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Post by hallmackem on Jun 1, 2008 14:52:02 GMT
9. Casablanca In World War II Casablanca, Rick Blaine, exiled American and former freedom fighter, runs the most popular nightspot in town. The cynical lone wolf Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit. When Nazi Major Strasser arrives in Casablanca, the sycophantic police Captain Renault does what he can to please him, including detaining Czech underground leader Victor Laszlo. Much to Rick's surprise, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa, Rick's one time love. Rick is very bitter towards Ilsa, who ran out on him in Paris, but when he learns she had good reason to, they plan to run off together again using the letters of transit. Well, that was their original plan....
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Post by Bismarck on Jun 1, 2008 18:52:39 GMT
10-Cape Fear
Recently released convict (Robert Mitchum) terrorises the prosecuting lawyer (Gregory Peck) and his family with devastating consequences. Sadistic, charismatic, pitch-perfect performance from Mitchum (arguably his finest) and great support from Peck as the family man in peril make this cat-and-mouse thriller one of the finest.
D next guys..........
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Post by Bismarck on Jun 1, 2008 18:56:10 GMT
1-Donnie Darko
A mind-bending feature starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a troubled American teen plagued by incessant sleepwalking, family drama and visions of a menacing 6-foot-tall, doomsday-prophesizing rabbit. Confusing, but brilliant cult classic.
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Post by a king of orient on Jun 1, 2008 19:01:51 GMT
2. Die Another Day
Not the best Bond film but it ended the Brosnan era with a bang. Exciting car chases and the customary clever one-liner we all expected along with the usual clinch with a sexy lady or two left audiences with a smile on their face.
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Post by hallmackem on Jun 1, 2008 19:13:34 GMT
3. Departed, The One of the best casts ever assembled (Leo Di Caprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Winstone and Alec Baldwin). It revolves around the Irish mafia of Boston and the law enforcers trying to stop them. A story of deception and how peoples lives intertwine without them realising it. The quote that best sums it up is when Nicholson's character, Francis Costello tells a young Matt Damon "They used to say you can either become a cop, or a criminal, what i'm saying to you now is this; when you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?"
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Post by stealth1039 on Jun 3, 2008 10:01:40 GMT
4) Deathtrap starring Michael Caine & Christopher Reeve. A film about a play about a play. Although it's theatrical origins are obvious the twists and turns of the plot are tremendous & it proves what a sad loss Christopher Reeve was as he and Caine are brilliant whilst Dyan Cannon is also extremely good. An absorbing & gripping film with great acting to admire.
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Post by Bismarck on Jun 3, 2008 10:29:48 GMT
5-Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Michael Caine plays a conman's conman at the height of his profession owning, as the fruits of his artistry, a sumptuous villa on a choice parcel of Riviera coastline. Usually posing as a royal in exile, he persuades rich, unattached, and gullible American women to finance the freedom fight of his beleaguered people, with the local police chief (Anton Rodgers) a compliant aide. To their horror a crass opportunist (Steve Martin) with a crude line in blagging free meals from unsuspecting girl tourists, having claimed that his meagre earnings go towards his grandmother's operation, elbows his way onto Caine's home turf, the wealthy resort of Beaumont-sur-mer. An alliance of sorts develops with Caine agreeing to impart some of his finesse, teaching him among other things how to enter a room and pour champagne with aristocratic nonchalance.
Needless to say, both are heading for a fall when their intended mark, Glenne Headly, an American soap queen, enters the frame and turns out to be so nice that she causes hearts to melt.
Frank Oz's film is actually a retread of a 1964 comedy, "Bedtime Story", with David Niven, and Marlon Brando as the mismatched pair. Consequently there is a slightly perfunctory air in the way the story unreels as though it's all been done before. Nevertheless, Caine and Martin make a great double act. Two scenes are particularly memorable, one in which Martin is holed up in the local jail and can't remember the one name that will have him sprung, and the other a ridiculous dinner scene in which he pretends to be Caine's imbecilic brother Ruprecht.
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Post by arover on Jun 3, 2008 10:35:10 GMT
The Dirty Dozen
An Army Major who likes to butt heads with his superiors, is being "given" a new assignment, to train 12 men who are either sentenced to death or life imprisonment, to go behind enemy lines raid a chateau that the Germans are using as an R&R center and kill as enemy officers as they can and disrupt the German chain of command. Now he not only has to train them; he has to get them to start acting like a unit. And when a Colonel whom the Major has been having the most trouble with reports to the Generals that his unit is not working out, the Major asks the General to try them out by having them participate in a war game. If they don't succeed they will be sent back to prison to face their sentences.
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Post by stealth1039 on Jun 6, 2008 18:57:55 GMT
7) Diamonds are Forever Any Bond film with Sean Connery has to be good.
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Post by Bismarck on Jun 11, 2008 18:32:15 GMT
8-Duck Soup (1933)
War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing except for anarchic belly laughs in this subversive Marx Brothers outing in which Rufus T Firefly (Groucho Marx) leads Freedonia into a pointless conflict with a neighbouring state after he's called an upstart. Meanwhile, Chico and Harpo play a pair of spies sent to infiltrate Freedonia's regime. A subversive comedy that bulldozes everything in its path, Duck Soup's satire of war and nationhood may be borderline insane, but that only makes its distrust of pompous politics all the more scathing.
"DELIRIOUS VERBAL BANTER"
Unpredictable, hilarious, and completely deranged. Duck Soup is without doubt the distillation of everything that the Marx Brothers claimed as their own. The film boasts delirious verbal banter, interludes that could have been dreamt up by avant-garde surrealists on the Parisian Left Bank, and a total lack of respect for the rules.
Standout moments include the madcap sequence in which Chico and Harpo drive a lemonade seller to distraction by swapping their hats around, and the amazingly choreographed scene in which the silent Harpo hides from Groucho by pretending to be his reflection in a broken mirror. Every move Groucho makes, Harpo - disguised in similar attire - mimics perfectly.
Released in 1933 Duck Soup ruffled plenty of feathers, with American audiences dismayed by its cynical take on war and international politics at a time when the world was just waking up to the crisis of Nazism. The brothers were unfazed by such negative publicity, though, and were far too certain of the rightness of their cause to be dragged off track by grumbling dissenters. In the words of Groucho himself: "If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff." Sheer genius.
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Post by Lukiebakercafc on Jun 11, 2008 18:47:03 GMT
9. Die Hard
Awesome 'lads' film with all the bits an action thriller should have. Bruce Willis is excellent in this and Alan Rickman plays the baddie to perfection as always. Lots of sub-plots and just a really fun film. Yippee-ki-yay, mothermonkey'ser!
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Post by Bismarck on Jun 11, 2008 19:00:10 GMT
10-Dances With Wolves -One of my personal favourites...
A historical drama about the relationship between a Civil War soldier and a band of Sioux Indians, Kevin Costner's directorial debut was also a surprisingly popular hit, considering its length, period setting, and often somber tone. The film opens on a particularly dark note, as melancholy Union lieutenant John W. Dunbar attempts to kill himself on a suicide mission, but instead becomes an unintentional hero. His actions lead to his reassignment to a remote post in remote South Dakota, where he encounters the Sioux. Attracted by the natural simplicity of their lifestyle, he chooses to leave his former life behind to join them, taking on the name Dances with Wolves. Soon, Dances with Wolves has become a welcome member of the tribe and fallen in love with a white woman who has been raised amongst the tribe. His peaceful existence is threatened, however, when Union soldiers arrive with designs on the Sioux land. Some detractors have criticized the film's depiction of the tribes as simplistic; such objections did not dissuade audiences or the Hollywood establishment, however, which awarded the film seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture....
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Post by stealth1039 on Jun 17, 2008 13:45:18 GMT
1) (The) Elephant Man starring John Hurt. John Hurt had already impressed me with his rendition of Quentin Crisp in BBC's 1976 version of "The Naked Civil Servant" but his portrayal of Joseph Merrick even surpassed that.
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Post by Bismarck on Jun 17, 2008 16:40:43 GMT
2-Enemy at the Gates
Rumoured to be the most expensive European film ever made, Jean-Jacques Annaud's bloated Second World War epic is an audacious but leaden rehash of "Saving Private Ryan", complete with historical inaccuracies and polyglot miscasting. Set in Russia but shot in Germany, this attempt to give the Battle of Stalingrad its proper due is commendable. But the director's decision to focus on a widely discredited Soviet anecdote is misguided and undermines the film's credibility from the start.
With the Nazis set to achieve a major propaganda coup by overrunning the city that bears the name of their Russian enemy, Nikita Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins) arrives in Stalingrad to kick the demoralised army into shape. Intimidation only goes so far, though, so one apparatchik, Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), suggests they find a hero to inspire the troops.
That hero is Vassily Zaitsev (Jude Law), a peasant from the Urals who happens to be a crack shot. Danilov builds the unassuming Vassily into a legend, trumpeting his exploits to such an extent that the Germans send their best sniper, Major Koenig (Ed Harris), to take him down.
What follows is a series of one-on-one confrontations between the two men at various locales in the bombed-out city, juxtaposed with an unlikely and insipid romance between Vassily and pretty Jewish soldier Tania (Rachel Weisz). The opening scenes of chaos are as accomplished as those in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winner, but from then on Annaud is all at sea, scuppered by a directionless and tension-free script and wooden performances from his British leads.
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Post by Bismarck on Jun 20, 2008 14:59:21 GMT
3)E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Before the likes of Independence Day and Evolution, there was a time when movie aliens were cute and nice and only wanted to be our friends. Essential Spielberg An alien botanist is left behind on an expedition to Earth, and befriends alienated middle child Elliott (Thomas), who christens him ET. Elliott and ET form a close bond, and the benevolent little brown man manages to bring together a family torn apart by divorce.
Feature continues
Some may have dismissed ET as sentimental, while others frowned upon the Christ-like aspects of an alien character with the power to heal, but this is to miss the fundamental point of the film - that being a kid is tough, and that the only thing harder is being a grown-up.
Spielberg often shoots the action from a child's (or alien's) point of view, and captures the traumas of childhood perfectly. He's also gifted with the ability to bring out honest and moving performances from child actors, particularly Thomas, who radiates innocence and confusion in turns. Melissa Mathison's script cleverly interweaves the experiences of Elliott and ET, demonstrating that feeling abandoned and alone are universal traits.
While ostensibly a kid's movie, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial deals with adult themes as Elliott comes to realise that loving someone isn't always enough, and that sometimes you have to let go. With E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Spielberg triumphantly succeeds in bringing the magical to the everyday.
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Post by stealth1039 on Jun 21, 2008 13:26:43 GMT
4) Enigma - A thrilling spy story, interwoven with a beautiful love story which, for once, actually works within the framework of the film.
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Post by Bismarck on Jul 3, 2008 12:27:43 GMT
5)Erin Brockovich (2000)
After losing a lawsuit against the driver who hit her already beat up car, Erin Brockovich (Roberts) seeks recompense from her lawyer - world weary Ed Masry (Finney) - in the form of a job. Knowing an unstoppable force of nature when he sees one, Ed agrees and hires her for basic secretarial duties.
While filing papers connected to a real estate case Erin becomes curious about some of the detail contained within them, and after being given permission to investigate further uncovers an appalling case of corporate negligence.
The result of their efforts is a riveting drama, made all the more fascinating for its basis in fact. Roberts plays the role with effortless charm and gritty conviction, yet true to Soderbergh's usual style there are other fascinating characters within the story too. Ed Masry is given much heart by Finney, while Aaron Eckhart is George, Erin's biker neighbour and sometime lover. But still, this is Roberts' film, and a timely reminder of a talent that had until recently been paddling in the shallow end of the acting pool.
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Post by stealth1039 on Jul 3, 2008 13:54:05 GMT
6) Ed Wood (1994) - Yet another in a line of superb collaborations by Johnny Depp & Tim Burton this time about the legendary 'B' movie director.
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ftmlad
Subs Bench
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Post by ftmlad on Aug 10, 2008 10:54:45 GMT
7) Enemy of the state
a really good action thriller staring will smith and gene hackman, most people will have seen it as it seems to be on the telly every 4 or 5 months, but still just a really good film as tends to be the case more often than not when will smith's involved
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