Overdue for a theme I went into a Jason Robards fest of 6 titles for the month. None of which can be compared to Once Upon A Time in the West but then few films actually can be.
Comes A Horseman – Robards Day 1.
Hour of the Gun – Day 2
The Perfect Host – Taking a break from the run of Robards titles I came across this nifty little thriller starring David Hyde Pierce. The film recalls Sleuth when David’s home is invaded by a thief on the run. Frightened and playing a rather weak character, David lets his captor take command until the wine begins to flow and our captor soon becomes the captive to a crazed home owner who may just be a serial killer. It’s bizarre and inventive. Worth a look.
Inherit the Wind – Day 3
The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre – Day 4
Raise the Titanic – Day 5
The War Between Men and Women – 1 more Robards title for good measure.
Birdman – I finally caught up with the critically acclaimed film that put Michael Keaton’s name back on the lips of film fans. I liked it though I can easily understand someone claiming it’s too arty for their own personal tastes. I found the in your face style of direction and long takes refreshing from Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Ed Norton, Naomi Watt, Zach Galifianakis lend solid support as well. Life arguably imitates art as a has been film actor known for playing a super hero attempts to launch a Broadway production in the hopes of both finding himself and to be taken seriously as an actor of great depth.
Flight to Tangier – Jack Palance find on youtube.
The Lady in Question – Cinema history is made when Glenn Ford meets Rita Hayworth for the first time.
Island in the Sky – Joining in on a William Wellman blogathon.
Cleaner – I found this to be a nifty thriller featuring a solid cast from Renny Harlin. Sam Jackson underplays his role here as a cleaner. A man who mops up after the dead. His life is thrown a curve when he cleans up a murder scene only to realize it was never investigated. Ed Harris, Eva Mendes and Luis Guzman get plenty of screen time and Robert Forster turns up briefly as well. While the murder plot is central the film has heart in the scenes between Sam and his on screen daughter played by Keke Palmer.
The Island of Dr. Moreau and Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley
A Bullet For Sandoval – going spaghetti with Ernie Borgnine
St. Vincent – The trailer for this Bill Murray flick has long caught my eye and I’m glad to report this didn’t disappoint. Bill’s quirky humor hits a homerun here as he plays a grumpy no good living next door to Melissa McCarthy and her young son who disrupts Bill’s world of horse races and hookers. Beneath the gruff exterior there beats a heart of gold. Richly rewarding and keep the hankies nearby.
The Shootist – From the heart on John Wayne’s final film for the Lauren Bacall blogathon.
The Wild Bunch – A pleasure to revisit this on occasion.
Confessions of an Opium Eater – No fooling! It’s a real movie.
The Intern – A night out at the movies. Robert DeNiro in what might be the most likable character of his career. He`s a seventy year old intern working as an unlikely assistant to Anne Hathaway who owns a successful company. The jokes are sure to be fairly obvious but there are surprises in store and the movie went places I hadn`t expected. I also thought it showed depth on the part of both leads and their characters. The film does a good job of riding the line between comedy and drama very well and Rene Russo turns up as a love interest for DeNiro. Nice to see the camera still loves her. Bottom line is I liked this film.
The Humbling – Sorry Al Pacino and Barry Levinson but I just could not get into this art house styled drama of an actor blurring the lines of reality with his many roles leading to a brief stay at the funny farm. Pacino is never off screen here so you get your monies worth if your a fan. Charles Grodin makes a rare appearance here as Al`s agent and Greta Gerwig plays a young woman infatuated with the elderly Pacino thus entering into an affair with old Al. Sure I laughed in a few spots but overall pretty disappointing. If I recall the trailer itself may have been funnier.
Jackie Brown – Man, do I love this flick!
Going Hollywood – This month’s Mad Movie Challenge.
Total score 31 movies. 15 new to me titles including one trip to the theater. 16 rewatches including two faves. The Wild Bunch and Jackie Brown. Then there is The Shootist which gets me emotional every time.
Mike's Take On the Movies 
I always enjoy checking out a blogger’s list of films and finding out how many of them I’ve seen. For you and this particular list, it was just two: The Shootist (seen once in 1976) and The Wild Bunch (seen at the Cineramadome a few decades ago). I’m a fan of Elmore Leonard, so I’ll get to Jackie Brown someday, but of the rest it was The Intern that caught my eye. I’ll definitely give it a look.
Really surprised that you havent already seen Jackie Brown. A couple of others to I guess like St. Valentines Day Massacre.
I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I have Netflix now, so we’ll see if I can get my numbers up!
A good list. Nice to see The Perfect Host getting a mention — I was very impressed by it too.
I suspect had a bigger star and perhaps a young hot actor been cast it would have a wider audience.
So true than not many films can be compared to Once Upon a Time in the West.
It’s a one of a kind operatic western that works on so many levels. Iconic.