The Night of the Hunter
Charles Laughton is most known for his larger than life performances in films from the 30s through the 60s, but he did have one chance to direct which came in the form of 1955’s The Night of the Hunter, a film he also co-wrote with James Agee based on the novel by Davis Grubb. Unfortunately for him, the film was a huge flop. Luckily for us, this quirky anomaly of a film has not only survived but has thrived — it is now critically praised and generally considered to be a classic film.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
William Goldman is often credited as the first screenwriter to sell a spec script, meaning he wrote a script without getting paid for it then sold it once he was done with it. It’s common in the novel-writing world, but in the late 60s, it was unheard of in the film business. That script was “The Sundance Kid & Butch Cassidy,” which legendary producer Richard D. Zanuck, who was running 20th Century Fox at the time, optioned for twice what they were allowed to, knowing it was going to be big. And he was right. We continue our Couples On the Run series with George Roy Hill’s 1969 western, “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.”
True Romance
Quentin Tarantino’s first script that he wrote turned out to be one he couldn’t get made himself. Lucky for us (or unlucky as some Tarantino fans feel), he managed to get “True Romance” into the hands of Tony Scott. Tony gave it a linear structure and a happy ending and, in our estimation, created a magical fairy tale of a film. We’re continuing our “Couples on the Run” series and are thrilled with this week’s edition of “True Romance” to the list.
Midnight Run
Infrequent filmmaker Martin Brest may have directed the box office bombs Gigli and Meet Joe Black, but he also directed the huge critical and commercial successes Beverly Hills Cop and Scent of a Woman. Somewhere in the middle of these films, he made a fantastic action-comedy about a bounty hunter taking a criminal across country to collect his reward. That’s right, we’re talking about Midnight Run, a part of our Couples on the Run series.
The Killing
Stanley Kubrick’s 3rd film, “The Killing,” was a box office bomb due to a poor release plan from United Artists and virtually no marketing. Luckily, the film was critically praised and has grown in stature since its release in 1956. It’s a film noir about a race track heist gone wrong with the fantastic Sterling Hayden leading the charge, and the last film in our Heist series. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we finish this series with Kubrick’s early classic.
Inside Man
Give his largest budget and a script that’s more of a genre film than anything else Lee’s done before, he managed to create a wild heist film with a great twist ending.
The Town
Ben Affleck made a smart move when he decided to start directing films. He had made some bad career moves as an actor and was fizzling out. With his 2007 directorial debut “Gone Baby Gone,” he proved he had chops — and that they weren’t in acting. He’s a great director. With “The Town,” his 2010 heist film, he again shows he knows how to write and direct a great film, and can still act as long as he’s in the right material. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our Heist Series with Affleck’s great bank robber film.
The Bank Job
There’s something interesting about heist films because, generally, you’re rooting for criminals to pull off a heist and criminals usually aren’t who you’d expect to be your protagonist. But watching Roger Donaldson’s 2008 heist film The Bank Job, based on the real Baker Street Robbery in London 1971, you can’t help but root for Terry Leather and his imperfect gang as they not only rob the bank and pull off one of the biggest scores in London’s history, but actually get away with it too. Maybe that’s because the people after them are all much worse, and maybe that’s because you can’t help but side with Terry played wonderfully by Jason Statham. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we start our Heist series with this great movie.
Scoop
Woody Allen has made some great films and he’s made some stinkers, but he is a man who consistently cranks films out year after year. In 2006, his film “Scoop” happened to have a stage magician in it and, because of that, we felt it was important to include in our series about films made about stage magic in 2006. But paired with the other two films in this series — “The Prestige” and “The Illusionist,” this film falls flat. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a great time talking about it.
The Illusionist
2006 was quite the year for movies about stage magicians, and as our series continues, we’ve decided to focus solely on the 3 films dealing with prestidigitation that came out that year. Neil Burger’s The Illusionist came out a few months before Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, but it dealt with an entirely different story. True, they both take place in the world of magicians, but while Nolan’s film dealt with a strong professional rivalry, Burger’s dealt with an unrequited love and the fight the two lovers struggle through to be together.