Monthly Archives: June 2016

Jeremiah Johnson (1972) Sydney Pollack, Robert Redford, Will Geer, Delle Bolton, Adventure, Drama, Western

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
A Mexican-American War veteran, Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford), heads to the mountains to live in isolation. Woefully unequipped for the task at hand, Johnson is fortunate to come across a seasoned mountain man (Will Geer) willing to teach him the necessary survival tactics. As life continues in the mountains, Johnson finds himself a native bride (Delle Bolton) and an adopted son (Josh Albee). However, their peaceful existence is threatened when Johnson incurs the ire of the Crow Indians.
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Such Good Friends (1971) Otto Preminger, Dyan Cannon, James Coco, Jennifer O’Neill

Such Good Friends (1971)
Julie Messinger has it made. She is a New York housewife whose husband, Richard, is an editor for a prominent photography magazine. They have a small circle of friends, including well-meaning, but inept Dr. Timothy Spector, photographer Cal Whiting and Cal’s live-in girlfriend Miranda. Julie’s mother spends her days getting pedicures and manicures, applying make-up and fake eye-lashes and buying expensive clothes, all the while criticizing her daughter for her looks and behavior. When Richard goes into the hospital for a minor mole-removal surgery, Julie gets more than she bargained for. Richard suffers from complications and goes into a coma, supposedly caused by a rare surgical factor, and she gathers friends and family together, culminating in a hilarious “quasi-cocktail-party” scene in the blood donation center of the hospital. While dealing with red tape, hospital bureaucracy and clueless doctors, Julie discovers her husband’s “little black book,” which contains the names of her …
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Shane (1953) George Stevens, Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Drama, Romance, Western

Shane (1953)
Enigmatic gunslinger Shane (Alan Ladd) rides into a small Wyoming town with hopes of quietly settling down as a farmhand. Taking a job on homesteader Joe Starrett’s (Van Heflin) farm, Shane is drawn into a battle between the townsfolk and ruthless cattle baron Rufus Ryker (Emile Meyer). Shane’s growing attraction to Starrett’s wife, Marian (Jean Arthur), and his fondness for their son Joey (Brandon de Wilde), who idolizes Shane, force Shane to realize that he must thwart Ryker’s plan.
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Premature Burial (1962) Roger Corman, Ray Milland, Hazel Court, Richard Ney, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Premature Burial (1962)
Emily Gault arrives at the Carrell mansion determined to rekindle an old relationship with Guy Carrell, despite the disapproval of his sister, Kate. Guy overcomes his all-consuming fear of being buried alive long enough to marry Emily but soon becomes obsessed again, building a crypt designed to guarantee that he will not fall prey to his most dreaded nightmare. Trying to prove that he has been cured of his phobia, he opens his father’s tomb and is shocked into a catatonic state. His worst fears are realized as he is lowered into a grave and covered over, apparently never to learn that the treachery of someone very dear to him was directly responsible for his predicament.
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The Naked Face (1984) Bryan Forbes, Roger Moore, Rod Steiger, Elliott Gould, Action, Mystery, Thriller

The Naked Face (1984)
Chicago psychiatrist Judd Stevens (Roger Moore) is suspected of murdering one of his patients when the man turns up stabbed to death in the middle of the city. After repeated attempts to convince cops Rod Steiger and Elliott Gould of his innocence, Dr.Stevens is forced to go after the real villains himself, and he finds himself up against one of the city’s most notorious Mafia kingpins.
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The Thing (1982) John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Horror, Sci-Fi

The Thing (1982)
An American scientific expedition to the frozen wastes of the Antarctic is interrupted by a group of seemingly mad Norwegians pursuing and shooting a dog. The helicopter pursuing the dog explodes, eventually leaving no explanation for the chase. During the night, the dog mutates and attacks other dogs in the cage and members of the team that investigate. The team soon realizes that an alien life-form with the ability to take over other bodies is on the loose and they don’t know who may already have been taken over.
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A Bridge Too Far (1977) Richard Attenborough, Sean Connery, Ryan O’Neal, Michael Caine, Drama, History, War

A Bridge Too Far (1977)
The true story of Operation Market Garden, the Allies attempt, in September 1944, to hasten the end of WW2 by driving through Belgium and Holland into Germany. The idea was for US airborne divisions to take the towns of Eindhoven and Nijmegen and a British airborne division, reinforced by a Polish airborne brigade, to take the town of Arnhem. They would be reinforced, in due course and in turn, by the British XXX Corps, land-based and driving up from the British lines in the south. The key to the operation was the bridges, as if the Germans held or blew them, the paratroopers could not be relieved. Faulty intelligence, Allied high command hubris and stubborn German resistance would ensure that Arnhem was a bridge too far.
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The Guns of Navarone (1961) J. Lee Thompson, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Action, Adventure, Drama

The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Two powerful German guns control the seas past the Greek island of Navarone making the evacuation of endangered British troops on a neighboring island impossible. Air attack is useless so a team of six Allied and Greek soldiers is put ashore to meet up with partisans to try and dynamite the guns. The mission is perilous enough anyway but are the Germans on the island getting further help too?
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Bad Influence (1990) Curtis Hanson, Rob Lowe, James Spader, Lisa Zane, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Bad Influence (1990)
Michael, a wimpy young executive, is about to get pulverized by a jealous boyfriend in a bar when a handsome, mysterious stranger steps in–and then disappears. Later that night, while jogging, Michael runs into the stranger on a pier. He introduces himself as Alex, and the two go out to an under- ground club. Within a matter of days, Alex wheedles his way into Michael’s life and turns it upside down, and Michael doesn’t realize that Alex is a dangerous sociopath until it’s too late.
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