Thief, from 1981, was the directorial debut of renowned filmmaker Michael Mann, who we have previously viewed via Manhunter earlier in the Alphabet Movie Club. Starring James Caan and Tuesday Weld and featuring the film debuts of Jim Belushi, Robert Prosky, Dennis Farina, William Peterson, Thief was Mann's first foray into the theme of "one last job" that occupies so many of his movies from Manhunter to Heat.
Read MoreWhen Orson Welles called this his least favorite film of his catalog, I can see why. The Stranger, while built on a clever and timely post-Nazi regime premise for 1946, boils down to an Edward G. Robinson hero piece and a somewhat strained role for Orson Welles directing himself. It's not that either one of those angles make for a bad movie. It just doesn't make for a great one.
Read MoreTrouble with the Curve has the cliched conveniences of a romantic comedy, but offers more than that to appreciate thanks to Clint Eastwood. He's always been an actor you can't help but enjoy watching, even if it's the same growl every time lately. Just when you think his routine doesn't have range, he still surprises you with his humor and heart.
Read MoreFrom a story standpoint, I could take or leave Paper Moon. Sometimes, movies about thieves and con artists are tough sells because it's hard to root for, identify with, or side with a lawbreaker or despicable person. Paper Moon attempts to inject some family and heart into its story to so-so effect.
Read MoreArbitrage is still a worthy film to see this fall season. It offers timely questions and enough entertaining mystery to play off of our tough economic times.
Read MoreNotorious is far from top-notch Alfred Hitchcock, but, as myself and fellow members of the Alphabet Film Club noted: a bad Hitchcock film is still better than 90% of the other movies out there. I think that assurance rings true. Notorious is a tedious and nearly tiresome melodrama anchored by a Cary Grant character that's hard to like and an Ingrid Bergman character that's even worse.
Read MoreI was one of the six people who saw The Lookout back when it hit theaters in 2007. I was kind of "meh" about it then and wasn't a Joseph Gordon-Levitt fan. I haven't seen it since, so I was very happy to revisit it for the Alphabet Movie Club. I wasn't going to vote for it, but I wasn't sad that it won.
Read MoreThe Bourne Legacy is more of a new chapter than it is a sequel or reboot. Think of it as if you're watching a new Star Wars movie from the point-of-view of the Storm Troopers in the background at the Death Star, but just really important ones.
Read MoreThe film Harvey is a big dose of Jimmy Stewart. If you can't handle that warble or earnestness, this was a long hour and forty-five minutes. I, for one, can appreciate this version of Jimmy and still know that his better performances are in a dozen other movies.
Read MoreAbraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is absolutely preposterous, but it's supposed to be.
Read MoreDark City is an immensely challenging film to watch and "read," so to speak. Its ideas, implications, and revelations dealing with mortality, the human soul, reality, memories, and the parallels to Christ within a science fiction setting are so big that they are daunting to buy into (and a slow start with a lot of unanswered questions doesn't help).
Read MoreIn a summer blockbuster, entertainment value is commonly given more emphasis than cohesive story flow and Men in Black 3 lives up to that formula.
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