November 03, 2013

Crime, cops, Jane Austin, Maisie and all the rest---

NEW TO ME:

Between Midnight and Dawn (1950) Edmund O'Brien, Mark Stevens, Gale Storm, Donald Buka. Prowl car cops meet police secretary and both vie for her affections while fighting gangsters.  B-movie that is nicely done.  7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042242/combined

Scandal Sheet (1952) Broderick Crawford, Donna Reed, John Derek, Rosemary DeCamp. Newspaper story about the editor, murder and reporters who figure it out.  7/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045124/combined

The Brothers Rico (1952) Richard Conte, James Darren, Kathryn Grant, Dianne Foster.  You can't get away from the mob.  Three brothers try, but pay a price.  8/10
http://www.imdbh.com/title/tt0050213/combined

Promised Land (2012) Matt Damon, Frances McDormand, John Krasinski, Rosemarie DeWitt, Hal Holbrook.  Little farming towns in the USA are slowly dying as their industries close, so when a big oil company sends salesmen in to buy drilling rights on their and, it seems a godsend.  A story about the fracking industry and the dilemma it imposes on desperate citizens.  7/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2091473/combined

Broken City {2013) Mark Wahlberg,  Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Cops, politics, and murder.   Confused story, but does hold your interest.  6/10     http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235522/combined

Muhammed Ali's Greatest Fight (2013) HBO film starring Christopher Plummer, Frank Langella, Benjamin Walker.  The Supreme Court case ruling on Ali's refusal to be drafted for the Vietnam war based on religious grounds.  Leads as Justice's Harlan and Burger, and a law clerk, are great. I remember the case and the fights.  Clips of Ali in the ring are icing on the cake.  8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2061756/combined

Gangster Squad (2013) Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte,  Michael Pena, Giovanni Ribisi.  1949 Los Angeles, the mobster Mickey Cohen, and the squad of cops that bring him down.  Which is fiction.  Cohen died in his sleep in 1976.  The film is very violent and while using Cohen as the villain, is all fiction and nonstop action.  6/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1321870/combined

ENCORES:

Maisie (1939) Ann Sothern, Robert Young, Ian Hunter, Ruth Hussey.  The beginning of the series, with Maisie stranded in Wyoming and her misadventures on a ranch.  Cast is great and it is a lot of fun.  7/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031608/combined

Arsenic And Old Lace (1944) Cary Grant, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, Priscella Lane, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre.  My Halloween movie.  Watch it every year.     9/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036613/combined

Pride And Prejudice (1995 TV mini-series) Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle.  Jane Austin characters played by a great cast.    A favorite. 9/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112130/combined

Never Been Kissed (1999) Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, John C. Reilly, Octavia Spencer. She's 25. a copy editor who wants to be a reporter, and gets an assignment to go undercover to find out about contemporary  high school students.  Okay rom/com.  7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151738/combined

Sense And Sensibility (2008 TV mini-series) of the Jane Austin story.  Fine cast of British actors.  8/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0847150/combined

Argo (2012) Ben Afflect, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Brian Cranston.  Favorite; playing on HBO now. Won 3 Oscars including Best Picture.  9/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024648/combined

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