FilmWeViews.com » Crime

Raising Arizona

GroovyMovieGuy — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:53:02 +0000

Back in their salad days, The Coen brothers made a movie called “Raising Arizona” that became an instant classic. It also became the film to which I would compare every movie the brothers made from then on — and there were some excellent movies to follow — such as “Fargo,” “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou” and even “Burn After Reading.”
This is possibly Nicholas Cage’s best movie as he takes on the role of a golden-hearted petty criminal who wants to do right. Holly Hunter portrays his ex-cop wife who is willing to cross the line of right and wrong to complete the family. John Goodman is the career criminal who is willing to put his career before everything else.
Oddly enough, with a plot that includes kidnappers you care for, “the lone biker of the apocalypse” and a very noisy prison break, the willing suspension of disbelief comes naturally, unlike just about every movie Cage has starred in during the last few years. Watch it! (94 min.)

Rated PG-13 - 1987

Director:
Joel Coen

Starring:
Nicholas Cage
Holly Hunter
Trey Wilson
John Goodman
William Forsythe
Frances McDormand
Sam McMurray
Randall ‘Tex’ Cobb
T.J. Kuhn Jr.

Writers:
Ethan Coen
Joel Coen

Bullitt

GroovyMovieGuy — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:21:10 +0000

Let’s face it, folks, the experimental’60s pushed the boundaries to make some terrible movies. Not this time, though. This is the real thing. A compelling story, solid acting and a car chase that set the bar for all that would follow.
Steve McQueen at his prime plays a San Francisco cop trying to track down the killer of a witness who died while under his protection. He butts heads with the ambitious politician — portrayed by Robert Vaughn (remember Napoleon Solo in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”) — who set up the assignment. Look for Jacqueline Bisset as Bulitt’s girlfriend, Robert Duvall as a cab driver, and Norman Fell and Vic Tayback in small roles.
McQueen does his own driving in the famous car chase through the streets of San Francisco, where the cars topped 100 mph speeds and hills like roller coasters off their tracks. The duel between the drivers and their Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger is epic. It’s highly doubtful the city will ever let a film crew shoot a chase like this again. (114 min.)

Rated PG - 1968

Director:
Peter Yates

Starring:
Steve McQueen
Robert Vaughn
Jacqueline Bisset
Don Gordon
Robert Duvall
Simon Oakland
Norman Fell
Georg Stanford Brown
Justin Tarr
Carl Reindel
Felice Orlandi
Vic Tayback
Robert Lipton
Ed Peck
Pat Renella

Writers:
Alan R. Trustman
Harry Kleiner

After the Thin Man

movieMoll — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:14:48 +0000

The second in the movie series, “After the Thin Man” finds Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy) fresh off train from New York and back home in San Francisco after Nick’s success in solving the celebrated Thin Man murder mystery. Although it’s New Year’s Eve, all the sophisticated, cocktail-swigging couple really wants is a quiet night in bed. Instead, they come home to find a house full of revelers planning to “surprise” the Charleses with a welcome home party. If that isn’t bad enough, the pair gets summoned to a family dinner at Nora’s stuffy Aunt Katherine’s, where they’re promptly assigned to discreetly look for Nora’s cousin Selma’s wayward husband. He turns up dead and Nick and Nora are on the trail of a motley assortment of suspects — including relatives, with plenty of action and witty banter along the way. This entry in the six-movie series features a surprising performance from a young James Stewart, and Nora wraps up the film with a surprise of her own for Nick. (112 min.)

Unrated - 1936

Director:
W.S. Van Dyke

Starring:
William Powell
Myrna Loy
James Stewart
Elissa Landi
Joseph Calleia
Jessie Ralph
Alan Marshal
Sam Levene
Penny Singleton
William Law
George Zucco
Paul Fix

Writers:
Dashiell Hammett (story)
Frances Goodrich (screenplay)
Albert Hackett (screenplay)

Duplicity

GroovyMovieGuy — Sat, 16 May 2009 03:44:32 +0000

Loaded with twists and turns, the fast-moving plot of “Duplicity” weaves a story of intrigue about two spooks gone corporate for all the right reasons.
Clive Owen and Julia Roberts portray agents who use their skills of deception to gain the trust of unwitting marks in their professional work. However, their duplicity makes a healthy relationship based on trust difficult at best in their personal lives.
When watching movies of this nature I generally get frustrated with what I consider sloppy writing. So often writers will take some leap beyond the “willing suspension of disbelief” that the plot becomes completely implausible where a little thought and careful writing could have kept the story believable. There are only a few gaffs toward the end of “Duplicity” and those are still excusable.
Owen and Roberts are at the top of their game. Paul Giamatti — a favorite actor of mine — kills as the arrogant and greedy corporate CEO. (125 min.)

Rated PG-13 - 2009

Director:
Tony Gilroy

Starring:
Clive Owen
Julia Roberts
Tom Wilkinson
Paul Giamatti
Dan Daily
Ricky Worthy
Denis O’Hare
Kathleen Chalfant
Wayne Duvall

Writer:
Tony Gilroy

Duplicity

movieMoll — Sat, 16 May 2009 03:41:21 +0000

Ray Koval (Clive Owen) and Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) play former MI6 and CIA agents, respectively, with a complicated past who team up to score in the world of corporate espionage. There’s good screen chemistry between Owen and Roberts and some nice plot twists keep viewers guessing who’s trying to play whom. Supporting cast is excellent, especially Paul Giamatti as corporate CEO Dick Garsik, who will go to any lengths in an attempt to take down his main business competitor, played with style by Tom Wilkinson. “Duplicity” has briskly paced action, laced with romantic interest and a generous helping of comedy. (125 min.)

Rated PG-13 - 2009

Director:
Tony Gilroy

Starring:
Clive Owen
Julia Roberts
Tom Wilkinson
Paul Giamatti
Dan Daily
Ricky Worthy
Denis O’Hare
Kathleen Chalfant
Wayne Duvall

Writer:
Tony Gilroy

The International

movieMoll — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:01:35 +0000

Interpol Agent Louie Salinger (Clive Owen) and New York Assistant DA Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) face obstacles at every turn as they try to bring down a powerful international bank that brokers weapons, wars and assassinations. Although the movie is well-cast and well-acted, it lacked the energy of a top-notch thriller. I may have been disappointed in “The International” only because my expectations were too high. I loved Clive Owen in “Children of Men” and “Shoot ‘Em Up,” both of which were superior to “The International.” Also, since the action takes the lead characters to destinations including Berlin, Milan and Istanbul, I expected more sweeping big-screen views and interesting locales. Instead, much of the action takes place in offices and hotel rooms that could have been shot on a studio soundstage. By the way, the movie earns its “R” rating for violence, particularly one bloody shootout, there is no nudity, sexual situations or inordinately foul language. (118 min.)

Rated R - 2009

Director:
Tom Tykwer

Starring:
Clive Owen
Naomi Watts
Armin Mueller-Stahl
Ulrich Thomsen
Brian F. O’Byrne
Michel Voletti
Patrick Baladi
Jay Villiers
Fabrice Scott
Luca Barbareschi
Alessandro Fabrizi

Writer:
Eric Singer

The International

GroovyMovieGuy — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:58:59 +0000

A little intrigue, a little suspense, one heck of a shootout, cops, good guys, bad guys and an international banking conspiracy make “The International” a pretty good flick. So do the acting talents of Clive Owen and Naomi Watts as relentless pursuers of corrupt multinational business people who don’t mind a little murder to further their agenda.
A well-paced plot keeps things clicking right along. Its twists and turns are fairly believable until the climax. At that point I was hit with a “Oh come on that scenario would never happen” moment that could have easily been avoided. I’ll skip the details because it would be a complete spoiler. If you have the same reaction you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, well it really doesn’t matter then.
By the way, there’s an older German character named Wilhelm Wexler — one of the henchmen — played by Armin Mueller-Stahl who reminded me of Ed McMahon. He did a wonderful job, but I couldn’t help thinking of Mr. McMahon. I miss him from his days on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.
All in all, “The International” is a good movie and well worth watching. (118 min.)

2009 - Rated R

Starring:
Clive Owen
Naomi Watts
Armin Mueller-Stahl
Ulrich Thomsen
Brian F. O’Byrne
Michael Voletti
Patrick Baladi
Jay Villiers
Fabrice Scott
Haluk Bilginer
Luca Barbareschi
Alessandro Fabrizi
Felix Solis
Jack McGee
Nilaja Sun

Director:
Tom Tykwer

Writer:
Eric Singer

The Scarlet Clue

movieMoll — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:55:49 +0000

One of the later entries in the Charlie Chan series, “The Scarlet Clue” isn’t as good as some of the earlier films, but still makes for good late-night viewing, especially for Sidney Toler fans. These later Chan films churned out by Monogram Pictures are as much comedy as mystery, although “The Scarlett Clue” scores on both counts, with some interesting methods of murder and snappy comic dialogue. This movie finds Charlie (Sidney Toler), Number Three son Tommy (Benson Fong) and driver Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) on the trail of murderous traitors trying to steal government radar plans. The prime suspects are radio show actors who work in the same building that houses the top secret research lab! (65 min.)

Unrated - 1945

Director:
Phil Rosen

Starring:
Sidney Toler
Mantan Moreland
Benson Fong
Ben Carter
Virginia Brissac
Robert E. Homans
Janet Shaw
Helen Deverwll

Writers:
Earl Derr Biggers (characters)
George Callahan (story)

Detour

movieMoll — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:23:53 +0000

Never pick up hitchhikers. Al Roberts (Tom Neal) learns this lesson the hard way. Waving his thumb, Al hits the road from New York to California to reunite with his girlfriend. He thinks he’s in the home stretch when he gets picked up by a guy named Charles Haskell (Edmund MacDonald) who says he’s going all the way to L.A. Haskell promptly drops dead. Because he fears the police would never believe his ride died of natural causes, Al dumps the body and steals the car. Just to prove he’s a good guy, Al picks up a hitch-hiking dame named Vera, spelled with a “V” as in vicious. Vera (Ann Savage) worms the story out of poor Al and sets about blackmailing him. This little film noir earns its cult classic status with some really high quality photography for a low-budget film — and one of the cruelest femme fatales in movie history. (67 min.)

Unrated - 1945

Starring:
Tom Neal
Ann Savage
Claudia Drake
Edmund MacDonald

Director:
Edgar G. Ulmer

Writers:
Martin Goldsmith (screenplay and original story)

Detour

GroovyMovieGuy — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:22:53 +0000

Dark, gritty, noir. That’s all the good things I can say about this movie.
For some reason “Detour” has developed a cult following. Beats me why.
Everyone makes mistakes — and sometimes they are big ones — but most of us stop at some point. Our leading man makes mistakes, big mistakes, and keeps piling more on. Stupid and weak, I just couldn’t care about him and soon wished him the worst.
W.C. Fields made a movie with the title “Never Give a Sucker an Even Break.” Our hero got many more breaks than he deserved.
Watch “Laura,” watch “Kansas City Confidential,” watch “The Stranger.” Don’t watch “Detour” unless you’ve seen every other film noir movie. (67 min.)

Unrated - 1945

Starring:
Tom Neal
Ann Savage
Claudia Drake
Edmund MacDonald

Director:
Edgar G. Ulmer

Writers:
Martin Goldsmith (screenplay and original story)