In 1950, just prior to being blacklisted, director Jules Dassin was sent to make a film in London, England – being warned by producer Darryl F. Zanuck that it would most likely be the last movie he would make. What came of this venture was the classic film-noir Night and the City.

By now, I am sure many of you have already heard that legendary rock star David Bowie passed away on January 10th, 2016. What you may not yet have heard is that iconic British actor Alan Rickman passed away earlier today.

The phrase "based on true events" is used a lot in films these days, but as we know, it is a very loose term. Though there are kernels of truth in most of these movies, it is usually just an idea that captures the screenwriters’ imagination which is then turned into his or her own fictionalized version of history. One movie that exemplifies this is the Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure, Last Vegas) Disney flick Cool Runnings.

If there is one thing that films often lack, especially in the twenty-first century, it is a solid script. One classic motion picture that demonstrates a near perfect screenplay is the iconic 1957 movie 12 Angry Men.

The anti-hero, who can be described as a vital character that lacks typical heroic qualities, has been a staple of both film and television over the past several years. Actors like Hugh Laurie, who created the iconic game-playing character House and Johnny Depp, who modelled his likeable yet sketchy pirate Jack Sparrow after Keith Richards, are just two examples of the moral ambiguity that comes with many a character nowadays. Perhaps a recent film that best exemplifies this term is when a group of rag-tag criminals come together to save multiple worlds in Marvel’s 2014 space action adventure flick Guardians of the Galaxy.