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Post by Pippen on Apr 20, 2023 4:39:53 GMT
A battle over water rights in drought stricken California in 1937 Los Angeles Chinatown
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Post by jeffersoncody on Apr 20, 2023 5:24:01 GMT
Bonnie & Clyde The Sting Hard Times Emperor Of The North Places In the Heart The Untouchables Great choices, Spencer. I love or admire all of them, excep t HARD TIMES, which I haven't seen. But it looks very interesting and has a great cast, so I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks for the recommendation. Walter Hill's HARD TIMES is a stunning film with a brilliantly cast Bronson - displaying both toughness and empathy in equal measures, and a superlative character performance from Strother Martin as the opium addict and cut man, Poe. Hell even Jill Ireland is good here, and James Coburn - as Spencer "Speed" Weed, is sublime. Bronson, as bareknuckle brawler Chaney, shows that still waters run deep - the scene of him taking the stray cat into his room and giving it a home is worth the price of admission alone. Shot on location in the French Quarter of New Orleans. HARD TIMES and MR MAJESTYK are my favorite Bronson-starring films. Have you seen MR MAJESTYK Spidey? My favorite exchange of dialogue in this lean, gritty film is the following conversation between Speed, Cheyney and Poe.SPEED: Chaney, I want you to meet my old friend, Poe. Fix up your cuts, bruises, all sorts of good things. POE: I have two years of medical school to recommend me. CHANEY: Two years doesn't make a doctor. POE: Well, in my third year of studies, a small black cloud appeared on campus. I left under it.
SPEED: What he's trying to say is that he's a dyed-in-the-wool hophead. POE: I have a weakness for opium. CHANEY: That's a habit that's hard to quit. POE: Some are born to fail, others have it thrust upon them.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Apr 20, 2023 7:29:41 GMT
jeffersoncody - Re: your Hard Times comments; you have a knack for making films I didn't want to see sound like films I want to see. That's a talent (maybe you should have worked in film criticism or marketing).
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Post by spiderwort on Apr 20, 2023 12:29:53 GMT
American MadnessIn this early example of director Frank Capra's examinations of American institutions, pastimes and, it might be said, the national psyche, Walter Huston is a bank president at odds with his board over what represents sound fiscal policy in the early years of the Depression (and what turned out to be the final one of the Hoover administration, before New Deal reforms). Only saw this once 30 plus years ago, but I remember being very impressed by it. Have always wanted to see it again, but it never seems to show up. Huston was impressive, as I recall. A strong drama for Capra.
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Post by Captain Spencer on Apr 20, 2023 16:39:53 GMT
Bonnie & Clyde The Sting Hard Times Emperor Of The North Places In the Heart The Untouchables Great choices, Spencer. I love or admire all of them, except HARD TIMES, which I haven't seen. But it looks very interesting and has a great cast, so I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks for the recommendation. Oh yes, you must watch Hard Times. Great Charles Bronson movie in which he plays a loner trying to survive the Great Depression by making money in bare-knuckle fights. Also notable for being the directorial debut of Walter Hill (that man really knows how to stage a good fist fight).
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Post by timshelboy on Apr 22, 2023 17:37:52 GMT
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Post by spiderwort on Apr 22, 2023 20:42:00 GMT
Oh, yes, this for sure! I loved it. And a side note about that great song: it's lyrics were written by Yip Harburg, and the music was written by Jay Gorney, the father of actress Karen Gorney, who played opposite John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
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Post by spiderwort on Jul 18, 2024 3:02:54 GMT
Rufus-T , my apologies for not replying to this post the first time around! I don't know why I didn't. I have an odd history with this film: back in the day when I was first starting out in my career, I read Woody Guthrie's book, fell in love with it, and wanted desperately to make it into a film. Of course, I had no real power at that time. But I talked to a friend who was an Oscar winning screenwriter about it, and he said that he would call his agent the next day to see if there was any way we might be able to get it done. Then, that next day, I read in the Hollywood Reporter that Hal Ashby was going to make the film! It was devastating, of course. But Ashby did a good job, and I really like the film, so I made my peace with it. One more thing: for those who don't know, it was the first film that used the steadicam.
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Post by spiderwort on Jul 18, 2024 3:11:44 GMT
A couple more that I love: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - Robert Mulligan
Sounder (1972) - Martin Ritt
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Post by london777 on Jul 18, 2024 11:40:59 GMT
The Great Depression was not unique to the USA. The American virus spread all over the world. Very few nations were immune to it, with Germany the most ominous victim. Berlin Alexanderplatz (TV Mini Series, 1980) dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder. This 14-part series based on Alfred Döblin's famous novel was conceived and, I would argue, shot as a theatrical release. It was screened at the Vista cinema in Hollywood in August 1983, in its entirety (with a 2-hour break for dinner), making it the longest film ever to be commercially screened (15 hours, 21 minutes). I do not suppose that experiment has ever been repeated (though maybe in Germany?) It follows ex-con Franz Biberkopf (played by Günter Lamprecht) as he hopelessly attempts to rehabilitate himself while pursuing a doomed love affair, and portrays the underclass of the Alexanderplatz area. Like most Fassbinder movies, it is not an easy watch. High time I gave it another viewing. I was lucky enough to pick up the Criterion release very cheaply.
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Post by spiderwort on Jul 18, 2024 13:04:11 GMT
The Great Depression was not unique to the USA. The American virus spread all over the world. Very few nations were immune to it, with Germany the most ominous victim. Berlin Alexanderplatz (TV Mini Series, 1980) dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder. This 14-part series based on Alfred Döblin's famous novel was conceived and, I would argue, shot as a theatrical release. It was screened at the Vista cinema in Hollywood in August 1983, in its entirety (with a 2-hour break for dinner), making it the longest film ever to be commercially screened (15 hours, 21 minutes). I do not suppose that experiment has ever been repeated (though maybe in Germany?) You are absolutely right about the Depression being world-wide, london777 . It was a devastating event for all.
And I can't thank you enough for including Berlin Alexanderplatz, because I loved it!! I saw it on television as a miniseries, and I had no idea about the screening in Hollywood. What an event that must have been. I've only seen a few Fassbinder films, but this mini-series is my favorite of all of his works I've seen thus far. I thought it was absolutely brilliant, a monumental achievement. I haven't seen it since it premiered in the U.S. on Public Television in 1980, so I can't say how I'd feel about it today. But something tells me I would feel the same. It made such an impact on me. It's a masterwork, in my opinion. I can't thank you enough for the reminder.
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Post by politicidal1 on Jul 18, 2024 16:40:38 GMT
The original “Indiana Jones” films happened to take place during the Great Depression. But it was more of a background detail than a major plot point.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Jul 19, 2024 6:42:25 GMT
jeffersoncody - Re: your Hard Times comments; you have a knack for making films I didn't want to see sound like films I want to see. That's a talent (maybe you should have worked in film criticism or marketing). I was in the film and video business nearly my whole working life Doghouse, but I started out as a junior reporter on a newspaper called The Evening Post - where I first began reviewing films. Marketing films was also part of my life, and boy could I sell. I fell in love with movies when I was about seven years old and while the love affair dimmed somewhat after the death of my partner a year or so back, it never went away and I am getting back into loving movies with all my heart and soul again. I have also had a horrific, very serious ailment for the last year, and the battle with the pain that has accompanied it has made it hard to focus on the cinema. But, touch wood, I seem to be on the mend now and the pain is manageable so I am immersing myself in films old and new once again. This last week or so I watched Queen of Hearts (2019), Horizon: An American Saga and The Dead Don't Hurt (from writer, director, composer and actor Viggo Mortensen) and really enjoyed them. Likewise the The Bike Riders, which I watched a week or two back. I'm getting stronger everyday, and, God willing, I have a third act left in my life.
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Post by Mahoney on Jul 19, 2024 17:38:36 GMT
Thieves Like Us Emperor of the North
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Post by spiderwort on Jul 19, 2024 18:46:47 GMT
Thieves Like Us Emperor of the North I've never seen THIEVES LIKE US (have no idea how I missed it), but I'm a big fan of EMPEROR OF THE NORTH.
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