What movies have you seen recently?

[goh]

Quote: Originally Posted by Quint75

This is the one about the dance marathon, correct? Always been intrigued by it. Jane Fonda was all kinds of tasty back then.

Correct.
I found Susannah York more "tasty" in it.

[The JareBear]

Man Of Steel, very good, maybe great, probably just very good. Does what Batman Begins did for Batman, not quite The Dark Knight level

Only God Forgives - If you really like Drive, you will probably love this movie, if you were on the other side, I bet you hate it. I loved it, I love the art direction in both of the films. Enjoyed quite a bit

Place Beyond the Pines - Excellent, 9 out of 10. Bradley Cooper is surprisingly decent.

Head Games - Check this out on Netflix streaming. An in-depth look at head trauma and CTE. Very compelling parts of the film involving former NFL players and Roger Goodell himself.

Snowtown Murders - This was sold to me as a super-distubing, "Frontier(s)"esque experience. Not the case. I really wasn't that interested. Some hard hitting scenes but just very dull, IMO, too often.

I Saw The Devil - A little corny, but entertaining. I enjoyed the movie more than I anticipated.

[Stroehms]

The Conjuring: Very good and a very scary movie.

I might have nightmares.

[The JareBear]

Quote: Originally Posted by Beantown

42 - Good not great. Some real cheesy parts, but they were to be expected. Ford did an incredible job. Worth a watch, but no great rush.

I agree with you one-hundo on this one. I think these "hard hitting biographical feature films" need to stop being so self-obsessed and come off a little more natural. Harrison Ford's "old guy voice" was awful and ruined many scenes for me.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain. It was alright. The actual standup had some funny parts, but as a whole...nowhere near as good as Seriously Funny or Laugh at My Pain.

Definitely wait for this to hit netflix or redbox.

[SPTO]

Quote: Originally Posted by jaredlib

I agree with you one-hundo on this one. I think these "hard hitting biographical feature films" need to stop being so self-obsessed and come off a little more natural. Harrison Ford's "old guy voice" was awful and ruined many scenes for me.

Except that's how Branch Rickey actually sounded

[The JareBear]

Well, I just got owned. Serves me right for venturing out of the safety of the NCAA Football forums, lol.

Guess he did his job then, just isn't an appealing sound to me.

I stand by my assessment. To me, it's an average movie featuring a really great and important true life story but is held back by some incredibly transparent attempts to just make movie that wins an oscar, not entertain or captivate.

Just my humble, amateur, movie lover opinion.

[SPTO]

Time to dust off the archives and go back to ol' Hollywood

The Trap (1959)

This is a little known under the radar crime thriller starring Richard Widmark, Lee J. Cobb and Earl Holliman with Tina Louise and Lorne Greene in bit parts. Since this movie is on DVD and it's a recommendation from me I'll try not to be overly spoileriffic.


Plot Summary:

Quote:

Lawyer Ralph Anderson (Widmark) arrives in Tula, an amazingly remote town in the desert, as reluctant emissary of mob chief Victor Massonetti, (Cobb) who wants the airstrip clear for his unofficial exit from the country. Ralph's arrival has a profound effect on his estranged father, the sheriff; his brother Tip, (Holliman) an alcoholic deputy; and his ex-sweetheart Linda, (Louise) now married to Tip. Tension builds as a small army of gangsters takes over the town. Then the situation abruptly changes..

That's a pretty good summary though it's mainly the set up to the whole movie as it turns into a bit of a cat and mouse deal what with Anderson and his brother try to move Massonetti to the next town to face justice.

The film is quite good at building up the characters as we meet Ralph who seems to be a maffia mouthpiece but very quickly you realize he's being manipulated and hates every minute of it while his presence in town again causes old tensions to erupt as his brother is a drunkard who only has the deputy's job because of his father's influence and we soon discover that Linda doesn't even really love her husband as her marriage was based on pity for Tippy who gets treated worse than a dog by his taciturn father.

There is a ton of resentment from Tippy against his brother and it's the engine that fuels the plot as things go to hell with Tippy trying to collect the reward money on the head of Massonetti who's played to great effect by Lee J. Cobb. Cobb gives a sneering, menacing portrayal of the mob boss that is at once entertaining and skeevy.

Widmark gives a very solid performance and he's one of my favorite actors to watch as he projected a very strong tough guy persona but even in roles where he's essentially a good guy like in this film there's a hint of something dangerous under the surface much in the same was as Glenn Ford provided but unlike Ford, Widmark never came across as someone who may be a scumbucket offscreen as I often get the sense of when I watch Ford.

The film has a decidedly Western feel to it despite it taking part in the present day much like Bad Day at Black Rock from 1955. The two films share a bit in common what with the story being built on tensions caused by inner turmoil stirring within the main characters, being set in a decidedly remote, desert landscape and having lead characters who are more than what they seem to be at first glance.

Overall this is a strong piece of work and the story comes together quite nicely at the end. I like that despite all the trouble his brother caused him, Widmark's character still loves him and has a sense of sorrow for the pain that his brother lived through.

3 Stars highly recommended.