Thursday Movie Picks is hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. For entries of other participants and themes for the year, head over to her site. This week's theme is about rescue movies. Here are my picks for the week.
Die Hard - One of Bruce Willis' famous movies and a staple on Christmas movie lists, Die Hard has one man take on all the villains in order to rescue his wife (and her colleagues by association) as they are trapped inside a building. This was a great start to the franchise, but based on the recent installment, I don't think it's going to be rebooted anytime soon.
Argo - While this has historical inaccuracies, the plane scene was really intense. I think this is the film that puts Ben Affleck back to the radar, as he kind of just disappeared between the years.
Cellular - Quality-wise, this was mediocre. It has a wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time character scrambling through the city to find this woman who randomly dialed his phone and asked for his help. This was pre-Captain America Chris Evans, so it's always nice to look back at his filmography.
Like these picks. I kinda liked Cellular. It was a fun film as it had Chris Evans and Jason Statham.
ReplyDeleteI have a favorite part in the movie, where Kim Basinger stabs one of her captors in the house she was being held in and he immediately dies after she explains how she had caused his death with minimum effort on her part. It has nothing to do with the general movie nor is it a thrilling scene, but I like how what she did was no biggie. It's an okay movie, nothing great now but when cellphones weren't massive it was different.
DeleteGreat picks! I also chose Argo. I only saw Cellular once in theaters so I don't remember that one well and I love Die Hard.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYou know, I thought about Die Hard, and then I went with another route but that pick is really good!
ReplyDeleteDie Hard is a good movie.
DeleteDie Hard is a good choice and a perfect one actually. Argo is a good movie and I took it as a look from the U. S. Side of things so I forgive it's shortcomings knowing how much the Canadian embassy especially Ken Taylor, truly save the Americans. I haven't seen the last film but always wanted to.
ReplyDeleteCellular is outdated now, but is a pretty okay popcorn flick.
DeleteGreat picks! I saw Cellular not long ago (for Chris Evans) and I'm happy I did because it wasn't as bad as I thought.
ReplyDeleteIt was a descent movie.
DeleteArgo is definitely one of the titles of the week and rightly so. A wonderfully tense thriller that tells its story so that it keeps the audience on the edge of their seat even though the result is already known.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the original Die Hard!! Such a lean propulsive thrill ride that has a great cast of characters not just Bruce Willis but Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia and on and on. Which is a major failing of the increasingly sad sequels which definitely need to stop, now it's a too old Willis and a bunch of faceless nonentities that he dispenses in ridiculous ways.
Cellular is preposterous but I still enjoyed it mostly thanks to Chris Evans who never played down to the material but committed to it like he was performing in Shakespeare.
I tried to find three that approached rescues from different angles-seriously, comically and cynically and came up with these three.
Apollo 13 (1995)-Astronaut Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) has been bumped up to command the Apollo 13 mission to the moon along with Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise). Days away from launch Mattingly is pulled due to the risk of an infection and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) takes his place and the launch proceeds. Everything seems to be going according to schedule until there is a sudden explosion and the three astronauts are suddenly facing a life and death situation in deep space with the only hope of rescue Mission Control back at NASA. The bulk of the film is taken up with those efforts lead by Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) while Lovell’s wife (Kathleen Quinlan), the other’s family members and the world watch anxiously. Despite the known outcome incredibly gripping film was justly nominated for a slew of Oscars.
Outrageous Fortune (1987)-Two struggling actresses-the hoity toity Lauren (Shelley Long) and brassy Sandy (Bette Midler) receive scholarships to a prestigious acting class conducted by a legendary Russian teacher Stanislav Korzenowski (Robert Prosky) and despise each other on sight. At the same time they both become involved with a handsome laconic teacher Michael Santers (Peter Coyote) unbeknownst to each other. When it appears that Michael has been killed the pair realize that’s not so and surmise he’s in trouble and needs rescuing. They reluctantly team up to save him, sniping at each other all the way. It does NOT go as expected but they are off on a merry chase across the country aided at times by the stoned out Frank (a hilarious George Carlin). Boisterous comedy with sensational silk and sandpaper chemistry between odd couple Long and Midler.
Ace in the Hole (1951)-Once successful reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) has landed at a small Albuquerque newspaper due both to his drinking and bad abrasive attitude. Sent on a nothing assignment he stumbles across what he senses is a headline story that could return him to the big leagues, a man has become trapped in a cave-in. Opportunistically manipulating the situation, with the collusion of the sheriff and the man’s greedy wife Lorraine (Jan Sterling) for their advantage more than the safety of the trapped man they find ways to delay the rescue without appearing to do just that. As the news spreads the quiet remote area begins to resemble a carnival atmosphere (the reissue title of the film was The Big Carnival) and the delaying tactics start to endanger the trapped man’s life. Awesome performances but this terribly cynical film is a disturbingly prescient example of the news reporting ethos “If it bleeds, it leads” culture. May be Wilder’s darkest film, that’s saying something for someone who directed Double Indemnity and Sunset Blvd.
I hated the recent Die Hard movie. It sucks that the franchise ended on the worst movie possible.
DeleteI don't think Chris Evans has phoned in a performance yet. He's the actor who's in all the movies but never really got his "big break" until Marvel.
I haven't seen any of your picks but Outrageous Fortune sounds funny.