Ace in the Hole (1951), Ace in the Hole (1951), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Network (1976), In a Lonely Place (1950), The Tao of Steve (2000), Bukowski: Born Into This (2003), Key Largo (1948) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Cynicism movies.
Storyline: Loveless, jobless, possibly terminally ill, Frank has had enough of the downward spiral of America. With nothing left to lose, Frank takes his gun and offs the stupidest, cruelest, and most repellent members of society. He finds an unusual accomplice: 16-year-old Roxy, who shares his sense of rage and disenfranchisement.
Plot Keywords: black comedy, violence, social satire, antihero, road movie, revenge, social criticism ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Two junior executives on a six-week business trip, both of whom have been recently hurt by women, devise a horrible plan to get even with women for their past hurts: They intend to find, romance, and then dump a vulnerable woman. They choose Christine, and for a while all goes according to plan. However, it soon becomes clear that things are not as simple as they think.
Plot Keywords: drama, black comedy, workplace, male perspective, psychological manipulation, revenge, power struggle ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: When she sees him at a hospital fund-raiser, newlywed San Francisco socialite Petulia Danner, who has been married to naval engineer David Danner for six months, seems determined to have an affair with soon to be divorced physician Dr. Archie Bollen, who has been married to his wife Polo for close to ten years, their marriage which many saw as being perfect. Archie doesn't even know Petulia's name, but only knows her as the woman who brought in a young Mexican boy into the hospital with serious injuries. Petulia's pursuit of Archie is relentless - she even declaring that they will someday be married - even as Archie dates another woman named May. Archie eventually learns part of the reason why Petulia is so determined to cheat on David as her relationship to David and David's wealthy father are brought to light. Archie also learns that getting involved with Petulia in any regard has its consequences, both for Petulia herself and for him, most specifically in his relationship to Polo.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: drama, romance, marriage, social critique, 1960s, usa, san francisco ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Attempting to impress his ideologies on religion, relationships, and the randomness (and worthlessness) of existence, lifelong New York resident Boris Yellnikoff rants to anyone who will listen, including the audience. But when he begrudgingly allows naive Mississippi runaway Melodie St. Ann Celestine to live in his apartment, his reclusive rages give way to an unlikely friendship and Boris begins to mold the impressionable young girl's worldly views to match his own. When it comes to love, "whatever works" is his motto, but his already perplexed life complicates itself further when Melodie's parents eventually track her down.
Plot Keywords: comedy, romance, new york, intellectual, marriage, satire, divorce ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: An idealistic girl, Patsy Newquist, saves a young apathetic photographer, Alfred Chamberlain, from a gang of hooligans. She falls for him, but he turns out to be a nihilist. They go out anyway. All this happens against the background of random shootings in NYC (at the time the play the movie is based on was written, the city was going broke). Her family accept him, but when she tries to change him and get him to find meaning in life, things go horribly wrong in a cruel twist of fate.—John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
Plot Keywords: black comedy, satire, absurdist, social critique, urban life, violence, psychological stress ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Mike Reese, yellow journalist and antihero, prints a story that leads to a gang killing, and is blacklisted from the city papers under suspicion of ties with racketeer Carl Durham. So, with a shrug, he makes the suspicion come true, then elbows his way into the editorship of the local paper in a small town where, opportunely, a sensational murder case threatens to destroy the family of newspaper magnate E.J. Stanton. When a black servant is made the patsy for this killing, Reese helps himself by helping her...but proves a dangerous ally.—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Plot Keywords: film noir, crime, mystery, murder, journalist, corruption, investigation ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Set against the bright lights of Manhattan, a tale which takes a comic, urbane look at the modern male ego at war in the singles scene trenches. Roger Swanson is a hopelessly cynical advertising copywriter with a razor-sharp wit who believes he has mastered the art of manipulating women. But Roger's seemingly foolproof world of smooth talk and casual sex begins to unravel when he is paid a surprise visit by his teenager nephew, Nick. Hoping to settle, once and for all, the issue of his virginity, Nick begs Roger to school him in the art of seducing women. Welcoming the challenge, Roger guides Nick through the city's wild nightlife for an all-night crash course, only to realize that he--the adult--still has something to learn about what women, and men, really want.
Plot Keywords: independent film, black comedy, coming of age, male perspective, dialogue-driven, family dynamics, psychological drama ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Seventeen year old Jason Slocumb, Jr. - Igby to most that know him - comes from east coast old money, the second son of self-absorbed and controlling Mimi Slocumb and medically-diagnosed schizophrenic Jason Slocum, Sr., the latter who has for several years been institutionalized in a Maryland psychiatric facility. While Igby's economics-studying Columbia-attending older brother Ollie Slocum has embraced and aspires to continue their wealthy life, Igby has rebelled against it, considering his brother a fascist (although he could soften that label to Republican). Because of Jason's situation, Mimi has largely left the role of male role model for Ollie and Igby to their godfather, D.H. Banes. Igby's rebellion has led to him being kicked out of one prep school after another, the latest, a military academy, from which Igby escapes before he can graduate. As such, Mimi and D.H. arrange for Igby to live in New York with Ollie for the summer while working for D.H. renovating some of his ...
Plot Keywords: black comedy, coming of age, upper class, mental breakdown, family conflict, self-destruction, satire ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In this adaptation of Graham Greene's prophetic novel about U.S. foreign policy failure in pre-war Indochina, Audie Murphy plays an innocent Young American opposite the older, cynical Brit Sir Michael Redgrave. They play out their widely different views on the prospects struggle for the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people in their competition over a young woman. Murphy wants to reform her and make her a typical middle class American housewife; Redgrave accepts her inability to formulate or retain a political ideal and while promising her no real future, he objects to Murphy's attempts to change her. It's not clear whether Murphy is just what he appears - a bungling Yankee do-gooder, or a deliberate agent of U.S. covert operations.—Rita Richardson <RRichar790@aol.com>
Plot Keywords: war, vietnam, espionage, love triangle, political intrigue, colonialism, cold war ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: After he's attacked on the street at night by a roving motorcycle gang, timid bookkeeper Casey (Jesse Eisenberg) joins a neighborhood karate studio to learn how to protect himself. Under the watchful eye of a charismatic instructor, Sensei (Alessandro Nivola), and hardcore brown belt Anna (Imogen Poots), Casey gains a newfound sense of confidence for the first time in his life. But when he attends Sensei's mysterious night classes, he discovers a sinister world of fraternity, brutality and hyper-masculinity, presenting a journey that places him squarely in the sights of his enigmatic new mentor.—Bleecker Street
Plot Keywords: dark comedy, violence, martial arts, satire, psychological thriller, absurdism, social critique ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Commercial artist Helen Bauer believes marriage kills romance. She lives with advertising writer Don Peterson. He convinces her to marry him. He later carries on with client Peggy Smith; Helen takes up with Don's competitor Nick Malvyn. In the end, the couple agree to give marriage another chance.—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Plot Keywords: drama, romance, comedy, 1930s, black-and-white, warner bros, remarriage ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: An adult, who has been a school dropout, finds a loophole in the regulations and participates in the largest spelling bee in the USA, The Golden Quill. His aim is to take revenge for something done to him in the past.
Plot Keywords: comedy, dark comedy, competition, antihero, verbal humor, rebellion, satire ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Self-declared aspiring writer Hank Chinaski has neither qualifications, ambition nor ethics. Any dead-end job he lands is soon lost through laziness or mischief. His relationship with fellow deadbeat Jan gets strained to crisis through her insecurity, so he even gives up betting on horses which brought in easy money.
Plot Keywords: drama, comedy, black comedy, literary adaptation, alcoholism, unemployment, working class ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Adapted from Dostoevsky's novella, Henry Czerny plays the narrator, Underground Man. Filled with self-hatred, he keeps a video diary where he discusses his own shortcomings and what he thinks is wrong in contemporary society. His bitterness spills over at a dinner party attended by his old college friends, an occasion which sends him running to a nearby brothel, where he meets Liza (Lee), a young prostitute.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: existentialism, drama, philosophy, underground, isolation, psychological, adaptation ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Stranded student Pete (Ron Eldard) gets a lift from racist trucker Zack and repays the favor by inviting him in for dinner with his roommates, Jude (Cameron Diaz), Luke (Courtney B. Vance), Marc (Jonathan Penner) and Paulie (Annabeth Gish). When Zack praises Hitler and pulls a knife at the table, the roommates kill him. Rationalizing their actions as a favor to humanity, they bury Zack in the yard and begin to invite other offensive types to a string of similarly murderous meals.
Plot Keywords: black comedy, moral dilemma, political satire, murder, dinner party, social commentary, ideological conflict ...
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