What movies have you seen recently?

[Baseballking888]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Who Framed Roger Rabbit: It's a fun film that stands the test of time. It's gradually gotten better for me as I grow up more and understand the film's more crude humor. The production values are amazing to look at, every actor is in top form, and numerous cameos all over the place which doesn't overwhelm the story (think Wreck-It Ralph, which successfully did this format with the different cameos). There's two classic scenes with two cartoon characters that still blow my mind knowing that it's unlikely to ever happen again. I won't spoil them, but I contest that the "Piano Duel" is one of the coolest things ever. Definitely recommend it. A-

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Smashing The Rackets (1938)

Plot Summary:

Jim 'Socker' Conway, former boxer and FBI hero, is maneuvered for political reasons into a do-nothing job in the district attorney's office. Meanwhile, he meets wild debutante Letty Lane, girlfriend of mob mouthpiece Steve Lawrence; and Letty's much nicer sister Susan. Now the slot machine gang brutally beats Jim's friends Franz and Otto. And Jim finds a way to use his nominal position to go into the racket- busting business. But his success puts Letty in deadly peril...

This was one of many films in the '30s that were loosely based on famous crusading D.A. Thomas A. Dewey but this one has a couple wrinkles to it that makes it stand out IMO. First of all, it also references famed G Man Melvin Purvis who famously brought down gangsters such as Dillinger. The lead character of Jim Conway (Chester Morris) starts off as an FBI man who, after another highly public arrest is sought after by the DA for purely cynical reasons but Conway sees it as an opportunity for him to get back into the law profession which was his first love. Through this flunky job he ends up meeting wild socialite Letty Lane (Rita Johnson) who's dating the unscrupulous lawyer Steve Lawrence (Bruce Cabot) but in the process Conway also meets his future girlfriend in Susan (Frances Mercer)

The movie goes through the usual racket smashing type of storyline you often see in these kind of movies even going so far as to see Conway's friend getting beaten up by the protective association and having his son killed! It's not explicitly shown to be a murder as the son lies in a hospital bed so his death is an offscreen one.

The thing that sets this apart from other movies of its type is the ingenuity of the villain as he becomes the kingpin of the city and takes down all opposition by bringing in one of the syndicate men to work for him and do his bidding such as setting up one of the big bosses by having him shot to death as he tries to assassinate Conway. Bruce Cabot is very smooth and cunning in his role and you get the feeling that he's too smart for his own good.

As the movie progresses his collaborator keeps ratcheting up the price for aiding Lawrence to the point that Lawrence tries to double cross him which backfires and leads to the twist that makes this a cut above other racket busting flicks. it's too spoilerish to even really hint at but let's just say Letty's involvement with Lawrence plays a HUGE role in what happens.

The only drawback is that this subplot really painted the screenwriter into a corner and gave the movie a very unsatisfying and pat ending. I'm not even sure how they could've done it any better to get the "happy" ending. If the Hays Code wasn't in place and such I'd say this movie would've been been best served if the ending had been more downbeat.

That being said the movie is definitely worth watching for Bruce Cabot's performance and Chester Morris does a pretty good job as the squared jaw hero who uses some tricks up his sleeve like bringing in the gangsters after they've been acquitted of the murder of the little boy and then having one of them sent into a room to get interrogated with a vicious beating and getting whipped by a rod which makes one of the other gangster guys admit the whole thing only to discover the other guy was tired up and gagged with the screaming and crying only being a recording!

2 1/2 stars out of 4. It loses half a point for the way it ended.


Next Up: back to John Carpenter and a movie i'm sure to like much better than The Thing as I watch 1984's Starman.

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Frankenstein Theory.

Not even Dr. Frankenstein could possibly help this piece of garbage.

[JWR3232]

Rented taken 1&2 from Netflix I don't know what took me so long to see them they were awesome! Two great action films highly recommend anyone who hasn't seen them to see them.

[daflyboys]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Life of Pi.

Must see at least once. As large of a screen as possible.

[BlueNGold]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Reservoir Dogs.

I think I need to go back and watch it again because it was not at all what I was expecting (not necessarily in a negative way). Tarantino's movies are just so different than just about every other movie I've ever seen. I had to get over the initial "WTF?!" after everything ended and digest everything I'd seen but this was a really good movie. I still like Pulp Fiction a lot more though.

Also, Mr. Blonde was ****ing awesome.

[Mo]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Reservoir Dogs.

I think I need to go back and watch it again because it was not at all what I was expecting (not necessarily in a negative way). Tarantino's movies are just so different than just about every other movie I've ever seen. I had to get over the initial "WTF?!" after everything ended and digest everything I'd seen but this was a really good movie. I still like Pulp Fiction a lot more though.

Also, Mr. Blonde was ****ing awesome.

Which is funny, his movie are different from everything else, but in the end all of his movie are the same thing(I've seen and enjoyed just about every one of his movie, so it's not a bad thing)

He's the movie version of Aaron Sorkin. You've seen one, you've seen them all.

[Bellsprout]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Which is funny, his movie are different from everything else, but in the end all of his movie are the same thing(I've seen and enjoyed just about every one of his movie, so it's not a bad thing)

He's the movie version of Aaron Sorkin. You've seen one, you've seen them all.

I am disappointed that this post wasn't a review of Casino Royale.

I will keep peer pressuring you on this, dammit!

[BattleBornLV]

Wreck it Ralph. I enjoyed it as did my wife and daughter.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Ghost Rider 2 (3D) Slightly above average. Enjoyed this more the 2nd time around (fell asleep halfway through in the theaters). Good 3D effects but suspect CGI.

[SPTO]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Which is funny, his movie are different from everything else, but in the end all of his movie are the same thing(I've seen and enjoyed just about every one of his movie, so it's not a bad thing)

He's the movie version of Aaron Sorkin. You've seen one, you've seen them all.

I think Tarantino is one of those guys who takes a genre and completely screws around with their conventions but by the end of it you get an ending that totally fits whatever genre he's riffing on.

A lot of great genre directors can take what they have and find new ways to present it while playing within the rules in terms of the story arc.

[goh]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

The Nest

A science experiment gone wrong results in a beach town/island being overrun with <s>man eating fish</s>...<s>rapist lobster type creatures</s>...cockroaches. It has a great crazy "I was right all along!" old man type. It's a little bit dull for most of it waiting for something great to happen but then about an hour in delivers something epic. One of the kills must've been cut out because they set it up but never come back to it. 'Tis no Piranha or Humanoids From the Deep but it eventually comes through to decent.

[BlueNGold]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Which is funny, his movie are different from everything else, but in the end all of his movie are the same thing(I've seen and enjoyed just about every one of his movie, so it's not a bad thing)

He's the movie version of Aaron Sorkin. You've seen one, you've seen them all.

Yeah, now that I think about it, it was pretty similar to Pulp Fiction how it wasn't a linear story. I still have to see the rest of his movies but I'm guessing they're all similar because they exist in the same ****ed up universe.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Which is funny, his movie are different from everything else, but in the end all of his movie are the same thing(I've seen and enjoyed just about every one of his movie, so it's not a bad thing)

He's the movie version of Aaron Sorkin. You've seen one, you've seen them all.

I don't really know if that's true anymore or even if its true from Reservoir Dogs to Jackie Brown.

[Burns11]

Re: What movies have you seen recently?

Saw Sinister, it was pretty good by modern horror standards, though completely different than what the TV spots made it out to be (in a good way). Felt like it was written to be a franchise rather than a complete movie, which I think is probably where it's greatest faults lie.