Movies and TV Shows That are Great

[Cassandra]

Clue (1985)

 

This comedy classic has great cast and a mystery who's ending you can guess, at least one of them.  The best movie based on a board game (it used to be the only one before Battleship).

[Pariah]

2 hours ago, mattingly said:

Was that a sequel/spinoff or otherwise related to his character in Murder by Death?

 

1 hour ago, Tjack said:

Not directly. But certainly in the same vein.

 

It's been so long since I've seen The Cheap Detective that I don't know if the Peter Falk character has the same name, but in all other respects he is the same character. It wasn't as good as Murder by Death, though.

[Pariah]

While we're in this vein, I'm going to nominate Undercover Blues. It's a great little spy movie spoof featuring Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner as a pair of married but now retired spies who have a young daughter. They get reactivated to track down a cheeky femme fatale played to perfection by Fiona Shaw. Woven into this narrative of intrigue is the misadventures of Muerte, a would-be mugger turned butt-monkey who's too macho and clueless to realize that he's way out of his weight class. He is brilliantly portrayed by Stanley Tucci in probably my favorite role of his. It's a great movie. It's got action, adventure, humor, Kathleen Turner and Fiona Shaw mud wrestling, something for everyone, really.

[csyphrett]

6 hours ago, Pariah said:

Whole we're in this vein, I'm going to nominate Undercover Blues. It's a great little spy movie spoof featuring Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner as a pair of married but now retired spies who have a young daughter. They get reactivated to track down a cheeky femme fatale played to perfection by Fiona Shaw. Woven into this narrative of intrigue is the misadventures of Muerte, a would-be mugger turned butt-monkey who's too macho and clueless to realize that he's way out of his weight class. He is brilliantly portrayed by Stanley Tucci in probably my favorite role of his. It's a great movie. It's got action, adventure, humor, Kathleen Turner and Fiona Shaw mud wrestling, something for everyone, really.

And a punny title that didn't take itself seriously. Beware Jeff Blue and his stroller

CES 

[Greywind]

9 hours ago, Pariah said:

 

 

It's been so long since I've seen The Cheap Detective that I don't know if the Peter Falk character has the same name, but in all other respects he is the same character. It wasn't as good as Murder by Death, though.

 

Different characters. Sam Diamond and Lou Peckinpaugh.

[Cancer]

Almost Anything Goes, a rather demented "team competition" show back in the late 1970s.  No plot.  Minimal hype.  No emphasis on humiliation of the contestants.  Silly events, though some athleticism is helpful.  (I am almost certain this is a rip-off of  a show that aired in Europe in 1970 or 1971, BTW, but I don't remember that one well enough to be able to track it down.)  This is what pseudo-physical competitions ought to be like.  American Ninja Warrior can bite my aspen.

[BoloOfEarth]

I really enjoyed the movie Sneakers (1992).  Starring Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Ackroyd, Ben Kingsley, David Strathairn, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell, James Earl Jones... lots of major acting power there.  Redford heads a team of security consultants, often hired to break into places to identify security weaknesses, and they get involved in something way over their heads.  The tech is pretty outdated now, but the storyline is still good (at least IMO) and the characters are great.  Strathairn's blind sound expert is my personal favorite, but the interplay between former CIA agent Poitier and conspiracy nutcase Ackroyd is hilarious too.

[Cassandra]

The Towering Inferno (1974)

 

Paul Newman is the Architect of the 135 Story 1600 foot tall Glass Tower in San Francisco.  Unfortunately builder William Holden's son in law Richard Chamerlain used cheaper wiring and a fire starts.  With Robert Wagner, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, and Steve McQueen as the Fire Chief.

[Tjack]

28 minutes ago, Cassandra said:

The Towering Inferno (1974)

 

Paul Newman is the Architect of the 135 Story 1600 foot tall Glass Tower in San Francisco.  Unfortunately builder William Holden's son in law Richard Chamerlain used cheaper wiring and a fire starts.  With Robert Wagner, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, and Steve McQueen as the Fire Chief.

    Movie trivia;  Newman and McQueen both signed on to the film originally thinking they would be the star.  When they found out about the more ensemble, intersecting story nature of the movie they started jockeying for position to such an extent that it was finally decided for them to have no scenes together.

[death tribble]

They do actually have a scene at the very end.

[Cassandra]

1 minute ago, Tjack said:

    Movie trivia;  Newman and McQueen both signed on to the film originally thinking they would be the star.  When they found out about the more ensemble, intersecting story nature of the movie they started jockeying for position to such an extent that it was finally decided for them to have no scenes together.

 

The writer had to come back from vacation to write 12 more lines for McQueen.

[Cassandra]

Just now, death tribble said:

They do actually have a scene at the very end.

 

And when McQueen shows up and tells Newman he didn't expect the Tower to burn, and that the Fire Department has no sure way of fighting a fire above the seventh floor.

[Cassandra]

Three Kinds of Heat (1987)

 

An Interpol Agent (Robert Ginty), an NYPD Sergeant (Victoria Barrett), and a Hong Kong Police Captain (Shakti Chen) track a smuggling ring from New York to London and back again.  

[death tribble]

Kind Hearts and Coronets 1949

Alec Guinness plays nine characters in this dark comedy. Dennis Price plays the son of a disinherited member of an aristocratic family who murders his way to the title in Edwardian England. He writes his memoirs in prison as he is awaiting execution for the murder of one of his victims.   Also contains the deathless line 'I shot an arrow in the air: she fell to earth in Berkeley Square' after Price shoots down the suffragette aristocrat while she is in a balloon over London.

[death tribble]

Reservoir Dogs 1992

After a diamond heist the surviving robbers gather at disused warehouse to work out what went wrong and to decide what to do next as one member who escaped is badly wounded and needs a doctor. The film that introduced Quentin Tarentino to a wide audience. It revitalised the career of Harvey Keitel. It is violent and is littered with pop culture references (i.e. people talking about films and music) The comedian Steven Wright does the DJ playing music on a 70s station. It also brought Steve Buscemi and Michael Masden to a wider audience.

[Pariah]

Toy Story 4. With Andy off to college, Woody, Buzz, and the gang have a new kid, preschooler Bonnie. Bonnie spends the day at kindergarten orientation and (literally) makes a new friend: Forky, constructed from a disused spork, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, and other assorted craft supplies. Forky becomes Bonnie's new favorite, but Forky doesn't see himself as a toy. He sees himself as trash, and makes a break for the nearest trash can at every opportunity.

 

Things go very badly wrong when Forky jumps out of an RV during a road trip, so Woody also jumps out to save him and bring him back. In the process, Woody runs into his old flame Bo Peep, who has become something like a biker chick in their time apart. They work together to save Forky from a slightly creepy old doll who surrounds herself with extremely creepy old dummies, leading to an ending that is both heartwarming and a little heartbreaking and completely not what I expected. Pixar does it again.

[Michael Hopcroft]

A Shot in the Dark (1964)

 

Jacques Clouseau,  a French police inspector (played by Peter Sellers) falls hard for the prime suspect in a murder at a magnate's estate.  Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, he is convinced she is innocent, and every time he lets her out of jail to seek the "real killer" the body count climbs higher. Each time it further infuriates Clouseau's superior, played by Herbert Lom, who gradually becomes more and more obsessed with punishing Clouseau's "incompetence". Eventually things come to a head, Clouseau tries a Christie-style "unmask the murderer" meeting despite not having the slightest clue who the real killer is, and chaos ensues.

 

This is the best of the Clouseau films by far, and a masterful parody of the mystery genre. Peter Sellers is at the top of his game, both with the verbal ingenuity that was his trademark (the Goon Show veteran was so good at so many different accents that Stanley Kubrick was able to cast him in three different roles for Dr. Strangelove) and with some of the most inspired physical comedy since the silent era. Herbert Lom's performance is also great as the chief inspector slides ever deeper into obsession and madness. (There is a brilliant scene at the very start of the film where Lom is talking endearingly to the mother of his children, only to be told his wife is on the other line). The one red flag for modern audiences is the complex interaction between Clouseau and his Chinese immigrant "houseboy", who he has instructed to attack him at random to hone his fighting skills. The racial implications are, to modern eyes, rather alarming.

[Cassandra]

Perry Mason (1957-1966)

 

Raymond Burr plays the famous Lawyer in this Courtroom Drama and Mystery Show.  We're introduced to a number of guest stars, one is murdered, and one ends up as Perry's client so they are naturally innocent.  William Hopper plays Private Investigator Paul Drake, and Barbara Hale is Perry's capable secretary Della Street.  William Talman plays DA Hamilton Burger during most the the series run, having been briefly fired in 1960 for a drug related offense but came back do to a letter writing campaign from the fans.

 

Note:  Neil Hamilton and Yvonne Craig played a father and daughter about on the show eight years before being together on Batman.

[Cassandra]

Dickie Roberts, Former Child Star (2003)

 

David Spade stars as a former child star who pays a family to find out what it's like to have a normal childhood in order to get a huge movie roll.  With cameos by actual former child stars, and a great song by many other child stars along with Marion Ross and Florence Henderson.

 

The sad part is how many of those who were singing have passed away.

[death tribble]

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy 1979

Alec Guinness plays George Smiley a retired British spymaster. He is brought back into the game when an agent who was missing tuns up and tells a tale that implies there is a mole in the Circus, the senior part of the British spy apparatus. A previous attempt by Smiley's old boss, Control, failed when his agent was shot, captured and almost killed in Czechoslovakia. Smiley begins to look at old friends to see if one of them is a Russian mole.

Ian Richardson, Bernard Hepton, Ian Bannen and Patrick Stewart also star in a slow burning spy story which is a million miles away from James Bond.  

 

Smiley's People 1982

Smiley comes out of retirement again when one of his old contacts is murdered in London after requesting a meeting using an old system Smiley is aware of Moscow Rules. Smiley begins investigating and stumbles across his information that his old adversary Karla has been doing something illicit. Smiley then tries to trap Karla.

Alec Guinness returns and is joined by Curd Jurgens, Vladek Sheybal, Michael Lonsdale, Barry Foster, Bernard Hepton and Patrick Stewart,

[Duke Bushido]

5 hours ago, Cassandra said:

Perry Mason (1957-1966)

 

one ends up as Perry's client so they are naturally innocent. 

 

 

Mason lost twice during the entire run of the original series.

 

(I made the mistake of buying the series for my wife about eighteen years ago.  I get to listen to the _entire series_ playing behind me every six months.  For eighteen years.  While I'm trying to write....   Still, it's a great show, and I'm never going to buy "The New Perry Mason" or any of the Perry Mason movies, or mention to her that the character is from a series of novels.  My agony isn't what it _could_ be, but I really feel like it's complete enough, ya know? )

 

 

[Cassandra]

17 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

 

 

Mason lost twice during the entire run of the original series.

 

(I made the mistake of buying the series for my wife about eighteen years ago.  I get to listen to the _entire series_ playing behind me every six months.  For eighteen years.  While I'm trying to write....   Still, it's a great show, and I'm never going to buy "The New Perry Mason" or any of the Perry Mason movies, or mention to her that the character is from a series of novels.  My agony isn't what it _could_ be, but I really feel like it's complete enough, ya know? )

 

 

 

It was also a radio show, and a number of 1930s movies.

 

The best was The Case of the Lucky Legs (938) with Warren William.

[Pariah]

On 10/21/2019 at 4:11 AM, csyphrett said:

And a punny title that didn't take itself seriously. Beware Jeff Blue and his stroller

CES 

 

"You brought our baby into a knife fight?"

"It was a fair fight. Two of them, two of us...."

[Duke Bushido]

46 minutes ago, Cassandra said:

 

It was also a radio show, and a number of 1930s movies.

 

The best was The Case of the Lucky Legs (938) with Warren William.

Agreed. 

 

In fact, it was so popular that they did a TV episode with an abridged version of that same plot. 

[Pariah]

A Grand Day Out

The Wrong Trousers

A Close Shave

The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

A Matter of Loaf and Death

 

Wallace and Gromit. Four short films and one feature-length movie filled with wacky inventions, sight gags, and an animated dog that says more with his eyebrows than many actors do with their mouths. Pure, delightful stop-motion animated genius. Plus, cheese!