We know, we know, the term "drama" is pretty broad. But what else would you call the movies above? Look at the main topics of these films: betrayal, loneliness, dehumanization, back-stabbing - these ain't comedies. These are films that focus on the deepest pit of human emotions, taking audiences through a wringer and leaving them with nary a dry eye.

Our five favorite dramas are also widely acclaimed because of the amazing acting that you can see in them. The actors in these five films received a total of 13 Academy Award nominations. And none of those are crappy "Marisa Tomei" nominations; here you'll see some darn fine acting. So sit back, rearrange your tiara, and relax on your throne, as you become the ultimate drama queen.

1. ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)

Here's the film that invented the term "catfight." A sprawling melodrama of an aging theater actress and her protégé, All About Eve is a satire way ahead of its time, harshly critiquing Hollywood's obsession with youth, image, the new "it" girl, and the acting industry.

The story centers around Margo Channing (Bette Davis), the first lady of American theater. So famous is Margo, that her biggest fan, Eve (Anne Baxter), watches every one of her shows. One evening, lucky Eve gets to meet her idol, and before she knows it, she's living in Margo's house and serving as her assistant. But is Eve simply an admirer, or is she trying to screw Margo over? Amidst this mess, Margo's younger boyfriend, Bill, is becoming quite fond of Eve, too.

At the heart of the film is one of the most amazing screenplays ever written. Every line is so crafted and filled with such biting wit, that it's impossible to watch and not go "oooh" at every zinger. Bette is at her bitchiest, letting loose with such quotable lines as, "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night." Written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, All About Eve is really a black comedy where everyone has an underlying motive and no one is happy. Moviegoers had never before seen such sophisticated storytelling, and some argue that it brought a new prominence to the importance of a good screenplay.

Notes:

  • Nominated for 14 Academy Awards (including 2 Best Actress nominations and 2 Best Supporting Actress nominations)

  • Won 6 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (George Sanders), Screenplay, Costume Design, and Sound

  • Placed #16 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List

2. RAGING BULL (1980)

This movie is the reason why people respect De Niro. Sure, he's done some great stuff in other roles, but he's almost always playing a mobster; and since we assume by now that De Niro really is something of a wise guy, it doesn't seem like much of an acting stretch. But this role is different. Yes, he slaps his wife around - so it's got that mafioso feel to it - but the man is so vulnerable in this role that you just have to watch in awe. First, he transforms himself from a rock-hard boxing champ into a nauseating dollop of lard over the course of the film. He gained an enormous amount of weight for the part and, since we see him without his shirt at both the zenith and the nadir of his life, it's all too real. Second, his character is so dysfunctionally paralyzed by jealousy that he comes off looking psychotic; when he finally gets over that stage of his life, we are faced with the horror of his depressing autumn years spent delivering horrendous jokes at an irrelevant night club. Phew, it's all pretty depressing.

Raging Bull is the story of the boxer Jake LaMotta. The film follows the arc of his life from his youth to middle age, traversing his engagement and marriage to his wife, Vickie, and his boxing career. Although LaMotta was a famous and successful boxer - and this film depicts in tremendous detail some of his bouts - the far more interesting story of his life concerns his raging insecurity and pathological jealousy toward Vickie. His closest friend is his brother, Joey, played wonderfully by Joe Pesci, but Jake's paranoia is so great that he comes to suspect even his brother of a dalliance with his wife. The boxing scenes that have made this movie so famous are not an end unto themselves so much as a vehicle for the emotional fury of this man. Nevertheless, they are still some of the best boxing sequences you can find on film today.

De Niro pulled down a Best Actor Oscar for this film and well deserved it. The film is complete, however, because the supporting cast is so strong. Pesci was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and this may be one of the last times he ever acted in an understated way; the rest of his career was a descent into cosa nostra absurdity, beginning with Goodfellas and scraping the bottom in the Lethal Weapon series. This film captures De Niro, Scorsese, and Pesci all on the upswing of their careers.

Notes:

  • Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress

  • Won 2 Academy Awards: Best actor and film editing

  • Scorsese used the sounds of wild animals during the fight scenes to make the fights sound more primal

  • De Niro gained 50 pounds for the opening and closing scenes

  • Placed #24 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List

3. SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)

When Schindler's List was released in 1993, movie critics claimed that Steven Spielberg "had finally grown up." But to attribute such a trivial phrase to this film is to overlook the amazing impact the film had on audiences. A shockingly realistic portrayal of the Holocaust, every single image Spielberg presents feels as if it has never been filmed before. Yes, there is the narrative story about Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), the German businessman who unexpectedly (even to him) saved hundreds of Jews from certain death in concentration camps. But the real power of the film comes from each individual scene and the story it tells. The Jewish construction foreperson who designed the barracks. The women who smear blood on their cheeks to make their hallow faces look healthier. The Nazi camp commandant (Ralph Fiennes) who shoots at prisoners from his balcony for target practice.

While people will always poke fun at popular films, Schindler's List occupies a special place in history because it was released right as many of the last remaining concentration camp survivors were still alive to tell their tales. So respected is the film that when it was shown on network television, it was uncensored (despite several scenes with nudity) and there were no commercial breaks, despite its 3 hour running time.

Part of the reason that the film works so well is because it doesn't concentrate on the story of one or two families . . . it shows how the Holocaust affected huge populations. So many little stories are involved that it's often difficult to keep track of what happens to whom. It doesn't matter. Each story could be its own film. The unknown cast (in 1993, at least), the black and white "documentary-feeling" cinematography, and the sheer realism in portraying violence make it impossible to imagine how this film could be anything but real, let alone a Spielberg film.

The other reason that the film works is because, well, Spielberg finally grew up. He finally produced a serious project worthy of his talents, and no one will ever forget it.

Notes:

  • Filmed entirely in black and white, except for the opening sequence, the ending sequence, and a little girl's red dress in the middle

  • Nominated for 12 Academy Awards (including Best Actor for Neeson and Supporting Actor for Fiennes)

  • Won 7 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director (Spielberg's first Oscar), Screenplay, Score, Editing, Art Direction, and Cinematography

  • Placed #9 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List

4. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)

No one ever expected The Shawshank Redemption to get very far. First, there's that title . . . no one could remember it. Second, it's based on a Stephen King story, and while Carrie and Misery did reasonably well at the box office, most King movies are more about gore than people. Third, it's a prison drama about two inmates living their lives in a Maine penitentiary. No romance, no scenery, no hunky leading actors (unless you count Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins), no reason to see the film.

At first, the film did rather poorly. It chugged along, made a couple million dollars, got a bunch of Academy Award nominations, made a few more million, and disappeared. But it was on home video that The Shawshank Redemption found its audience. Through an incredible word-of-mouth campaign, some claim that The Shawshank Redemption was the most-rented video of the 90s.

The film stars Tim Robbins as a banker who is accused of murdering his wife. He claims he's innocent, but his cold demeanor on the witness stand convinces the jury otherwise, and Robbins is shipped to Shawshank. In prison, he meets Red (Morgan Freeman), who becomes Robbins' best friend and confidant. The film follows their fascinating friendship over 20 years, as new inmates are brought in and out of Shawshank's doors. An educated man, Robbins tries to bring some new life into the prison by starting a library and playing opera records. No, the metaphor of "cage a man, and he becomes an animal" is not too subtle, but this film is as close to "boy melodrama" as it can get.

Notes:

  • Nominated for 7 Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Actor, for Freeman)

  • In 1999, director Frank Darabont went on to direct another film set in jail based on a Stephen King story that was also nominated for Best Picture: The Green Mile

5. TAXI DRIVER (1976)

Unfortunately, Bobby De Niro is beset with a mild case of what we may now call "Joe Pesci Syndrome." It's a horrible affliction in which the subject plays a mobster in one or two movies to great success, and then feels compelled to play the same cliched gangster in all subsequent roles (regardless of whether the character is actually a gangster or not). What that means is that many current cinema-goers have no idea that Robert De Niro is capable of great dramatic range. To remedy that problem, we recommend a healthy dose of Taxi Driver.

Don't get us wrong, Bobby's still one mean hombre in this flick. He portrays (no points for guessing) a taxi driver, trying to overcome his loneliness. He becomes infatuated with a woman who is working on a political campaign. This little love interest does very bad things to his brain, and we watch the horrific metamorphosis of De Niro's Travis Bickle into a self-styled Secret Service man and, ultimately, Swiss cheese. Bickle is one of the most whacked-out characters you'll ever see: he takes his date to a porn flick, he tries to become friends with a child prostitute (a 12-year-old Jodie Foster), he has a Mohawk, . . . you know, a loser. In fact, this film is a lyrical homage to loneliness as a human sickness. It's dark, grim, and ugly - and we love it.

Perhaps the real, if somewhat superficial, legacy of this film is the immortal question, "You talkin' to me?" Bickle aggressively interrogates himself in the mirror - in what is reputed to be an improvised scene - to psych himself up for a bloodbath unparalleled in the very wet Scorsese film oeuvre. We think you'll find this film dark, depressing, and brilliant.

Notes:

  • Nominated for 4 Academy Awards (including Best Picture, Actor, and Supporting Actress for Foster)

  • Neil Diamond was first considered for the lead

  • Placed #47 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List