Archive for 'Movies/DVDs' Category
Charley Varrick
1 March 2006A good crime thriller directed by Don Siegel starring Walter Matthau:
After burglarizing a small-town bank, petty crook Charley Varrick (Walter Matthau) and his motley crew become targets of the mob. Expecting a small score to divide among them, they’re shocked to discover a huge sum of money. Once they realize the cash belongs to the mob, Charley and his gang must concoct a plan — fast! — to throw the wise guys off their trail, or it’s curtains for all of them. Joe Don Baker and Sheree North co-star.
The Ox-Bow incident
10 February 2006A stirring movie about mob lynching in the west starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, and Harry Morgan. Here is the outline from Netflix.
Director William Wellman’s Western digs into the mob-led lynching of three innocent men. The film centers on cowboys Carter (Henry Fonda) and Croft (Harry Morgan), who reluctantly join a hunt for murderous cattle rustlers. Led by ex-soldier Tetley (Frank Conroy), the posse captures three transients (Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn and Francis Ford). When Tetley calls for their execution without proof of their guilt, Carter faces a moral dilemma.
One, two, three
10 February 2006Really funny Billy Wilder movie starring James Cagney about cold war. Here is the outline from netflix
Director Billy Wilder’s Cold War farce comes off at a breakneck pace that will leave your head spinning. C.J. McNamara (James Cagney) is a Coca-Cola executive who travels to Berlin to promote the product on the other side of the Iron Curtain. But he soon learns that his real job is baby-sitting his boss’s teenage daughter, Scarlett (Pamela Tiffin), who has secretly married volatile Communist Otto Piffl (Horst Bucholz).
Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll
2 December 2005This 4-disc DVD is a must see documentary about Chuck Berry and Rock ‘N’ Roll. Its not one of those crappy documentaries where the make the principal subject to be a saint. It shows Chuck Berry as the complex human being and musician that he is. Here is the outline from netflix.
From Oscar-nominated director Taylor Hackford comes this acclaimed four-disc documentary series celebrating rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Chuck Berry’s life and music. In a star-studded concert honoring his 60th birthday, Eric Clapton, Etta James, Linda Ronstadt and Robert Cray join Berry onstage in St. Louis. Also included are behind-the-scenes clips and interviews with rock legends Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and more.
B.B. King: Sweet 16 (Live in Africa)
2 December 2005One of the greatest performances by a truly great bluesman Riley B. King a.k.a. B. B. King.
Recorded live in Kinshasa, Zaire, this performance by legendary blues guitarist B.B. King was part of a three-day celebration held in conjunction with the 1974 heavyweight-title fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. The film captures King playing many of his greatest hits, including “Sweet Sixteen,” “I Believe in My Soul,” “The Thrill Is Gone” and “Why I Sing the Blues,” plus several other songs.
Zatoichi Vol. 3: New Tale of Zatoichi
2 December 2005The third movie of Zatoichi series featuring Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi. Here is the summary of the movie from netflix:
Blind masseur and swordsman Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) is living and working in a province that’s under siege by rival warlords. One warlord attempts to hire Zatoichi to help him fight his rival, but when the swordsman refuses, the warlord instead finds another warrior to challenge Zatoichi. Unwilling to sit idle while his province is ruthlessly destroyed, Zatoichi must take matters into his own hands, regardless of the consequences.
Marathon Man
2 December 2005Oscar-nominated movie based on William Goldman’s novel directed by John Schlesinger starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, and Roy Scheider. Here is the plot outline from netflix:
After his CIA agent brother (Roy Scheider) is killed, graduate student Babe Levy (Dustin Hoffman) finds himself trapped in a deadly game with a Nazi fugitive (Laurence Oliver), a sadistic man who uses dental instruments as tools of torture. As Levy turns from pacifist to street-smart cynic, director John Schlesinger’s thriller barrels toward its fever-pitched conclusion.
Machibuse (Incident at blood pass)
2 December 2005A very good samurai movie starring Toshiro Mifune and Shintaro Katsu. Here is the summary from netflix:
A wandering samurai (Mifune) accepts a mysterious assignment that takes him to the titular mountain pass. Told to await further instruction in an isolated teahouse, the warrior — through the conversations of the teahouse’s patrons — gradually becomes aware of an elaborate plot involving a gang of bandits and a convoy of Shogunate gold.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
2 December 2005Must see classic crime thriller starring Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau. Quentin Tarantino borrowed quite a bit from this movie, including using color for code names for his film Reservoir Dogs. Here is the plot outline from netflix:
Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw) and his crew take hostages on a subway car [train Pelham 1-2-3]. If Blue and Co. don’t get a million dollars in an hour, Blue will start carving graffiti on the passengers’ foreheads.
Here are some quotes from the movie courtesy of IMDB:
Lt. Garber: Rico, she’s moving.
Lt. Rico Patrone: Whose moving?
Lt. Garber: Who do you think? Pelham!
Lt. Garber: Inspector Daniels? She’s moving, sir.
Inspector Daniels: Whose moving?
Lt. Garber: What’s the matter with everybody? How many hijacked trains have we got around here, anyway?Mayor: Warren, suppose the hijackers start shooting at me?
Deputy Mayor: Will you stop? They have no reason to shoot at you.
Mayor: Why - do you think they’re from out of town?
Deputy Mayor: Get dressed, Al. I’ll do the jokes.Correll: Don’t bug me, Garber. I’ve got problems.
Lt. Garber: Oh, yeah? What’s the matter?
Correll: Oh, nothing: a train is down, it’s radio’s dead, the power’s off, and it’s dumped its load. Aside from that, everything’s ginger peachy.Lt. Rico Patrone: We had a bomb scare in the Bronx yesterday, but it turned out to be a cantaloupe.
Fury
2 December 2005Fritz Lang’s first American film starring Spencer Tracy. Spencer Tracy’s character is wrongly arrested for kidnapping and barely survives a lynch mob attack and is presumed dead and he vindictively decides to frame the mob for his murder.
