MARTIN SCORSESE has made 25 narrative feature films, and only eight of them have been about people who live a criminal lifestyle. Yet when we think about his work, we think about the gangsters, the wise guys in slick suits who break the law, look good doing it, and always end up dead, miserable or both.

That’s probably because Scorsese, who grew up in New York City and knows the culture intimately, brings a specificity to his crime movies that matches his well-known virtuosity behind a camera. He may have made more films about other subjects than he has about criminals, but he helped define the way we look at criminality on screen. And he keeps coming back to the subject, again and again, to refine his techniques and to approach similar topics from all-new angles.

Here are 5 of my personal favorites of Scorsese's gangster movies.

This is the plight of the last fifty men of the Spanish Empire as they defend the last of its colonies to the death: the Philippines. These Spaniards, drifters rather than soldiers, barricade themselves inside the church in the small village of Baler against the incessant offensive by the country’s native Tagalogs.

Over 300 days go by, and day in and day out, they suffer all kinds of illness and miseries. Between the arrows they receive and their own return fire, these Spaniards, far from home, take on the adventure of their lives.

They battle onslaught after onslaught from the natives; they sneak out at night to steal food and they smoke opium to drown their sorrows. And above all, they entrust themselves to a God and Country who, to their disbelief, abandoned them long ago...

The Die Hard film series is a critically and commercially successful and popular action film series released by Hollywood. The series is composed of the five Die Hard films: Die Hard, Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard, and A Good Day to Die Hard. which all follow reluctant hero John McClane as he finds himself in the "wrong place at the wrong time" and must fight terrorists and save his loved ones.

Combined, all five films have so far grossed over $1.2 billion dollars from the original released in 1988 to the fifth film's release in 2013. The series has also spawned six video games and a comic series Die Hard: Year One.

Due to it's popularity and cult-like status, the Die Hard series has also become a magnet of pop culture parodies, references, and homages.

Hachiko was a dog of the Akita Inu breed, born in 1923 on a farm in the Akita Prefecture of Japan. The following year, he was adopted by Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor of agriculture at the University of Tokyo. Thus started the bond between dog and owner.

The two followed a daily routine: Ueno and Hachiko would walk together to the Shibuya train station, where Ueno would pet Hachiko goodbye before boarding the train to work. Hachiko, nicknamed "Hachi", would then spend the day waiting for Ueno to come back.

This routine continued for over a year when on, May 21, 1925, tragedy struck. Ueno did not come home from work, as he suffered from a brain hemorrhage and died. Hachi had no idea about this, so he continued to wait for his owner’s return.

Political assassinations have been part of social reality since the emergence of communities, as the leaders of tribes, villages and countries, constantly needed to defend or grab power and privileged status. In the ancient world assassination featured prominently in the rise and fall of some of the greatest empires.

In modern times, political assassinations continue to play an important role in political and social processes and, in some cases, have a dramatic effect on the success or failure of political movements.

Here’s a collection of 5 movies on political assassinations. Although fictional, 2 are based on real life characters who were assassinated: Charles de Gaulle and John F. Kennedy. De Gaulle survived. JFK did not.

For the first time, the iconic global entertainment brands Illumination and Nintendo join forces to create The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a new, big-screen adventure starring one of pop culture’s most prominent plumbers of the past four decades.

Based on the world of Nintendo’s Mario games, the film invites audiences into a vibrant, thrilling new universe unlike any created before in an action-packed, exuberant cinematic comedy event.

While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt; Jurassic World and The LEGO Movie franchises) and brother Luigi (Charlie Day; It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world.

During the War in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Sergeant John Kinley recruits Ahmed to interpret with local Afghans during their mission in Afghanistan. Ahmed agrees in pursuit of revenge against the Taliban for the death of his son.

When the soldiers' platoon confronts the Taliban in the desert, they are caught off guard and Kinley is knocked down. Before he can be captured, Ahmed rescues Kinley by dragging him through the desert mountains to avoid the Taliban.

Kinley then returns to the United States, but soon learns Ahmed is pursued by the Taliban and is holed up somewhere in Afghanistan. When U.S. authorities refuse to respond, Kinley himself travels back to Afghanistan to rescue the friend who risked his life for a total stranger.