2020 Shelter in Place Alphabet Movie Draft - BONUS ROUNDS

bajaden

Hall of Famer
N = No Way Out:

No Way Out is a suspenseful thriller staring Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Will Patton, Howard Duff, and Sean Young. The movie was directed by Roger Donaldson, and many believe it's the movie that pushed Costner into the limelight and stardom. It's two stories in one. A murder mystery, and a spy story. Two stories that may or may not be connected.

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell (Costner) is interrogated by two men about how he first met Secretary of Defense David Brice (Hackman). Farrell describes being invited to an inaugural ball by his college buddy Scott Pritchard (Patton), who intends to introduce him to Brice. Pritchard hopes that Brice will transfer Farrell to the Pentagon. On meeting Farrell, Brice is unimpressed and virtually ignores him. Moments later, Farrell begins flirting with another guest, Susan Atwell (Young). The two have sex in her limousine and at the apartment of Nina Beka, a friend of Susan's, even though she has admitted to Farrell that she is also involved with a married man. The next day, Farrell bids her good-bye at the airport, on his way back to active duty; but their one-night encounter has clearly had a profound romantic effect on both of them.

Farrell returns to sea and single-handedly rescues a crewman from being washed overboard during a storm. Brice reads a newspaper story about the rescue and orders Farrell transferred to his intelligence staff. Brice and Pritchard, Brice's second-in-command, orient him to his new assignment which clearly involves surreptitiously getting secret information from other government agencies, such as the CIA, and passing it on to Brice. Farrell also finds that he may be at times working with Sam Hesselman, an old friend now working in the Pentagon's new computer center as its chief programmer-analyst. But before this, Farrell has already gone to Susan's apartment, where their fledgling romance is re-ignited in earnest. The only hitch comes when she tells Farrell that her married "consort" is his superior, David Brice.

Some time later, after Susan and Farrell return from a romantic weekend in the country, Brice visits her unexpectedly. After urging a hurt and jealous Farrell to leave through the back door, Susan assures him that she loves him and will leave Brice. Brice sees a man leaving Susan's house but cannot see that it was Farrell. After Susan lets him in, the suspicious Brice demands to know the name of her other lover, but Susan refuses and orders him to leave.

This is where the real story begins. There's a murder, a spy named Yuri, along with an over-exposed photograph, possibly of the murderer, or the spy, or both. I'll leave it at that, rather than give the entire plot away.

 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
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.
Most Hollywood comedies don't make me laugh. Maybe, if I'm lucky, they'll get a chuckle out of me. But The Nice Guys made me laugh out loud. I highly recommend this movie if you haven't seen it.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
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 :)
Thanks!

I borrow books from the library on the Libby app all the time and totally forgot that the they do digital movies as well! I just downloaded the Hoopla app - will check for some of the movies here digitally. Unfortunately, this isn't one available that way.

It also isn't available from the Sac Co library as a hard copy.

It is apparently available on the LINK+ system (to borrow a physical copy from outside/affiliated libraries) once libraries come back on line after the coronavirus issue calms down a bit. I'll have to do that at some point. :)
 
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For round 15 and the letter "F"...

Fargo (1996)


Directors:
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (uncredited)
Writers:
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Stars:
William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi

The Coens have often been accused of weightless resonance of making films that look good but end up no more than tributes to a particular genre. The same accusation could be leveled against Fargo. But the Coen Brothers are among the ablest practitioners in America and this film is one of their best attempts to turn a familiar genre - the True Crime drama - into something miles away from the ordinary. They find many inventive ways to bring the landscape into the story, using snowbound locales and claustrophobic interiors in a well-realized visual scheme. Roger Deakins' cinematography is superb and Carter Burwell's magnificent score is a wealth of folksy melodies and tragic themes. And Frances McDormand creates as holding a central character as any they have created.

 

Capt. Factorial

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



Until the End of the World (1991, Director's Cut Digital Restoration 2014)

Directed by Wim Wenders

Starring Solveig Dommartin, William Hurt, Sam Neill, Max Von Sydow

Fan Trailer

Conceived by director Wim Wenders as the ultimate road movie, Until the End of the World is set in a near future where the impending crash of a nuclear satellite has thrown the world into near panic. Set among this uncertainty, free spirit Claire (Dommartin) ditches her life to chase after a mysterious globetrotting stranger Sam (Hurt) on the run from the law and is in her own turn pursued by her ex-lover (Neill). Their winding paths eventually lead them to a secret laboratory in the Australian Outback, where the purpose of Sam's journey is achieved, with disastrous results. Equal parts sci-fi film, road movie and art-house flick, I think it had a limited audience, but that audience included me.

I selected the fan trailer to link above because the theatrical trailer was really sub-par. Bad sound transfer, grainy film with washed-out colors, and in several instances cut in the most stilted way possible to awkwardly pack slowly-delivered lines into the tight time frame needed for a trailer. It makes the movie look...crappy, and it's completely unfair because the director's cut is gorgeous. As it was given a limited theatrical release when digitally restored in 2014, I would assume the director's cut is eligible for selection, and while the original movie is good, getting the director's cut is mandatory. The *original* cut of the film is rumored to have been 20 hours long, and while that was obviously not going to fly, the "Reader's Digest" cut that hit theaters in 1991 at 158 minutes (U.S.) was chopped down so far as to nearly lose narrative coherence. The director's cut, at 287 minutes (13 minutes short of 5 hours), is just enough to not feel rushed. It's like one of The Police (Andy Summers? Stewart Copeland? I forget.) said: "Sting thought we took everything too fast. Sting thought we took Tea in the Sahara too fast!" If you know Tea in the Sahara, you know it's one of, if not the, slowest song The Police recorded...and Sting was right, they recorded it about 50% too fast. Some art benefits from being languidly drawn out, and Until the End of the World is certainly an example. This is a movie to spend an entire evening getting wrapped up in.

You think we want you walking through our dreams - with your fancy cameras?
 
N = The Neverending Story (1984)



This is something special. "The NeverEnding Story" is a truly remarkable movie experience. A stunning and unique movie with this fantastic feeling and the feeling of being something "out-of-this-world". The finest fantasy movie of all time. A timeless and nostalgic classic.

The rich production is notorious in so many ways: the gorgeous settings and landscapes/sceneries; the amazing special effects, visual effects and blue-screen effects; the magic; the spectacular combination of sounds, which impress even more if heard loud; the music...

Another major strength is the wonderful soundtrack, work of Giorgio Moroder and Klaus Doldinger, with that genial synthpop orientation. It's so 80's and I very much welcome that. The songs are all beautiful. Another great song is Limahl's "Never Ending Story", as well as the two lovely Tami Stronach's singles "Fairy Queen" and "Riding on a Rainbow". It's impressing how she sings so well.

The movie is thrilling, very involving, exciting, great fun, contains lots of adventure, danger, strong suspense, darkness, drama, strong emotions, fantastic and strange creatures, interesting and well developed characters and a great cast.

There are strange and fantastic creatures such as the Racing Snail, the creepy Gmork, Morla the ancient one, the friendly Rockbiter (a gentle giant), the Sleepy Bat and Falkor the Luckdragon. I like Falkor very much: he's so big, so cool, so fluffy, so cute and so friendly. He also has a great sense of humor and his dog-like appearance makes him irresistible.

Other interesting characters are the somewhat rude Nighthob, Teeny Weeny, the hilariously typically grumpy old man Mr. Coriander, the eccentric and amusing gnomes Engywook and Urgl, Cairon and especially Atreyu (and his horse Artax), Bastian and the Childlike Empress. Atreyu, Bastian and the Childlike Empress are all terrific kids. Atreyu is a different kind of hero: a true hero child, which is unusual and amazing. Bastian himself is another hero child.

The movie is promising since the very beginning, with those stunning, dazzling and colorful clouds, which bring it a magical touch. The beauty of the Ivory Tower palace, the golden of the Sphinxes and the blue of the Southern Oracle are also magical details about this movie, among many others. On the other hand, the storm called "The Nothing" is spectacular but slightly creepy. Nevertheless, it is another precious help to give magic and beauty to the film. Not to mention details like the sky full of stars and no clouds and when the sky has clouds...

It's amazing how one gets involved into the story. While watching the movie, one can feel deeply involved in the story as much as Bastian does. It's impossible to ignore it because it captures one's attention and heart. Also, one can't help but get deeply involved in Atreyu's quest and everything he confronts to save Fantasia, including his emotions and despair.

The actors are all wonderful. Barret Oliver is amazing as the shy and imaginative Bastian, Noah Hathaway is awesome in the role of the young warrior Atreyu and Tami Stronach is terrific as the Childlike Empress. Her role is minor but very relevant and significant. She really looked like a little princess by portraying the Childlike Empress. It's kinda surprising that this was her only movie role ever. Noah Hathaway... that long hair really fitted very well on him and his character Atreyu resembles an Indian, but only a little bit.

"The NeverEnding Story" is more than one of the greatest movies from the 80's. It is one of the best, most beautiful, magical and distinguish movies ever. A fine movie with a very good message as well. I can positively say that Mr. Wolfgang Petersen knew what he was doing. This is his masterpiece.

The movie is a German production filmed in English with mostly American and English actors. The majority of the film takes place in Germany. And it was officially launched under its original title, "Die Unendliche Geschichte", despite being filmed in English. By the way, I was born in 1984 and I'm very proud that this movie is from that year. After all, it's a movie that I love.
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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088323/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
 
I leaned hard into the Weinstein drama with my last pick, for obvious reasons.

How about my final word on the subject be about the time a gentle, quiet, grandfatherly, pacifist Japanese animator stood up to the Hollywood bully who wanted to cut up one of his many masterpieces for its American release.

So Miyazaki-San mailed Weinstein a samurai sword along with a simple message:

“No Cuts”

P is for ...



Princess Mononoke (1997)

Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki are famous for producing animated classics, and I’ve come to appreciate most of them, but Princess Mononoke is far an away my favorite. From the first time I watched its opening scenes, I was mesmerized by its animation and storytelling.

Miyazaki's classic themes are present: an exploration of people’s relationship with nature and technology, celebration of wholesome and traditional communities, urging pacifism over violence. However, the plotting and approach seem so much more adult than many of his other works, which generally steer closer to the point of view of the young or at least young-at-heart.

Princess Mononoke in that regard is ruthlessly brutal. This is the story of bitter war for survival and its poisonous collateral damage spilling into surrounding communities. Within the first 20 minutes the protagonist has been cursed by demon Tenticles and decapitated a bandit with an arrow. Our titular Princess was raised by wolves, is straight vicious with a knife, and casually drinks blood. Killer. And because of distribution deals, San is technically a Disney Princess, so cheers to that.

Still, the slight edginess isn’t even the main draw for me. It’s the overwhelming depth and complexity of the narrative and characters that cement this as my favorite animated film. To that point, I would argue there is no villain in the film. I mean, Lady Aboshi is clearly the cause of the calamity that’s destroying the wildlife and corrupting the forest spirits, but she’s not doing it out of malice. She is a kind, empathetic, and competent leader trying to protect her own community. The destruction of the forest is an unintended consequence, and unlike traditional megalomaniacal antagonists, she will absolutely listen to reason. In truth, the first time I watched Princess Mononoke, I had no idea she was supposed to be the villain. Her positions were relatable, her goals were understandable, and her methods were within reason. She was wrong, but not evil. I was rooting for her to “figure it out” as much as I was for the forest spirts to recover.

And that’s true for the entire cast: there is no good and evil. There are communities and characters with competing needs and desires, and their personalized codes of morality, but no heroic do-gooder or sinister villain. It’s the story of a war where both sides get their points of view seen and grievances aired without celebration or condemnation.

To top it all off, the animation is beautiful and the mythology is rich. Miyazaki and his crew have always been in a class to themselves in their craftsmanship, and Princess Mononoke highlights the master at his best.








 

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Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
I sent Padrino a message - his time is up in less than 1 hour. It sounds like "real life" stuff is keeping him busy so I just wanted to send a reminder. I'm sure we all know how that goes. :)
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Juno MacGuff: Orange Tic-Tacs are Bleeker's one and only vice. When we made out, the day I got pregnant, his mouth tasted really tangy and delicious.

"J" is for:

Juno (2007)

Junoposter2007.png

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467406/

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie the first time I saw it, but it is fantastic. The humor comes quick, the writing excellent, and acting, particularly by Ellen Page, superb. The perfect offbeat little film to turn to when you need something different. The soundtrack is pretty darn good, too.

From wikipedia:

Ellen Page stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney and J. K. Simmons also star.
Juno won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and earned three other Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Page. Juno earned back its initial budget of $6.5 million in twenty days, the first nineteen of which were when the film was in limited release. It went on to earn $231 million worldwide. Juno received acclaim from critics, many of whom placed the film on their top ten lists for the year.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars and called it "just about the best movie of the year. ... Has there been a better performance this year than Ellen Page's creation of Juno? I don't think so." Ebert went on to place Juno at number one on his annual best of list. The film also ranks at number 463 in Empire magazine's 2008 list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Juno MacGuff also ranked number 56 on Empire's list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Paste Magazine named it one of the 50 Best Movies of the Decade (2000–2009), ranking it at number 15. In June 2010, Entertainment Weekly named Juno one of the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years.
Juno's soundtrack, Music from the Motion Picture Juno, features nineteen songs from Barry Louis Polisar, Belle & Sebastian, Buddy Holly, Cat Power, The Kinks, Mott the Hoople, Sonic Youth and The Velvet Underground, and most prominently Kimya Dawson and her former bands The Moldy Peaches and Antsy Pants. Under the Rhino Entertainment record label, it became the first number one soundtrack since the (redacted) soundtrack, 20th Century Fox's first number one soundtrack since the (redacted) soundtrack, and Rhino's first number one album, topping the American Billboard 200 music charts in its fourth week of release.
Juno MacGuff: I think I'm in love with you.
Paulie Bleeker: You mean as friends?
Juno MacGuff: No... I mean for real. 'Cause you're, like, the coolest person I've ever met, and you don't even have to try, you know...
Paulie Bleeker: I try really hard, actually.

Vanessa Loring: Your parents are probably wondering where you are.
Juno MacGuff: Nah... I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?

Juno MacGuff: Hey, Dad.
Mac MacGuff: Hey, big puffy version of June bug. Where you been?
Juno MacGuff: Oh, just out dealing with things way beyond my maturity level.

Juno MacGuff: No, I heard you. I just, like, don't want to give the baby to a family that describes themselves as "wholesome". Well, I don't know, I just want something a little more edgier.
Leah: Okay, well what did you have in mind?
Juno MacGuff: I was thinking more, like, graphic designer... mid thirties, you know, with a cool Asian girlfriend who, like, dresses awesome and rocks out on the bass guitar. But I don't want to be too particular.

Gerta Rauss: So how far along are you?
Juno MacGuff: I'm a junior.


Juno MacGuff: As boyfriends go, Paulie Bleeker is totally boss. He is the cheese to my macaroni. And I know people are supposed to fall in love before they reproduce, but - I guess normalcy isn't really our style.
 
With my fifteenth pick in the Shelter in Place Alphabet Movie Draft, I will make use of the letter A to select:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007):



Director: Andrew Dominik
Dir. of Photography: Roger Deakins
Writer(s): Andrew Dominik, Ron Hansen (based on the novel by)
Score: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis
Cast: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Mary Louise-Parker, Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner
Genre: Western, drama
Runtime: 2 hours, 40 minutes

IMDb Entry: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443680/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Apologies for my tardiness. Life remains a blur for me. I hope this week to be able to expound on my last few picks. In the meantime, I bring you another western and another film shot by the great Roger Deakins. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is one of the underseen masterpieces of this young century. If you are a fan of westerns (or, more accurately, neo-westerns like No Country for Old Men and Unforgiven), powerhouse lead performances, exquisite cinematography, and/or hypnotic, deliberately-paced features, then you owe it to yourself to put this on your must-watch list.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
With my fifteenth pick in the Shelter in Place Alphabet Movie Draft, I will make use of the letter A to select:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007):

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is one of the underseen masterpieces of this young century. If you are a fan of westerns (or, more accurately, neo-westerns like No Country for Old Men and Unforgiven), powerhouse lead performances, exquisite cinematography, and/or hypnotic, deliberately-paced features, then you owe it to yourself to put this on your must-watch list.
I actually hadn't seen this movie until very recently - so recently in fact that I had already picked "Arrival" as my "A" film before seeing it. I don't think that would have changed my pick, but Assassination would have immediately jumped up to a solid alternate. I suspect some of the reason people have passed it over is that the title of the film tells you the end (or, as it turns out, nearly the end). If you know what's going to happen, why watch it? How interesting of a story can it be? Well, as it turns out, pretty darn interesting. And yes, beautifully shot and impeccably directed with a stand-out performance from Pitt.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
1593376687367.png

J - Jurassic World - 2015

Chris Pratt. Velociraptors. A T-Rex on steroids. What's not to like?

"Twenty-two years after the original Jurassic Park failed, the new park, also known as Jurassic World, is open for business. After years of studying genetics, the scientists on the park genetically engineer a new breed of dinosaur, the Indominus Rex. When everything goes horribly wrong, will our heroes make it off the island?" - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1


I love the entire group of Jurassic films. Drama, excitement ... and FUN! There's always just enough humor to keep them from being updated remakes of old 1950s style sci-fi dinosaur flicks (of which I have 2 in mind but cannot mention).

Henry Wu: Nothing in Jurassic World is natural, we have always filled gaps in the genome with the DNA of other animals. And if the genetic code was pure, many of them would look quite different. But you didn't ask for reality, you asked for more teeth.

Claire: We've been pre-booking tickets for months. The park needs a new attraction every few years in order to reinvigorate the public's interest. Kind of like the space program. Corporate felt genetic modification would up the wow factor.
Owen: They're dinosaurs. Wow enough.
Claire: Not according to our focus groups. The Indominus Rex makes us relevant again.
Owen: [chuckling] The Indominus Rex?
Claire: We needed something scary and easy to pronounce. You should hear a four-year-old try to say "Archeaornithomimus."
Owen: You should hear you try to say it.

Owen: You're the new guy, right?
Young Raptor Handler: Yeah.
Owen: You ever wonder why there was a job opening? Don't turn your back to the cage.

Masrani: [regarding Indominus rex's escape attempts] She's intelligent, then?
Claire: For a dinosaur.
Masrani: And that?
[he indicates the cracked viewing window]
Claire: It tried to break the glass.
Masrani: I like her spirit.

Masrani: What is that?
Owen: That's her tracking implant. She clawed it out.
Claire: How would it know to do that?
Owen: She remembered where they put it in.
 
E = Enter the Dragon



I just watched the 30 for 30 "Be Water", and feel inspired. Bruce Lee was so graceful, his philosophy is moving, and his fights fluid, precise, and intense.

Enter the Dragon (1973) was Bruce Lee's first (and only) solo big Hollywood production. Too bad he never got to see the fruits of his labor. He passed away during the film's post production (don't fret, two more official Bruce Lee films were made after this one. Despite all of the years of hard work and finally making it to the big times, he wasn't around long enough to enjoy it. Even though Robert Clouse is credited as director and another person is credited for writing the screenplay. This film has Bruce Lee's fingerprints all over it.

The movie is about a shady underworld crime lord (aren't they always) who controls most of the world's opium drug ring and a lot of other illegal dealings. British Intelligence is stumped, so they seek out someone who's slick, sly, stealth and who can kick a lot of butt and take care of himself. They find their man (Bruce Lee). After a great deal of convincing they get him to go to the island and participate in the crime lord's fighting tournament. Along the way, Bruce meets two American fighters (John Saxon and Jim Kelly) who are in the tournament for various reasons. Whilst on the island, Bruce does his nightly snooping around so he can find out more about the crime lord and his illegal activities. Will Bruce topple the organization? Can he make it out alive? Does Bruce really kick a whole lot of butt and take names? To find out you'll have to watch Enter The Dragon!!!!

Bruce Lee worked a great deal on this picture. He wrote most of the screenplay (uncredited), filmed all of the action scenes (uncredited) and directed several scenes (uncredited). Lam Ching-Ying, Angela Mao, Jackie Chan and Bolo Yeung appear in this film. If you haven't seen this film already then you're either a kid, lame or something is wrong with you.

Highly recommended.
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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070034/?ref_=ttmi_tt
 
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C = The Crow (1994) - R



The Crow is shrouded in darkness. Through lighting, rain, and shadowy cinematography, the audience sees the city from the perspective of a bird in the night. It follows a quest for revenge, fueling a murdered man returned from the dead to seek vengeance on the gang that offed him and his girlfriend. Eric is an antihero, and this is not a film for children, however, the violence feels justified by the nobility of his presence, and a sense of justice being served in his actions. He behaves the way an antihero would behave, brutal to his enemies, and kind hearted to the innocent and lost souls. The soundtrack to this film is the first CD that I ever owned, and good enough to hold up as one of my favorite albums to this day.

Unfortunately, it is chiefly remembered as the final film of Brandon Lee, due to a tragic on set accident when he was shot by a live .44 caliber round instead of a blank. He was 28 years old. Here is an excerpt from Brandon Lee's final interview, regarding his role as Eric Draven in The Crow:

Brandon Lee said:
This is a person who has been pushed right to the limits of his ability to cope what is going on. And in a sense is quite mad sometimes... In a sense completely insane, almost in a sense that you might think of an insane person having voices. More rational voices that try to guide him...More irrational voices that come from a more emotional... More deep-seated place. I think that the crow is that rational voice, the crow is his guide.

The crow helps Eric to do what he has to do in a very practical sense; it leads him to places where he has to be, it helps him find people he has to find. It’s a story about justice for victims. His mission is to find the people who killed him and his fiancée, and kill them. Its a wonderful role, it really is a role that you can take risks with, and gives you a wonderful opportunity to take those risks & stretch, because after all can you tell me how someone who has come back from the dead will behave? That is one of the wonderful things about playing this character, its a real.... you can really take the gloves off in playing this part because there are no rules on how a person who has come back from the dead is going to behave.
Here is the interview as well:

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Quotes:
Sarah: People once believed that, when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.

Eric: Mother is the name for God on the lips and hearts of all children. Do you understand? Morphine is bad for you. Your daughter is out there on the streets, waiting for you.

Eric: Little things used to mean so much to Shelly, I used to think they were kind of... trivial. Believe me, nothing is trivial.

[Looking at a bloody crow outline on the wall]
Detective Torres: What the hell do you call that?
Albrecht: I call it blood, detective. I suppose you'll write it up as... "graffiti".

Albrecht: Police! Don't move — I said don't move!
Eric: I thought the police always said "freeze".
Albrecht: Well, I am the police and I say "don't move", Snow White; you move, you're dead.
Eric: And I say I'm dead; [raises his hands] and I move...

Eric: He was already dead. He died a year ago, the moment he touched her. They're all dead. They just don't know it yet. Tell them death is coming for them tonight. Tell them Eric Draven sends his regards.

T-Bird: I got trouble. One of my crew got himself perished.
Top Dollar: Yeah, and who might that be?
T-Bird: Tin-Tin. Somebody stuck his blades in all his major organs in alphabetical order.
Top Dollar: Well, gentlemen, by all means, I think we ought to have an introspective moment of silence for poor old Tin-Tin. [leans down to a cocaine bowl and takes a snort]

Funboy: [after having shot Eric's hand only to see the wound quickly heal before his eyes] Jesus Christ!
Eric: Jesus Christ! Stop me if you've heard this one. Jesus Christ walks into a hotel...[Funboy shoots him again]
Eric: Ow. He hands the innkeeper three nails and he asks...[Funboy shoots him a third time]
Funboy: Don't you ever ****in' die!?
Eric: "Can you put me up for the night?"


Top Dollar: Greed is for amateurs. Disorder, chaos, anarchy — now that's fun!

Sarah: I knew it was you. Even with the makeup. I remembered your song. You said, "it can't rain all the time". That is from your song, right? [Pause. No answer.] Come on, Eric, I know you're here. I miss you... and Shelly. Get so lonely all by myself. [Pause. Still no answer.] The hell with you. I thought you cared. [She turns to leave and sees Eric's shadow on the wall.]
Eric: Sarah, I do care. [Sarah runs to him and they hug.]


T-Bird: [being held at gunpoint by Eric] What the **** are you supposed to be, man?
Eric: I'm your passenger. [cocks his gun] Drive.

T-Bird: I know you. I know you. I knew I knew you. I knew I knew you, but you ain't you. You can't be you, we put you through the window. There ain't no comin' back. This is the really real world, there ain't no comin' back. We killed you dead, there ain't no comin' back! There ain't no comin' back! There ain't no comin' back! "Abash, the devil stood, and felt how awful goodness is..."

Top Dollar: [after he stabs Eric through his back with a sword] You know, my daddy used to say, "Every man's got a devil, and you can't rest til you find him." What happened back there with you and your girlfriend... I cleared that buildin'. Hell, nothin' in this town happens without my say-so. So I'm sorry if I spoiled your weddin' plans there, friend. But if it's any consolation to ya, you have put a smile on my face. You got a lot of spirit, son. [unsheathes his knife] I am gonna miss you.
Eric Draven: I have something to give you; I don't want it anymore. [grabs Top Dollar's head] Thirty hours of pain: [puts his other hand on Top Dollar's head] All at once... [Top Dollar groans] ...all for you.

Sarah: A building gets torched; all that is left is ashes. I used to think that was true about everything: families, friends, feelings... But now I know that sometimes, if love proves real, two people who are meant to be together — nothing can keep them apart.

Sarah: If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109506/?ref_=ttmi_tt
 
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I prefer to think of it as an exodus from an undesirable place.

O is for Out of Sight

F73A9986-5F0E-4BC6-AE1F-AF29E6F1A6A2.jpeg

Soderbergh and Elmore Leonard. Yes please.

Internet blurb: By turns bleak, funny, touching, sexy and poignant, with bursts of violence that rise like sudden geysers from a still pool, Out of Sight is chock-full of dead-on performances.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Since Sluggah cruelly stole my choice for O with Out of Sight, I had to move to my second choice, The Outlaw Josey Wales. Clint Eastwood directed, and starred in this movie that also included in the cast, Chief Dan George, Sandra Locke, and Sam Bottoms. This is one of my favorite westerns, of which there are many. It's the story of a man's journey from one life to another.

Josey Wales, a Missouri farmer, is driven to revenge by the murder of his wife and young son by a band of pro-Union Jayhawker militants from Senator James H. Lane's Kansas Brigade, led by the brutal Captain Terrill.

After grieving and burying his wife and son, Wales practices shooting a gun before joining a group of pro-Confederate Missouri bushwhackers led by William T. Anderson, taking part in attacks on Union sympathizers and army units. At the conclusion of the war, Josey's friend and superior, Captain Fletcher, persuades the guerrillas to surrender, having been promised by Senator Lane that they will be granted amnesty if they hand over their weapons. Wales refuses to surrender, and as a result, he and a young guerrilla named Jamie are the only survivors when Terrill's Redlegs massacre the surrendering men. Wales intervenes and wipes out most of the Redlegs with a Gatling gun before fleeing with Jamie, who dies from a bullet wound after helping Josey kill two pursuing militiamen.

Lane forces a reluctant Fletcher to assist Terrill in finding his friend and puts a $5,000 bounty on his head, attracting the attention of Union soldiers and bounty hunters who seek to hunt him down. Along the way, and despite his aversion to traveling with company, he accumulates a diverse group of companions. They include an old Cherokee man named Lone Watie; Little Moonlight, a young Navajo woman; Sarah Turner, an elderly woman from Kansas; and her granddaughter Laura Lee, whom Wales and Little Moonlight rescue from a group of marauding Comancheros. Josey and Laura later sleep together as does Lone Watie and Little Moonlight. At the town of Santo Rio, two men, Travis and Chato, who had worked for Grandma Sarah's deceased son Tom, join the group.

There's a great scene when Chief Dan George is on his back about to be stabbed by a young Indian woman when Clint pulls her off saving the Chief. Chief Dan George then says, almost matter of factly, "Good thing you showed up, I was about to kill her".

 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
It appears KainLear has timed out.

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



Winter's Bone (2010)

Directed by Debra Granik

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garrett Dillahunt

Trailer

In my unofficial list of films that got nominated and really deserved Best Picture but didn't win it, Winter's Bone probably sits at the top. Jennifer Lawrence gives a star-making performance as Ree Dolly, a teenager living in backwoods Missouri who is forced to take up the care of her younger siblings in the face of a mentally-ill mother and an absent, meth-cooking father. When her father puts up their property as lien for a bond and then fails to show up at court, the family is going to lose their house - the last thing they have left - unless Ree can find her father and drag him into court, dead or alive.

Lawrence is absolutely the show stealer as "mama bear", equal parts tenderly caring, fiercely loyal, and dangerous when desperate. Ree Dolly navigating the Ozark underworld to find her father against all advice makes for a dark and gritty film that won't wash off with just soap and water. This one will stick with you.

I said shut up once already, with my mouth.
 
Robert Frost said:
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
O = The Outsiders (1983)





A very hard hitting and moving story about rival gangs and the effect it has on the lives of the people in and around the gangs. The story follows two of the younger greasers after one of them accidentally kills a rival gang member in self defence. They leave town and believe they will have to remain on the run forever.

With a cast to die for, The Outsiders is an incredible, hard hitting film. Portrayed in a believable and moving way, the cast includes Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell and Rob Lowe. But Ralph Macchio stands out in this film as Johnny Cade.

The direction of Francis Ford Coppola along with stunning performances from the cast bring this film to life. You feel for the characters as they take you on an emotional roller-coaster. You laugh along with them and share in the anguish and feel the pain they all go through just to survive. It is hard not to watch the film now without comparing other films the cast have made since this film. But for many of the cast, it is up there with the finest performances of their career.

The film is an adaption of a classic novel by S.E. Hinton who was just 16 when the novel was first published in 1967. It was also her first novel. The book has become part of school English curriculum
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086066/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
 
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This one is a bit of a toss-up for me between a nostalgically 60s caper comedy with two of my favorite actors, and an authentically 60s Hitchcokian spy thriller / farcical romantic comedy with my very favorite actor.

Quite honestly, my debate between the two has been raging right up until the moment I hit “post”

and the winner is ...

C is for ...



Charade (1963)

Ultimately I chose Charade because as I’ve mentioned a few times before, Audrey Hepburn is my favorite actor of all time, and her chemistry with Cary Grant in this, along with her natural and classy line delivery, is both endearing and low-key hilarious.

Found in a telephone booth.
Peter Joshua: What are you doing in here?
Regina Lambert: I’m having a nervous breakdown.



What’s spectacular about this particular exchange is it shouldn’t be funny at all. Regina had just spent the last few minutes being threatened by a man with matches in that very phone booth. She has every right to be a petrified, blubbering mess.

But instead she hits you with this impossibly poised and collected matter-of-fact response, and you can’t help but laugh at the release of tension. It works at such a meta level as instead of Grant / Peter comforting Hepburn / Regina to let her know the danger’s passed, it’s Hepburn comforting the audience with that line, giving us permission to breath again.

The film has great dialogue throughout, particularly in the banter between the two Hall of Fame leads. It does a phenomenal job at balancing it’s thriller, romance, and comedy elements, which is a rather impressive high wire act in itself.

This is sometimes called the greatest Hitchcock movie Hitchcock never made. Although I think Hitchcock would have dialed up the suspense, and made the comedy aggressively subtle, which would have been to the film’s detriment. Charade really shines in its balancing act, playing off the flexible strengths of its leads who could carry dramas and comedies alike.

I haven’t seen it as much as some of Hepburn’s other works, but that’s only because its Criterion release hasn’t arrived in the mail yet.

Meanwhile, let's add some classic 60s movie posters, shall we?









I just have a soft-spot for psychedelic 60s Movie Posters. It's a condition.
 

Attachments

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I prefer to think of it as an exodus from an undesirable place.

O is for Out of Sight

View attachment 9979

Soderbergh and Elmore Leonard. Yes please.

Internet blurb: By turns bleak, funny, touching, sexy and poignant, with bursts of violence that rise like sudden geysers from a still pool, Out of Sight is chock-full of dead-on performances.
I enjoy this movie as a whole, but I have yet learned how to fully and adequately express my love of the hotel scene.
 
For my "K" entry...

The Killer (1989)


Director:
John Woo
Writer:
John Woo
Stars:
Yun-Fat Chow, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh

This is one of the movies I grew up with, and it's also one of many that first propelled my fellow Hong Kong director John Woo into the world of Western filmmaking, namely Hollywood. The protagonist of John Woo’s The Killer, Ah Jong (Chow Yun-fat) is one of the action cinema’s most enigmatic and influential characters. As a ruthlessly efficient killer, he operates under a strict code of conduct: only kill bad people, never harm the good. But his tightly constructed world comes crashing down after accidentally blinding an innocent nightclub singer named Jennie (Sally Yeh) during a hit. Devastated, he decides to do one last “job” to pay for a sight-restoring surgery for her. But in his attempt to leave the underworld, this brutal yet good-hearted man will find himself pulled into a conflict that will nearly burn the Hong Kong underworld to the ground.

At its core, The Killer is about honor and righteousness set against a background of brutal, almost operatic violence. It was received by many Western critics as an art film. But that is missing the point. Even Woo confirmed that he never intended to make The Killer an “art film.” It is a simple movie about not-so-simple characters living and dying, hoping and striving, trying and failing for very simple ideals.

(Rated R)
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Hey all-

I'm getting ready to head out on vacation tomorrow. We are driving out of state to (socially distanced/responsibly) visit my wife's sister and parents. As such, I will try to keep up with this but my selections may be sparse and I'll fill in details later.

Luther: Warriors, come out to play-i-ay.

"W" is for:

The Warriors (1979)

TheWarriors_1979_Movie_Poster.jpg

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/

This movie is a "sentimental" favorite, as it was one of those movies my dad loved to watch and I was right there with him when he did. Is it pretty low budget with corny dialogue? Yes. Don't care.

From wikipedia:

The story centers on a New York City gang who must make an urban journey of 30 miles (48 km), from the north end of The Bronx to their home turf in Coney Island in southern Brooklyn, after they are framed for the murder of a respected gang leader.
After reports of vandalism and violence, Paramount temporarily halted their advertising campaign and released theater owners from their obligation to show the film. Despite its initially negative reception, The Warriors has since become a cult film and has been reappraised by film critics, and it has spawned multiple spinoffs, including video games and a comic book series.

(Walter) Hill (director) later reflected, "I think the reason why there were some violent incidents is really very simple: The movie was very popular with the street gangs, especially young men, a lot of whom had very strong feelings about each other. And suddenly they all went to the movies together! They looked across the aisle and there were the guys they didn't like, so there were a lot of incidents. And also, the movie itself is rambunctious — I would certainly say that."
After two weeks free of incidents, the studio expanded the display ads to take advantage of reviews from reputable critics including Pauline Kael of The New Yorker. She wrote, "The Warriors is a real moviemaker's movie: it has in visual terms the kind of impact that 'Rock Around the Clock' did behind the titles of Blackboard Jungle. The Warriors is like visual rock." At Seattle's Grand Illusion Cinema, programmer Zack Carlson remembers, "people were squeezed in, lying on the floor, cheering." By its sixth week, The Warriors had grossed $16.4 million, well above its estimated $4 million to $7 million budget.
Hill later reflected:
What made it a success with young people... is that for the first time somebody made a film within Hollywood, big distribution, that took the gang situation and did not present it as a social problem. Presented them as a neutral or positive aspect of their lives. As soon as you said in the old days gang movies it was how do we cure the pestilence and how do we fix the social waste. We want to take these kids, make sure they go to college... This was just a movie that conceptually was different. Accepted the idea of the gang, didn't question it, that was their lives, they functioned within that context. And the social problem wasn't were they going to college, but were they going to survive. It's the great Hawksian dictum, where is the drama? Will he live or die? That's the drama.
The cast:
  • Michael Beck as Swan, the Warriors' Main Lieutenant (second-in-command) who becomes their new Warlord.
  • James Remar as Ajax, the Warriors' short-tempered main enforcer.
  • Deborah Van Valkenburgh as Mercy, a hard young woman living in the Orphans' territory, who falls for Swan and joins the Warriors.
  • Marcelino Sánchez as Rembrandt, a Warriors' graffiti artist.
  • David Harris as Cochise, a soldier of the Warriors.
  • Tom McKitterick as Cowboy, a soldier of the Warriors.
  • Brian Tyler as Snow, a heavy muscle of the Warriors and music man, who becomes the new Main Lieutenant.
  • Dorsey Wright as Cleon, the Warriors' Warlord and co-founder.
  • Terry Michos as Vermin, a soldier and co-founder of the Warriors.
  • David Patrick Kelly as Luther, the Warlord of the Rogues.
  • Roger Hill as Cyrus, the Warlord of the Gramercy Riffs, who is murdered by Luther.
The movie eventually turned into a cult favorite.

The Warriors has become a cult film, and some film critics have since re-examined it. As of December 1, 2017, the film has garnered an 89% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 37 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "As violent as it is stylish, The Warriors is a thrilling piece of pulp filmmaking."

Entertainment Weekly named it the 16th-greatest cult film on their "Top 50 Greatest Cult Films" list. The magazine also ranked it 14th in the list of the "25 Most Controversial Movies Ever."
Cyrus: [yelling] Can you count, suckers? I say, the future is ours... if you can count! Now, look what we have here before us. We got the Saracens sitting next to the Jones Street Boys. We've got the Moonrunners right by the Van Cortlandt Rangers. Nobody is wasting nobody. That... is a miracle. And miracles is the way things ought to be. You're standing right now with nine delegates from 100 gangs. And there's over a hundred more. That's 20,000 hardcore members. Forty-thousand, counting affiliates, and twenty-thousand more, not organized, but ready to fight: 60,000 soldiers! Now, there ain't but 20,000 police in the whole town. Can you dig it?

Cyrus: The problem in the past has been the man turning us against one another. We have been unable to see the truth, because we have fighting for ten square feet of ground, our turf, our little piece of turf. That's crap, brothers! The turf is ours by right, because it's our turn. All we have to do is keep up the general truce. We take over one borough at a time. Secure our territory... secure our turf... because it's all our turf!

Cyrus: Now, here's the sum total: One gang could run this city! One gang. Nothing would move without us allowing it to happen. We could tax the crime syndicates, the police, because WE got the streets, suckers! Can you dig it?

Rembrandt: They think we shot Cyrus.
Vermin: What are you talking about? I don't get it.
Rembrandt: They think we shot Cyrus. Every gang in the city must be looking for us!

Cowboy: You never know what you're gonna run into out there. If we're wearing our colors, we can't hide.
Vermin: Who wants to hide?

Mercy: See that dude? Over there! He's after you, and he's got some guys with him.
Swan: I know they're on my ass,
[looks in their direction]
Swan: but now they know I know it.


Riffs leader: You Warriors are good. Real good.
Swan: The best.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
I - INDEPENDENCE DAY - 1996

On July 2nd, communications systems worldwide are sent into chaos by a strange atmospheric interference. It is soon learned by the military that a number of enormous objects are on a collision course with Earth. At first thought to be meteors, they are later revealed to be gigantic spacecraft, piloted by a mysterious alien species. After attempts to communicate with the aliens go nowhere, David Levinson, an ex-scientist turned cable technician, discovers that the aliens are going to attack major points around the globe in less than a day. On July 3rd, the aliens all but obliterate New York, Los Angeles and Washington, as well as Paris, London, Houston and Moscow. The survivors set out in convoys towards Area 51, a strange government testing ground where it is rumored the military has a captured alien spacecraft of their own. The survivors devise a plan to fight back against the enslaving aliens, and July 4th becomes the day humanity will fight for its freedom. July 4th is their ...

1593659848378.png


from Imdb:

[the President briefs the pilots before the final attack]
President Thomas Whitmore: Good morning.
[PA doesn't work. Turns it on]
President Thomas Whitmore: Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. "Mankind." That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night!" We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!
[crowd cheers]

Video Newscaster: [TV news anchor reporting] Once again, the L.A.P.D. is asking Los Angelenos not to fire their guns at the visitor spacecraft. You may inadvertently trigger an interstellar war.
[the refugee convoy arrives outside Area 51]
Captain Steven Hiller: [salutes] Captain Steven Hiller, United States Marine Corps.
Area 51 Guard: [returns the salute] I'm sorry, Captain, this is a restricted area. I can't let you pass without clearance.
Captain Steven Hiller: Okay. Come here. You want to see my clearance?
[He lifts the tarp in the bed of the pickup truck, revealing the body of the alien pilot he downed. The guard gasps and leaps back]
Captain Steven Hiller: Maybe I'll just leave this here with you?
Area 51 Guard: [to other guard] Let 'em pass! Let 'em pass!
Captain Steven Hiller: Get the hell out of the way!


1593660204078.png

1593660440832.png

1593660579084.png

My favorite scene:


I'll be watching the Independence Day marathon again this year. (Saturday, July 4, AMC - starting at 10am PDT.)


.
 
Hey all-

I'm getting ready to head out on vacation tomorrow. We are driving out of state to (socially distanced/responsibly) visit my wife's sister and parents. As such, I will try to keep up with this but my selections may be sparse and I'll fill in details later.

Luther: Warriors, come out to play-i-ay.

"W" is for:

The Warriors (1979)

View attachment 9983

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/

This movie is a "sentimental" favorite, as it was one of those movies my dad loved to watch and I was right there with him when he did. Is it pretty low budget with corny dialogue? Yes. Don't care.

From wikipedia:









The cast:

The movie eventually turned into a cult favorite.



Cyrus: [yelling] Can you count, suckers? I say, the future is ours... if you can count! Now, look what we have here before us. We got the Saracens sitting next to the Jones Street Boys. We've got the Moonrunners right by the Van Cortlandt Rangers. Nobody is wasting nobody. That... is a miracle. And miracles is the way things ought to be. You're standing right now with nine delegates from 100 gangs. And there's over a hundred more. That's 20,000 hardcore members. Forty-thousand, counting affiliates, and twenty-thousand more, not organized, but ready to fight: 60,000 soldiers! Now, there ain't but 20,000 police in the whole town. Can you dig it?

Cyrus: The problem in the past has been the man turning us against one another. We have been unable to see the truth, because we have fighting for ten square feet of ground, our turf, our little piece of turf. That's crap, brothers! The turf is ours by right, because it's our turn. All we have to do is keep up the general truce. We take over one borough at a time. Secure our territory... secure our turf... because it's all our turf!

Cyrus: Now, here's the sum total: One gang could run this city! One gang. Nothing would move without us allowing it to happen. We could tax the crime syndicates, the police, because WE got the streets, suckers! Can you dig it?

Rembrandt: They think we shot Cyrus.
Vermin: What are you talking about? I don't get it.
Rembrandt: They think we shot Cyrus. Every gang in the city must be looking for us!

Cowboy: You never know what you're gonna run into out there. If we're wearing our colors, we can't hide.
Vermin: Who wants to hide?

Mercy: See that dude? Over there! He's after you, and he's got some guys with him.
Swan: I know they're on my ass,
[looks in their direction]
Swan: but now they know I know it.


Riffs leader: You Warriors are good. Real good.
Swan: The best.
I almost went with this one as my W, but I’ve only seen it once.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Finally got around to seeing this tonight after years of just not getting around to it. Fun movie. More or less a stellar exemplar of the genre, even if the final set piece had a bit too many moving pieces.
The cast in that is overall a great mix that works well together. Didn't care for Richard Dreyfuss as much - he overplayed that part. Just an entertaining flick.