2020 Shelter in Place Alphabet Movie Draft - BONUS ROUNDS

The new Hulu series based on this book/movie is actually pretty good. They flipped it so "Rob" is played by Zoe Kravitz but it's more loyal to the source material than I expected despite the gender swap. It may seem like stunt casting at first but as the series plays out, having the daughter of a rock star whose mom is in the original film play the main character ends up being pretty genius on a metatextual level, which is appropriate given how metatextual the book is. And the emotional climax of the first season definitely felt earned and hit me harder than anything in the movie (which is also great in its own way).
That sounds cool. Thanks for the head’s up.
 
With my twelfth pick in the Shelter in Place Alphabet Movie Draft, I will make use of the letter Z to select:

Zodiac (2007):



Director: David Fincher
Dir. of Photography: Harris Savides
Writer(s): James Vanderbilt, Robert Graysmith (based on the novel by)
Score: David Shire
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox
Genre(s): Crime, drama, mystery
Runtime: 2 hours, 37 minutes

IMDb Entry: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443706/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Hey, friends. Sorry for the delay. Life, and all that. For the first time, I'll have to postpone my write-up. But I wanted to select a great film for the unheralded letter z.

edit: David Fincher’s Zodiac, based on the true-to-life story of the Zodiac Killer, is a perfect example of how to create genuinely thrilling suspense without the use of cheap tricks or twists. It is a masterclass in sharp writing, objective camera movement, and precise editing, as well as the craftsmanship of an incredibly talented cast.

Thematically speaking, Zodiac is a mesmerizing, in-depth study of obsession and its potential consequences. Although the focus is placed on neither the murderer nor the psychological motivation behind his crimes, he never ceases to represent the gravity that pulls on each of the characters in the film. The Zodiac Killer is a phantasm that always remains just slightly out of reach, eating away at the protagonists' sanity and constantly bringing into question their own sense of safety and stability in a world gone mad.

The painstaking obsession at the center of the film's concerns has a way of mirroring Fincher's own meticulous process in creating the perfect thriller. Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. were less than complimentary of Fincher's penchant for demanding take after take after take of a particular scene until he got precisely what he wanted from his cast. Mark Ruffalo was more understanding: “The way I see it is, you enter into someone else’s world as an actor. You can put your expectations aside and have an experience that’s new and pushes and changes you, or hold on to what you think it should be and have a stubborn, immovable journey that’s filled with disappointment and anger.”

Perhaps that disappointment and anger informed the nature of the characters played by all three, who, just as in real life, were unable to apprehend the perpetrator of the heinous murders they were investigating.
 
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Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
Han Solo: [stepping on board the Millennium Falcon] Chewie... we're home.

"S" is for:

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

Star_Wars_The_Force_Awakens_Theatrical_Poster.jpg

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2488496/

I knew I wanted some Star Wars with me. Yes, I know the story is very derivative of Episode IV. You know what? I don't care. With Episode IV off the board with the second selection, there were a couple of other SW movies worth taking. Some may argue (and they may be right) that they are "better" movies than this one. But the reason I chose this one is this: after decades of inferior SW (prequel) flicks, this is the first one that brought that feeling, energy, and fun of the original SW movies back to the theater. It obviously brought back all the favorite stars from the original series. Oh, yeah, and John Williams was back doing the movie score. For those reasons and more I'm glad to claim it for my list.

From wikipedia:

The movie was a theatrical juggernaut, setting all kinds of sales and box office records. (Some of the following has been simplified for easier reading.)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens grossed $936.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.132 billion in other countries for a worldwide total of $2.068 billion. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold close to 110 million tickets in North America, the most tickets sold by any film in North America since (redacted) in 1997 (128 million). The Force Awakens earned 8.6% of the total 2015 releases in North America, second only to the 8.8% of the box office earned by (redacted) in 1997. The film is the highest-grossing film of 2015, the highest-grossing film in the franchise (surpassing (redacted)), the second highest-grossing film released by Walt Disney Studios, the highest-grossing film in North America (dethroning (redacted)), and the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time. When adjusted for inflation, it also stands as the tenth-highest-grossing film in cinematic history, with a worldwide gross of $2.103 billion. It was the 24th film in cinematic history to gross $1 billion worldwide, standing as the fastest film to surpass the mark at the time, doing so in 12 days. It was also the third film in history to surpass $2 billion worldwide, doing so on its 53rd day of release. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $780.1 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it the most profitable film of 2015 and the most profitable film in the last seven years.
The Force Awakens was released in the United States and Canada on December 18, 2015. It made a record-breaking $57 million from Thursday night previews, of which IMAX screenings generated a record-breaking $5.7 million from 391 screens. On its opening day, the film grossed $119.1 million, marking the biggest single- and opening-day record and the first time a film has earned more than $100 million in a single day. In total, it earned a record $247,966,675 for its opening weekend. The debut was 19% bigger than the previous record holder(s) (redacted) ($207 million) and (redacted) ($208 million).

Other records set by the film include the biggest weekend per-theater average for a wide release ($59,982 per theater from 4,134 theaters), biggest holiday opening, biggest PG-13 rated opening, and biggest December opening.
Revenues in the film's second weekend decreased by only 39.8% in the United States and Canada, earning $149.2 million, to remain in first place at the box office and recording the biggest second weekend of all time.

The Force Awakens crossed the $1 billion mark on the twelfth day of its general release (December 26, 2015), making it the fastest film to reach this mark at that time.

On January 2, after just 16 days of release, it became the second film (following (redacted)) to gross over $700 million in North America, and on January 6 became the highest-grossing film of all time domestically, doing so in 20 days. On January 9, it became the first film in cinematic history to cross $800 million domestically unadjusted for inflation.

On February 5, the fiftieth day of release, The Force Awakens became the first film to earn over $900 million, unadjusted for inflation, in the United States and Canada. On the following day, it became the third film in cinematic history to pass $2 billion in ticket sales worldwide (after (redacted) and (redacted)) and the second in original release (after (redacted)).
OK, so it made Disney a LOT of money. :)

The Force Awakens received five nominations at the 88th Academy Awards as Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing and Best Visual Effects. The film garnered four nominations at 69th British Academy Film Awards, and won for Best Special Visual Effects and a special BAFTA Rising Star Award for John Boyega. At the 21st Empire Awards, the film received nine nominations and won five including Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film, and Best Director for J. J. Abrams. The Force Awakens became the most nominated film in Saturn Awards history with total of thirteen nominations at 42nd Saturn Awards and won eight including Best Science Fiction Film, Best Director and Best Special Effects. The film received seven nominations from the Visual Effects Society, winning four including Outstanding Visual Effects in an Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture. Star Wars: The Force Awakens received eleven nominations at MTV Movie Awards, the most for the ceremony and won three including Movie of the Year.
Han Solo: What was your job when you were based here?
Finn: Sanitation.
Han Solo: Sanitation? Then how do you know how to disable the shields?
Finn: I don't. I'm just here to get Rey.
Han Solo: People are counting on us. The galaxy is counting on us.
Finn: Solo, we'll figure it out. We'll use the Force.
Han Solo: That's not how the Force works!

Rey: [Concentrating harder] You will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open.
FN-1824: I will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open.
[he follows the compulsion and as he is about to leave the cell...]
Rey: And you'll drop your weapon.
FN-1824: And I'll drop my weapon.

Han Solo: Okay. How do we blow it up? There's always a way to do that.


Leia: Hope is not lost today... it is found.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
I knew I wanted some Star Wars with me. Yes, I know the story is very derivative of Episode IV. You know what? I don't care. With Episode IV off the board with the second selection, there were a couple of other SW movies worth taking. Some may argue (and they may be right) that they are "better" movies than this one. But the reason I chose this one is this: after decades of inferior SW (prequel) flicks, this is the first one that brought that feeling, energy, and fun of the original SW movies back to the theater.
100% with you on that one. Speaking for myself, the remainder of the (canon) series was disappointing, and even more so because I thought Episode VII set up the opportunity to close out the Skywalker Saga in grand style. And yes, "derivative" (of a film I picked, though if I recall correctly you have done the same in the past) is completely correct. But let me just say that I have never been so excited for a sequel as I was after I walked out of Episode VII. And re-watching it still gives me that excitement.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
1592589201770.png

R - RED - 2010

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245526/

In all honesty, I had a totally different movie in the queue for my next pick. Last night though, I got a chance to watch this film again...and was reminded how much I enjoy it every single time I watch it.

There's so much to enjoy. Aside from Bruce Willis' character, there's John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman (among others).

The film is well crafted and fast paced. You don't have to think a lot to enjoy it; you just sit back, fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride.

From Imdb:

Frank (Bruce Willis) is retired, bored, and lonely living off of his government pension in a nondescript suburb in an equally nondescript house. The only joy in Frank's life is his calls to the government pension processing center when he gets to talk to his case worker, Sarah (Mary-Louis Parker). Sarah is as bored and lonely as Frank and marks her conversations with the unknown Frank and her spy novels as the only things fun in her life. When something in Frank's past forces him back into his old line of work and puts an unwitting Sarah in the middle of the intrigue, Frank and Sarah begin a journey into his past and the people with whom he used to work. Like Frank they are all "R.E.D." - Retired Extremely Dangerous.

Just a few quotes:

Businesswoman: That's right, old man!
Marvin Boggs (Malkovich): Old man?
Frank Moses: No respect.
Marvin Boggs: Can I kill her now?

Frank Moses: [while grappling with Cooper] Kordesky trained you?
William Cooper: Yeah.
Frank Moses: I trained Kordesky.
[dislocates Cooper's shoulder]

Marvin Boggs: I never thought I'd say this again. *I am getting the pig*!

Sarah Ross: [talking quietly about Marvin] Wow. This guy's insane.
Frank Moses: Well, he thought he was the subject of a secret government mind control project.
Marvin Boggs: [in another room, checking files] This'll take a minute.
Sarah Ross: Sure.
Frank Moses: As it turns out... he really was being given daily doses of LSD for 11 years.
Sarah Ross: Well, in that case, he looks great.
Frank Moses: Fantastic.
Sarah Ross: Yeah...

Victoria (Mirren): You know, I was in love with an agent once.
Sarah Ross: What happened?
Victoria: Well, I was with MI6. And the relationship wasn't... sanctioned. So when it came to light, my loyalty was questioned. And I was ordered to kill him. It was a test.
Sarah Ross: What did you do?
Victoria: I put three bullets in his chest.

Frank Moses: [Marvin has just shot a bad guy] Feel better now?
Marvin Boggs: Yeah. Wanna get pancakes?

Ivan Simanov: Still... I owe you... for killing Igor.
Frank Moses: Igor the Butcher.
Ivan Simanov: He was a great asset.
Frank Moses: He was a pig.
Ivan Simanov: He was my cousin.
Frank Moses: I'm sorry.
Ivan Simanov: [raises his glass] To Igor.
[clinks glasses with Frank]
Ivan Simanov: The Butcher.
Frank Moses: [raises his own] He's not dead.
[Ivan chokes on his vodka]
Frank Moses: I flipped him.
Ivan Simanov: ...No.
Frank Moses: He owns a string of 7-11s in Orange County.
Ivan Simanov: What?
Frank Moses: He weighs 500 pounds.
[They laugh hysterically]

Sarah Ross: Get back. Go away. Stay away from me! Is that my bag?
Frank Moses: Yeah.
Sarah Ross: You-You packed it?
Frank Moses: Yes.
Sarah Ross: [looks around] D-d-did you vacuum?
Frank Moses: A little yeah, it was messy.

Marvin Boggs: I remember the Secret Service being tougher.
Victoria: Me, too.

Marvin Boggs: Why are you trying to kill me?
Frank Moses: I'm not trying to kill you!
Marvin Boggs: Oh, yeah. You are.
Frank Moses: Why would I be trying to kill you?
Marvin Boggs: Because the last time we met, I tried to kill you.
Frank Moses: That was a long time ago.
Marvin Boggs: Some people hold on to things like that.

Frank Moses: [to Marvin] Pig! Open the pig!
[Marvin unzips the pig and Frank pulls out a grenade launcher]
 
W = The War (1994) - PG-13



A simple film bursting with life that brings me to tears with each viewing.

The title not only refers to the Vietnam War, which has an appropriate albeit very limited place in the film, but it also refers to the literal war that the children continuously wage with one another and the figurative war that rages within each of them...for identity and purpose.

Kevin Costner gives a wonderful performance in a supporting role, but Elijah Wood and especially Lexi Randall steal the show as the leads. They play brother and sister, picking up the pieces in a family torn apart.

"Sometimes all it takes is a split second to do something you regret the whole rest of your life."
Link #1
Link #2
Link #3

Quotes:
Lidia: My name's Lidia Simmons, and I'm 12 years old, and these here are my memoirs. I can't really tell ya much about me, nor my life, without first telling ya 'bout my brother Stu. All spring Stu's being kinda quiet. Perhaps it was because a couple months earlier our father gone out looking for work and never returned. It wasn't the first time dad went away. Ever since he'd come back from Vietnam things haven't been just right. Mom held two jobs just to make ends meet. And we were still dirt poor, like everybody else in Juliet Mississippi. But this June morning in 1970 was different. All the flowers were in bloom, and along with the color, and sweet smell of summer, our father had come home."

Steven: I can't tell you never to fight, Stu. But if you want to know what I think, I think the only thing that keeps people truly safe and happy is love. I think that's where men get their courage. That's where countries get their strength. That's where God grants us our miracles. And in the absence of love, Stuart, there is nothing, nothing in this world worth fighting for.

Stu: I hope you know they're the kids who just beat me up.
Stephen: I know who they are son.
Stu: Then why'd you give them Ma and Lidia's cotton candy?
Stephen: Because they look like that they hadn't been given anything in a long time.

Lois: Are you telling me Stephen bought us a house?
Realtor: Yes, ma'am.
Stu: Lipstick and rouge, Ma.
Lois: Don't I know!
Lidia: So I guess these memoirs are about us.

Lidia: War is like a big machine that no one really knows how to run and when it gets out of control it ends up destroying the things you thought you were fighting for, and a lot of other things you kinda forgot you had.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111667/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_10
 
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Warhawk

Give blood and save a life!
Staff member
View attachment 9955

R - RED - 2010

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245526/

In all honesty, I had a totally different movie in the queue for my next pick. Last night though, I got a chance to watch this film again...and was reminded how much I enjoy it every single time I watch it.

There's so much to enjoy. Aside from Bruce Willis' character, there's John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman (among others).
This movie is so much fun. Hence the reason I picked it a couple years ago. :)
 
Lethal Weapon is a good movie, but the best thing about Lethal Weapon is that nobody speciously argues that it's a Christmas movie.

Oh yeah, I started that.
And now, I just spent more time reading someone’s argument that Lethal Weapon is indeed a Christmas movie than I’ve spent even thinking about that film in the last 30 years.
 
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bajaden

Hall of Famer
L is for The last of the Dogmen: I've always been fascinated with the Indian culture, and the mythology surrounding many of the tribes. One has to wonder what is mythological, and what is true. This is one of those little movies that explores one of those stories. The movie was directed by Tab Murphy and stars Tom Berenger as bounty hunter and tracker, Lewis Gates, along with Barbara Hershey as professor Lillian Sloan, an archaeologist whose speciality is Indian artifacts and culture. The cast also includes Kurtwood Smith as sheriff Deegan.

The movie was recieved well critically, but didn't do particularly well at the box office. It's a movie that I've enjoyed watching multiple times over the years. While there are HD versions of the full movie, I couldn't find a HD trailer for the film. I reluctantly passed over an academy award winner in favor of this film.

Distraught but skillful bounty hunter Lewis Gates, accompanied by his horse and faithful companion Zip, an Australian cattle dog, tracks three armed escaped convicts into Montana's Oxbow Quadrangle, at the persistence of his unforgiving father-in-law, who blames Gates for his daughter's tragic death. Gates sees the convicts but hears shots. Investigating the scene, all Gates finds is a bloody scrap of cloth, "enough blood to paint the sheriff's office," a bloody shotgun shell, and an old-fashioned Indian arrow.

Gates takes the arrow to archaeologist Lillian Sloan, who identifies it as a replica of the arrows used by Cheyenne Dog Soldiers. Gates doesn't think it's a replica and, after some library research, develops a long list of people who have disappeared into the Oxbow. He also finds a story of a "wild child" captured in the woods in the early 20th century. Now, he's convinced that the fugitives were killed by a tribe of Dog Soldiers, a hardy band of Native Americans who somehow escaped the 1864 Sand Creek massacre and survived for 128 years, secluded in the Montana Wilderness, killing anyone who threatened to find and expose them.

Gates convinces Sloan to join him in a search for the band. The two enter the Oxbow and begin to search. They survive many mishaps and bond throughout their journey, eventually venturing deeper into the wilderness than Gates has ever gone before.

 
Lethal Weapon is a good movie, but the best thing about Lethal Weapon is that nobody speciously argues that it's a Christmas movie.

Oh yeah, I started that.
I'd argue that Lethal Weapon is actually more of a Christmas movie than Die Hard is. It's a film that's very much about [found] family, about bringing a lost soul back into the fold of humanity. And like any great Christmas song, there's an element of sadness to it, of age giving way to nostalgia, of longing and hope as the new year approaches. Riggs doesn't even realize how desperate he is for family and genuine emotional support until the Murtaugh's accept him and welcome him into their life, flaws and all. By the film's end, Riggs recognizes his need, and recognizes that he's needed. He ultimately rejects the path of suicide. I'll go to bat every day of the week for Lethal Weapon as a Christmas movie. ;)

edit: Shane Black, on why so many of his scripts are set at Christmas time:
It tends to be a touchstone for me. Christmas represents a little stutter in the march of days, a hush in which we have a chance to assess and retrospect our lives. I tend to think also that it just informs as a backdrop. The first time I noticed it was [REDACTED], the Sydney Pollack film, where Christmas in the background adds this really odd, chilling counterpoint to the espionage plot. I also think that Christmas is just a thing of beauty, especially as it applies to places like Los Angeles, where it’s not so obvious, and you have to dig for it, like little nuggets.

One night, on Christmas Eve, I walked past a Mexican lunch wagon serving tacos, and I saw this little string, and on it was a little broken plastic figurine, with a light bulb inside it, of the Virgin Mary. And I thought, that’s just a little hidden piece of magic. You know, all around the city are little slices, little icons of Christmas, that are as effective and beautiful in and of themselves as any 40-foot Christmas tree on the lawn of the White House. So that, in a lot of words, is the answer.
Shane Black clearly views his scripts as an extension of the magic of the holiday, an opportunity to linger in both retrospection and introspection, which are hallmarks of the Christmas season. Die Hard is a movie set at Christmas. Lethal Weapon is a Christmas movie.
 
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VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
L is for The last of the Dogmen: I've always been fascinated with the Indian culture, and the mythology surrounding many of the tribes. One has to wonder what is mythological, and what is true. This is one of those little movies that explores one of those stories. The movie was directed by Tab Murphy and stars Tom Berenger as bounty hunter and tracker, Lewis Gates, along with Barbara Hershey as professor Lillian Sloan, an archaeologist whose speciality is Indian artifacts and culture. The cast also includes Kurtwood Smith as sheriff Deegan.

The movie was recieved well critically, but didn't do particularly well at the box office. It's a movie that I've enjoyed watching multiple times over the years. While there are HD versions of the full movie, I couldn't find a HD trailer for the film. I reluctantly passed over an academy award winner in favor of this film.

Distraught but skillful bounty hunter Lewis Gates, accompanied by his horse and faithful companion Zip, an Australian cattle dog, tracks three armed escaped convicts into Montana's Oxbow Quadrangle, at the persistence of his unforgiving father-in-law, who blames Gates for his daughter's tragic death. Gates sees the convicts but hears shots. Investigating the scene, all Gates finds is a bloody scrap of cloth, "enough blood to paint the sheriff's office," a bloody shotgun shell, and an old-fashioned Indian arrow.

Gates takes the arrow to archaeologist Lillian Sloan, who identifies it as a replica of the arrows used by Cheyenne Dog Soldiers. Gates doesn't think it's a replica and, after some library research, develops a long list of people who have disappeared into the Oxbow. He also finds a story of a "wild child" captured in the woods in the early 20th century. Now, he's convinced that the fugitives were killed by a tribe of Dog Soldiers, a hardy band of Native Americans who somehow escaped the 1864 Sand Creek massacre and survived for 128 years, secluded in the Montana Wilderness, killing anyone who threatened to find and expose them.

Gates convinces Sloan to join him in a search for the band. The two enter the Oxbow and begin to search. They survive many mishaps and bond throughout their journey, eventually venturing deeper into the wilderness than Gates has ever gone before.

I had never heard of this film. Now, thanks to you, I'm going to have to hunt it down. (I don't have access to Netflix, which makes it more of a challenge...)
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
Looks like KainLear has timed out. I don't feel too bad as he has already picked this letter anyway...

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



Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Slim Pickens

Trailer

I suppose the timing on this pick can act as a decent tribute to Vera Lynn, the singer whose work was used for the unforgettable outro to Kubrick's darkest of dark comedies, who passed away just two days ago at the ripe old age of 103(!!!). In Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick tackles the absurdity of Mutually Assured Destruction as a mad base commander (his bodily fluids sapped by a Communist fluoride plot) launches an unauthorized nuclear strike against the Soviet Union - who have themselves constructed an automatically-triggered Doomsday device they have kind of neglected to mention. The action plays out in three arenas: with the base commander, bunkered down to avoid giving up the abort code only he knows; on the one U.S. nuke-carrying plane whose communications are damaged, and thus miss the abort code; and in the dark and spacious war room (no fighting in there!) where the American leaders try to forestall doom. It's a wickedly hilarious movie, and even more so because none of it is played for laughs, and of course a reminder of the knife edge between a balance of power and total destruction.

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day...
 
L = The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Edition (2001)



Peter Jackson did a masterful job bringing the enormous, vibrant world of J.R.R. Tolkein to life in this first film. The landscape of New Zealand is beautifully filmed, the cast works well together, and the mystery and magic pulls me in with each viewing.

Link #1
Link #2
Link #3

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120737/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
 
Looks like KainLear has timed out. I don't feel too bad as he has already picked this letter anyway...

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



Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Slim Pickens

Trailer

I suppose the timing on this pick can act as a decent tribute to Vera Lynn, the singer whose work was used for the unforgettable outro to Kubrick's darkest of dark comedies, who passed away just two days ago at the ripe old age of 103(!!!). In Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick tackles the absurdity of Mutually Assured Destruction as a mad base commander (his bodily fluids sapped by a Communist fluoride plot) launches an unauthorized nuclear strike against the Soviet Union - who have themselves constructed an automatically-triggered Doomsday device they have kind of neglected to mention. The action plays out in three arenas: with the base commander, bunkered down to avoid giving up the abort code only he knows; on the one U.S. nuke-carrying plane whose communications are damaged, and thus miss the abort code; and in the dark and spacious war room (no fighting in there!) where the American leaders try to forestall doom. It's a wickedly hilarious movie, and even more so because none of it is played for laughs, and of course a reminder of the knife edge between a balance of power and total destruction.

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day...
Such a biting, masterful satire. Peter Sellers is genius! Nice pick :)
 
I once snatched a DVD of my next pick out of a grocery store $5 bargain bin otherwise filled with direct-to-video Olsen Twin vehicles and horror movies with a whole lot of Roman numerals after the title.

I did so then, much as I’m doing now, simply because I couldn’t stand to see a worthy Best Picture winner banished to the bargain bin.

U is for ...



Unforgiven (1992)

If not for the alphabet gimmick, I doubt I would otherwise get this one. But that shouldn’t take away from its quality as Eastwood creates a powerful subversion of the genre that made him famous.

Eastwood and Freeman complain about the uncomfortable realties of living an outlaw’s life on the range. A journalist keeps trying to make common criminals and killers into romanticized heroes, until their true colors inevitably bleed out. A young Billy the Kid type eager for action and glory, swears off the life after suffering through the truth of his first actual murder.

The cinematography is impressively beautiful and classic Western with wide open landscape and intimate character-building one-shots around the campfire or table lantern. Especially ironic as the story it tells is even more impressive as a deconstruction of the legendary Western mythos.
 

Attachments

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Looks like KainLear has timed out. I don't feel too bad as he has already picked this letter anyway...

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



Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Slim Pickens

Trailer

I suppose the timing on this pick can act as a decent tribute to Vera Lynn, the singer whose work was used for the unforgettable outro to Kubrick's darkest of dark comedies, who passed away just two days ago at the ripe old age of 103(!!!). In Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick tackles the absurdity of Mutually Assured Destruction as a mad base commander (his bodily fluids sapped by a Communist fluoride plot) launches an unauthorized nuclear strike against the Soviet Union - who have themselves constructed an automatically-triggered Doomsday device they have kind of neglected to mention. The action plays out in three arenas: with the base commander, bunkered down to avoid giving up the abort code only he knows; on the one U.S. nuke-carrying plane whose communications are damaged, and thus miss the abort code; and in the dark and spacious war room (no fighting in there!) where the American leaders try to forestall doom. It's a wickedly hilarious movie, and even more so because none of it is played for laughs, and of course a reminder of the knife edge between a balance of power and total destruction.

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day...
Mein Fuhrer! I can walk!
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Looks like KainLear has timed out. I don't feel too bad as he has already picked this letter anyway...

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



Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Slim Pickens

Trailer

I suppose the timing on this pick can act as a decent tribute to Vera Lynn, the singer whose work was used for the unforgettable outro to Kubrick's darkest of dark comedies, who passed away just two days ago at the ripe old age of 103(!!!). In Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick tackles the absurdity of Mutually Assured Destruction as a mad base commander (his bodily fluids sapped by a Communist fluoride plot) launches an unauthorized nuclear strike against the Soviet Union - who have themselves constructed an automatically-triggered Doomsday device they have kind of neglected to mention. The action plays out in three arenas: with the base commander, bunkered down to avoid giving up the abort code only he knows; on the one U.S. nuke-carrying plane whose communications are damaged, and thus miss the abort code; and in the dark and spacious war room (no fighting in there!) where the American leaders try to forestall doom. It's a wickedly hilarious movie, and even more so because none of it is played for laughs, and of course a reminder of the knife edge between a balance of power and total destruction.

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day...
The image of Slim Pickens riding that bomb down is burned into my mind.
 
With my thirteenth pick in the Shelter in Place Alphabet Movie Draft, I will make use of the letter O to select:

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968):



Director: Sergio Leone
Dir. of Photography: Tonino Delli Colli
Writer(s): Sergio Donati, Sergio Leone
Score: Ennio Morricone
Cast: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
Genre: Western
Runtime: 2 hours, 45 minutes

IMDb Entry: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064116/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6

Goodness, I need this draft to slow down! Ha. Less than a week between picks is a bit rough on me right now. Write-up will be on the way sometime soon. Suffice it to say that my draft is currently lacking a western, so here is one of the most iconic of Sergio Leone's works.
 
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Warhawk

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Logan: Nature made me a freak. Man made me a weapon. And God made it last too long.

"L" is for:

Logan (2017)

Logan_2017_poster.jpg

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/

Possibly the high point of this mutant movie universe, Logan is, to a certain extent, the "Dark Knight" of the X-Men series but almost feels more like an old western than a modern superhero movie at times. It is gritty, violent, and heavy. It is rated "R" for good reason - both for the language and violence that permeate the film. But it is also surprisingly touching and emotional, focusing both on Logan's and Professor X's declining health and their duty to protect young Laura.

The cast consists of Hugh Jackman reprising his role as Wolverine, along with Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal, and Elizabeth Rodriguez.

From wikipedia:

In July 2015, Jackman posted an image of Logan giving the middle finger with a claw to his Twitter. The image, coupled with the hashtag "#OneLastTime", signified that the film would be his last appearance as Logan, and officially announced his decision to stop playing the character he had been portraying for the past 17 years. Eventually it earned Jackman Guinness World Record of the 'longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero'.
Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter reacted positively, saying: "Seamlessly melding Marvel mythology with Western mythology, [director] James Mangold has crafted an affectingly stripped-down standalone feature, one that draws its strength from Hugh Jackman's nuanced turn as a reluctant, all but dissipated hero."
Very well put. Oh, yeah. And for those that like the old black and white flicks:

Mangold stated that it was shot as a color film, with awareness that it would play well as a black and white film. The film was re-graded and timed shot by shot for the Noir edition. This version of the film is included on the Digital HD release and also included in the DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack.
The film received critical acclaim, with much praise for its screenplay, direction, acting (particularly that of Jackman, Stewart, and Keen), action sequences, emotional depth, and departure from traditional superhero films. It became one of the best-reviewed films in the X-Men franchise, with many critics regarding it as one of the greatest superhero films ever made, and it was selected by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2017. It was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 90th Academy Awards, becoming the first live-action superhero film ever to be nominated for screenwriting. It grossed over $619 million worldwide and became the third-highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
Caliban: [shows Logan an adamantium bullet] Found this in your pocket. Adamantium. If you are planning to blow your brains out, could you wait till you're out on the high seas? I just mopped these floors.Logan (2017)

Charles Xavier: You know, Logan... this is what life looks like. A home, people who love each other. Safe place. You should take a moment and feel it.

Charles Xavier: You know, Logan. This was, without a doubt, the most perfect night I've had in a very long time... and I don't deserve it, do I?
[cries]
Charles Xavier: I did something. Something unspeakable. I've remembered what happened in Westchester. This is not the first time I've hurt people. Until today, I didn't know. You wouldn't tell me. So we just kept on running away from it. I think I finally understand you.

Charles Xavier: [sees the Munsons in trouble] They need our help.
Logan: Someone will come along!
Charles Xavier: Someone HAS come along.


Logan: Bad **** happens to people I care about.
 
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I am an idiot, went camping with my buddies on a whim and totally forgot about not having internet access all weekend...

For my make-up pick, with the letter "R"...

Rear Window (1954)


Director:
Alfred Hitchcock
Writers:
John Michael Hayes (screenplay), Cornell Woolrich (based on the short story by)
Stars:
James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey

Surveillance classic from the master. Who but Hitchcock could squeeze so much tension from an incapacitated James Stewart stuck in his apartment with only a telephoto lens and Grace Kelly to keep him company? As a murder mystery seems to appear out of nowhere from the everyday routines of the neighbors he spies on, Stewart's paranoia and frustration build to a nervous climax.

 

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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.