3. Eyes Wide Shut
Stanley Kubrick's final movie came with an unrivalled amount of expectation. The legendary director died a mere few months before the film's release, it starred the biggest couple in Hollywood (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) and few details were known about the picture. Whilst the film was a box office success not everybody was buying the dreamy psychosexual drama. Eyes Wide Shut is a long, quiet and clinical movie and after his eye-catching turns in Magnolia and Jerry Maguire, Cruise playing cold and reserved didn't go over well with everyone, though it is one of his finest performances. Since its initial release, Eyes Wide Shut has been substantially re-evaluated and the derision the film received upon release has subsided somewhat in favour of critical acclaim. Martin Scorsese named it one of the 10 best movies of the 90's, but it has still struggled to connect with a large portion of the public. There is much to appreciate and admire with Kubrick's final film and it is an exquisite character study, thematically based on sexuality, obsession and jealousy.