10 Awesome Movies With 99% On Rotten Tomatoes

9. L.A. Confidential

Were it not for Titanic's epic sweep across the 1998 Academy Awards, L.A. Confidential surely would've won both Best Picture and Best Director Oscars, rather than ultimately scooping "only" wins for Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

This searing adaptation of James Ellroy's neo-noir novel is a masterclass of writing, direction and performance: as a tightly-wound, sprawling dramatic thriller, there a few films from the last 30 years to have better captured the genre's essence.

At once a loving homage to classic film noir and a savage, self-aware subversion of it, L.A. Confidential is a near-faultless thriller overflowing with atmosphere and elevated significantly by the efforts of a mighty ensemble cast, namely Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Danny DeVito, and Kim Basinger.

It has just a single Rotten review on Rotten Tomatoes, and again, it was Salon delivering the hit, criticising the film for "[refusing] to kick into gear until it's far too late."