thrilling, hilarious game of cat-and-mouse. The first Knives Out film is a strong vehicle to tackle themes of privilege, social class, and greed through sharp satire and extraordinary characters.

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Image via Warner Bros.

Based on James Ellroy‘s 1990 novel, L.A. Confidential follows three very different Los Angeles detectives forced to set aside their rivalries to unravel a massive web of police corruption, organized crime, and Hollywood scandal following a brutal diner massacre. There’s Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), an ambitious, by-the-book politician and ladder-climber who initially informs on other officers to advance his career, but is driven by a deep, underlying need for justice. There’s Bud White (Russell Crowe), an intimidating, brutal enforcer who relies on his fists, with a soft spot for protecting women who are victims of abuse. And then there’s Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey), a slick, celebrity-chasing detective who feeds classified tips to a sleazy scandal magazine.

Directed by Curtis Hanson, L.A. Confidential condenses Ellroy’s sweeping novel into a tightly woven neo-noir thriller, perfectly blending gritty realism with captivating storytelling through a flawless ensemble who lift Ellroy’s tale with ease. L.A. Confidential is an unpredictable joyride with a visual vocabulary evocative of classic hardboiled films. Working as an homage yet with a contemporary feel, cinematographer Dante Spinotti juxtaposes the glamorous Hollywood of the ’50s with the stark, shadowy underbelly of the city’s crime and corruption. Its unsettling authenticity presents the drama as an uncomfortable reality, leaving you eager to reach its stunning conclusion.

‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994)

Image via Miramax Films

Perhaps sans Scarface, no other crime movie has ingrained itself in pop culture quite like Pulp Fiction. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, the crime film weaves together intersecting storylines: there are Los Angeles mob hitmen, Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), who are tasked with retrieving a mysterious briefcase for their boss, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). Boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) is paid by Marsellus to lose a match, only to double-cross him. The mob boss’s wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), is escorted out for dinner by Vincent, only for an accidental overdose to lead to a chaotic turn. And the diner bandits, Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer), who decide to stage an armed robbery.

Moviegoers often like easy stories; Pulp Fiction is not. The radical non-linear storytelling allows Tarantino to allow the various stories to ruminate as they ultimately converge, forcing the audience to pay attention as the plot’s randomness and bizarre coincidences transform into a brilliantly constructed narrative puzzle. Tarantino leaves certain elements, such as the glowing MacGuffin briefcase, entirely open to viewer interpretation, cementing their lasting mystique. The characters are not cookie-cutter, but deeply flawed yet undeniably human, with moral compasses that often don’t align. Pulp Fiction also boasts one of the greatest film soundtracks of the decade, which plays a massive part in the storytelling.

‘The Departed’ (2006)

Image via Warner Bros.

Thanks to The Departed, we can’t help but think of Martin Scorsese’s hit film when you hear “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” And then all you can think of is the barrage of Boston accents. The Departed follows a tense cat-and-mouse game between two moles: Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), an undercover cop embedded in a ruthless Irish mob, and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a mobster embedded deep within the Boston police force. Both the police and the mob realize they have a rat in their midst. As Billy works to figure out who is leaking police secrets, the mob tasks Colin with identifying the undercover informant.

A brilliant example of tension from top to bottom, The Departed explores themes of corruption, identity, and loyalty, showing the devastating human cost of maintaining a double life using a cast of Hollywood heavyweights. Scorsese uses the dual narratives to make the action feel like a ticking time bomb where only one side can prevail. Writer William Monahan ensures that the Boston roots are inherently infused into the script. Though a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, the film stands proudly on its own, earning its identity.

‘The Godfather Part II’ (1974)

Image via Paramount Pictures

The Godfather was a groundbreaking film, but everyone knows that The Godfather Part II is even stronger. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, loosely based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo, the film follows two parallel dramas to contrast the ruthless moral decline of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in the late 1950s with the early life and rise of his father, Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro), in the early 1900s. The primary timeline follows Michael as he attempts to expand his crime syndicate into Las Vegas, Hollywood, and pre-revolution Cuba as he battles betrayals, congressional hearings, and assassination attempts. The prequel sequences trace the life of a young Vito from his escape from Sicily to his rise to power, culminating in revenge in Sicily.

The Godfather Part II is an example of structural brilliance. The storytelling is never contrived, as each scene interacts with the next, weaving the perfect tapestry of two tragic figures. De Niro’s Oscar-winning performance proved just how much depth the character still had left following Marlon Brando’s take in the original. Pacino built upon his sensational performance, shifting from a reluctant heir to a ruthless, isolated, and chilling patriarch. Rather than revisiting the same themes as its predecessor, The Godfather Part II focuses on internal deception, betrayal within the family, and the aftermath of the pursuit of the American Dream.

‘The Sting’ (1973)

Image via Universal Pictures

One of the greatest crime capers is none other than The Sting. From a screenplay by David S. Ward, the film is inspired by real-life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff. Directed by George Roy Hill, the 1936-set film follows two grifters—small-time con man Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) and seasoned pro Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman)—who team up to exact revenge on a ruthless mob boss, Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), after he murders their partner, Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones).

Renowned for its numerous twists and turns and its Academy Award-winning legacy, The Sting features quite a strong, airtight script. The story ultimately becomes a con on the audience itself as Ward carefully withholds information to deliver one of cinema’s greatest and most satisfying plot twists. But that payoff could not have been achieved had it not been for the pure magical chemistry seeping out of Redford and Newman. Their charisma is simply unmatched, making them one of the strongest duos in Hollywood. There may have been a sequel, but nothing compares to the original. ​​​​​​​

‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995)

Image via Gramercy Pictures

Many try to hyperbolize the weight of a shocking twist, but in a time before spoilers could go viral, no twist shocked the world quite like that of The Usual Suspects. Directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie, it has cemented itself at the peak of crime thrillers. Following the aftermath of a deadly, explosive shootout on a docked ship in San Pedro harbor, the police are left with only one physically disabled survivor: a small-time con man, Roger “Verbal” Kint (Kevin Spacey). He’s interrogated by U.S. Customs Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) and recounts a convoluted story detailing how he and four other high-profile criminals came together under a legendary, ruthless, and nearly mythical crime lord named Keyser Söze.

The Usual Suspects is an example of the unreliable narrator device executed perfectly by exploring the story through Verbal’s perspective until he walks out of the interrogation room, and your jaw is left on the floor. Through meticulous foreshadowing and plotting, the intricate mystery actually rewards multiple viewings. The film is less about the crime itself and more about the psychological battle of wits between Verbal and Kujan. Spacey may have won an Oscar for his part, but the entire ensemble made the film as iconic as it has become.

Not everyone got an invite to the highly anticipated wedding of the year, including a key figure from Travis Kelce‘s Tight End group.

Dave Portnoy addressed the snub on his podcast, revealing retired NFL star Will Compton was not invited to his pal’s union with Taylor Swift.

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift tied the knot on Friday, July 3, at Madison Square Garden. The guest list featured several prominent A-listers, including stars from the sports world.

4

During Monday’s episode of his “Wake Up Barstool” podcast, Portnoy called out Kelce for not inviting Compton to his July 3 union with Swift. He pointed out that everyone in the athlete’s Tight End University group scored an invite to the ceremony, excluding the retired NFL star.

When he dropped the claim, Bobby Joseph Hebert III, better known as T-Bob Hebert, noted that Compton probably didn’t get an invite because of his business in Italy. Then Portnoy called the media personality on his show to ask for his thoughts on the snub.

Compton, as heard in the clip shared on X, sounded breathless as he explained his side of the story. He noted he was speaking while running on the treadmill and confirmed he never got an invite to Kelce and Swift’s wedding before sharing his reaction.

The Kansas City Chiefs Player’s Pal Was ‘Flabbergasted’ By The Snub

4

The retired NFL player confessed that he initially did not think too much about not getting invited to the wedding until he noticed almost everyone he knew had attended the affair. Naturally, being excluded left a sour taste in his mouth, with Compton saying:

“I’ve been seeing these photos of everybody else at that wedding. I’m kind of flabbergasted that we didn’t get the invite.”

He noted that he wouldn’t make assumptions until he spoke to Kelce or someone named George about what happened. Compton later addressed his reaction on the podcast on X, writing, “Tough phone call. Heart rate had been at 142 for 44 minutes at that point.”

The NFL Alum’s Snub Left Fans Disheartened

The comment section was filled with heartbroken reactions about Compton’s exclusion from the wedding, with some shocked Kelce had snubbed him. “It is crazy to think you’re not one of Travis’ closest 1200 boys,” a fan mused. Another echoed similar sentiments, wondering if Compton’s invite got lost in his spam mail.

“Even Claire Kittle’s mother and George Kittle’s parents got an invite!!” an X user claimed, adding that “Travis owes Will an explanation.” The stunned feelings continued, with someone noting Compton deserved an invite. On the other hand, some fans were not surprised.

Advertisement

“Why the f-ck would he be invited? He didn’t get snubbed,” someone argued. A fellow critic slammed Portnoy for stirring up trouble with Compton’s invite snub claims, dubbing them “pathetic men being petty and immature.”

All The NFL Stars Who Attended Travis Kelce’s Wedding

4

Compton’s absence was glaring due to the large number of NFL stars who scored an invite to Kelce and Swift’s wedding. The list included the athlete’s Kansas City Chiefs teammates such as Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany Mahomes.

The Chiefs’ defensive tackle Chris Jones made the list alongside the team’s center Creed Humphrey and defensive end George Karlaftis, who attended with his wife, Kaia Karlaftis. Former Chiefs star Mecole Hardman was also a guest.

The list continued with former Chiefs stars Isiah Pacheco and JuJu Smith-Schuster. NFL alum Tom Brady, Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Beau Allen, former NFL tight end Greg Olsen, ESPN commentator Joe Buck, and more also made the list, per Clutch Points.

Taylor Swift’s Bouquet Lands In The Kansas City Chiefs Family

4

Besides having many from the NFL world as guests, a part of Kelce and Swift’s wedding coincidentally honored a member of the Kansas City Chiefs family. The Blast covered the story, reporting that the person who caught “The Fate of Ophelia” hitmaker’s bouquet was related to the team.

Trey Smith’s sister, Ashley Smith, confirmed she was the lucky individual who caught Swift’s bouquet at the July 3 ceremony. She shared the news on Instagram, dropping a carousel of images detailing her appearance at the highly publicized event.

Advertisement

For the big day, Ashley rocked a stunning embellished black gown and took two pictures with the bouquet. The flowers were bent at different angles, with a huge chunk of the bouquet missing, presumably from the struggle to catch the flowers. Ashley’s brother, Trey, is the Chiefs’ guard.

Actress and former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Claudia Jordan caused a stir in June 2026 when she alleged that one of the current cast members on the show was pregnant. Now, after substantial backlash, the “Love & Hip Hop Miami” personality is responding and revealing where she allegedly heard the “RHOA” pregnancy rumor.

5

Jordan appeared on an episode of reality television producer Carlos King‘s Patreon show, “Reality After Dark,” in July 2026. In a clip from the show posted to King’s official TikTok page, the former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star addressed the backlash she received from fans who felt she was out of line for spreading a rumor that a cast member was pregnant.

She began, “People are so f-cking fake.” After that, Jordan began to discuss the circumstances that led to her learning about the alleged pregnancy. According to her, “It’s not like someone from the show called me or we had a conversation or it was in confidence and said, ‘Hey, between you and I, such and such is pregnant, no one should know.’”

The former “RHOA” star then revealed that the pregnancy revelation she’d learned about occurred during the recently filmed season 17 reunion. She said, “Just like when we all heard other things that happened, when fights happen, this is revealed, that always gets leaked on blogs and people always run with it.”

Advertisement

Claudia Jordan Says She’s Facing A Double Standard

5

Jordan continued her side of the story, noting that many high-profile blogs and websites report on rumors from “Housewives” reunions. She said, “No one has a problem, but when I’m told by someone that heard it, it was said in front of like a hundred people: cast, crew, production, all kinds of people.”

Jordan went on, “And they said, ‘Here’s some tea, you can have this.’ It’s something that was said on the show.” From there, regarding some of the criticism she’s faced, the “Run” actress said, “I would never ever tell a secret that someone does not want the masses to know.”

From there, she defended her mentioning of the pregnancy revelation by reiterating that the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star allegedly said it at the reunion, meaning they were comfortable revealing that they were pregnant.

What Claudia Originally Said

5

Jordan appeared on another episode of King’s show in June 2026, where she and a panel discussed the latest “RHOA” episode. In a clip from the show, she said, “I have some tea, and it’s not from any of the girls on the show.”

She then said, “Someone told someone that told me, someone is pregnant. One of the girls is pregnant.” After that, when discussing the seating chart for the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” reunion, the 53-year-old stated that the woman in question was seated on the right in the reunion seating photo.

It’s important to note that Jordan never gave a name in regard to the woman who was said to be pregnant. However, from there, one of the other panelists speculated that it was “RHOA” newbie Pinky Cole who was pregnant.

Advertisement

The ‘RHOA’ Alum Is Open To Returning To The Show Years After Confrontation With NeNe Leakes

5

Jordan joined “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” for the show’s seventh season. However, despite making a real mark with viewers, thanks in part to her showdown with NeNe Leakes, she announced her exit following the season in 2015.

Since then, she’s expressed an openness to return despite continuing her acting career and appearing on other reality shows. In 2023, she said to Entertainment Tonight, “I don’t watch ‘Housewives’ anymore. Once I wasn’t on the show, I watched it two more times. Some people go on there, and they make it their entire life. It was a great experience, and I still get love to this day, and I would definitely go back.”

Jordan then said, “I’ve done so many other things, and I’m really loving my time kind of popping in and out of ‘The Breakfast Club’ in New York, films, producing, and I wrote a stage play.”

Claudia Recently Joined ‘Love & Hip Hop: Miami’

5

Jordan has been a cast member on several reality television shows. However, most recently, she joined “Love & Hip Hop: Miami” for its seventh season. The season began airing in November 2025 and then had its midseason premiere in March 2026.

The season then ended in June 2026, marking the end of the series.

Advertisement

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 22 seconds ago

Before the MCU, superheroes on television were few and far between. Sure, we had Smallville, but that was it. Until 2006 when Heroes premiered on NBC and it conquered pop culture. “Save the Cheerleader. Save the world.” is still the greatest tagline in television history. All four seasons of the groundbreaking series are now streaming on Netflix, which is good, because it’s an iconic show, and bad, because all four seasons are streaming when you only need the first one and a half. 

Save The Cheerleader. Save The World.

Heroes starts with the “grounded” take on superpowers that annoyed comic fans until Tony Stark emerged from the cave in his Mark 1 armor. For the first season, we follow everyday people slowly learning they have superpowers following a mysterious eclipse. There’s Hiro (Masi Oka) the salaryman in Japan who can manipulate space/time, Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) who mimics the powers of others, Claire (Hayden Panettiere) the high school cheerleader who regenerates like Wolverine, and Sylar (Zachary Quinto) the evil villain who rips open brains to learn how they work, allowing him to gain the powers of others. 

Season 1, dubbed “Genesis,” tells a complete story from the simple beginning to the climatic final episode with a knock down drag out fight between Sylar and the heroes trying to stop him. Season 2, “Generations,” picks up later and starts to reveal more about the world and how powered individuals have been around since long before the eclipse. Created by Tim Kring, who started his Hollywood career as a writer for Knight Rider and Misfits of Science, the first two seasons were peak television for 2006. Then the writer’s strike happened.

The Missing Season

The WGA strike cut short Season 2 at 11 episodes, forcing the team to drop storylines,  and adjust their plans for Season 3. By then, the world of Heroes had grown to the point of becoming unwieldy with too many characters, organizations, and subplots to devote television time to everyone. If anything, the superhero show became more like the comics of the time. 

Amazingly, Heroes Season 3 and 4 may have been narrative kryptonite to audiences, the show was so popular, that it went from a high of 16 million viewers down to 4.5 million, which is a steep drop, but 4.5 million was nothing to sneeze at. It was still popular enough that in 2015, five years after cancellation, it came back with the miniseries Heroes Reborn. 

Heroes Reborn Went Back To Basics

Marketed as a back to basics approach, Heroes Reborn has “evols” or “evolved people,” are again, running after being blamed for a terrorist attack. It’s as if the writers read Marvel’s Civil War event and thought that was the greatest story of all time. On the bright side, Tim Kring went into with the plan of telling a complete story, so it sidesteps the biggest issue with the original series. 

If it’s been awhile since you’ve watched Heroes, fire it up and give it a weekend binge on Netflix. If you want to keep it going, you can catch Heroes Reborn for free on AppleTV.

The wait is over for Delicious in Dungeons fans. After the anime’s first season premiered on Netflix in 2024, Delicious in Dungeon was highly praised by fans and critics alike. It also spawned a pop-up café in Japan that recreated the dishes seen in the show. Now, Netflix and Studio Trigger are preparing for the show’s return and continuing this delicious adventure.

Delicious in Dungeon is a fantasy series that follows Laios Touden (Damien Haas), whose mission is to save his sister, Falin (Lisa Reimold), after a red dragon ate her. Alongside his party members, Marcille (Emily Rudd) and Chilchuck (Casey Mongillo), and their newest member, Senshi the dwarf (SungWon Cho), they embark on a journey through a dungeon in hopes of saving her before she gets digested. Since its release, the show earned a perfect 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a 93% on the audience Popcornmeter, in addition to landing on Netflix’s Top 10 charts.

Over the weekend at Anime Expo, Delicious in Dungeon announced its release date for Season 2, two years after its confirmation. To celebrate, the series released a first look at the next installment through a poster that resembles the manga’s cover, featuring Laios and his party, as well as Falin, as a Chimera, along with the “Mad Mage” Thristle (Rebeka Thomas). Unfortunately, Delicious in Dungeon‘s return is scheduled for next year, so fans will have to wait a while before they get to see this epic adventure continue.

What Happened in ‘Delicious in Dungeon’ Season 1?

Image via Studio Trigger

Advertisement

Season 1 of Delicious in Dungeon adapts the first 52 chapters of Ryoko Kui’s manga of the same name, which introduced our main characters, as well as the world the show is set in. Before the events of the anime, an old man claimed to rule the Golden Kingdom that vanished 1,000 years ago. He promised that those who could defeat the Mad Mage would inherit his kingdom before turning into dust.

Years later, Laios and his party faced a red dragon, but were able to escape due to Falin’s sacrifice, casting a teleportation spell, but the spell left her behind, leading her to be eaten by the dragon.

Following their escape, two party members, Namari (Marin Miller) and Shuro (Mark Lauer), left the party, leaving Laios, Marcille, and Chilchuck to venture back into the dungeon. Helping them in their journey is Senshi, who has also shown interest in monster-based meals. Throughout Season 1, the backstories of our main characters were revealed, as well as an introduction of the Mad Mage, and it ended with Laios coming up with a plan in order to save his sister from the mage’s spell.

Delicious in Dungeon Season 2 will enter Netflix in October 2027. In the meantime, all of Season 1 is available to stream. Follow Collider for more updates.

Advertisement

Release Date

January 4, 2024

Advertisement

Network

AT-X, Tokyo MX

Directors

Advertisement

Yoshihiro Miyajima

Writers

Ryoko Kui, Kimiko Ueno

Advertisement

Franchise(s)

Delicious in Dungeon

Advertisement

Advertisement

• 

  Kentarou Kumagai

  Laios (voice)

• 

  Sayaka Senbongi

  Advertisement

  Marcille (voice)

Advertisement

Advertisement