Host ,'Not Fade Away'
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
I flipped on the TV last night after getting Matilda and Emmett to bed and The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 was on. What a great cat and mouse, crime caper, gritty 70s movie. I got totally sucked in and had to watch it until the end.
I went through a whole 70s caper/heist phase when living in Brooklyn: Pelham, Hopscotch, the original Thomas Crown, and, my favorite, Hot Rock, which had both a heist at the Brooklyn Museum right near my apartment and amazing shots of the WTC under construction.
Another movie I caught on TCM recently was an odd romantic fantasy titled Portrait of Jennie with Joseph Cotton and Jennifer Jones. Anybody seen it?
It had very dreamy quality, though it was set in Manhattan.
What film isn't at this point?
Eraserhead?
Pelham was a really good book, too. I've never seen the movie, but maybe I should--except I know the last scene and the thrill wouldn't be the same.
I've never seen the movie, but maybe I should--except I know the last scene and the thrill wouldn't be the same.
I think you'd still enjoy it. It's a very taut movie, with a famous soundtrack and great perfomances (Robert Shaw, Matthau, a young Hector Elizondo, Jerry Stiller).
ToP - 1, 2, 3 was a lot of fun. Also one of the many inspirations for Reservoir Dogs (i.e. the naming of the thieves and the matching outfits).
Robert Shaw, Matthau, a young Hector Elizondo, Jerry Stiller
And Martin Balsam.
The look on Matthau's face at the very, VERY end is priceless.
Oo, Robert Shaw. Yum.
How'd I miss that?
The look on
It's so great because it's so underplayed.
Robert Shaw is one of those actors who conveyed a real menace onscreen. Oliver Reed and Lee Marvin also had that quality, as did Sean Connery. There aren't many actors today - aside from Russell Crowe - who have that quality. Daniel Craig can do it. I'm having a hard time thinking of American actors who go there.