GENE HACKMAN AND AL PACINO TRAPISE THROUGH 'SCARECROW'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii6aqKbSJ0PSdqdt4arXSjssUv6e3x8IOZaRx-kG1GhS4zF-mwGnbEhujs_F-WFYATJDdLvyeSQOLU11NpkmoehAu8lhI_5Z7RawoK6LMh3wN6jcuHUdfGK5KtGAJIztjxBKLxu791ulPMylEjMLp5rzSj6_EG1o_T0kYwP-EBvp5-4cBXx_EQPDu38AmT/s1976/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-27%20at%202.19.39%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1232" data-original-width="1976" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii6aqKbSJ0PSdqdt4arXSjssUv6e3x8IOZaRx-kG1GhS4zF-mwGnbEhujs_F-WFYATJDdLvyeSQOLU11NpkmoehAu8lhI_5Z7RawoK6LMh3wN6jcuHUdfGK5KtGAJIztjxBKLxu791ulPMylEjMLp5rzSj6_EG1o_T0kYwP-EBvp5-4cBXx_EQPDu38AmT/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-27%20at%202.19.39%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SCARECROW Stars: Gene Hackman, Al Pacino Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In a roundabout way, independent director Jerry Schatzberg made Al Pacino a star by providing him a zesty role in the low-budget street-addict-drama THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK that inspired Francis Ford Coppola to cast him as Michael Corleone in THE GODFATHER... while Gene Hackman had already won an Oscar for THE FRENCH CONNECTION, leading to their combined 1973 offbeat road movie SCARECROW...<br><br>Where Hackman and Pacino seem like if Jack Kerouac had written MIDNIGHT COWBOY as the duo are already ON THE ROAD as polar-opposite tall-and-short vagabonds venturing across rural America (from traipsing feet to freight trains) where, serving as the only actual plot-line, Hackman's Max wants to open a gas station while Pacino's Lion has a child somewhere that he yearns to connect with, or something...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

al pacino, ann wedgeworth, dorothy tristan, eileen brennan, gene hackman, indie, jerry schatzberg, richard lynch, road movie, rutanya alda, seventies

GENE HACKMAN AND AL PACINO TRAPISE THROUGH 'SCARECROW'

Title: SCARECROW Stars: Gene Hackman, Al Pacino Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 In a roundabout way, independent director Jerry Schatzberg made Al...

AL PACINO AND KITTY WINN WEATHER 'THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hAmoJjOF-7rc_UvaikfjSoaNVvO6w2Wj0cpr80aXtu2aPUYftsJNzzeQBcEUXcO3gv5HSJS-At7dUoLNbqkQprr0UVIMmk_IQkHE_lsl_hV9P7L7iT0A2kVtULYpJ5OP9IAML-kFsu2m35KXVejLUQ1cZp1akwsZeiyG6mxsqAcVlP8EV627E1oMlAIU/s2230/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-24%20at%2011.42.09%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1356" data-original-width="2230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8hAmoJjOF-7rc_UvaikfjSoaNVvO6w2Wj0cpr80aXtu2aPUYftsJNzzeQBcEUXcO3gv5HSJS-At7dUoLNbqkQprr0UVIMmk_IQkHE_lsl_hV9P7L7iT0A2kVtULYpJ5OP9IAML-kFsu2m35KXVejLUQ1cZp1akwsZeiyG6mxsqAcVlP8EV627E1oMlAIU/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-24%20at%2011.42.09%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Pacino in THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK Year: 1971 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There are four minutes left of independent director Jerry Schatzberg's heroin-addict expose THE PANIC AT NEEDLE PARK when Al Pacino does the kind of screaming tantrum that would become legendary...<br><br>Yet before he was the gruff-voiced screamer, Pacino had a nasally, higher-pitched tone... and his Bobby seems like the cooler, girl-getting brother of Dustin Hoffman's Ratso Rizzo from <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/06/git-along-little-doggie.html">MIDNIGHT COWBOY</a> (same cinematographer), which would have a similar opposites-pairing vibe in Schatzberg's subsequent indie SCARECROW starring Gene Hackman and Pacino: right after becoming famous thanks to this movie's kickstart that convinced THE GODFATHER auteur Francis Ford Coppola to gamble on the comparably normal-looking, pint-sized, scruffy-haired, method acting no-name... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

al pacino, counter-culture, drugs, jerry schatzberg, joe santos, kitty winn, larry marshall, raul julia, rutanya alda, seventies, warren finnerty

AL PACINO AND KITTY WINN WEATHER 'THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK'

Al Pacino in THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK Year: 1971 Rating: **** There are four minutes left of independent director Jerry Schatzberg's her...

REVIEW CRUISING THROUGH 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEierViQkA7CjN-ie-R-rUPHjZaU9AYiDXojRL_rxStIspYAGyzZoAtP309hQ0GIiAIZz4qn1g0NtdZIhfTn5FDxxnJNhyPr9doMjUDondR5hmsIF2tdlliDDekfLv_KdRq6krqMynuUzShQ2qIMbciZSoxncwwR2QTzw_ruDy_iBGBqkguUx-m9fMsccqz9/s2048/brighter.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEierViQkA7CjN-ie-R-rUPHjZaU9AYiDXojRL_rxStIspYAGyzZoAtP309hQ0GIiAIZz4qn1g0NtdZIhfTn5FDxxnJNhyPr9doMjUDondR5hmsIF2tdlliDDekfLv_KdRq6krqMynuUzShQ2qIMbciZSoxncwwR2QTzw_ruDy_iBGBqkguUx-m9fMsccqz9/s16000/brighter.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Make an important note while <i>experiencing</i> Quentin Tarantino's entirely different kind of revisionist-history revenge picture: It not only centers around real life counter-culture figures Sharon Tate; Charles Manson and Family (including main slayer Tex Watson and skanky moll Squeaky Fromme); a love-lorn Steve McQueen; a rich, contented Roman Polanski; and pixie hairstylist Jay Sebring... <br> <br> There's also the last of the victims, Donald "Shorty" Shea, a would-be stuntman who thought the hippie horde was taking advantage of his friend/employer George Spahn at the formerly-active Spahn Movie Ranch: the infamous location where Manson and his followers made their very own drug-fueled, Beatles-blaring, conspiracy-plotting, paranoiac playground, ultimately setting stage for the "Helter Skelter Murders" that infamously included an eight-month pregnant Tate...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

2019, al pacino, brad pitt, bruce dern, counter-culture, dark comedy, exploitation, hangout, hollywood satire, leonardo dicaprio, madisen beaty, margot robie, new, quentin tarantino, thriller

REVIEW CRUISING THROUGH 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD'

Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Rating: **** Make an important note while experiencing Quentin Tarantino...

SIDNEY LUMET DIRECTS AL PACINO IN THE TRUE CRIME 'SERPICO'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ibw5oyh-S2opm0mmEpHMFt4doSBbZ-2E-TRMgBWajmMV2K47FII6PejcdU8VyGk00bJ6FV0bw_4kpgOD_2YyyJa0malVhvSgN-LqbJ6v1Q_YvjV2jd0cZFn8AM4f2DLgCaSI8BkOptpxHIy1QyF7grJijNpmBK-NJq5J0WjdB1HOoIxn9nim9l6dhQ/s1649/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-07%20at%203.15.38%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1649" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ibw5oyh-S2opm0mmEpHMFt4doSBbZ-2E-TRMgBWajmMV2K47FII6PejcdU8VyGk00bJ6FV0bw_4kpgOD_2YyyJa0malVhvSgN-LqbJ6v1Q_YvjV2jd0cZFn8AM4f2DLgCaSI8BkOptpxHIy1QyF7grJijNpmBK-NJq5J0WjdB1HOoIxn9nim9l6dhQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-07%20at%203.15.38%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Pacino in SERPICO Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Between the two GODFATHER films that made Al Pacino not only a star but a living legend. he headlined SERPICO, where, like Michael Corleone, he starts out youthfully idealistic and winds up...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well in this case he goes from idealism to becoming purposefully annoying... refusing any shortcut that cops can acquire in New York City, starting with the kind of sandwich he gets for free...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, al pacino, biopic, cop, cornelia sharpe, judd hirsch, mary-louise weller, nathan george, seventies, sidney lumet, thriller, tony roberts

SIDNEY LUMET DIRECTS AL PACINO IN THE TRUE CRIME 'SERPICO'

Al Pacino in SERPICO Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 Between the two GODFATHER films that made Al Pacino not only a star but a living legend. he h...

AL PACINO SHIFTS TO CRUISE CONTROL FOR 'BOBBY DEERFIELD'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lj_Kgb8ifHhR32FfNiiMWPFQy8kyCYONapknyjVl0ex0IOf62BhdM6lS_ho_5kfOEIv9uO1D5Vi6UiFhL0h_AzmQULMrN2HtzriCxpBLln6eDcoFbR7ASWaFhI2E2uEVqaFIh-VDt1WRNkRVm25KldS1x8CaVD1Zll9b7L-6raQbSsEIaYQFB2BD0A/s907/52991280_659238614505318_7676804796610772992_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="907" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lj_Kgb8ifHhR32FfNiiMWPFQy8kyCYONapknyjVl0ex0IOf62BhdM6lS_ho_5kfOEIv9uO1D5Vi6UiFhL0h_AzmQULMrN2HtzriCxpBLln6eDcoFbR7ASWaFhI2E2uEVqaFIh-VDt1WRNkRVm25KldS1x8CaVD1Zll9b7L-6raQbSsEIaYQFB2BD0A/s16000/52991280_659238614505318_7676804796610772992_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Pacino in BOBBY DEERFIELD Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Not a race car movie, but one that centers on a famous driver... The man, BOBBY DEERFIELD, especially after a fatal accident by another driver in <i>his</i> car, simply doesn't care much for humanity or even his own family, and only gets a personality after meeting, and then traveling aimlessly with, a beautiful woman in a hospital...<br> <br> In fact, his <i>real</i> turnaround occurs after discovering this mystery woman's deep, dark secret: Thus the free-spirited confidence of Marthe Keller's personality makes sense after this revelation, as does the film...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

al pacino, drama, marthe keller, melodrama, race car, romance, seventies, sport, walter mcginn

AL PACINO SHIFTS TO CRUISE CONTROL FOR 'BOBBY DEERFIELD'

Al Pacino in BOBBY DEERFIELD Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2 Not a race car movie, but one that centers on a famous driver... The man, BOBBY DEE...

SIX NON-STEREOTYPICAL GAY CHARACTERS IN 1970'S CRIME FILMS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-C_pc2VlTRF9t5Q4GNJqm-yaGejJPNr8gldDiK70afvpoUnLhSfDnT0Gl9i10QZLdCRVXTa-qoFHWHMDmDaT_uS1UeCguevhn_vcb8ajp20yx85GFTTVDvX9XRw9Dleo0asdrxaRiQgvC/s1600/roy1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1294" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-C_pc2VlTRF9t5Q4GNJqm-yaGejJPNr8gldDiK70afvpoUnLhSfDnT0Gl9i10QZLdCRVXTa-qoFHWHMDmDaT_uS1UeCguevhn_vcb8ajp20yx85GFTTVDvX9XRw9Dleo0asdrxaRiQgvC/s400/roy1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Roy Scheider facing Lawrence Olivier, Marathon Man, 1976</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>Roy Scheider, Marathon Man</u>: Gay characters from older movies... in this case when cinema became more gritty and realistic... usually acted like the stereotype of how homosexuals sometimes act in real life and simply <i>are </i>on screen...<br> <br> So here's a list of gay men who don't mess around like they usually do in cinema, to this day, and we'll begin with Roy Scheider as Dustin Hoffman's big brother, nicknamed Doc in MARATHON MAN, who is never actually "outed" but his preference is known from the William Goldman novel, <i>and </i>he pleads that his literal agent/partner William Devane's Janey get his "ass over here" to a hotel room, before being attacked the exact same way as Johnny Ola in THE GODFATHER PART II...<br>

al lettieri, al pacino, anthony james, crime, exploitation, homosexual, list, mafia, richard burton, robert deman, roy scheider, seventies, sixties, steve mcqueen

SIX NON-STEREOTYPICAL GAY CHARACTERS IN 1970'S CRIME FILMS

Roy Scheider facing Lawrence Olivier, Marathon Man, 1976 Roy Scheider, Marathon Man : Gay characters from older movies... in this case w...

REVIEW OF MARTIN SCORSESE'S ANTICIPATED 'THE IRISHMAN'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_oX30DQHXqc63MQNf8TtXhCQfmj4X47aT4NU1vR2bVafVc67bxNMwKZ8C_5ZBeKqWUb_dR0iYGbAMhI40cvhYHXctHuPJa0QCf59l1wG-HBila3peBqXCY3bO2ebcGANhc2Wo_yQ3eWm/s1600/z.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1600" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_oX30DQHXqc63MQNf8TtXhCQfmj4X47aT4NU1vR2bVafVc67bxNMwKZ8C_5ZBeKqWUb_dR0iYGbAMhI40cvhYHXctHuPJa0QCf59l1wG-HBila3peBqXCY3bO2ebcGANhc2Wo_yQ3eWm/s400/z.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in THE IRISHMEN Year: 2019</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> At a run-time of over three hours, you'd think director Martin Scorsese would make something more liken to an addictive limited cable series than an epic about absolutely nothing. It is, however, about <i>someone</i>; and that's Jimmy Hoffa played by a CGI-youthful Al Pacino, who, with Robert De Niro as sidekick "house painter" i.e. assassin Frank Sheeran, are involved in endless dialogue leading absolutely nowhere...<br> <br> Unlike Scorsese's mob classic GOODFELLAS, ironically playing-out like binge crime serials do now — with something to anticipate around every suspenseful corner — there's nothing to look forward to here except more and more conversations with De Niro on cruise control and Pacino using a fake accent that's not only distracting, but completely unnecessary...<br>

2019, al pacino, biopic, drama, epic, joe pesci, martin scorsese, mob, robert deniro, thriller

REVIEW OF MARTIN SCORSESE'S ANTICIPATED 'THE IRISHMAN'

Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in THE IRISHMEN Year: 2019 At a run-time of over three hours, you'd think director Martin Scorsese would...

JUXTAPOSED CINEMA PHOTOBREAK: NEEDLE IN THE GRADUATE

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3dXFIySKIR8FEPqxxI_jpdUKKR39sNEYpUU6ddLfHV62cGWVjmXMnBV7I-cUT2pkx9qQ6T4GmyCQbuSVrnSXFUoS9pwUR_nWZMv7FZ9m3sh6X5ZI50J-rpeiDv8VLMFvCBkfO3LCqpYQ/s1600/ThePanicInNeedlePark_BD_HighRes__73942.1463624074.1280.1280.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3dXFIySKIR8FEPqxxI_jpdUKKR39sNEYpUU6ddLfHV62cGWVjmXMnBV7I-cUT2pkx9qQ6T4GmyCQbuSVrnSXFUoS9pwUR_nWZMv7FZ9m3sh6X5ZI50J-rpeiDv8VLMFvCBkfO3LCqpYQ/s400/ThePanicInNeedlePark_BD_HighRes__73942.1463624074.1280.1280.png" width="316"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>Twilight Time Blu Ray</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A little of what we call a PHOTOBREAK from the routine of reviews, interviews and essays, here are two pictures, below this writeup, one from the famous cult film, THE GRADUATE, the other from the not so famous but pretty well known, in more obscure cult circles, THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK...<br> <br> Both have several things in common. For starters, two short, swarthy, energetic and iconic character-actors who quickly became leading men got their start with each project: DUSTIN HOFFMAN as THE GRADUATE, who, at the very end, sitting in the back of a bus after winning over his woman the hard way by, with the help of Paul Simon's acoustic guitar, driving across California to crash a wedding and... well, you know the scene. Meanwhile, the end of PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK is far more ambiguous and, being about two junkies as opposed to high class college students, downright depressing... But not really. Because no matter what Kitty Winn did to make Al Pacino angry – which shouldn't be spoiled here or in the upcoming review – was surely something pretty low... But like Dustin and Katharine, both are heading towards an unseen, unknown future and yet, these futures are obviously shared by each couple, together, for better (GRADUATE) or <i>most likely</i> worse (PARK). And last and certainly not least, both couples wind up staring off in opposite directions, right at the last moment, and yet are completely connected... This must have been homage by NEEDLE director Jerry Schatzberg to Mike Nichols' iconic GRADUATE ending or else just a wonderful coincidence. Either way, there it is!<br>

al pacino, counter-culture, drugs, kitty winn, photobreak, raul julia, richard bright, seventies

JUXTAPOSED CINEMA PHOTOBREAK: NEEDLE IN THE GRADUATE

Twilight Time Blu Ray A little of what we call a PHOTOBREAK from the routine of reviews, interviews and essays, here are two pictu...

UNPOPULAR TAKES ON BELOVED 'SCARFACE' & 'TRUE ROMANCE'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3Y_krZqybAeofEPVx4yQVXerWcN4VrkKyPdwxh8js6bNN6IXS5zVIJECnOZCya2RKpriKSkn4E9Jw-Q6Vzt46Vr-5_RUh4TEecxRPl5JutaEniJm_rOh8wu6dXuEF46SjE6ECpqdcRw/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm3Y_krZqybAeofEPVx4yQVXerWcN4VrkKyPdwxh8js6bNN6IXS5zVIJECnOZCya2RKpriKSkn4E9Jw-Q6Vzt46Vr-5_RUh4TEecxRPl5JutaEniJm_rOh8wu6dXuEF46SjE6ECpqdcRw/s400/0.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Firing away at a so-called Masterpiece Year: 1983</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>SCARFACE</u> has… or had, since this post has been edited for a long time… returned to the theaters, mang. The one starring Al Pacino, written by Oliver Stone and directed by Brian De Palma...<br> <br> And now can be viewed in all its glory, and flaws… As for the latter, and with the legacy of what’s considered a “timeless classic” supposedly on par with the THE GODFATHER, who knew there were so many downsides? During one important scene, bordering the first and second act, when Al Pacino’s Tony Montana, a Cuban refugee who climbs from poverty and starts making loads of cash in the cocaine business, visits his mother, he offers money to her and Tony’s little sister. Mama refuses, saying the cash is dirty. At this point, not only does the dough seem clean as a whistle, and a damn nice gift, but we hardly experience Tony’s initial climb from the slums to a car dealership where a forty thousand dollar Porsche is an easy purchase…<br>

al pacino, christian slater, eighties, nineties, oliver stone, quentin tarantino, tony scott, val kilmer

UNPOPULAR TAKES ON BELOVED 'SCARFACE' & 'TRUE ROMANCE'

Firing away at a so-called Masterpiece Year: 1983 SCARFACE has… or had, since this post has been edited for a long time… returned to th...

AL PACINO STARRING IN DANNY COLLINS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3VFxTFLmLf6l1Zz6xE45m8ujOSquG8SgaKgpye_dzI0k74e2ammzo1mhePa0qjSsZxc6ePKrN3DIkt9mZK8O83G1vN2ObwjxBRYfvex2yqwYP75f6-X2lT9jW8c419p6lflipuGl-M7c/s1600/Picture+1.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3VFxTFLmLf6l1Zz6xE45m8ujOSquG8SgaKgpye_dzI0k74e2ammzo1mhePa0qjSsZxc6ePKrN3DIkt9mZK8O83G1vN2ObwjxBRYfvex2yqwYP75f6-X2lT9jW8c419p6lflipuGl-M7c/s320/Picture+1.png" width="210" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> The difference between mainstream and arthouse cinema is in the first, you’re supposed to either like or hate any character upon introduction, and in the latter it should take about half the movie before deciding upon if he or she is worth frowning on, smiling at or applauding over. So DANNY COLLINS is a cross between both: you'll like the title character right off the bat because he’s Al Pacino, but you’re supposed to feel a tad guilty since he’s very flawed and… all that jazz.  <br /> <br /> Loosely based on the true story of a musician who received a note from John Lennon that changed his way of thinking, COLLINS has a difficult-to-believe premise: that Al Pacino would not only be taken seriously as a music icon, but he'd be a recognizable legend in that regard. With dated bubblegum ballads liken to a Barry Manilow and the voice of McGruff the Crime Dog, we never really hear our man sing – just long enough to know the music is fluffy enough to not take as seriously as we’re supposed to take a musician who wants to be taken more seriously, especially by his polar opposite John Lennon, whose long lost letter puts Danny in a belated mid-life crisis: quitting a lucrative tour and holed up in a New Jersey Hilton, he flirts with an age-appropriate woman while patching holes with his estranged (and annoyingly stubborn) blue collar son. That’s it in a nutshell. <br /> <br /> With an overindulgence of melodrama ranging from drugs to disease, COLLINS gets a bit too syrupy for its own good. But with nine Lennon songs making up for the lack of any proof that our schlock rock star is legitimate, and a few moments where Pacino provides a speck of that old magic, it’s a decent two-hours spent. Of course don’t expect THE GODFATHER yet be thankful it isn’t JACK AND JILL.  

2015, al pacino, christopher plummer

AL PACINO STARRING IN DANNY COLLINS

year: 2015 rating: *** The difference between mainstream and arthouse cinema is in the first, you’re supposed to either like or hate any...

STAND UP GUYS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgip3SBgrYxz3QbvFILvx6D805gYTj16C-r4fek1r6jds4V93CmR3zCnnOPY3NgYOemI242_xzLbK6Gh3IpNaHld6Txc1AaMb2yI6M4ScwK69wkOvAlOWm7LJt38xQJaaJuw81vzR-tVro/s1600/standupguys_zpsd53d0b07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgip3SBgrYxz3QbvFILvx6D805gYTj16C-r4fek1r6jds4V93CmR3zCnnOPY3NgYOemI242_xzLbK6Gh3IpNaHld6Txc1AaMb2yI6M4ScwK69wkOvAlOWm7LJt38xQJaaJuw81vzR-tVro/s400/standupguys_zpsd53d0b07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> In one scene towards the end of STAND UP GUYS, Al Pacino’s Val confesses to a priest all that he’s done, including a tryst with a hooker, robbing a pharmacy, and, among a few other things, stealing a car. The priest can’t believe all this happened in one day, but the colorful description is more entertaining than the already experienced reality. <br /> <br /> As we begin our tale, the scruffy/beaten Val gets out of prison after serving 28 years. He’s greeted by former crime partner turned brooding artist Christopher Walken who, as Doc, has an assignment to whack his old friend for a vengeful mobster – or else both will be killed. Much of the film has the duo looking and acting their age, hanging around town consisting of a few seemingly vacant boulevards. They drink at a bar, philosophize at a coffee shop, and reflect old times while a grungy R&B score thumps in the background.   <br /> <br /> Two great actors like Pacino and Walken make the somewhat trite dialog interesting, but even when they free their former driver Hirsch, played by Alan Arkin, from a retirement home and go joyriding in a stolen hot rod, it all seems too easy: anything they wanted including young women (who feel sexually about the coots what the director feels historically about the actors, or something), cash, fancy clothes, and loads of prescription drugs, are right there: giving little edge for the once edgy thugs. And a subplot that involves a damsel in distress picks up the pace, but is ultimately pointless. Meanwhile, the dark task remains in Doc’s peripheral, and eventually Val figures things out: leading to a final act with genuinely heartfelt scenes and a beautifully conceived climax, providing the kind of glorified potential these guys deserved all along.

2013, al pacino, alan arkin, christopher walken, crime, genre tarantino

STAND UP GUYS

year: 2013 cast: Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin rating: **1/2 In one scene towards the end of STAND UP GUYS, Al Pacino’s Val ...

JMT FILM INSTITUTE: 10 GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDq-SlhlsFU7Yhr7eJja2uSFVFZbPLj5xHI6SE1EYsWi4Thzts21CGDmXDsseRI5B6M-5AVbvnv8hQLtOv5CAPdoX3zkTVcElHx7UeHKYxfWb5ggWVUc1WH6q8z9a8oYWLHkWy8wLVGAgmQF_14RYJL_5eymtJHiND0CFkp_smLlsfURzvZBrS31RwnIK/s1702/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-25%20at%201.34.28%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="1702" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDq-SlhlsFU7Yhr7eJja2uSFVFZbPLj5xHI6SE1EYsWi4Thzts21CGDmXDsseRI5B6M-5AVbvnv8hQLtOv5CAPdoX3zkTVcElHx7UeHKYxfWb5ggWVUc1WH6q8z9a8oYWLHkWy8wLVGAgmQF_14RYJL_5eymtJHiND0CFkp_smLlsfURzvZBrS31RwnIK/w640-h370/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-25%20at%201.34.28%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1) THE GODFATHER PART II (FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA)</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> Two time periods covered in a single motion picture… A sequel that exceeds the original when the original is a classic… Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino… The Black Hand and Vito Corleone walking the same direction toward a very different fate… John Cazale telling Al Pacino he’s not dumb, he’s smart… How Richard Bright pronounces “Buenos Aires”… When Joe Spinell says, "The family had a lot of buffers".... Lee Strasberg proves he can practice what he teaches...   </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxS1uwu7DV5lvsKZ-kSdqI9GN_8qgqHd5WmZJuxOqfAx-cIZJB9o8TA_ZREA7-ubl3k_b7-QXO97cuHNV-M1r5jmD4BiW5uEkgmJyDeU70tQRQAGaxGcGkpi_y40Hf72uTuyoxTfAvEq6t/s1600/2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxS1uwu7DV5lvsKZ-kSdqI9GN_8qgqHd5WmZJuxOqfAx-cIZJB9o8TA_ZREA7-ubl3k_b7-QXO97cuHNV-M1r5jmD4BiW5uEkgmJyDeU70tQRQAGaxGcGkpi_y40Hf72uTuyoxTfAvEq6t/s640/2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2) THE GODFATHER (FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: center;"> The slow pan on Al Pacino as he turns from passive little brother into calculating mobster… Al finds the gun in the latrine as the train shakes the building’s foundation, providing a suspenseful score without music… Marlon Brando becomes an aging old crime boss, more human than hateful, more loving than evil… James Caan, Robert Duvall, John Cazale… And don't forget the cannoli...</div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDtnf9V8276nyQ-geLmSmVGUduMJgJYcO17u-kxJmSJUaoapzk-ji2hJu7Kg559X4doz9evf08XOtwIp3mh50o3papspnEI4_w3SQqMVbjSfeZ2bznc-XqxwakKZBve4sEqCZy0SNkKQy/s1600/3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDtnf9V8276nyQ-geLmSmVGUduMJgJYcO17u-kxJmSJUaoapzk-ji2hJu7Kg559X4doz9evf08XOtwIp3mh50o3papspnEI4_w3SQqMVbjSfeZ2bznc-XqxwakKZBve4sEqCZy0SNkKQy/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3) GOODFELLAS (MARTIN SCORSESE)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: center;"> Joe Pesci ain't your clown – and don’t remind him he shined shoes… Ray Liotta’s sharp narration as Henry Hill, telling a tale that, in the two-and-a-half running time, has so many twists and turns the entire thing seems like separately intense, and often darkly humorous, vignettes… Monkey Man, Gimme Shelter, Sunshine of Your Love, the second half of Layla… Morrie’s wig commercial… Lorraine Bracco’s narration as Henry’s wife, not just a token female but an important part of the proceedings: it’s her story too… Martin Scorsese’s peak as a director, gliding the camera like no one else can do, or has done, or will ever do again…</div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRb96Mz4RW9XnSnxZT2AYkfusmFxaLRY7prNzRLFBV4yGGftektT8tvlPJMJOCm0nU8_BnNN4h74FUF_AEAdhQlmgzFet8AOY_ajBszPt7HzhKCP7sVqGspuR-TIEt6O9RuvLyVp59dMud/s1600/bull.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRb96Mz4RW9XnSnxZT2AYkfusmFxaLRY7prNzRLFBV4yGGftektT8tvlPJMJOCm0nU8_BnNN4h74FUF_AEAdhQlmgzFet8AOY_ajBszPt7HzhKCP7sVqGspuR-TIEt6O9RuvLyVp59dMud/s640/bull.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4) RAGING BULL (MARTIN SCORSESE)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: center;"> Robert DeNiro with the tight muscular build of a middleweight boxer… Then with a belly and double chin… Flashbulbs pop during boxing scenes… Joe Pesci with a looser, fouler mouth than Tommy in GOODFELLAS… Cathy Moriarty at the public swimming pool… Bare knuckles bleeding on a brick prison wall…      </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWYGgQ-OhGXtjlRMB2a54-qMwYTrWQIvUeuqJo1-eqBo-yA9rWkFVPicuG2ic-LlOtNUQNukL2G6tvns4bE865_A8Onoj7BBqfNGHnYfJBCPMYxrQl3XF5hpD7kB04-_cQHORsioSCp6k/s1600/5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWYGgQ-OhGXtjlRMB2a54-qMwYTrWQIvUeuqJo1-eqBo-yA9rWkFVPicuG2ic-LlOtNUQNukL2G6tvns4bE865_A8Onoj7BBqfNGHnYfJBCPMYxrQl3XF5hpD7kB04-_cQHORsioSCp6k/s640/5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5) CITIZEN KANE (ORSON WELLES)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: center;"> A twenty-five year old kid transforms into a bitter old man… A twenty-five year old kid pissing off a real life mogul that could, and would, hinder a promising career… Dorothy Comingore playing chess in a room with a giant fireplace… Stock footage bats from SON OF KONG… Joseph Cotten in a wheelchair… Everett Sloane remembering that timeless woman in the white dress…</div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Z16-oLOrWY9JD9ClcnvILZbtmlHFKEqWCNgGjeD3Fw5IfVtB_bKH9xLIlMJhthjb29XjgT3r4-vygUy_fzmHSBpqUyD_2gyvZERqRFOeCNz9KNEMCz2SrW2lRKzFnH4kEOMJUKSt8MPE/s1600/6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Z16-oLOrWY9JD9ClcnvILZbtmlHFKEqWCNgGjeD3Fw5IfVtB_bKH9xLIlMJhthjb29XjgT3r4-vygUy_fzmHSBpqUyD_2gyvZERqRFOeCNz9KNEMCz2SrW2lRKzFnH4kEOMJUKSt8MPE/s640/6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6) IN COLD BLOOD (RICHARD BROOKS)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: center;"> The meticulous routine of two criminals, and a passive small town family, connected as one living/breathing creature… Not showing the murders till later on… Rain shadows as tears on Robert Blake’s face… Scott Wilson, Scott Wilson, Scott Wilson…</div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmDc6vnGV8dqZJCDeYuNCyHojZHUqFHOsitw2RFhJGkLUZ8wSzdkyHceF8bn4dnwL8uC_fW0h6s4jwf2zFa1Gs0_zvKh-crzwYzUaQvvY0A1RvXSh0tOUJvHXIzMgEEtBoDJpjQbgLDlru/s1600/touch_of_evil_4.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmDc6vnGV8dqZJCDeYuNCyHojZHUqFHOsitw2RFhJGkLUZ8wSzdkyHceF8bn4dnwL8uC_fW0h6s4jwf2zFa1Gs0_zvKh-crzwYzUaQvvY0A1RvXSh0tOUJvHXIzMgEEtBoDJpjQbgLDlru/s640/touch_of_evil_4.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7) TOUCH OF EVIL (ORSON WELLES)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: center;"> Despite the "Charlton Heston as a Mexican" becoming a pop culture punchline, this is the legendary actor's most subdued and genuine performance... Up against director Orson Welles as a crooked cop epitomizing Film Noir villainy... The three-and-a-half minute opening shot without a single cut... Akim Tamiroff's bulging eyes... Janet Leigh trapped in a rural motel, the first time... Marlene Dietrich's voice... Joanna Moore's figure... Joseph Cotten's cameo... Joseph Calleia's loyalty... And don't forget the shadows, oh those amazing shadows...</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhej8Egg3cnrOvMF-sZ1JsXXgEhWS2YO6Rb_o4zcfdaxXTG49C7GHTTKotZOmi_xigDmmKzA0IDb-YACnjA7BtGfbVxr-hbP4v3bCEQ-0eQRjs86PDuqKckl7xgh_gLTl9M8mOuYHzb36fz/s1600/8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhej8Egg3cnrOvMF-sZ1JsXXgEhWS2YO6Rb_o4zcfdaxXTG49C7GHTTKotZOmi_xigDmmKzA0IDb-YACnjA7BtGfbVxr-hbP4v3bCEQ-0eQRjs86PDuqKckl7xgh_gLTl9M8mOuYHzb36fz/s640/8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8) CHINATOWN (ROMAN POLANSKI)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: center;"> Only the hidden things matter… Jack Nicholson knows nothing… Faye Dunaway knows everything – how she hides it from both Jack and the audience is the key… John Huston eats fish with eyes…Burt Young eats venetian blinds… </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidZGR6qL39_bHRHsAEjADQIDucJHb-BHDiDBF_m9-R_a5yBhcug_gdLjVzR-eFz5tGMl5tNrhKeEXlQD68XKnAOq70lhFImSJrWoBXzyImqqADkN5aTToZVAIx-mVo8uWQmcNjWZtYJk7v/s1600/9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidZGR6qL39_bHRHsAEjADQIDucJHb-BHDiDBF_m9-R_a5yBhcug_gdLjVzR-eFz5tGMl5tNrhKeEXlQD68XKnAOq70lhFImSJrWoBXzyImqqADkN5aTToZVAIx-mVo8uWQmcNjWZtYJk7v/s640/9.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">9) JAWS (STEVEN SPIELBERG)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: center;"> The camera is the shark long enough so the fake looking beast means nothing… Robert Shaw recalling the S.S. Indianapolis – tapping his mug on the table… Roy and Richard kicking home... Spielberg’s camera maneuvers in a viewer-friendly fashion that big budget blockbusters still attempt to this day… Duh Dum, Duh Dum…  </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjKJ2jxm1mvjuQwDS6jT8rHIY5dETRN1Ks-3SQAWD-hiMWI_CuOVYfDcq3Ebbdo5Ke-NwOhg9qM0D_deDXvUSqMe4RXISfmVir-SOX4-I0uaZ17aZTqEO13HKbJSrmiVsX-sU3ZsykeGOX/s1600/10.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjKJ2jxm1mvjuQwDS6jT8rHIY5dETRN1Ks-3SQAWD-hiMWI_CuOVYfDcq3Ebbdo5Ke-NwOhg9qM0D_deDXvUSqMe4RXISfmVir-SOX4-I0uaZ17aZTqEO13HKbJSrmiVsX-sU3ZsykeGOX/s640/10.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10) LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (DAVID LEAN)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: center;"> Peter O’Toole admits he enjoyed killing the man he had saved… Peter O’Toole saving the man he then has to kill… The match flame becomes a burning desert sun… A desert mirage becomes a man with a gun…</div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cGjfQNVoKui_K5UgbM5cGRBlDtTHDeD5Gzuq_AKHY6TJlu79PZQLI8NKl6tEEGbNpwPITB6sVoLUYCx7sCBb8ETR1McfQYy8R2O0GbsMN34VfvQnDvbLX8kl9k0aOOvmnbm9czRxJQWi/s1600/op6dd.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7cGjfQNVoKui_K5UgbM5cGRBlDtTHDeD5Gzuq_AKHY6TJlu79PZQLI8NKl6tEEGbNpwPITB6sVoLUYCx7sCBb8ETR1McfQYy8R2O0GbsMN34VfvQnDvbLX8kl9k0aOOvmnbm9czRxJQWi/s640/op6dd.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10 GREATEST MOVIES LIST BY JAMES M. TATE</td></tr> </tbody></table>

al pacino, marlon brando, orson welles, robert deniro, seventies, sixties

JMT FILM INSTITUTE: 10 GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME

1) THE GODFATHER PART II (FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA) Two time periods covered in a single motion picture… A sequel that exceeds the original ...

JACK AND JILL

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrnltwBEsMcWbha9kensq7vY-iDw-wsxdkbUwlMZ-6T4cJjn6hNAfnuMWbhvG9uxoamk5dLH4IsQgP9KZxQ08Rk8ywNUGr4PwJR49uUHuVC2FZX1ln4-PfzCHo8BxYedW99Rno60ar9TO/s1600/jack.and.jill.columbia.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5674271808731652290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwrnltwBEsMcWbha9kensq7vY-iDw-wsxdkbUwlMZ-6T4cJjn6hNAfnuMWbhvG9uxoamk5dLH4IsQgP9KZxQ08Rk8ywNUGr4PwJR49uUHuVC2FZX1ln4-PfzCHo8BxYedW99Rno60ar9TO/s400/jack.and.jill.columbia.jpg" style="float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 196px;" width="392" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> JACK AND JILL<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Adam Sandler, Al Pacino<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>**<br /> <br /> Does it even need to be said that Adam Sandler playing his own sister would make an awful movie? It’s pretty obvious, being that this particular gimmick is an indication that a sitcom's run out of ideas – which this plays out like: a pilot that’d be cancelled in a flash. And does it have to be said that Al Pacino, playing "himself" with the hots for Adam Sandler in drag, is blasphemous to classic filmgoers?<br /> <br /> For anyone who thinks Al merely provides a cameo, he’s one of the main characters. Scenes involving the iconic actor dating Jill, the twin sister of TV director Jack… who really wants Pacino to star in a donut commercial… are about as bad as things get. But worst of all: it’s not even fun to bag on. While a few one-liners involving Jill spouting politically-incorrect statements aren’t completely without merit, and there's a so-bad-it's-entertaining aspect during the first half, the rest of the film, as a melancholy score evokes sympathy for her subliminally lonesome character, is an uneven mess.The locations involving Jill ruining Jack’s existence on a prolonged holiday visit go from a mansion to a cruise ship, where Sandler returns to his bad movie roots ala GOING OVERBOARD, which is THE WEDDING SINGER comparably. Pretty bad stuff here, but who’s surprised? And there's one telling scene where Pacino, after viewing the cheesy commercial he filmed for Jack, says something like: "This is terrible. No one can see this." Perhaps he was speaking of the movie itself, because the commercial is way more entertaining, and funnier too.

adam sandler, al pacino, comedy, tens

JACK AND JILL

title: JACK AND JILL year: 2011 cast: Adam Sandler, Al Pacino rating: ** Does it even need to be said that Adam Sandler playing his ow...

YOU DON'T KNOW JACK

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55K8WqXuCXnQNdPotwZQu-cQhKBxKvzLAvpBmguzVRASZBH_ASI_NXYWPrB0VylBp2OR7Tr0I5IDCb6QU9OQ1Xg20EG4azNo6uvvRFHlfCTaB4OWiyiruumI_gnCaBRmEx0HvOk7Vt0A/s1600/al_pacino_you_don__t_know_jack_by_donvito62-d2zaarc.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561201030563832418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55K8WqXuCXnQNdPotwZQu-cQhKBxKvzLAvpBmguzVRASZBH_ASI_NXYWPrB0VylBp2OR7Tr0I5IDCb6QU9OQ1Xg20EG4azNo6uvvRFHlfCTaB4OWiyiruumI_gnCaBRmEx0HvOk7Vt0A/s200/al_pacino_you_don__t_know_jack_by_donvito62-d2zaarc.png" style="MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 183px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: pointer" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">title: </span>YOU DON'T KNOW JACK<br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">year:</span> 2010<br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">cast: </span>Al Pacino, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Brenda Vaccaro<br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">rating: </span>**<br /><br />Although parts of this biopic of Jack Kevorkian are interesting, it's as dull as any propaganda can be. Al Pacino looks, and sounds, the part: but in playing a famous (or infamous) person the director's obviously praising, it's more a one-note impersonation than reality. The good guys, including Jack and his cohorts, are proud, enlightened and flawless; while the bad guys <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">aren't</span> the big stalking media who named him "Doctor Death," but a small fraction of over-the-top Christians. The direction by Barry Levinson flows decently enough, but the story of a man this controversial needs balance to work.

al pacino, biopic, john goodman, susan sarandon, tens

YOU DON'T KNOW JACK

title: YOU DON'T KNOW JACK year: 2010 cast: Al Pacino, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Brenda Vaccaro rating: ** Although parts of this b...