If you asked me, would I do it again - do I think it's worth it? Yeah, I think its worth it.

Four really good ones surrounding one absolute bomb—like the random Cheez Whiz truffle in a box of caramel pralines. Can't win 'em all, right?

The Insider (1999) - "A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: Al Pacino is hit or miss for me but I wanted to give it a try
IMDB: 7.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 96% Audience: 90%

notable quote: "'Who are these people?!'

    "'Ordinary people under extraordinary pressure. What the hell did you expect, grace and consistency?'"

costumes, hair & makeup: how can they take a good-looking guy like Russell Crowe and make him look like ... Philip Seymour Hoffman (on a bad day)? That is a marvel of costuming, hair (oh God, the hair) and makeup
acting: Crowe (Jeffrey Wigand) is brilliant here, and Pacino (Lowell Bergman) at his very best

intangibles: tense. Intense. It was directed by the man who directed one of my very favorites, Manhunter—Michael Mann—and has some similarities. 
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture

• Best Actor—Crowe

• Best Director—Mann

• Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

• Best Cinematography

• Best Film Editing

• Best Sound
overall: highly recommended

Missing (1982) - "When an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I've seen Jack Lemmon's goofy, hapless comedies but little of his dramatic work
IMDB: 7.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 94% Audience: 85%

notable quote: "...guilt is like fear. It's given to us for survival, not destruction."
story: it's a 1982 movie about a Chilean coup d'état. If that works for you, then this is a really good choice. If that doesn't work for you, then move along, please—there's nothing to see here.
visuals: excellent
acting: Jack Lemmon (Ed Horman) is brilliant here. This is the best I've ever seen of his work. 

intangibles: it was directed by Costa-Gravas, who also directed Amen., an enormously powerful WWII film
Academy Award winner: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture

• Best Actor—Lemmon

• Best Actress—Sissy Spacek (Beth Horman)
overall: recommended

The Taming of the Shrew (BBC) (1980) - "The swaggering Petruchio agrees to marry the spitting hellcat, Katherine."
Source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: the BBC historical productions are usually good, I like John Cleese, and it's been a while since Shakespeare has appeared on my TV
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 72% 

story: it's Shakespeare, innit? Unbearably arrogant man meets unbearably bad-tempered woman, chemistry happens, and all's well that ends well.
visuals: quite lovely, considering

intangibles: awful. Just wretched. Terrible casting; hammy, screaming, over-emoting, chunky acting with garbled, unintelligible speech; ridiculously farcical costuming; no chemistry among the actors.... This ranks right down there with the Joss Whedon B&W version of Much Ado as the worst adaptation I've seen, maybe ever.
overall: not at all recommended

Desperate Romantics (2009) - "Desperate Romantics, the BBC's new Victorian romp with the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, combines alpha-fop revelry with brazen historical liberty-taking."
Source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: I was in the mood for something decent from the BBC (and obviously didn't see the description above before I chose it)
IMDB: 7.5/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 65%

notable quote: "I find the modern world the most random and confusing place."
story: I'm at a loss to describe it. Uhm... three artists and their sane-and-sober writer friend set out to turn the world (i.e. London) on its ear, with their art, their outrageous behavior, their licentiousness, and their openness about what they feel. And then they have the balls to be surprised when they're not embraced by the stuffy establishment. 
visuals: sumptuous, elaborate, and appealing
costumes, hair & makeup: stunning
acting: VERY hit or miss. Sam Crane, as the writer Fred Walters, is terrific. A stream of adorable lucidity in a forest of wackadoodle. Samuel Barnett, as John Millais—by far the best artist of the bunch—is a delightful blend of innocence and too-good-to-be-true sensuality. Finally, Rafe Spall, as the spiritual nutcase William Holman Hunt, skillfully brings out the desperate dichotomy in the artist's soul between deeply-held ideals and hedonism.

intangibles: I don't know jack about art at this level, so I was watching only for the interplay between characters, scenery, costuming, and language. For that, I liked it.
overall: recommended

One Night in Miami (2020) - "A fictional account of one incredible night where icons Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown gathered, discussing their roles in the civil rights movement and cultural upheaval of the 60s."
Source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: I really like Aldis Hodge (Jim Brown)
IMDB: 7.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 98% Audience: 82%

notable quote: "I want the goddamned recipe."
story: four young Black men get together to celebrate Cassius Clay's win over Sonny Liston in Miami, and in so doing set off a series of conversations about race, personal purpose, and the meaning of life. 
visuals: it's freakin' Miami, my spiritual home. Gorgeous.
costumes, hair & makeup: perfectly matched to the time period
acting: top notch. The lead actors were all extraordinary. I was particularly drawn to Hodge's thoughtful and practical Brown, and Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X. He played that character with humanity, some humor, some humility, and a great deal of compassion.

intangibles: I cannot say enough about this movie. I loved it.
overall: highly recommended

[the title quotation is from The Insider]