The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2011 neo-noir psychological thriller film based on Stieg Larsson's 2005 novel of the same name. It tells the story of Blomkvist's investigation into what happened to a wealthy family's missing daughter 40 years before. He enlists the assistance of Salander, a computer hacker.

On December 12, 2011, the film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $232.6 million on a $90 million budget and receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, who praised Craig and Mara's performances as well as the film's somber tone. The film was named one of the top ten films of 2011 by the National Board of Review and was nominated for numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, and Mara's performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Detailed information:

Directed by: David Fincher

Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer

Release dates: December 12, 2011

Running time: 158 minutes

The Artist is one of the most acclaimed and awarded films of the 2010s. It is the first French-produced film to win Best Picture at the Oscars and the first primarily silent film to win in the category since the very first Academy Awards in 1929. This period comedy-drama received ten nominations and took home five awards.

Here is one of the most entertaining films in a long time, a film that enchants with its story, performances, and the sly way it plays with being silent and black and white. The Artist takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932, during the final days of silent film. It centers on the friendship of silent film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and rising star Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo).

Detailed information:

Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius

Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell

Release dates: 15 May 2011

Running time: 100 minutes

Silver Linings Playbook is a romantic comedy-drama film released in 2012. Ridley Park, Pennsylvania is the setting for the story. Cooper portrays Patrizio "Pat" Solitano Jr., a man with bipolar disorder who is released from a psychiatric hospital and returns to his parents' home (De Niro and Weaver). Pat is adamant about reuniting with his estranged wife. He meets Tiffany Maxwell (Lawrence), a young widow who offers to help him get his wife back if he enters a dance competition with her. Pat, his father, and Tiffany examine their relationships with each other as they cope with their personal situations, and the two become closer as they train.

Among its many honors, the film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was the first film since 1981's Reds to be nominated for four acting Oscars and the first since 2004's Million Dollar Baby to be nominated for the Big Five Oscars, with Lawrence winning Best Actress in a Leading Role and becoming the second-youngest Best Actress winner.

Detailed information:

Directed by: David O. Russell

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro

Release dates: September 8, 2012

Running time: 122 minutes

The Social Network is a 2010 biographical drama film directed by David Fincher. It is based on Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires and depicts the creation of the social networking website Facebook as well as the subsequent lawsuits. This cool, incisive drama is far more than a "Facebook" film, as it uses Mark Zuckerberg's dramatic "origin story" of Facebook to tell a much larger story about what happens when the people running the world's largest companies are barely out of college.

It received eight nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Eisenberg, and won three: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Film Editing. At the 68th Golden Globe Awards, it was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score.

Detailed information:

Directed by: David Fincher

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake

Release dates: September 24, 2010

Running time: 120 minutes

Les Misérables, based on Victor Hugo's seminal novel of the same name, is an epic period musical and arguably one of the best films ever made in its genre. It is the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), a convict who breaks free from his oppressive life and strives to live in God's grace. The music, acting, and story are all near-perfect, with a well-crafted narrative that elevates an already excellent experience.

All of the actors in the film are fantastic, but Anne Hathaway gives the best performance. Despite only appearing in a few scenes, Hathaway's performance in Les Misérables earned her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, among many other honors.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Tom Hooper

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway

Release dates: 5 December 2012

Running time: 158 minutes

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the greatest actors of all time, their first collaboration resulted in one of the greatest films ever made. There Will Be Blood is an Oscar-winning drama set at the turn of the twentieth century that follows a ruthless oilman named Daniel Plainview, played by Day-Lewis. The film follows Daniel's insatiable desire for power at the expense of everything, including his young son H.W. and a neighborly preacher played by Paul Dano.

At the 2008 Academy Awards, it competed with No Country for Old Men for Best Picture and Director, but Day-Lewis took home a well-deserved Best Actor award. This is a thematically rich, character-driven drama, so you have to be in the right frame of mind for it.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor

Release dates: September 27, 2007

Running time: 158 minutes

Quentin Tarantino's most financially successful film to date is his 2012 Western epic Django Unchained, which is set in 1858 and tells the story of a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) attempting to save his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from the clutches of a ruthless plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio) – all with the assistance of a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz).

Django Unchained is incredibly unsettling in terms of providing an unflinching look at the lives of slaves in America (and the cruelty inflicted upon them), but it also has that Tarantino touch that makes it wildly entertaining – a combination that may strike some as strange or in poor taste. Whatever side you take, DiCaprio's menacing performance is undeniably among his best, Foxx's arc is particularly impressive, and Waltz's Oscar win for his supporting turn is difficult to argue with.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio

Release dates: December 11, 2012

Running time: 165 minutes

Phantom Thread is a historical drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis as an obsessive high-end dressmaker (in his final film role before retirement). He falls in love with a young waitress who becomes his model and muse as a result of a series of events. It's an odd story with complex characters who take unexpected actions to further their desires.

The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Day-Lewis, Best Supporting Actress for Lesley Manville, and Best Original Score at the 90th Academy Awards, where it won Best Costume Design. It was also nominated for four British Academy Film Awards, winning Best Costume Design, and received two Golden Globe nominations.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Vicky Krieps

Release dates: December 11, 2017

Running time: 130 minutes

Marriage Story, which has been nominated for six Academy Awards, follows the divorce process from separation to finalization, with Adam Driver playing the successful theater director husband and Scarlett Johansson playing the successful actress wife. The fact that the couple has a child complicates matters, but the brilliance of Baumbach's film is that it tells the story from both points of view, so no matter which side you end up on, you have deep empathy for both individuals.

Driver and Johansson give career-best performances as Baumbach creates full-bodied, complex characters—like real people. In terms of the subject matter, Baumbach vividly depicts how the two individuals' voices—and the love they previously shared—get lost in the process of divorcing. Marriage Story is a must-see film that is both heartbreaking and deeply human.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Noah Baumbach

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Laura Dern

Release dates: August 29, 2019

Running time: 137 minutes

Darkest Hour is a war drama film directed by Joe Wright and written by Anthony McCarten that was released in 2017. The film depicts Winston Churchill's early days as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II, as well as the May 1940 War Cabinet Crisis, in which he refused to sign a peace treaty with Nazi Germany as they advanced into Western Europe. The film's title is a play on a phrase used by Winston Churchill to describe the early days of the war.

Oldman won the Academy Award for Best Actor, as well as the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in the film. Among its many honors, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Best Actor and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. It received nine nominations at the 71st British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film and Outstanding British Film.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Joe Wright

Starring: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James

Release dates: 1 September 2017

Running time: 125 minutes