Motherless Brooklyn (2019)

 

In 1950s New York, a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend.

Idiosyncratic adaptation of a Jonathan Lethem novel reduces the original's narrative into a superbly acted and cast and complex neo noir crime drama; the 1950s period settings are excellent.

Unstoppable (2010)

With an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train barreling toward a city, a veteran engineer and a young conductor race against the clock to prevent a catastrophe.

Straightforward thriller made in good and simple taste and effectively so, and never intends to be more than just that.

Maltin***1/2: "Sensationally exciting thriller...recalls DIE HARD in its focus on working-class heros in the wrong place at the right time...White-knuckle action sequences and stripped-to-essentials storytelling enhance the full-throttle impact."