The 15 Best Crime Movies Of 2020

You (Probably) Didn’t See In Theaters

During the average year I would have gone to the theater 30-40 times to watch the latest releases—most of them thrillers, unless my wife joins me. This number is down considerably from my teens and twenties, when I typically saw twice that number, and my record was five films in one day. This past year was (I hope) an anomaly, wherein I think I went no more than four or five times before I imposed a Covid lockdown on myself in late February. With all of us pretty much in the same boat, CrimeReads’ Olivia Rutigliano developed this list of the 15 best crime films of 2020 (not ranked), with several restrictions and disclaimers. All films considered had to be full-length feature films, released in theaters or on streaming services in the United States during the 2020 calendar year. This list includes international films as well as domestic ones. Also, “crime” is defined rather broadly, to include all illegal activity from theft, to murder, to cons, to gangster shenanigans, to on-the-lam stories. All films on the list are available to stream, and it includes details on how to watch them from your own (self-distanced) couch. [Pictured: Elizabeth Moss in The Invisible Man.]

The Best Crime Documentaries

Currently Streaming On Netflix

We tend to think of crime stories—both books and films—in terms of gore and death, but true-crime is so much more than stories of serial killers and grisly murders. Within this realm, in fact, exists a cadre of dedicated documentarians who not only explore the darkest recesses of human experience, but also the curious corners of sensational crimes and those who perpetrate them. These characters sometimes border on the truly bizarre, and shock us with the pure pathology of their crimes, bewilder us with dazzling displays of stupidity, and often leave us shaking our heads at what we have just seen—or heard. Against this backdrop, Mashable’s Kristy Puchko has compiled a list of the best crime documentaries currently streaming on Netflix. [Pictured: Jack Black, in The Man Who Would be Polka King.]

The History Of Clue: From WWII

Origin To Smart Phone App

Last fall I briefly mentioned the board game Clue—Cluedo, as it is known in Europe—which was one of my favorites when I was younger. [For some reason it never led to the same kind of family arguments the way a game of Risk did every Christmas Eve.] Who doesn’t remember accusing Colonel Mustard of killing Mr. Boddy (Mr. Black in the U.K.) with a candlestick in the Conservatory, or Mrs. Peacock with a lead pipe in the dining room? In fact, numerous games, books, a film, television series, and even a musical have been released as part of the franchise, which got its start during World War II. Devised by Anthony E. Pratt from Birmingham, England in 1943, the game was first manufactured in 1949 by U.K. firm Waddingtons, which named it Cluedo—a play on "clue" and “ludo,” Latin for "I play." Since then, the game has undergone numerous changes by current owner Hasbro, including some of the characters and weapons. For instance, Reverend Green is known as Mr. Green in the U.S., while Mrs. White was replaced by Dr. Orchid in 2016. The weapons also came in several variations: the dagger is known as the knife in some North American editions, while the token depicting the revolver was first depicted in the U.K. as a Dreyse M1907 semi-automatic, and in North America as a Colt M1911. By the way, if the old-fashioned board game is a bit clunky for your taste, Clue is now available as an app for both for iOS and Android devices. 

Was Crime Master Elmore Leonard

The First To Write Of “Florida Man”?

Readers of BunzelGram may have noticed that any time I have an opportunity to write about the late great crime novelist Elmore Leonard, I will. This week’s prompt came from a Crime Reads article by Craig Pittman titled “Elmore Leonard, Florida Man,” a moniker that contradicts that given to him by Michigan newspapers when he passed away in 2013: “The Dickens of Detroit.” He could just have easily been called “The Wizard of the West,” since he cut his teeth writing such works as The Bounty Hunters, Valdez is Coming, Hombre, and 3:10 to Yuma. Some of his best novels, however, came when he wrote about the Sunshine State, drawing on the cloying humidity, sketchy conmen, opportunistic women, and other folks of dubious character who populated at least a half dozen of his books. Leonard first visited Florida in the 1950s, and in ’69 bought his mother a small motel in Pompano Beach, right around the time he realized the western market was drying up. After writing a few gritty novels that highlighted the grimy streets of Detroit, he crafted his first crime novel set in Florida. Titled Gold Coast, it featured an attractive Mob widow hampered by her husband’s punitive will that forbids her to so much as date another man or she would lose her millions….

POTENTIAL HERESY

Does North By Northwest

Stand Up To The Test Of Time?

This past fall I extolled the virtues of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie classic North By Northwest, stating it was one of the best films ever directed by the “master of suspense.” At the time I was operating purely on memory, and over the holidays I jumped at the opportunity to watch it again and see if it would pass the test of time. Surprisingly, I found myself disappointed at the contrived storyline and underwhelming acting, particularly Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. Plus—and I know it’s heresy to say this—much of Hitchcock’s directing is disappointing and cliched, even for 1959, when it was released. It’s as if he sat down with screenwriter Ernest Lehman with a checklist of things to include in the script: murder at the United Nations, mistaken identity, sex on a train (the mile-long club?), assault by crop duster, double agents, and scaling the face (literally) of Mt. Rushmore. Oh, and let’s not forget the kid in the restaurant (an extra) who puts his fingers in his ears just before a gun is fired. Yes, there’s lots of great suspense and good plotting, but I was hoping for so much more from the guru of the genre. Oh, did I happen to mention the last shot of the film as the train heads into a tunnel just as our two heroes get read to…well, you get the picture.

Shock Moments May Work In Films,

But They Wear Thin With Readers

“Slasher films and their ilk rely primarily on shock, and shock is a Jaycee-sponsored Halloween Haunted House sort of thing [that] relies on visual and auditory surprise—some guy in a rubber mask and fright wig jumping out from a darkened doorway hollering “Ooga-booga!” Those are the words of author Tim Waggoner, a master of the horror genre and who, in the winter issue of "Suspense Magazine," writes that “scream moments” not only are nearly impossible to create on the page (since they need to be experienced live and in person), but no self-respecting novelist would resort to such low-ball effects. “It’s an extremely limited technique,” he says. “The audience might gasp and jump the first time or two you spring your Jack-the-Ripper-in-a-box on them, but no matter how well-crafted your shock machine is, readers will soon become so desensitized to its tricks that they won’t even be able to work up the energy to yawn. Shock is a quick, easy scare. Empty, and to the audience, ultimately unsatisfying.”

No Children, No Pets:

A YA Mystery From the ‘50s

In the spirit of the “Elmore Leonard, Florida Man” story above, I tried to remember the first crime novel I ever read that was located in the Sunshine State. Having read all of Leonard’s works I figured it had to have been one of his, until I remembered a young adult book I’d borrowed from my sister when I was about ten. No Children, No Pets is a semi-classic story penned by children’s author Marion Holland about a recently widowed woman who moves to Palm Glade with her three children and a cat to operate an old, run-down boarding house she has just inherited. Mysteries suddenly pop up among the “old” tenants: the former manager has disappeared, a ruby and diamond clip has gone missing, and no one seems to know anything about a young boy named Mike who keeps showing up to help out around the place. There’s enough in it to keep both boys and girls interested, and If you have kids or grandkids you might consider buying a copy. I was pleased to see it’s still in print after all these years.

PUBLICATION DATE: FEBRUARY 9

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“Raw, irreverent, and witty, Reed Bunzel’s story of a tattooed war vet turned temporary private eye snaps, crackles, and pops with authenticity. War-tested, street smart, and sassy, Jack Connor is someone you want with you in a foxhole or the bloody back roads of South Carolina.”

—Former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, bestselling author of Blink Of An Eye and Dragon Fire