A Perfect Murder / Murder by Numbers / Murder in the First

Murder In The First (1995)

Explosive true story stars Kevin Bacon as Henri Young, a teenager incarcerated in Alcatraz in the 1930s for stealing $5 from a gas station. Following regular beatings by an official, Young kills a fellow inmate after an escape attempt and joins forces with young public defender James Stamphill (Christian Slater) to put the entire prison system on trial. Gary Oldman, Embeth Davidtz, William H. Macy, Brad Dourif also star. 122 min. C/Rtg: R

A Perfect Murder (1998)

Sleek reworking of Hitchcock's "Dial 'M' for Murder" stars Michael Douglas as Steven Taylor, a wealthy commodities trader married to beautiful but unfaithful U.N. translator Emily (Gwyneth Paltrow). With Emily set to land a $100 million inheritance, Steven hatches a plot to have her killed and blackmails her lover, ex-con David Shaw (Viggo Mortensen), into committing the crime. With David Suchet, Sarita Choudhury. Directed by Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive"). 108 min. C/Rtg: R

Murder By Numbers (2002)

In this gritty thriller from Barbet Schroeder ("Single White Female"), Sandra Bullock is Cassie Mayweather, a tough-as-nails homicide detective who teams with new partner, Sam Kennedy (Ben Chaplin), to find the person responsible for murdering a woman found near a riverbank. Clues point to one suspect, but Mayweather's hunch points to other potential culprits: two ingenious high school students from well-to-do families. Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt also star. 120 min. C/Rtg: R

Widescreen; Soundtrack: English.