No Country for Old Men/A Beautiful Mind/American Beauty

Collection of three modern Best Picture Oscar winners. 'No Country for Old Men' (2007) is the Coen brothers' stripped down and gritty chase thriller which has a Vietnam vet desperately trying to give the slip to a relentless killer.

While out hunting in the barren wilds of Texas, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) discovers the aftermath of a drugs deal gone wrong, with dead bodies, heroin and a case filled with two million dollars in cash.

Deciding to keep the money, Moss says goodbye to his wife (Kelly MacDonald) and takes off to plan his next move.

It's not long before he discovers he's being followed by psychopathic ex-special forces hitman, Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who decides his victim's fate, guilty or not, on the toss of a coin.

As Chigurh raises the body count, gaining ever nearer to Moss, he in turn is hunted by local Sheriff Ed Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a seen-it-all-before cop, who could do without the excitement.

In 'A Beautiful Mind' (2001), Russell Crowe takes the role of the groundbreaking mathematician and paranoid schizophrenic, John Nash.

Arriving at Princeton in 1947, Nash resolves to make an important new contribution to his field and begins developing his insights into game theory.

After this work proves a great success, Nash moves to MIT, where he dates and then marries his student Alicia (Jennifer Connelly).

It's not long, however, before the mathematician begins to receive visits from a shady secret service agent (Ed Harris) who wants him to do some important work for the government.

Finally, in 'American Beauty' (1999), Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a man in mid-life crisis; his estate agent wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) despises him, while teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is disgusted by the obsession he develops with her attractive friend Angela (Mena Suvari).

In an attempt to recapture the lost days of his youth, Lester takes a job flipping burgers, and begins working out in his garage to the strains of 'Dark Side of the Moon'.

He also rediscovers the joys of recreational drugs, supplied by new neighbour Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley) who has also started dating Jane.