17. American History X (1998)
A tale of two brothers' descent into neo-Nazism, this raw as hell film was directed by Tony Kaye in 1998. Ed Norton received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Derek, the older brother, who ends up second in command of a Neo-Nazi gang due to his anger over the death of his father. His father was killed by a black drug dealer when he was trying to put out a fire in South Los Angeles, he was also a mighty bigot himself. Derek and his gang indulge in acts of mindless racism but the big controversial scene comes one night when Danny, his younger brother, informs him that three members of the Crips are trying to steal the truck his late father left him. Utterly outraged, Derek goes outside and shoots and kills one gang member, shoots and wounds another. The controversy really gets going whenever he gets the third guy to bite the pavement curb and stomps on his head. Millions of winces went up in cinemas around the world.