2020 Shelter in Place Alphabet Movie Draft - BONUS ROUNDS

So I double-checked, triple-checked, and did a keyword search, still baffled that no one has picked this next movie yet...

The Matrix (1999)


Directors:
Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)
Writers:
Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)
Stars:
Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss


Not much more needed to be said about this. The Matrix still stands up as a fiercely exciting and discombobulating futurist drama, which pioneered breathtaking “bullet-time” action sequences inspired by Asian martial arts. Philosophically, it's on another level entirely to any other science fiction film from the last 20 years. Getting lost in another world is what Cinema is made for. This one takes you into a whole new universe.

 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
To fill my “F” column in the alphabetical movie draft, I select:



The Fall (2006)

Directed by Tarsem Singh

Starring Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell

Trailer

A 1920's stuntman, despondent over losing his girlfriend, attempts suicide and ends up in the hospital, where he meets a young patient who wanders the halls and begins to weave a fantastical tale for her - but he's got an ulterior motive.

I think I would love this movie even if it were a radio play. It does a brilliant job of moving the character development away from the patients stuck in the hospital and putting it instead on the fictional counterparts free to explore the mythical world being woven by the stuntman. But fortunately, it's not a radio play, it's a film, and a stunningly beautiful one at that. I'd go so far as to say that start to finish is it easily the most eye-catching film I have yet seen - and the amazing thing is that the vast majority of it is done in-camera. The chosen locations are epic, the palettes are incredible, the costumes are gorgeous - it's impossible to look away. This film should far and away have won the Oscar for best cinematography, and it wasn't even nominated.

On top of the visual scene, it has a great soundscape as well, heavily featuring the second movement of Beethoven's 7th symphony. When you hear it, you'll know. An absolute must-have film, HD resolution required!

"Why are you killing everybody? Why are you making everybody die?" "It's my story." "Mine, too."
 
So I double-checked, triple-checked, and did a keyword search, still baffled that no one has picked this next movie yet...

The Matrix (1999)


Directors:
Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)
Writers:
Lilly Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers), Lana Wachowski (as The Wachowski Brothers)
Stars:
Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss


Not much more needed to be said about this. The Matrix still stands up as a fiercely exciting and discombobulating futurist drama, which pioneered breathtaking “bullet-time” action sequences inspired by Asian martial arts. Philosophically, it's on another level entirely to any other science fiction film from the last 20 years. Getting lost in another world is what Cinema is made for. This one takes you into a whole new universe.

It falls farther and farther down every time we do one of these. The sequels and the Wachowskis’ output since seem to have really soured its legacy.
 
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We’re going river rafting bright and early tomorrow for a 4 day trip. If some of the moderators would be kind enough to update the board for me in my stead it would be greatly appreciated!
 
J = Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)



It came down to this one and another famous Disney picture for J. Jumanji won out for the action, adventure, and fast paced fun. Jack Black is hilarious playing Bethany, a teenage cheerleader trapped in an overweight, middle aged man's body. And who doesn't like dance fighting. Are you game?

Link #1
Link #2
Link #3

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2283362/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
 
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OK, we kinda want to do a hip and fun action comedy, but don’t have a lot of money to spend. Let’s do a hard boiled neo noir with a 50s old school Hollywood flair, but make it a modern day dark romantic comedy. All right, we might be onto something.

We only have $15 million to spend, so let’s make our two leads a pair of actors on the down slide of their careers. In fact, let’s give our lead role to a guy famous for having just gotten out of prison for drug issues, and have him play a two-bit criminal accidentally cast in a Hollywood movie. And while we’re at it, let’s make his famously machismo co-star play a gay man just because we haven’t seen a gay character who breaks stereotypes kicking down doors and saving the day.

OK, now all we need is a leading lady / femme fatale no one’s ever heard of and ... gee, our script writing and dialogue better be top notch for this one to work.

Oh and let’s give it an aggressively blunt title so people can really know what they’re getting into.

K is for ...




Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Downey Jr. is great in this, basically in an early screen test for his eventual role as Tony Stark. Same sardonic, quick wit, except in this instead of being the arrogant top dog, he’s the guy scrambling to stay just one step ahead of the curve in a room full of people both smarter than him, and trying to kill him.

Kilmer is really solid too, and his line delivery is exceptional. After spending the late 80s and early 90s as the machismo action thriller star, it’s easy to forget he got his start on the comedy circuit. Those old instincts really kick in for Kilmer here on his line reads.

While both Downey Jr. and Kilmer individually put in strong performances, Downey Jr. in particular carrying the main load, it’s the chemistry of the two together that really make this thing spark. Their banter is so electric and naturally funny, it comes across as if they’d been working as a comedy duo for years. I’d love to see these two work together again. I think they could even make a weaker script sizzle.

The rest of the movie follows a firmly tongue-in-check pulp mystery formula, even calling its shot repeatedly in a consciously meta turn from scene to scene just in case the audience forgot what was being satirized. But that comes across more as keeping everyone in on the fun rather than hand holding.

Totally underrated comedy gem that really showcases the overlooked, at least at the time, talents of everyone involved.
 

Attachments

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



The Fall (2006)

Directed by Tarsem Singh

Starring Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell

Trailer

A 1920's stuntman, despondent over losing his girlfriend, attempts suicide and ends up in the hospital, where he meets a young patient who wanders the halls and begins to weave a fantastical tale for her - but he's got an ulterior motive.

I think I would love this movie even if it were a radio play. It does a brilliant job of moving the character development away from the patients stuck in the hospital and putting it instead on the fictional counterparts free to explore the mythical world being woven by the stuntman. But fortunately, it's not a radio play, it's a film, and a stunningly beautiful one at that. I'd go so far as to say that start to finish is it easily the most eye-catching film I have yet seen - and the amazing thing is that the vast majority of it is done in-camera. The chosen locations are epic, the palettes are incredible, the costumes are gorgeous - it's impossible to look away. This film should far and away have won the Oscar for best cinematography, and it wasn't even nominated.

On top of the visual scene, it has a great soundscape as well, heavily featuring the second movement of Beethoven's 7th symphony. When you hear it, you'll know. An absolute must-have film, HD resolution required!

"Why are you killing everybody? Why are you making everybody die?" "It's my story." "Mine, too."
Damn. You swiped my pick for F! I figured this would be safe for many more rounds. Excellent pick. Lee Pace is one of my few Hollywood man-crushes. He cuts such an interesting figure on the screen, and is an incredibly dynamic actor when given outstanding material with which to work. And I just adore everything about The Fall's visual poetry. It is such a fever dream, such a stunning and sumptuous collage of images, such a perfect distillation of what the artform of film can be in the hands of someone imaginative enough to treat the camera as more than just a prosaic tool for capturing the mundane. Tarsem Singh is a stylist of the highest order, and I just admire the hell out of this film.
 
OK, we kinda want to do a hip and fun action comedy, but don’t have a lot of money to spend. Let’s do a hard boiled neo noir with a 50s old school Hollywood flair, but make it a modern day dark romantic comedy. All right, we might be onto something.

We only have $15 million to spend, so let’s make our two leads a pair of actors on the down slide of their careers. In fact, let’s give our lead role to a guy famous for having just gotten out of prison for drug issues, and have him play a two-bit criminal accidentally cast in a Hollywood movie. And while we’re at it, let’s make his famously machismo co-star play a gay man just because we haven’t seen a gay character who breaks stereotypes kicking down doors and saving the day.

OK, now all we need is a leading lady / femme fatale no one’s ever heard of and ... gee, our script writing and dialogue better be top notch for this one to work.

Oh and let’s give it an aggressively blunt title so people can really know what they’re getting into.

K is for ...


View attachment 9944

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Downey Jr. is great in this, basically in an early screen test for his eventual role as Tony Stark. Same sardonic, quick wit, except in this instead of being the arrogant top dog, he’s the guy scrambling to stay just one step ahead of the curve in a room full of people both smarter than him, and trying to kill him.

Kilmer is really solid too, and his line delivery is exceptional. It’s amazing that after spending the late 80s and early 90s as the machismo action thriller star, it’s easy to forget he got his start on the comedy circuit. Those old instincts really kick in for Kilmer here on his line reads.

While both Downey Jr. and Kilmer individually put in strong performances, Downey Jr. in particular carrying the main load, it’s the chemistry of the two together that really make this thing spark. Their banter is so electric and naturally funny, it comes across as if they’d been working as a comedy duo for years. I’d love to see these two work together again. I think they could even make a weaker script sizzle.

The rest of the movie follows a firmly tongue-in-check pulp mystery formula, even calling its shot repeatedly in a consciously meta turn from scene to scene just in case the audience forgot what was being satirized. But that comes across more as keeping everyone in on the fun rather than hand holding.

Totally underrated comedy gem that really showcases the overlooked, at least at the time, talents of everyone involved.
YES!! This was my other option for k:

I agonized over which of two films to select for the letter k. Oddly enough, both of my options were tightly-plotted, twisty, witty whodunnits by strong writer-directors that crackle with intensity and hilarity in equal measure. Ultimately, I allowed recency bias to aid me in the selection of a film that represented my favorite moviegoing experience of last year.
Shane Black is such a great writer, and just knows how to press all the right buttons when it comes to suffusing his films with the kind of crackling dialogue that, while it doesn't really exist in the real world, is very much how we imagine our conversations with each other play out.
 
So I'm on the clock, but I've only had time this morning to respond to these two fantastic picks that preceded mine. My selection will be forthcoming a bit later today.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
Damn. You swiped my pick for F! I figured this would be safe for many more rounds.
I guess you never know what's safe in this draft! I also thought The Fall would be safe for a while, but I'm finding myself in the midst of some difficult decisions ("F" being only one of them) and I just had to make one. And this was the decision I was most confident in.
 
With my eleventh pick in the Shelter in Place Alphabet Movie Draft, I will make use of the letter M to select:

Mulholland Dr. (2001):



Director: David Lynch
Dir. of Photography: Peter Deming
Writer: David Lynch
Score: Angelo Badalamenti
Cast: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Mark Pellegrino, Robert Forster
Genre(s): Drama, mystery, thriller
Runtime: 2 hours, 27 minutes

IMDb Entry: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166924/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

After a car accident on Hollywood's winding Mulholland Drive renders her an amnesiac, a bright-eyed young actress becomes ensnared in a dark conspiracy involving a woman who was nearly murdered. Eventually, both women are pulled into a psychotic illusion involving a dangerous blue box, a director named Adam Kesher, and the mysterious night club Silencio.

M has been fraught with peril for me. There are so many exceptional options from the pool that represents this particular letter of the alphabet, but I'm looking at the makeup of my draft thus far, as well as my selections yet to come, and I've decided that I'm going to wander into a waking nightmare with this pick.

Discussing the subject matter and Mulholland Dr. is... difficult. I provided a short "summary" of the film above, but that summary does little to prepare a first-time viewer for what this film actually is. As with the majority of Lynch's work, Mulholland Dr. is not a particularly linear or legible experience. Lynch's thematic interests are discernible enough. He continually examines the shattering of innocence via the perpetual tug of war between good and evil. But the manner in which he conveys that theme, and others, has rarely been straightforward, and that is certainly the case with this film.

Nominally, Mulholland Dr. is a mystery-drama that trades on film's history of noir stories set in Los Angeles. But it is also kind of horrifying, if not exactly presenting as a "horror" film in the traditional sense. Some movies leaves us not only in a frightened state for their duration, but continue to haunt our psyches long after we've left the theater or shut off the television and tucked ourselves into the safety of our beds. Mulholland Dr. is one such film, a night terror disguised as a noir picture, an elusive amalgam of genres, a tall tale of love and revenge, of bizarre and incomprehensible structure, a film that stubbornly resists being classified as "horror" despite the fact that it's as dread-inducing as anything you're likely to watch when October 31st approaches. Initially developed as a pilot for a new ABC television series, David Lynch transformed Mulholland Dr. into a feature length film when the pilot wasn't picked up, reuniting the cast and crew to further flesh out the material.

Mulholland Drive itself is the road that connects Los Angeles with the San Fernando Valley, a mysterious path full of curves, winding around the dark and ominous Hollywood Hills, and as such corresponds to the puzzling structure of the film, which is evasive about its ultimate aims. The enduring beauty of Lynch's work is that it defies easy categorization, and part of what I find so compelling about Mulholland Dr. and its strange twists and turns and the striking horror of its images is that it is so repellent to any single ironclad interpretation. It is a film that's situated firmly on the fragile boundary between asleep and awake, a dreamlike vision constructed from the intimately conspicuous fears and desires of the human heart. With Mulholland Dr., David Lynch created a hallucinatory Hollywood, a terrifying doppelganger of a city so familiar to fans of film, as only he could have done, a film so intricately constructed with a childlike fervor that everything seems to fit together perfectly while at the same time seeming not to fit together at all.











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

Mulholland Dr. (2001):



Director: David Lynch
Dir. of Photography: Peter Deming
Writer: David Lynch
Score: Angelo Badalamenti
Cast: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Mark Pellegrino, Robert Forster
Genre(s): Drama, mystery, thriller
Runtime: 2 hours, 27 minutes

IMDb Entry: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166924/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
The juxtaposition of scenes with Watts and Harring reading lines for what appears to be stilted dialogue for an over-wrought and cheesy soap opera, then Watts at her audition playing the same scene, reading the same lines, but with a sinister devilish twist alone convinced me that good acting and directing could make up for a weak script, but not the other way around.

Also, “a dread-inducing night terror.” That should be put on the box in bold letters.
 

Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
Bill: Stan, I've seen your parents argue. Trust me, they're amateurs.

Some excellent "M" movies are already off the board. As such, "M" is for:

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

My-Cousin-Vinny-Poster.jpg

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104952/

I love this movie. It's not the greatest film ever. It has absolutely no special effects or big action sequences. It's mostly character development and dialogue. And it's hilarious.

From wikipedia:

The film deals with two young New Yorkers traveling through rural Alabama who are arrested and put on trial for a murder they did not commit and the comical attempts of a cousin, Vincent Gambini, a lawyer who had only recently passed the bar exam after several unsuccessful attempts, to defend them. Much of the humor comes from the fish-out-of-water interaction between the brash Italian-American New Yorkers (Vinny and his fiancée, Mona Lisa) and the more reserved Southern townspeople.
The film stars Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Bruce McGill, and Fred Gwynne in his final film appearance.

A critical and financial success, Pesci, Gwynne, and Tomei all received praise for their performances, and Tomei won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film has also been lauded by attorneys for its accurate depiction of court procedure and trial strategy.
Pesci, Gwynne, and Tomei are definitely the stars here. This movie is also Tomei's "breakthrough" role after being in several smaller films.

I found the bolded part amazing the first time I heard it years ago, but the following (long, but interesting!) backs it up with detail. I think that is one reason the film is so enjoyable. It actually (generally) works within the confines of the law throughout.

Director Jonathan Lynn has a law degree from Cambridge University, and lawyers have praised the accuracy of My Cousin Vinny's depiction of courtroom procedure and trial strategy, with one stating that "[t]he movie is close to reality even in its details. Part of why the film has such staying power among lawyers is because, unlike, say, A Few Good Men, everything that happens in the movie could happen—and often does happen—at trial". One legal textbook discusses the film in detail as an "entertaining [and] extremely helpful introduction to the art of presenting expert witnesses at trial for both beginning experts and litigators"; furthermore, criminal defenders, law professors, and other lawyers use the film to demonstrate voir dire, relevance, and cross examination.

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals judge Richard Posner praised My Cousin Vinny as being:

particularly rich in practice tips: how a criminal defense lawyer must stand his ground against a hostile judge, even at the cost of exasperating the judge, because the lawyer's primary audience is the jury, not the judge; how cross-examination on peripheral matters can sow serious doubts about a witness's credibility; how props can be used effectively in cross-examination (the tape measure that demolishes one of the prosecution's eyewitnesses); how to voir dire, examine, and cross-examine expert witnesses; the importance of the Brady doctrine ... how to dress for a trial; contrasting methods of conducting a jury trial; and more.​
In "Ten Things Every Trial Lawyer Could Learn From Vincent La Guardia Gambini", District of South Carolina judge Joseph Fletcher Anderson Jr. praised Vinny's courtroom methods as "a textbook example" of Irving Younger's "Ten Commandments of Cross-Examination", and wrote that the film predicted Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael (1999)'s ruling on the Daubert standard. He concluded that Lynn and scriptwriter Dale Launer "have given our profession a wonderful teaching tool while producing a gem of a movie that gives the public at large renewed faith in the common law trial and the adversarial system as the best way to determine the truth and achieve justice". Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a 2019 decision stated, "In 1992, Vincent Gambini taught a master class in cross-examination.", and further extensively quoted from a cross-examination scene in the film.

John Marshall Law School professor Alberto Bernabe wrote that "Vinny is terrible at the things we do teach in law school, but very good at the things we don't":

[How to] interview clients, to gather facts, to prepare a theory of a case, to negotiate, to know when to ask a question and when to remain quiet, to cross examine a witness forcefully (but with charm) in order to expose the weaknesses in their testimony​
United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia cited My Cousin Vinny as an example of the principle that a client can choose his own lawyer, but United States Senator John Kennedy told District Court nominee Matthew S. Petersen that having seen the film did not qualify one to be a federal judge during a disastrous 2017 hearing when Petersen could not answer basic legal questions. The authors of Reel Justice: The Courtroom Goes to the Movies (2006) gave the film its highest rating along with several films based on real trials, such as (redacted) and (redacted). In 2008 the ABA Journal ranked the film #3 on its list of the "25 Greatest Legal Movies", and in 2010 ranked Pesci's character as #12 on its list of "The 25 Greatest Fictional Lawyers (Who Are Not (redacted))".

Lynn, an opponent of capital punishment, believes that the film expresses an anti-death penalty message without "preaching to people", and demonstrates the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. Lawyers find the film appealing, according to the director, because "there aren't any bad guys", with the judge, prosecutor, and Vinny all seeking justice. Lynn stated that both he and Launer attempted to accurately depict the legal process in Vinny, favorably comparing it to (redacted), for which he could not make what he believed were necessary changes.
Mona Lisa Vito: Whoa. You're gonna shoot a deer?
Vinny Gambini: I don't know. I suppose. I mean, I'm a man's man, I could go deer hunting.
Mona Lisa Vito: A sweet, innocent, harmless, leaf-eating, doe-eyed little deer.
Vinny Gambini: Hey Lisa, I'm not gonna go out there just to wimp out, you know. I mean, the guy will lose respect for me, would you rather have that?
[Lisa gets up, walks over to the bathroom and shuts the door]
Vinny Gambini: What about these pants I got on, you think they're O.K.?
Mona Lisa Vito: [comes out of the bathroom] Imagine you're a deer. You're prancing along, you get thirsty, you spot a little brook, you put your little deer lips down to the cool clear water... BAM! A ******* bullet rips off part of your head! Your brains are laying on the ground in little bloody pieces! Now I ask ya. Would you give a **** what kind of pants the son of a ***** who shot you was wearing?

Vinny Gambini: [opening statements] Uh... everything that guy just said is bull****... Thank you.
D.A. Jim Trotter: Objection. Counsel's entire opening statement is argumentative.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Sustained. Counselor's entire opening statement... with the exception of "thank you"... will be stricken from the record.

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Mr. Gambini?
Vinny Gambini: Yes, sir?
Judge Chamberlain Haller: That is a lucid, intelligent, well thought-out objection.
Vinny Gambini: Thank you, Your Honor.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: [firm tone] Overruled.

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Would you please answer the counselor's question?
Mona Lisa Vito: No, I hate him.
Vinny Gambini: Your Honor, may I have permission to treat Ms. Vito as a hostile witness?
Mona Lisa Vito: You think I'm hostile now, wait 'til you see me tonight.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Do you two know each other?
Vinny Gambini: Yeah, she's my fiancée.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Well, that would certainly explain the hostility.


Lisa: Don't worry, I'll find a way to bail you out.
Vinny Gambini: No don't. I'm gonna stay in prison tonight. Maybe I'll finally get some sleep. I'm doing good, huh?
 
The juxtaposition of scenes with Watts and Harring reading lines for what appears to be stilted dialogue for an over-wrought and cheesy soap opera, then Watts at her audition playing the same scene, reading the same lines, but with a sinister devilish twist alone convinced me that good acting and directing could make up for a weak script, but not the other way around.
That's a really great couple of sequences to examine, and illustrates Lynch's gift for dredging up the darkness in seemingly innocuous circumstances.
 
Bill: Stan, I've seen your parents argue. Trust me, they're amateurs.

Some excellent "M" movies are already off the board. As such, "M" is for:

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

View attachment 9945

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104952/

I love this movie. It's not the greatest film ever. It has absolutely no special effects or big action sequences. It's mostly character development and dialogue. And it's hilarious.

From wikipedia:





Pesci, Gwynne, and Tomei are definitely the stars here. This movie is also Tomei's "breakthrough" role after being in several smaller films.

I found the bolded part amazing the first time I heard it years ago, but the following (long, but interesting!) backs it up with detail. I think that is one reason the film is so enjoyable. It actually (generally) works within the confines of the law throughout.



Mona Lisa Vito: Whoa. You're gonna shoot a deer?
Vinny Gambini: I don't know. I suppose. I mean, I'm a man's man, I could go deer hunting.
Mona Lisa Vito: A sweet, innocent, harmless, leaf-eating, doe-eyed little deer.
Vinny Gambini: Hey Lisa, I'm not gonna go out there just to wimp out, you know. I mean, the guy will lose respect for me, would you rather have that?
[Lisa gets up, walks over to the bathroom and shuts the door]
Vinny Gambini: What about these pants I got on, you think they're O.K.?
Mona Lisa Vito: [comes out of the bathroom] Imagine you're a deer. You're prancing along, you get thirsty, you spot a little brook, you put your little deer lips down to the cool clear water... BAM! A ******* bullet rips off part of your head! Your brains are laying on the ground in little bloody pieces! Now I ask ya. Would you give a **** what kind of pants the son of a ***** who shot you was wearing?

Vinny Gambini: [opening statements] Uh... everything that guy just said is bull****... Thank you.
D.A. Jim Trotter: Objection. Counsel's entire opening statement is argumentative.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Sustained. Counselor's entire opening statement... with the exception of "thank you"... will be stricken from the record.

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Mr. Gambini?
Vinny Gambini: Yes, sir?
Judge Chamberlain Haller: That is a lucid, intelligent, well thought-out objection.
Vinny Gambini: Thank you, Your Honor.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: [firm tone] Overruled.

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Would you please answer the counselor's question?
Mona Lisa Vito: No, I hate him.
Vinny Gambini: Your Honor, may I have permission to treat Ms. Vito as a hostile witness?
Mona Lisa Vito: You think I'm hostile now, wait 'til you see me tonight.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Do you two know each other?
Vinny Gambini: Yeah, she's my fiancée.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Well, that would certainly explain the hostility.


Lisa: Don't worry, I'll find a way to bail you out.
Vinny Gambini: No don't. I'm gonna stay in prison tonight. Maybe I'll finally get some sleep. I'm doing good, huh?
This is one of the most delightfully watchable movies. It's a go-to for me whenever I need a bit of comfort food. I watched it just a few weeks ago for precisely that reason. Joe Pesci dazzles, Marisa Tomei just slays, and Fred Gwynne is such a scene stealer as the judge.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
F - The Fisher King - 1991

1592177801143.png

After shock jock Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges) inadvertently provokes a caller into murdering a group of innocent people in a Manhattan bar, he grows depressed and turns to booze. As he's about to hit rock bottom, Lucas meets a homeless man named Parry (Robin Williams), whose wife was killed by the caller Lucas pushed to the brink. Mentally scarred by his loss, Parry spends his days searching for the Holy Grail. Lucas, feeling culpable for the poor man's plight, pledges to help him in his quest. - Wikipedia

When I was deciding on which film to choose for the letter F, this one was always near the top of the list. I love Robin Williams. I love Jeff Bridges. I love the mind of Terry Gilliam. Add those together, and it's pretty much a done deal that The Fisher King should be my choice.

From imbd:

Parry: It begins with the king as a boy, having to spend the night alone in the forest to prove his courage so he can become king. Now while he is spending the night alone he's visited by a sacred vision. Out of the fire appears the holy grail, symbol of God's divine grace. And a voice said to the boy, "You shall be keeper of the grail so that it may heal the hearts of men." But the boy was blinded by greater visions of a life filled with power and glory and beauty. And in this state of radical amazement he felt for a brief moment not like a boy, but invincible, like God, so he reached into the fire to take the grail, and the grail vanished, leaving him with his hand in the fire to be terribly wounded. Now as this boy grew older, his wound grew deeper. Until one day, life for him lost its reason. He had no faith in any man, not even himself. He couldn't love or feel loved. He was sick with experience. He began to die. One day a fool wandered into the castle and found the king alone. And being a fool, he was simple minded, he didn't see a king. He only saw a man alone and in pain. And he asked the king, "What ails you friend?" The king replied, "I'm thirsty. I need some water to cool my throat". So the fool took a cup from beside his bed, filled it with water and handed it to the king. As the king began to drink, he realized his wound was healed. He looked in his hands and there was the holy grail, that which he sought all of his life. And he turned to the fool and said with amazement, "How can you find that which my brightest and bravest could not?" And the fool replied, "I don't know. I only knew that you were thirsty."

Parry: There's three things in this world that you need: Respect for all kinds of life, a nice bowel movement on a regular basis, and a navy blazer.

Jack Lucas: It's important to think. It's what separates us from lentils.

Anne Napolitano: I don't believe that God made man in his image. 'Cause most of the crap that happens comes from man. No, I think man was made in the Devil's image. And women were created out of God. 'Cause after all, women can have babies, which is kind of like creating. And which also accounts for the fact that women are so attracted to men... 'cause let's face it... the Devil is a hell of a lot more interesting! Believe me, I've slept with some saints in my day, I know what I'm talking about. So the whole point in life is for men and women to get married... so that God and the Devil can get together and work it out. Not that we have to get married. God forbid.

Jack Lucas: I don't mean to be flippant or to enrage you or anything, but you're a psychotic man.
Parry: I know.
Jack Lucas: A very nice psychotic man.
Parry: Thank you.

[Parry awakens from his catatonic state]
Parry: I was dreaming, Jack. I was dreaming that I was married to a beautiful woman... you were in it, too.
[pause]
Parry: I really miss her, Jack. Is it okay to miss her now?

There are some movies I watch for the temporary escape from reality. There are some movies I watch because they bring back fond memories. Then there are movies like The Fisher King that I watch because of the artistry...and the truth it holds. This isn't one of Robin Williams' most popular flicks, but it's certainly one of his best performances. Some of the lines he says in this film are particularly poignant in light of how his life ended.

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Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
This is one of the most delightfully watchable movies. It's a go-to for me whenever I need a bit of comfort food. I watched it just a few weeks ago for precisely that reason. Joe Pesci dazzles, Marisa Tomei just slays, and Fred Gwynne is such a scene stealer as the judge.
Same here. It just strikes the right chords sometimes. I love Tomei in this one. Fantastic.
 
F - The Fisher King - 1991

View attachment 9946

After shock jock Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges) inadvertently provokes a caller into murdering a group of innocent people in a Manhattan bar, he grows depressed and turns to booze. As he's about to hit rock bottom, Lucas meets a homeless man named Parry (Robin Williams), whose wife was killed by the caller Lucas pushed to the brink. Mentally scarred by his loss, Parry spends his days searching for the Holy Grail. Lucas, feeling culpable for the poor man's plight, pledges to help him in his quest. - Wikipedia

When I was deciding on which film to choose for the letter F, this one was always near the top of the list. I love Robin Williams. I love Jeff Bridges. I love the mind of Terry Gilliam. Add those together, and it's pretty much a done deal that The Fisher King should be my choice.

From imbd:

Parry: It begins with the king as a boy, having to spend the night alone in the forest to prove his courage so he can become king. Now while he is spending the night alone he's visited by a sacred vision. Out of the fire appears the holy grail, symbol of God's divine grace. And a voice said to the boy, "You shall be keeper of the grail so that it may heal the hearts of men." But the boy was blinded by greater visions of a life filled with power and glory and beauty. And in this state of radical amazement he felt for a brief moment not like a boy, but invincible, like God, so he reached into the fire to take the grail, and the grail vanished, leaving him with his hand in the fire to be terribly wounded. Now as this boy grew older, his wound grew deeper. Until one day, life for him lost its reason. He had no faith in any man, not even himself. He couldn't love or feel loved. He was sick with experience. He began to die. One day a fool wandered into the castle and found the king alone. And being a fool, he was simple minded, he didn't see a king. He only saw a man alone and in pain. And he asked the king, "What ails you friend?" The king replied, "I'm thirsty. I need some water to cool my throat". So the fool took a cup from beside his bed, filled it with water and handed it to the king. As the king began to drink, he realized his wound was healed. He looked in his hands and there was the holy grail, that which he sought all of his life. And he turned to the fool and said with amazement, "How can you find that which my brightest and bravest could not?" And the fool replied, "I don't know. I only knew that you were thirsty."

Parry: There's three things in this world that you need: Respect for all kinds of life, a nice bowel movement on a regular basis, and a navy blazer.

Jack Lucas: It's important to think. It's what separates us from lentils.

Anne Napolitano: I don't believe that God made man in his image. 'Cause most of the crap that happens comes from man. No, I think man was made in the Devil's image. And women were created out of God. 'Cause after all, women can have babies, which is kind of like creating. And which also accounts for the fact that women are so attracted to men... 'cause let's face it... the Devil is a hell of a lot more interesting! Believe me, I've slept with some saints in my day, I know what I'm talking about. So the whole point in life is for men and women to get married... so that God and the Devil can get together and work it out. Not that we have to get married. God forbid.

Jack Lucas: I don't mean to be flippant or to enrage you or anything, but you're a psychotic man.
Parry: I know.
Jack Lucas: A very nice psychotic man.
Parry: Thank you.

[Parry awakens from his catatonic state]
Parry: I was dreaming, Jack. I was dreaming that I was married to a beautiful woman... you were in it, too.
[pause]
Parry: I really miss her, Jack. Is it okay to miss her now?

There are some movies I watch for the temporary escape from reality. There are some movies I watch because they bring back fond memories. Then there are movies like The Fisher King that I watch because of the artistry...and the truth it holds. This isn't one of Robin Williams' most popular flicks, but it's certainly one of his best performances. Some of the lines he says in this film are particularly poignant in light of how his life ended.

View attachment 9947

View attachment 9948

View attachment 9949
“I only knew you were thirsty” gets me every time.
 
Bill: Stan, I've seen your parents argue. Trust me, they're amateurs.

Some excellent "M" movies are already off the board. As such, "M" is for:

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

View attachment 9945

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104952/

I love this movie. It's not the greatest film ever. It has absolutely no special effects or big action sequences. It's mostly character development and dialogue. And it's hilarious.

From wikipedia:





Pesci, Gwynne, and Tomei are definitely the stars here. This movie is also Tomei's "breakthrough" role after being in several smaller films.

I found the bolded part amazing the first time I heard it years ago, but the following (long, but interesting!) backs it up with detail. I think that is one reason the film is so enjoyable. It actually (generally) works within the confines of the law throughout.



Mona Lisa Vito: Whoa. You're gonna shoot a deer?
Vinny Gambini: I don't know. I suppose. I mean, I'm a man's man, I could go deer hunting.
Mona Lisa Vito: A sweet, innocent, harmless, leaf-eating, doe-eyed little deer.
Vinny Gambini: Hey Lisa, I'm not gonna go out there just to wimp out, you know. I mean, the guy will lose respect for me, would you rather have that?
[Lisa gets up, walks over to the bathroom and shuts the door]
Vinny Gambini: What about these pants I got on, you think they're O.K.?
Mona Lisa Vito: [comes out of the bathroom] Imagine you're a deer. You're prancing along, you get thirsty, you spot a little brook, you put your little deer lips down to the cool clear water... BAM! A ******* bullet rips off part of your head! Your brains are laying on the ground in little bloody pieces! Now I ask ya. Would you give a **** what kind of pants the son of a ***** who shot you was wearing?

Vinny Gambini: [opening statements] Uh... everything that guy just said is bull****... Thank you.
D.A. Jim Trotter: Objection. Counsel's entire opening statement is argumentative.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Sustained. Counselor's entire opening statement... with the exception of "thank you"... will be stricken from the record.

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Mr. Gambini?
Vinny Gambini: Yes, sir?
Judge Chamberlain Haller: That is a lucid, intelligent, well thought-out objection.
Vinny Gambini: Thank you, Your Honor.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: [firm tone] Overruled.

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Would you please answer the counselor's question?
Mona Lisa Vito: No, I hate him.
Vinny Gambini: Your Honor, may I have permission to treat Ms. Vito as a hostile witness?
Mona Lisa Vito: You think I'm hostile now, wait 'til you see me tonight.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Do you two know each other?
Vinny Gambini: Yeah, she's my fiancée.
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Well, that would certainly explain the hostility.


Lisa: Don't worry, I'll find a way to bail you out.
Vinny Gambini: No don't. I'm gonna stay in prison tonight. Maybe I'll finally get some sleep. I'm doing good, huh?
This is one of my dad’s favorite movies.
 
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Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
We’re river rafting Redding to Red Bluff with but a cell phone to pick with.

H = The Hobbit (1977)


https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0077687/?ref_=fn_al_tt_0
Um, not to rain on anyone's parade (or river raft) or anything, but the rules state:

All movies must have been released in theaters. No made-for-TV, no Netflix, no Amazon, etc.
To the best of my knowledge, this was a made-for-TV show. I think @foxfire will need to make a different pick unless someone has a reason to allow it.

Per wikipedia:

The Hobbit is a 1977 Japanese-American animated musical television special created by Rankin/Bass, a studio known for their holiday specials, and animated by Topcraft, a precursor to Studio Ghibli. The film is an adaptation of the 1937 book of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien, and was first broadcast on NBC in the United States on Sunday, November 27, 1977.
 
F - The Fisher King - 1991

View attachment 9946

After shock jock Jack Lucas (Jeff Bridges) inadvertently provokes a caller into murdering a group of innocent people in a Manhattan bar, he grows depressed and turns to booze. As he's about to hit rock bottom, Lucas meets a homeless man named Parry (Robin Williams), whose wife was killed by the caller Lucas pushed to the brink. Mentally scarred by his loss, Parry spends his days searching for the Holy Grail. Lucas, feeling culpable for the poor man's plight, pledges to help him in his quest. - Wikipedia

When I was deciding on which film to choose for the letter F, this one was always near the top of the list. I love Robin Williams. I love Jeff Bridges. I love the mind of Terry Gilliam. Add those together, and it's pretty much a done deal that The Fisher King should be my choice.

From imbd:

Parry: It begins with the king as a boy, having to spend the night alone in the forest to prove his courage so he can become king. Now while he is spending the night alone he's visited by a sacred vision. Out of the fire appears the holy grail, symbol of God's divine grace. And a voice said to the boy, "You shall be keeper of the grail so that it may heal the hearts of men." But the boy was blinded by greater visions of a life filled with power and glory and beauty. And in this state of radical amazement he felt for a brief moment not like a boy, but invincible, like God, so he reached into the fire to take the grail, and the grail vanished, leaving him with his hand in the fire to be terribly wounded. Now as this boy grew older, his wound grew deeper. Until one day, life for him lost its reason. He had no faith in any man, not even himself. He couldn't love or feel loved. He was sick with experience. He began to die. One day a fool wandered into the castle and found the king alone. And being a fool, he was simple minded, he didn't see a king. He only saw a man alone and in pain. And he asked the king, "What ails you friend?" The king replied, "I'm thirsty. I need some water to cool my throat". So the fool took a cup from beside his bed, filled it with water and handed it to the king. As the king began to drink, he realized his wound was healed. He looked in his hands and there was the holy grail, that which he sought all of his life. And he turned to the fool and said with amazement, "How can you find that which my brightest and bravest could not?" And the fool replied, "I don't know. I only knew that you were thirsty."

Parry: There's three things in this world that you need: Respect for all kinds of life, a nice bowel movement on a regular basis, and a navy blazer.

Jack Lucas: It's important to think. It's what separates us from lentils.

Anne Napolitano: I don't believe that God made man in his image. 'Cause most of the crap that happens comes from man. No, I think man was made in the Devil's image. And women were created out of God. 'Cause after all, women can have babies, which is kind of like creating. And which also accounts for the fact that women are so attracted to men... 'cause let's face it... the Devil is a hell of a lot more interesting! Believe me, I've slept with some saints in my day, I know what I'm talking about. So the whole point in life is for men and women to get married... so that God and the Devil can get together and work it out. Not that we have to get married. God forbid.

Jack Lucas: I don't mean to be flippant or to enrage you or anything, but you're a psychotic man.
Parry: I know.
Jack Lucas: A very nice psychotic man.
Parry: Thank you.

[Parry awakens from his catatonic state]
Parry: I was dreaming, Jack. I was dreaming that I was married to a beautiful woman... you were in it, too.
[pause]
Parry: I really miss her, Jack. Is it okay to miss her now?

There are some movies I watch for the temporary escape from reality. There are some movies I watch because they bring back fond memories. Then there are movies like The Fisher King that I watch because of the artistry...and the truth it holds. This isn't one of Robin Williams' most popular flicks, but it's certainly one of his best performances. Some of the lines he says in this film are particularly poignant in light of how his life ended.

View attachment 9947

View attachment 9948

View attachment 9949
Damn!! My F options just got decimated! Looks like it's back to the drawing board. Excellent pick!