2020 Shelter in Place Alphabet Movie Draft - BONUS ROUNDS

foxfire · Jun 22, 2020

L= Labyrinth (1986)

You don't need two ears

Click to expand...

I like this movie because of all the interesting beings and places like the bog of eternal stench or the helping hands.

Link #1
Link #2
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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091369/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_4

LoungeLizard · Jun 22, 2020

“I’m your huckleberry”

T - Tombstone (1993)

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0108358/

After seeing some Westerns come off the board, it was time to select one of my favorites. Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the Wild West.

Doc Holliday: What did you ever want?

Wyatt Earp: Just to live a normal life.

Doc Holliday: There's no normal life, Wyatt, it's just life. Get on with it.

Wyatt Earp: Don't know how.

Doc Holliday: Sure you do. Say goodbye to me. Go grab that spirited actress and make her your own. Take that beauty from it, don't look back. Live every second. Live right on to the end. Live Wyatt. Live for me. Wyatt, if you were ever my friend - if ya ever had even the slightest of feelin' for me, leave now. Leave now... Please.

bajaden · Jun 23, 2020

VF21 said:

View attachment 9961

L - The Longest Day - 1962

The story of D-Day (June 6 1944)

From Wikipedia:

Shot in a docudrama style (with subtitles identifying the different participants), the film opens in the days leading up to D-Day, concentrating on events on both sides of the English channel. The Allies wait for a break in the poor weather while anticipating the reaction of the Axis forces defending northern France. As Supreme Commander of SHAEF, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower makes the decision to go after reviewing the initial bad weather reports and the reports about the divisions within the German High Command as to where an invasion might happen and what should be their response.

Multiple scenes document the early hours of June 6: Allied airborne troops being sent in to take key locations inland, away from the beaches, and the French resistance reaction to the news that the invasion has started. Also chronicled are important events surrounding D-Day: British troops' glider missions to secure Pegasus Bridge, the counterattacks launched by American paratroopers scattered around Sainte-Mère-Église, the infiltration and sabotage work conducted by the French resistance and SOE agents, and the response by the Wehrmacht to the invasion. Also shown is the uncertainty of German commanders regarding whether this is a feint in preparation for Allied crossings at the Strait of Dover (see Operation Fortitude), where the senior German staff had always assumed that the invasion would begin.

Set-piece scenes include the parachute drop into Sainte-Mère-Église, the advance inshore from the Normandy beaches, the U.S. Ranger Assault Group's assault on the Pointe du Hoc, the attack on Ouistreham by Free French Forces, and the strafing of the beaches by two lone Luftwaffe pilots. The film concludes with a montage showing various Allied units consolidating their beachheads before they advance inland by crossing France to eventually reach Germany.

[to his generals, observing the English Channel]
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel: Just look at it, gentlemen. How calm... how peaceful it is. A strip of water between England and the continent... between the Allies and us. But beyond that peaceful horizon... a monster waits. A coiled spring of men, ships, and planes... straining to be released against us. But, gentlemen, not a single Allied soldier shall reach the shore. Whenever and wherever this invasion may come, gentlemen... I shall destroy the enemy there, at the water's edge. Believe me, gentlemen, the first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive. For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day... The longest day.

This film should be shown in every history class.

Having read the book, the movie was a bit of a disappointment to me, but one could say that about almost every movie where a book has been made into a movie. That said, the movie is fairly accurate historically, including the little stories that are usually lost in the much larger story. I don't remember the accurate quote, but I love the German officer at the beach on the phone telling his commander, and I paraphrase, "You know all those ships you said the allies didn't have, well their blowing the hell out of us."

Jespher · Jun 23, 2020

L = Leon: The Professional (1994) - R

Link #1
Link #2
Link #3

Quotes:

Stansfield: I like these calm little moments before the storm. It reminds me of Beethoven. Can you hear it? It's like when you put your head to the grass and you can hear the growin' and you can hear the insects. Do you like Beethoven?
Malky: I couldn't really say.
Stansfield: You don't like Beethoven. You don't know what you're missing. Overtures like that get my... juices flowing. So powerful. But after his openings, to be honest, he does tend to get a little ****ing boring. That's why I stopped! [laughs and sighs] Toss the apartment.

Mathilda: [on telephone] Hello?
Caller: This is Margueritte McAllister, headmistress of the Spencer School for Girls in Wildwood, New Jersey. Is Mr. or Mrs. Lando home?
Mathilda: [faking deeper voice] Yes, this is she.
Caller: Mrs. Lando, when your husband enrolled Mathilda at Spencer, he told us she had "problems". Well, as you know, we pride ourselves on turning troubled girls into healthy, productive young women. But if they are not here, there is very little we can do. Now, Mathilda left school without permission nearly two weeks ago. I know your husband paid tuition in advance for a year, but if you will refer to page twenty of the rules and regulations manual we sent you, you will see you will see that unless there is a valid excuse for prolonged absence, your tuition will be forfeit.
Mathilda: She's dead. [She hangs up.]

Mathilda: Leon, what exactly do you do for a living?
Léon: Cleaner.
Mathilda: You mean you're a hit man?
Léon [reluctantly]: Yeah.
Mathilda: Cool....
Mathilda: Do you "clean" anyone?
Léon: No women, no kids. That's the rules.
Mathilda: How much would it cost to hire someone to get those dirtbags who killed my brother?
Léon: Five grand a head.
Mathilda: Wow. How about this: I work for you, and in exchange, you teach me how to clean. Hmmm? What do you think? I'll clean your place, I'll do the shopping, I'll even wash your clothes. Is it a deal?
Léon: No, it's not a deal.
Mathilda: What do you want me to do? I've got no place to go.
Léon: You've had a rough day today. Go to sleep now. We'll see in the morning.

Mathilda: Leon, I think I'm kinda falling in love with you.[Leon chokes on his milk]
Mathilda: It's the first time for me, you know?
Léon: [wiping himself off] How do you know it's love if you've never been in love before?
Mathilda: 'Cause I feel it.
Léon: Where?
Mathilda: [stroking her stomach] In my stomach. It's all warm. I always had a knot there and now... it's gone.
Léon: Mathilda, I'm glad you don't have a stomach ache any more. I don't think it means anything.

Mathilda: Is life always this hard, or is it just when you're a kid?
Léon: Always like this.

Léon: You need some time to grow up a little.
Mathilda: I finished growing up, Léon. I just get older.
Léon: For me it's the opposite. I'm old enough. I need time to grow up.

[Mathilda and Léon complete a hit together on a man who possesses cocaine. Mathilda proceeds to the counter with the cocaine on it and picks up a flammable liquid.]
Léon: What are you doing?
Mathilda: You said no women or kids. Who do you think this is going to kill, donkeys and monkeys?[Mathilda pours the liquid over the cocaine, lights a match, and sets it on fire.]
Mathilda: [in tears] Now... it's clean.
Léon: Let's get out of here. [Pulls Mathilda out of the room with him.]

[Mathilda has entered Stansfield's office building by faking a food delivery; Stansfield has cornered her in a restroom.]Norman Stansfield: Special delivery, huh? Let me guess. Chinese? Thai, maybe? I've got it — Italian food. What's your name, angel?
Mathilda: Mathilda.
Norman Stansfield: Mathilda, I want you to set the sack on the floor. Good. [He draws a pistol.] And now, I want you to tell me everything you know about Italian food... and don't forget the name of the chef who fixed it for me.
Mathilda: Nobody sent me. I do business for myself.
Norman Stansfield: So, th-th-this, this is something personal, is it? What filthy piece of crap... did I do now?
Mathilda: You killed my brother
Norman Stansfield: I'm sorry. [he moves in close to Mathilda.] And — you wanna join him?
Mathilda: No.
Norman Stansfield: It's always the same thing. It's when you start to become really afraid of death that you learn to appreciate life. Do you like life, sweetheart?
Mathilda: [whispering] Yes.
Norman Stansfield: That's good — because I take no pleasure in taking a life if it's from a person who doesn't care about it.

Willie: I think it was something personal.
Stansfield: [whispering] Death is... whimsical today.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110413/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Capt. Factorial · Jun 23, 2020

Jespher said:

Source of one of the most famous .gifs on the interwebs:

Sluggah · Jun 23, 2020

Sister...when I've raised hell you'll know it.

M is for Miller’s Crossing

Need a Coen fix.

Internet blurb: Though possibly more notable for its distinctive style than an airtight story, this Coen brothers take on the classic gangster flick features sharp dialogue, impressive cinematography, and a typically quirky cast of characters.

bajaden · Jun 23, 2020

For the letter M, I'm going with Midnight Express. This movie is supposed to be based on the real life story of a young american Billy Hayes, who was arrested in Turkey for trying to smuggle Hashish out of the country. I say supposed, because the real Billy Hayes has disputed some of his story portrayed in the movie. This is not a movie for kid's. And if your ever in the position that Hayes was, it will make you think twice about smuggling drugs.

The film received 6 Oscar nominations and stars Brad Davis as Billy Hayes. It was directed by Alan Parker and written by Oliver Stone Other notable actors in the film are Bo Hopkins, Randy Quaid, and John Hurt.

On October 6, 1970, on holiday in Istanbul, Turkey, American college student Billy Hayes straps 2 kg of hashish blocks to his chest. While attempting to board a plane back to the United States with his girlfriend, Billy is arrested by Turkish police on high alert for fear of terrorist attacks. He is strip-searched, photographed, and questioned.

After a while, a shadowy American – who is never named but is nicknamed "Tex" by Billy, for his thick Texan accent – arrives, takes Billy to a police station, and translates Billy's English for one of the detectives. Billy says that he bought the hashish from a taxicab driver and offers to help the police track him down in exchange for his release. Billy goes with the police to a nearby market and points out the cab driver, but when they go to arrest the cabbie, it becomes apparent that the police have no intention of keeping their end of the deal with Billy. He sees an opportunity and makes a run for it, only to get cornered and recaptured by the mysterious American.

During his first night in holding at a local jail, a freezing-cold Billy sneaks out of his cell and steals a blanket. Later that night, he is rousted from his cell and brutally beaten by chief guard Hamidou for the theft.

A few days later, Billy wakes up in Sağmalcılar Prison, surrounded by fellow Western prisoners Jimmy (an American who is in for stealing two candlesticks from a mosque), Max (an English heroin addict), and Erich (a Swede, also in for drug smuggling), who help him to his feet. Jimmy tells Billy that the prison is a dangerous place for foreigners like them and that no one can be trusted, not even young children.

Billy meets his father, along with a US representative and a Turkish lawyer to discuss what will happen to him. Billy is sent to trial for his case, during which the angry prosecutor makes a case against him for drug smuggling. The lead judge is sympathetic to Billy and gives him only a four-year sentence for drug possession. Billy and his father are horrified at the outcome, but their Turkish lawyer insists that it is a very good result.

Jimmy tries to encourage Billy to become part of an escape attempt through the prison's tunnels. Believing that he is to be released soon, Billy rebuffs Jimmy, who goes on to attempt an escape himself. Caught, he is brutally beaten. Then, in 1974, Billy finds out 53 days before he is due for release, that his sentence has been overturned by the Turkish High Court in Ankara after an appeal by the prosecution. The prosecutor originally wished to have him found guilty of smuggling and not the lesser charge of possession. Billy is shocked to find out that he now has to serve 30 years for his crime.

This is not a family night film, but it shines the light into a dark corner of the world that we pretend doesn't exist, and won't affect us, until it does!

Warhawk · Jun 23, 2020

Just in case anyone is interested, I have now watched the following movies for the first time because of this draft:

Casablanca
Easy A
A Few Good Men (just before it was picked while doing some research)

And I have some more set to record whenever they pop up on Dish. There are others I'd like to catch, but aren't showing on the channels I already pay for (and frankly, I have enough free stuff to watch without paying for rentals right now).

Thanks!

KainLear · Jun 24, 2020

For round 14 and for my "B" entry...

Black Swan (2010)

Director:
Darren Aronofsky
Writers:
Mark Heyman (screenplay), Andres Heinz (screenplay) (as Andrés Heinz) | 2 more credits »
Stars:
Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel

Aronofsky pulls off some astonishing visual flourishes, transporting us from the dank claustrophobia of toilet cubicles and dressing rooms to the sheer, light-bathed ecstasy of the stage. He shoots ballet-like Scorsese shot boxing in Raging Bull: not from the audience’s point of view, but up close, with a forced intimacy that you’d imagine would subvert its grace, but in fact somehow enhances it, capturing every little twitch, creak and strain. It couldn’t be more rousingly appropriate.

Löwenherz · Jun 24, 2020

KainLear said:

Really love Black Swan in a never-letting-my-future-daughter-dance-ballet kind of way.

Also significantly, with Black Swan picked, that means our first letter has been wiped completely from the draftboard. Whoever had the letter “B” as the first to cross the finish line, collect your winnings at the gate.

Jack Jack · Jun 24, 2020

I am Capt. Factorial (he PMed his pick).

K = King Of California (2007)

Fifteen-year old Miranda(Evan Rachel Wood,luminescent!!) has had to grow up fast,since her mother left her and her father and said father,Charlie(Michael Douglass,in a word:WOW!) was institutionalized for reasons not entirely made clear but discernible through observation. When Charlie is de-institutionalized,he returns to his daughter with a grand plan to find gold in the hills along the Pacific Coast Highway. She is,in a word,skeptical.

Director and writer Mike Cahill makes a movie that is both at once full of quirk and melancholy,with the daughter as somewhat of a de facto narrator. The quest for finding the treasure,while ridiculous and unquestionably irresponsible,is still almost noble and pure. Wood and Douglass shine very nicely as the estranged,mentally delicate father and daughter duo who haven't stopped loving each other,even if they get each other even less than they did before. A simple story,framed by quirky music(jazz?folk?) and a nearly poetic filming of contemporary California coastline as it contrasts the 16th century maps that Charlie references. Lost in the sea of fall releases from last year,this film is a very pleasant find on the rental shelves.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388182/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Jack Jack · Jun 24, 2020

M = Mystery Men (1999)

I thought very hard on it, and decided to choose a comedy. This one fits the bill. The shoveler shovels well, he shovels very well, the blue raja throws his mother's cuttlery, and Mr. Furious has the super power to get really angry. All they need is a little help

.

Link #1
Link #2
Link #3

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132347/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Löwenherz · Jun 24, 2020

This next one might drudge up some well-deserved controversy.

The production, marketing, and eventual Best Picture win of my next pick is disgraceful if not outright disgusting.

Yet in a vacuum, I say with equal parts honesty and humility, this is in my top five romantic comedies.

... And as Slim says, it ain't number five.

S is for ...

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Harvey Weinstien is an objectively terrible human being; let's just deal with that lecherous elephant in the room first. He exploited and destroyed people in the single-minded pursuit of a self-adulating power fantasy. And this film has come to epitomize all of the Miramax Kingpin's maniacal machinations.

It should never have won Best Picture in 1999. I believed that then, and still firmly believe that now. But Weinstien's incessant and ruthless behind-the-scenes string-pulling complete with a multi-million dollar media blitz, shameless parties for committee members, widespread denigration campaign, and outright bribes stole one of the bigger upsets in the industry's award history.

In the end, it did exactly what Miramax was designed to do: attract big names to pseudo-indie films on shoestring budgets at the promise of cashing in at awards season. But it’s also mired this otherwise worthy film in a shroud of scandal. Strangely, when I watched this film handed an award that rightfully belonged to what was at the time my personal favorite film, I never expected I would one day become a Shakespeare in Love apologist.

Yet here we are.

We have the enormous complexity of hierarchal social structures of Elizabethan England, clever word play and dialogue demanded of even an homage to Shakespeare, and some grand performances from Dench, Firth, Rush, and yes, Fiennes, Affleck and Paltrow to give this a semblance of legitimacy. But then the edge is complete taken out of it with a mix of “summer teen comedy romp” with “insider Hollywood winks and nudges” that give this a supremely fun and playful turn.

The ensemble cast works beautifully together. There is not a single unlikable character (except of course Firth who is supposed to be a scumbag), and it’s clear this was made with a lot of fun and heart in mind. At least on set.

There are multiple layers to enjoy in this movie, whether it is the actual romance, the historical liberties in imagining how Romeo and Juliet came to be, or a light-hearted historical comedy. It deserves recognition if not awards.

Capt. Factorial · Jun 24, 2020

Thanks to Jack for selecting for me and keeping the draft going when I was out of contact today. I'll do a more proper write-up now...

To fill my “K” column in the alphabetical movie draft I select:

King of California (2007)

Directed by Mike Cahill

Starring Evan Rachel Wood, Michael Douglas

Trailer

King of California is one of those hidden gems - I'd never heard of it when a friend showed it to me, and it held up to the hype. Evan Rachel Wood plays the fending-for-herself teenage daughter to Michael Douglas's not-quite-stable father who has just been released from a mental institution where he has been charged for a couple of years. He returns with grandiose theories about hidden treasure from when the Spanish ruled California, and desperate for the companionship of her father, Wood goes along with it. And wouldn't you know it, it seems like dad might actually be on to something...until his research determines that the treasure is buried somewhere underneath a CostCo.

"Life's a journey, not a destination," they say, and it really fits this film. The journey - the relationship between the two principals and the treasure hunt itself - is enjoyable enough that by the end of the film, it doesn't really matter whether there's a treasure or not. On top of that, the movie does keep you guessing - it's definitely one of those Schrödinger's Treasure situations where the audience just can't tell if the treasure is there or not until they dig the hole where X marks the spot. I don't think this film is very well known, and that's too bad.

Those are the bodies of the Chumash Indians, who died of Syphilis and Influenza, infected by the missionaries.

Padrino · Jun 25, 2020

With my fourteenth pick in the Shelter in Place Alphabet Movie Draft, I will make use of the letter C to select:

Children of Men (2006):

Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Dir. of Photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Writer(s): Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, P.D. James (based on the novel by)
Score: John Tavener
Cast: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Clare-Hope Acrapey, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam
Genre: Science fiction, drama, thriller
Runtime: 1 hour, 49 minutes

IMDb Entry: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Life's kind of upside-down for me, at the moment. As a result, I don't have the time I would like to devote to this draft. It's a bummer. Hopefully I'll be able to come back soon and provide more detailed write-ups on my most recent picks, because these are fan-f***ing-tastic films. If you're not familiar with Children of Men, it is among the best sci-fi films of the last twenty years.

When we say that Children of Men is, without a doubt, one of the best films made in this century, we put this claim forward calmly and only after long and detailed deliberation. The main argument for the inclusion of Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 dystopian science fiction thriller in this prestigious company actually has little to do with the astonishing and somewhat distressing fact that Cuarón’s vision of the future is so close in resemblance to our current day situation we could even call the filmmaker some kind of a prophet. Yes, the bleak, terrifying image of the world Cuarón foresaw for the year 2027 has a lot more in common with our present than any sane person would possibly hope for, but even the director himself would wave it off and refuse to accept a compliment regarding the visionary aspect of his work, simply explaining there are no prophetic qualities in Children of Men. He made the film with his eyes wide open, aware of the situation in the world and perceiving clearly the obvious signs of what direction the world was taking as early as then. Children of Men belongs to the elite gallery of top-notch films simply because it was made with extreme technical virtuosity, displaying a very high level of talent behind and in front of the camera. Shot by Cuarón’s favorite cinematographer, the great Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, the film demonstrates a unique, precise and shattering vision of the darkness lying before us, characterized by innovative, ingenious use of the camera and a fresh, unexpected news-reel approach to fabulous action sequences we’re still unable to forget. Even today we get goose bumps recalling that car ambush scene shot in one take, blown away by Cuarón’s magic that enabled us to sit among the protagonists and experience the panic, fear and horror as it was happening to us, allowing us, perhaps like never before, to become active participants in those shocking moments of on-screen violence. Moreover, Cuarón’s abhorrence for clumsy, unimaginative, easy-path exposition made sure he used images to reveal the story’s background and offer us all information needed to construct the greater picture. All a spectator needs to do is keep their eyes open. Nothing in this film is on tape accidentally, and even if something was shot by accident (like the famous blood-splashing-on-the-camera-lens detail during the aforementioned thrilling one-take assault scene) was kept in the film for artistically solid reasons.

Casting-wise, the crew was exceptionally composed. Clive Owen was ideal for the role of the terrified individual aware of the level of chaos in the world he lives in, but deciding to deal with it with cynicism and passivity. Years before he established himself as one of Hollywood’s quality choices, Chiwetel Ejiofor proved capable of portraying complex characters. The always solid Julianne Moore might be here only for less than a half an hour, but if we choose to take the meta-path in this analysis, we might say that even the fact Cuarón decided to hire such a strong name for such an unexpectedly short role may suggest it was another way of emphasizing that things might not be as they are presented to us by the media, that the real state of things doesn’t always resemble what the newspapers, often heavily influenced by political forces eager to shape information the way it suits their purpose, like to serve us as facts. Children of Men, we say again, would be a marvelous film even if Cuarón and his writing partners hadn’t managed to describe the world we live in today with such astounding precision. This additional component, however, gives the movie another layer of quality and even greater significance, as well as it perhaps partly explains why Children of Men underachieved at the box office. The Western audience, living in a comfortable bubble, preferred shallow, escapist entertainment which had nothing to do with the unpleasant themes of nationalism, chauvinism, refugee crises and the shape of the future we leave for the following generations.

The film is actually a very loose adaptation of P. D. James’ 1992 novel of the same name. The original adaptation was written by Paul Chart, only later to be rewritten by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. Alfonso Cuarón was brought on board in 2001, but he chose not to read the original novel, beginning a rewrite with his chosen screenwriter Timothy J. Sexton. The creative process was put to a halt when Cuarón set out to make Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but his work on the film only enhanced his desire to make Children of Men. In his absence, screenwriter David Arata finished another rewrite. Cuarón chose to use several things from James’ work, but decided to stick with his original vision, working with Lubezki to create the special visual identity of the film and, determined to use images in the background as the main means for telling the wider story, even met with the legendary graffiti artist Banksy’s representative to include his work in the film. One of the uncredited contributors to the final version of the screenplay was Clive Owen himself. The film was edited by Cuarón and his partner Alex Rodriguez, who previously collaborated with him on Y Tu Mamá También. Throughout the film Sir John Tavener’s ‘Fragments of a Prayer’ was used so Cuarón could additionally avoid using narrative, allowing the composition to contribute to the explanation of the action and psychological and emotional state of the characters. Besides the classical work of Handel, Mahler and Penderecki, Cuarón also used combinations of rock, pop, electronic music and hip hop.

It would be perfectly legitimate to discuss the message this film sends out to the world, if there is one in the first place, or the true meaning of its puzzling ending. Cuarón himself stated he wanted the viewers to interpret the film on their own, that there is no correct answer, suggesting this kind of ambiguity is an essential part of all great works of art. What some people will see as an undeniable proof of the hopelessness of our situation and the human condition, others might perceive as a beam of light shooting through the darkness and finding its way to all individuals willing to open up to the changes happening around us. For us, this gray presentation on the future and the present will forever be marked with an ounce of positivity and a spoonful of hope. The message we choose to absorb from this film is simple: get up, shake away the collective apathy and replace this couch-potato passivity, if not with real activism, then with eyes opened wide, a sharp mind refusing to be manipulated and, most of all, with warmth and compassion for the people with whom we share this world that’s slowly sinking into self-destruction.

https://cinephiliabeyond.org/children-men-alfonso-cuarons-bleak-genious-vision-past-present-future/

Warhawk · Jun 25, 2020

Lieutenant Danny Roman: When your friends betray you, sometimes the only people you can trust are strangers.

"N" is for:

The Negotiator (1998)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120768/

Loosely based off a true story, the movie stars Samuel L. Jackson (as Danny Roman), a police hostage negotiator framed for stolen department disability funds and an associated murder. As his "friends" at the department are the ones who framed him, he takes hostages himself at the police station and turns to a hostage negotiator from another precinct, Kevin Spacey (as Chris Sabian, known for being tough but fair in his negotiations) to help him get to the bottom of what is going on. The movie is very well directed and the stars play well off each other throughout. That interaction is what makes this movie especially fun for me. These two are perfectly cast and are excellent in this film.

Lieutenant Chris Sabian: I once talked a guy out of blowing up the Sears Tower but I can't talk my wife out of the bedroom or my kid off the phone.

Lieutenant Chris Sabian: You hurt one of them, you burn up any currency you have with me. They're all I care about. Getting you out of here alive... a distant second.

Lieutenant Danny Roman: You were wrong about me. What if I'm right about them?
Lieutenant Chris Sabian: But what if you're wrong about me?

VF21 · Jun 25, 2020

D - Dirty Dancing - 1987

From Wikipedia:

Baby (Jennifer Grey) is one listless summer away from the Peace Corps. Hoping to enjoy her youth while it lasts, she's disappointed when her summer plans deposit her at a sleepy resort in the Catskills with her parents. Her luck turns around, however, when the resort's dance instructor, Johnny (Patrick Swayze), enlists Baby as his new partner, and the two fall in love. Baby's father forbids her from seeing Johnny, but she's determined to help him perform the last big dance of the summer.

I'm old enough to remember spending a week of our summer vacation at a resort. In my case it was at Clear Lake...not somewhere in the Catskills. This movie brought back all those memories the first time I saw it, and that's just part of the reason why I want it on my island.

The soundtrack is incredible, also full of memories. The scenery is actually fairly reminiscent of areas around parts of Clear Lake.

[first lines]
Radio disc jockey: [on radio] Hi, everybody, this is your Cousin Brucie. Whoa! Our summer romances are in full bloom, and everybody, but everybody's in love. So cousins, here's a great song from The Four Seasons.
Baby: [voiceover] That was the summer of 1963 - when everybody called me Baby, and it didn't occur to me to mind. That was before President Kennedy was shot, before the Beatles came, when I couldn't wait to join the Peace Corps, and I thought I'd never find a guy as great as my dad. That was the summer we went to Kellerman's.

One more memory? Wolfman Jack broadcasting on XERB.

I've worn out two VHS copies of this film, and now own both the original and the 30th anniversary edition on disc. When I need a little bit of a pick-me-up, it's a coin toss between this film and Top Gun.

Löwenherz · Jun 25, 2020

VF21 said:

View attachment 9965

D - Dirty Dancing - 1987

From Wikipedia:

Baby (Jennifer Grey) is one listless summer away from the Peace Corps. Hoping to enjoy her youth while it lasts, she's disappointed when her summer plans deposit her at a sleepy resort in the Catskills with her parents. Her luck turns around, however, when the resort's dance instructor, Johnny (Patrick Swayze), enlists Baby as his new partner, and the two fall in love. Baby's father forbids her from seeing Johnny, but she's determined to help him perform the last big dance of the summer.

I'm old enough to remember spending a week of our summer vacation at a resort. In my case it was at Clear Lake...not somewhere in the Catskills. This movie brought back all those memories the first time I saw it, and that's just part of the reason why I want it on my island.

The soundtrack is incredible, also full of memories. The scenery is actually fairly reminiscent of areas around parts of Clear Lake.

[first lines]
Radio disc jockey: [on radio] Hi, everybody, this is your Cousin Brucie. Whoa! Our summer romances are in full bloom, and everybody, but everybody's in love. So cousins, here's a great song from The Four Seasons.
Baby: [voiceover] That was the summer of 1963 - when everybody called me Baby, and it didn't occur to me to mind. That was before President Kennedy was shot, before the Beatles came, when I couldn't wait to join the Peace Corps, and I thought I'd never find a guy as great as my dad. That was the summer we went to Kellerman's.

One more memory? Wolfman Jack broadcasting on XERB.

I've worn out two VHS copies of this film, and now own both the original and the 30th anniversary edition on disc. When I need a little bit of a pick-me-up, it's a coin toss between this film and Top Gun.

I think this would have been my wife’s first pick.

foxfire · Jun 25, 2020

P = Pure Luck

Martin Short is a comedic genius in this film! He is coupled with Danny Glover as they try to find a very unlucky heiress lost in Mexico. Unfortunately for then both, Martin Short's character is just as unlucky as the heiress they are trying to find, and calamity ensues!

Link #1
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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102729/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Mr. S£im Citrus · Jun 25, 2020

Löwenherz said:

Fun fact: Shakespeare In Love was the last movie I saw in the theater on opening weekend before Black Panther.

Löwenherz · Jun 25, 2020

foxfire said:

Whoa, another top pick of my wife's. Yet didn't think someone would be taking it here. Shocking.

LoungeLizard · Jun 26, 2020

S - Stand By Me

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0092005/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2

It’s been a while since I’ve watched this one but this was a favorite growing up. A great story and adaptation of a Stephen King novel. Maybe I’m just getting old, but before electronics and smartphones and social media a group of 12 year old friends could set out on an adventure like this. It’s one of the reasons I love this movie so much, it takes me back to my childhood. Simpler times. Now, I’m not quite as old as when this film is set but even in the 80s I had many an outing with friends that led to discovery, imagination, and wonder. Coming of age moments if you will. I feel like those moments are lacking in today’s world. But I digress. Some great performances by some young actors.

Jespher · Jun 26, 2020

N = The Name of the Rose (1986) - R

A medieval murder mystery in the vein of Sherlock Holmes, ripe with historical easter eggs and terrifying accuracy reflecting upon a different time. Headlined by Sean Connery, Christian Slater, F. Murray Abraham, and a tour de force performance by Ron Perlman, this unheralded 80s gem is really a diamond in the rough.

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Quotes:

Adso: Dolcinites? Who were they, master?
William of Baskerville: Those who believed in the poverty of Christ.
Adso: So do we Franciscans.
William of Baskerville: But they also declared that everyone must be poor, so they slaughtered the rich. Ha! You see, Adso, the step between ecstatic vision and sinful frenzy is all too brief.

Adso: Do you think that this is a place abandoned by God?
William of Baskerville: Have you ever known a place where God would have felt at home?

William of Baskerville: She is already burnt flesh, Adso. Bernardo Gui has spoken: she is a witch.
Adso: But that's not true, and you know it!
William of Baskerville: I know. I also know that anyone who disputes the verdict of an Inquisitor is guilty of heresy.

William of Baskerville: I find it difficult to convince myself that God would have introduced such a foul being into creation without endowing her with some virtures. Hmm? How peaceful life would be without love, Adso, how safe, how tranquil, and how dull.

William of Baskerville: No one should be forbidden to consult these books freely.
Adso: Perhaps they are thought to be too precious, too fragile.
William of Baskerville: No, it's not that, Adso. It's because they often contain a wisdom that is different from ours and ideas that could encourage us to doubt the infallability of the word of God... And doubt, Adso, is the enemy of faith.

William of Baskerville: Monkeys do not laugh. Laughter is particular to men.
Jorge de Burgos: As is sin. Christ never laughed.
William of Baskerville: Can we be so sure?
Jorge de Burgos: There is nothing in the Scriptures to say that he did.
William of Baskerville: And there's nothing in the Scriptures to say that he did not.

William of Baskerville: What is so alarming about laughter?
Jorge de Burgos: Laughter kills fear, and without fear there can be no faith, because without fear of the Devil there is no more need of God.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091605/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Warhawk · Jun 26, 2020

Jespher said:

See, this is another movie I've never seen and would like to. But when it a search on Dish can't find it, and the DVD on Amazon is $38 and the Blu-Ray is $55, I'm going to have to pass.

You would think it would be showing SOMEWHERE for cheap being that old.

Löwenherz · Jun 26, 2020

Warhawk said:

This is why I pine for the glory days of Netflix, when they had a DVD of every film ever created and would mail it to you upon request.

I understand the logic behind the move to streaming, but access to an unlimited world library is sorely missed.

Löwenherz · Jun 26, 2020

Jespher said:

I've decided I need to see this movie now. Sounds bonkers.

Capt. Factorial · Jun 26, 2020

Löwenherz said:

I haven't seen the film, but for those having trouble finding it, the book can be had on Amazon for $14 and is definitely worth it. A bit erudite, but it's Eco, so that's what you get.

Jespher · Jun 26, 2020

Warhawk said:

I found it on the Folsom library catalog page here:
https://librarycatalog.folsom.ca.us/Record/.b17372586?searchId=7653698&recordIndex=2&page=1

I love this movie, and have the DVD at home

Sluggah · Jun 26, 2020

How'd you know my name was Buddy?

N is for The Nice Guys

This movie kills me. Wish it had been more successful at the box office so I could get a sequel. Love Shane Black in this genre.

Internet blurb: The Nice Guys hearkens back to the buddy comedies of a bygone era while adding something extra courtesy of a knowing script and the irresistible chemistry of its leads.

Löwenherz · Jun 26, 2020

Sluggah said:

How'd you know my name was Buddy?

N is for The Nice Guys

View attachment 9967

This movie kills me. Wish it had been more successful at the box office so I could get a sequel. Love Shane Black in this genre.

Internet blurb: The Nice Guys hearkens back to the buddy comedies of a bygone era while adding something extra courtesy of a knowing script and the irresistible chemistry of its leads.

Criminally overlooked and underrated

... by myself included

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