Movies To Be Thankful For

The Untouchables



I'd actually been meaning to rewatch The Untouchables for a long time but the recent passing of Sean Connery put that over the top. I think the movie holds up, but it's definitely shallow. The story is pure pulp silliness which takes some majorly logical leap and the underlying politics of the film are a tad unsavory. The domestic scenes between Kevin Costner and Patricia Clarkson are also dramatically inert. But crucially, Brian De Palma seems to get exactly how to present this material. The movie is just so stylish, with De Palma's precise camera movement doing a wonderful job involving us in the sweep of the story. There are several all-timer action scenes here, with the Odessa steps sequence being the clear highlight. Ennio Morricone's score is also fantastic and seriously ranks among the maestro's best.

The other thing here is for as simple as the story is, the characters are really endearing. Kevin Costner is a solid stoic hero, Andy Garcia is effortlessly cool, Charles Martin Smith is wonderfully geeky. I really like these guys and it hurts when some start biting the dust. And that of course brings us to Sean Connery in his Oscar winning role. On the one hand, he really didn't deserve an Oscar for this, as he isn't really stretching himself or doing anything especially dramatic. But on the other hand, he absolutely deserved an Oscar for how his movie star persona carries this movie. Malone is most certainly not the film's protagonist, but Connery is the beating heart of The Untouchables and he brings such a palpable mix of bravado and vulnerability to the screen. It's easy to dismiss that kind of charisma, but it's rare for actors to deliver on it so flawlessly as Connery did in his many roles and does here. R.I.P.

A-

If I was handing out trophies that year I probably would have given it to Vincent D'Onofrio, but it makes me really happy that 007 has an Oscar.

Danny Glover and John Candy are co-leads. Kurtwood Smith, Ronny Cox, and Miguel Ferrer would be under consideration for sure. "Maybe you could fit me in". I think I'd give Mandy Patinkin the nod for Princess Bride. Also: Albert Brooks in Broadcast News (who was nominated), John Malkovich in Empire of the Sun, Peter O'Toole in The Last Emperor, Robert De Niro in Angel Heart, Richard Griffiths in Withnail and I.

Sigh, you're a hard man to bond with, do you know that?

But De Niro as Satan is just so cool. Also Albert Brooks is just the best and unfortunately I can't nominate Hank Scorpio for an Oscar.

Nah, gimme some of that devil shit.



Broadcast News is the only James L. Brooks movie I like. I should maybe rewatch Terms of Endearment though.

I don’t remember particularly liking The Paper all that much.  I mean, it was fine, I guess.

There are a number of his movies I think are really good or great (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, Rush; I’ve even warmed to Solo a bit more), but he can’t compete with a lot of the heavy hitters.

Noted for Film Club.

I saw it.  It was fine, I guess.

Great list. I've recently started using torrent sites to download high-quality movies. And I decided to start with the good old ones. I've already watched Miracle on 34th Street, It's a wonderful life, Casablanca, King Kong, Nice Guys, Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, The Family Stone, Die Hard. Now I'm going to watch good Christmas movies, I always do this during the winter holidays.