Once again, I will TAKE 5!

•May 29, 2013 • 1 Comment

The first installment of Take 5 was a success. Installment two has been a long time coming, so here it is.

I’m looking to TAKE 5 MOVIES YOU LOVE TO INTRODUCE TO PEOPLE. Send your list to johnlink00@gmail.com.

I don’t really place rules on these things, but I would tend to lean towards obscure or forgotten titles over, say, AVENGERS. Everyone knows about AVENGERS unless we make first contact with a tribe of people in a cave in the Appalachians or something.

But make your own rules, really. Any era is fine, any genre is fine. Feel free to explain why you love to introduce people to this particular movie. And you don’t actually need to have done so, it can just be a movie you want people to know.

So I guess another way of asking this is: What are your favorite obscure, forgotten, or under-appreciated movies? Again, send your list to johnlink00@gmail.com

If you’re looking to see what this looks like when it is all done, here is a link to the original TAKE 5: The Embarrassment List.

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johnlink ranks BEHIND THE CANDELABRA (2013)

•May 28, 2013 • Leave a Comment

I had heard of this Liberace biopic, but didn’t know much about it other than the paring of Michael Douglas as the musician and Matt Damon as the lover who is four decades younger. It happened to start when I turned on the TV last night and I intended to see how it was and move on. The movie pulled me in, and I ended up watching the entire thing. That can’t be a bad sign, right?

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johnlink ranks INSIDIOUS (2010)

•May 27, 2013 • 4 Comments

I watched this movie last night. I go to write the review and realize I can’t remember what it is called. I’m sure it is called SINISTER. But no, that is a 2012 Ethan Hawke vehicle. POSSESSION? Nope. 2012. Kyra Sedgwick. MAMA? No. Too recent. Look… my point is that sometimes it is hard to keep track of all of these one-word horror movies when most of them are from the creators of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY or SAW or some other moderate hit. I do absolutely remember, well once I remembered the title anyway, but I remember that INSIDIOUS was one of the ones which people said was actually well done. I’m always seeking worthwhile horror, so I’m all for giving something a shot which comes recommended.

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johnlink ranks MADAGASCAR (2005)

•May 26, 2013 • Leave a Comment

This started as me watching a movie with my two-year-old son, and it ended with me finishing by myself. I had started this once and abandoned it thirty minutes in. Perhaps it is because I watched much of this with a two-year-old, but I am glad I did take the time to take this to the end. It actually is fun once it gets going.

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johnlink ranks ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959)

•May 26, 2013 • 3 Comments

Nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture, ANATOMY OF A MURDER is a classic courtroom drama starring Jimmy Stewart. When I started this movie, that’s really the extent of what I knew. Isn’t that the best way to see something? I think so. But I’m going to go ahead, ignore that idea, and talk about it a bunch anyway.

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johnlink ranks LAST MAN STANDING (1996)

•May 24, 2013 • 2 Comments

In 1927 Dashiell Hammett wrote a story called Red Harvest. Akira Kurosawa used it as the source for his classic film YOJIMBO. Sergio Leone then converted Kurosawa’s story into a western with A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS. Then, in 1997, it was turned into a story about a Texas town in the roaring 20s: LAST MAN STANDING. While I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I have seen neither YOJIMBO nor A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, I think those holes in my knowledge allow me to come to something like LAST MAN STANDING without pre-judging it. That said, I need to see the other two films soon…

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johnlink ranks TOM HORN (1980)

•May 22, 2013 • Leave a Comment

I got my Steve McQueen box set years ago because it had a bunch of movies which were either favorites, or things I really wanted to see. BULLITT, PAPILLON, THE GETAWAY, CINCINNATI KID, that kind of stuff. Included in the set was a western which was not on my radar, TOM HORN. Years later, I still hadn’t put it in. But I love me some McQueen, so I gave it a run.

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johnlink ranks THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (2012)

•May 19, 2013 • 6 Comments

I was not excited when news of this movie came out. I’m not sure if it is unprecedented to cancel an in-development sequel (the fourth Raimi film) and instead just reboot the series from scratch, but it sure feels that way. I understand that comic books do this all the time, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. But by restarting the Spidey story, and going forward with the second origin story in a decade, you are asking to be compared to the original. It’s one thing when something is relaunched after a generation, but it all seemed so premature. So what made me want to see this? I saw Andrew Garfield in a movie called NEVER LET ME GO, and his performance sold me on him. He didn’t make me rush out to theaters, but I was intrigued enough to see it eventually. And, well, eventually always comes around… eventually.

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johnlink ranks TILLIE’S PUNCTURED ROMANCE (1914)

•May 17, 2013 • Leave a Comment

This movie is 99 years old. That blows me away. We’re getting close to the point where we will be able to look back on more-and more surviving movies which are more than a century old. I guess the exact age doesn’t matter, but it is a reminder of both how rich film history is, but also how briefly the art-form has been with us compared to many other mediums. TILLIE’S PUNCTURED ROMANCE was the first feature-length comedy filmed. It is also one of the few silent films we have where Chaplin is not playing The Tramp.

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johnlink ranks THE GREY (2011)

•May 16, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Liam Neeson fighting to survive in the wilderness? I am in. I feel like he is a guy who would have a particular set of skills which would make him a good survivalist. There are some SPOILERS below, but I will be sure to mark them appropriately before they come up.

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