Enjoyed this, superbly played by Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones.
“Inspired by the true story”
Owner of local funeral business gets in financial lumber and agrees to a bail out deal with greedy corporation Loewan Group who deliberately gerrymander on the deal with the intention of putting Jerry O’Keefe ( Tommy Lee Jones) out of business.
Jerry is persuaded by a young black legal aquaintance to ignore the advice of his “good old boy” lawyer and persuade flashy personal injury lawyer Will E Gary (brilliantly played by Foxx) to take the case and sue for a seemingly absurd sum.
Its all played with great humour, a story exposing corporate greed, racist exploitation and the little guy standing up to a corrupt corporate bully, but above all its superbly entertaining.
Enjoyed revisiting this classic 1953 Western melodrama.
Alan Ladd as Shane the mysterious lone drifter who arrives at the homestead of a family of land claim farmers being harassed by the outlaw Ryker gang trying to drive the farmers from their claims.
Shane helps them to fight back, with the son of the family Joey becoming besotted with the hero Shane its also a coming of age story.
I’m sure that a scene and dialogue in the bar where Shane first encounters one of the outlaws was a definite influence on Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle
The Cockleshell Heroes. Not seen this in donkeys years and chanced upon a showing on Film 4.
From 1955, so a similar period to the above Shane and coincidentally I read somewhere that Alan Ladd was considered for a role. Cant see how that would have worked, casting an American actor in a stiff upper lip British WWII drama.
Thoroughly entertaining, albeit a bit of a frothy story based on the real 1941 Operation Frankton. The best part of the film for me is the first half or so of the film depicting the recruitment and training of the volunteers that is presented with some great humour. For some reason any appearance of Victor Maddern always brings a smile to my face.
It comes accross as a bit of a Boys Own Yarn and doesnt really come close to depicting the gruelling training and the amazing challenging feat of the actual operation but it is a very enjoyable watch.
Were big fans of Jazz loving detective Harry Bosch here and been eagerly anticipating series 2 of Bosch Legacy.
Its slated to premiere today 20th October but found 4 episodes already up on Prime/Freevee last night. Woohooo!
Saw that and was going to start but this caught my attention on Prime.
A tale of old mates going to Margate to scatter the ashes of one who has recently died.
Not a bad cast and the direction brings out their individual strengths.
Almost but not quite ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ territory. Certainly a film for elderly gentlemen.
Decent print.
Prime also has the Hoskins/ Mirren ‘ Long Good Friday’
But not the best of prints for a large tv
Loved Moviedrome, especially Alex Cox’s introductions. I was delighted when he picked Alligator - one of the most under-rated films of its type, and well worth watching if you’re a fan of the genre and haven’t seen it before.
Yeah, I remember his first showing the newly rediscovered at the time Wicker Man, found whilst digging repairs under a Motorway fly over iirc. Still probably my number one Horror movie, I remember being quite freaked out by its conclusion which inevitably loses impact with a repeat viewing when you know whats coming, still a masterpiece though in my view.
Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part1 – streamed from Sky:
Very high octane stuff, with stunts (and I assume CGI?) galore, which over-dominate proceedings (IMV) a tad. As ever with a Tom Cruise film the production quality is excellent, although the score (and the volume of it) never lets up, even when one’s ears are begging for a rest.
A film where you check in your brain at the door and simply go with the flow. Yes, it’s very silly at times (IMO), but great fun.
As a kid and through my teens I was a bit obsessed with Pinball machines and was pretty good at it.
Not so long back I chanced upon a documentary about how Pinball was absurdly and perniciously banned in New York and other states. Used as a populist diversion away from the failings of Politico’s to deal with genuine corruption and organised crime, placing the blame ridiculously on Pinball machines.
Anyway, this is a light hearted semi documentary style ( the narrative interruptions at times unnecessary and spoil the flow of the film) about Pinball enthusiast and journalist Roger Sharpe who helped to overturn the ban. Its amusing and entertaining if at times cursory on the detail and substance.
and the direction brings out their individual strengths.
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