Nadine (1987)
Slight, 1950s-set comedy with occasional thriller shadings is carried by fine leads and easy atmosphere, as Kim Basinger's hopeful Austin hairdresser and amiable errant husband Jeff Bridges are on the run from police and Rip Torn's criminal real estate developer. Never quite builds needed momentum.
The Naked City (1948)
With cynical narration, gritty locations and punchy police procedural into a brutal killing, alternately gripping and uneven. Unsentimental Barry Fitzgerald is the hard-bitten detective chipping away at clues. Artful docu style makes New York into vital character.
The Naked Street (1950)
Anthony Quinn provides a commanding presence as a gangster with family commitments who gets pregnant sister Anne Bancroft's boyfriend Farley Granger off death row. Minor effort with confined locations, a strong cast delivers on emotions and dangerous twists.
Namueopneun San (Treeless Mountain) (2008)
Created with poetic realism that mirrors simplicity of young protagonists' emotional survival, sisters of 6 and 4 face loneliness after broken mother leaves. Bounced from unprepared aunt to rural grandparents, their bond is acutely moving.
Narrow Margin (1990)
Principled DA Gene Hackman must deliver reluctant witness Anne Archer from the Canadian wilderness and back to Los Angeles to testify. Suspenseful sequences, solid performances and the classic train setting makes for a diverting, energetic, glossy thriller.
Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light) (1963)
Love, loss and loneliness, physically and spiritually, as a small-town pastor with a dwindling congregation questions his faith. Sombre and intimate, filmed with austere beauty, Gunnar Björnstrand is the conflicted center, the affecting Ingrid Thulin its piercing soul.
Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One) (2006)
Stylish, propulsive thriller elevates pulp narrative with sharp rhythms, fluid action and fun surprises. Eight years after being accused of wife's unsolved murder, haunted François Cluzet receives message saying she's alive, a setup for chase thrills and rewarding mystery.
Never Here (2017)
Rigorously designed visuals and obliquely impenetrable narrative conjures strangely enticing atmosphere that teases and provokes. Artist Mireille Enos questions identity and finds herself in the swirling confusion of chilly surveillance and assault with increasing paranoia.
Never Let Go (1960)
Vibrant crime melodrama, sharply told with a suitably sadistic, overblown Peter Sellers pushed over the edge by desperate salesman Richard Todd. Cracking John Barry score sets the tone, with swing and swagger, as a brutal urban morality tale spins lives out of control.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
Wistful teen Sidney Flanigan is accompanied by tenacious cousin Talia Ryder to New York to find an abortion. Alternately quiet and deliberate, scorching and impassioned, a story of silences and looks, captivatingly framed and movingly told.
News Of The World (2020)
A straightforward narrative is given dramatic heft by the relationship between broken Tom Hanks and hurting Helena Zengel. Their episodic journey, physical and emotional, is elevated by the craftsmanship of visuals and sound to deliver a satisfying, rounded western.
Newsies (1992/2017)
Despite its critical and commercial failure, an amiable musical with solid songs and big production numbers. Reimagined as a stage musical, the film of the show is superior, an exciting, affecting, fast-moving tale of anti-establishment and family.
Ni Hao, Zhihua (Last Letter) (2018)
After conflicted Zhou Xun is mistaken for her recently died sister, feelings from the past reawaken and inform characters across the generations through a series of letters. Carefully, movingly structured, designed and performed, a delicate and humane tale.
Night And The City (1950)
Meaty London noir, realized with some bracing, atmospheric visuals as Richard Widmark's desperate dreamer dooms all the characters that he contaminates. The sense of despair and cruelty hangs heavy, with redemption only found through violence and loss.
A Night To Remember (1942)
Positive newlywed Loretta Young finds Greenwich apartment to inspire blocked and caustic mystery writer husband Brian Aherne. Dead body in yard and suspicious neighbors provoke spirited attempts at humor and thrills, yet interplay remains dry and throwaway.
A Night To Remember (1958)
Told with clean visuals and clinical sense of restraint, officer Kenneth More leads ensemble cast of passengers and crew on ill-fated maiden voyage of Titanic. Finely detailed, sober accumulation of events establishes tightening grip and affecting final tribute.
Night Train To Munich (1940)
Stylish and involving comedy thriller with genuine humour and tension. Margaret Lockwood and Rex Harrison create real sparks, the storytelling is sharp, and visuals are often evocative. Highly entertaining.
Nightfall (1956)
Gritty performances, meandering narrative, suspense menacingly built, with tense Aldo Ray on the run to prove his innocence and escape vicious Brian Keith. Enjoyable twists, cynical motives and a persuasive Anne Bancroft combine with evocative sense of location.
Nightmare Alley (1947)
Individual sequences retain a dark, cruel power even if the narrative flow feels fragmented. Tyrone Power is the carnival barker who achieves fame as a charlatan spiritualist before spiraling into physical and mental depths. Sadistically cynical, shadows of the soul.
The Ninth Configuration (1990)
Equally effective and uneasy blend of comic madness and brutality, told with Gothic intensity and off-kilter imagery. Stacy Keach is the new psychologist at an army institution debating the existence of God and evil, as identity and memory blur. Funny and strange.
No Highway In The Sky (1951)
Solidly cast, quietly suspenseful drama centres on sympathetic, eccentric mathematician James Stewart, convinced metal fatigue in plane tail will cause catastrophe. Careful, controlled characterization enhances support from Marlene Dietrich and Glynis Johns.
No Escape (1994)
Though the opening establishes a future world, prisoner Ray Liotta soon finds himself isolated on a primitive, tropical island where opposing convict tribes fight for dominance. Shot and edited with skill, the action is violent and slick, even if emotion is more forced.
No Hard Feelings (2023)
Setup as raunchy sex comedy resolves into sentimental coming of age(s) story as financially desperate Jennifer Lawrence is hired by parents to sleep with inexperienced son Andrew Barth Feldman. Thematically murky though polished style and committed lead ensures quota of solid laughs.
No Love For Johnnie (1961)
Though Cinemascope visuals tend to be a distraction and tangential love interests become wearying, sombre political cynicism and manipulation remains effective. Peter Finch leads an impressive cast, coolly peeling away backroom deceptions in a resigned atmosphere.
No Mercy (1986)
Sustaining swift tempo, thriller sends fiery cop Richard Gere to New Orleans to revenge murdered partner and escapes cruel crime boss Jeroen Krabbé handcuffed to spirited Kim Basinger. Evocative locations and effectively intense cast despite plot borrowings and predictably extended final shoot out.
No Room For The Groom (1952)
Perfunctory comedy sees constant Tony Curtis return from military service to find enthusiastic new wife Piper Laurie's extended family has taken over his home. Themes of changing post-war society and lost community values cling to the past; humor remains intermittent.
No Stranger Than Love (2015)
Desired by everyone in a small town, teacher Alison Brie is about to release inhibitions with married Colin Hanks when he falls through hole in floor. Assorted quirky characters flounder within undeveloped concept, murky symbolism unable to connect with fitful humor.
No Time To Die (2021)
Technically immaculate, strong visuals and glossy design accentuate suitably outsized action set pieces and self-aware wit, even as taciturn Daniel Craig's Bond suffers overly detailed and long-winded plot. Spirited Ana De Armas cameo, unexpectedly emotional Léa Seydoux resolution.
No Way Out (1950)
Snarling racist Richard Widmark whips community into race riots when he blames fresh doctor Sidney Poitier for brother's death. Inflamed emotion sees story cut in broad strokes and aligns characters to narrative beats. Effective melodrama reflects ugly social commentary.
No Way Out (1987)
Finely tooled, highly diverting thriller sees Secretary Of Defense Gene Hackman cover up mistress Sean Young's death with arrogant Navy Lieutenant Kevin Costner investigating and incriminating himself. Contrivances and final twist can't diminish mounting tension and sharp pacing.
Nobody Walks (2012)
Olivia Thirlby is the flirtatious, pseudo documentary film maker, looking for sound effects to complete her insect art film and provoking lustful reactions in a repressed Los Angeles family. Ill-defined characters tend to drift, despite the attractive cast and production.
Nope (2022)
Slickly designed visuals and intriguingly constructed atmosphere of wonder and dread, with easygoing Keke Palmer and sincere Daniel Kaluuya setting out to prove UFO over California farm. Yet disparate story strands fail to coalesce, remaining thematically and dramatically unfulfilled.
Nordwand (North Face) (2008)
Mountain sequences are staged with icy danger against cruel. spectacular landscapes and 1938 setting adds convincing detail, as sympathetic German climbers seek to conquer Eiger. Thematic and character concerns less secure, though tension ratchets to uncompromising conclusion.
Norma Rae (1979)
Detailed with embracing human emotion and emerging political awareness, true life tale of unionization at textile plant is recounted with grit persuasiveness and ignited by captivating Sally Field, developing from reluctance to emancipation. Able support from convinced organizer Ron Leibman and reluctant husband Beau Bridges. Told with a vital relevance.
North By Northwest (1959)
Constructed and realized with witty precision, chase thriller plot of mistaken identity is a twisting dance of tense set pieces and gleaming romance. Emboldened Cary Grant perfectly captures Hitchcock's unintentional hero, energized by Bernard Herrmann's potent score.
Not Without My Daughter (1990)
Trading in stereotypes and leaving nothing to nuance, undeniably effective drama turned thriller sees trusting Sally Field visit Iran with deceitful Alfred Molina to find she's trapped with daughter. Escape to American freedom is shot as bluntly as emotions and politics.
Nothing But The Truth (2008)
After reporter Kate Beckinsale scoops national security revelations and blows cover of CIA Operative Vera Farmiga, both lives spin out of control. Intelligent, lucid debate on legal and personal principles, as well as gripping drama illuminated by powerful leads and involving support.
Notorious (1946)
Hitchcock's mastery of technique and composition propels a sensual narrative of lovers and spies, of seduction and abuse, of secrets and lies. The sharp script takes Ingrid Bergman into the heart of Claude Rains' gang of Rio-based Nazis, a twisting narrative that never lets up until the last, defining image.
The Notorious Landlady (1962)
Coasting on charms of Kim Novak's suspicious title character and confident American diplomat Jack Lemmon, patchy comedy and light murder mystery never quite delivers. Fred Astaire and Lionel Jeffries provide amiable support. A few scenes pique interest.
Notre-Dame brûle (Notre-Dame On Fire) (2022)
Meticulous blend of recreation and documentary, an absorbing and finally moving look at efforts to rescue the cathedral from total destruction. Though the personal stories of firefighters tend to the banal, technical skill conjures potent imagery.
La Notte di San Lorenzo (The Night Of The Shooting Stars) (1982)
Gradually enveloping tale of survival, of imagination and hope against the blunt reality of violence and brutality, as villagers are caught between opposing forces during last fumes of WW2. Sometimes forced staging, finally poignant.
Numb (2015)
Though the narrative machinations required to strand the protagonists in a frozen wilderness strain credulity, and the characters remain frustrating cyphers, the icy and deadly conditions are convincingly realized. The lust for stolen treasure doesn't add the potential dramatic depth.
The Nun (2018)
Heavy on Gothic Romanian atmosphere, light on cohesive narrative, Vatican sends grizzled Demián Bichir and open Taissa Farmiga to investigate demonic force in remote monastery. Effective jump scares and fun set pieces only serve to highlight lack of tension created.