Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share three movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each.For further details visit the series main page here.
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This week's Thursday Movie Picks
is Police Movies
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This week's theme was suggested by John Hitchcock @ HitchcocksWorld. I think for most of you that participate weekly in this series, this week would perhaps be one of the easier themes; definitely better than last week's. I thought that would be the case for me, but when I look at what the movies I've seen, I realised haven't watch a whole lot of police movies, and I haven't love a great many of them. Still, here are the ones I like.
The Departed (2006)
The tension in this movie is so high. I was expecting Billy's cover to get blown at various points and can you believe it's been almost 10 years since this was released.
Hot Fuzz (2007)
In Hot Fuzz Simon Pegg plays a London cop who is so good he makes the rest of colleagues look bad. Thus he is transferred to a quiet town with no action and is idolised by his new dimwitted partner who tries to get out of him all the cool city cop stories. If you enjoy buddy cop movie, this one is hilarious!
Dredd (2012)
Would never have thought that I would like this, but I did! I remember the movie being described as being videogame like and I totally agree. In it, Dredd and his rookie partner get trap in a 200 storey building controlled by the drug lord Ma-Ma and are hunted by her clan. The odds are against them but Dredd is an exceptional cop and with the rookie's psychic ability, they fight their way through the levels and finally meet the big boss in the end.
The Departed (2006)
The tension in this movie is so high. I was expecting Billy's cover to get blown at various points and can you believe it's been almost 10 years since this was released.
Hot Fuzz (2007)
In Hot Fuzz Simon Pegg plays a London cop who is so good he makes the rest of colleagues look bad. Thus he is transferred to a quiet town with no action and is idolised by his new dimwitted partner who tries to get out of him all the cool city cop stories. If you enjoy buddy cop movie, this one is hilarious!
Dredd (2012)
Would never have thought that I would like this, but I did! I remember the movie being described as being videogame like and I totally agree. In it, Dredd and his rookie partner get trap in a 200 storey building controlled by the drug lord Ma-Ma and are hunted by her clan. The odds are against them but Dredd is an exceptional cop and with the rookie's psychic ability, they fight their way through the levels and finally meet the big boss in the end.
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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?
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Check out some of my random Thursday Movie Picks
Thursday Movie Picks #3: Movies set in a Mental Institution
Thursday Movie Picks #9: Sports Movies
Thursday Movie Picks #16: Haunted Buildings
Thursday Movie Picks #7: Dramatic Scenes
Thursday Movie Picks #23: Coming of Age Movies
Thursday Movie Picks #9: Sports Movies
Thursday Movie Picks #16: Haunted Buildings
Thursday Movie Picks #7: Dramatic Scenes
Thursday Movie Picks #23: Coming of Age Movies
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More Hot Fuzz love!!!! That movie is so great. Mine will be up at midnight. I haven't seen Dredd yet (nor do I think I ever will), but gotta love The Departed :-D
ReplyDeleteWhy...Dredd is a pretty good action movie.
DeleteLove all three of these. The Departed is particularly awesome. Love every minute of that one. Hot Fuzz is downright hilarious. Dredd was a very pleasant surprise. Nice picks.
ReplyDeleteDredd is definitely a surprise.
DeleteNice picks! I also have The Departed on mine. (Or I will when I post it in the morning) It's nice to see Dredd love. That movie was very cool and not what I was expecting at all.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting selection of films, to be sure. Am I the only one who found The Departed to be needlessly over-convoluted? I mean, you've literally got like five billion different characters among both the cops and the crooks (and I still find it hard to believe that out of all those people on both sides, the only woman they could cast was the love interest) and every single one of them has their own little storyline. I don't know, I saw it back in college. Maybe I should try again sometime. Maybe it would have worked better as a TV series, that way they could dedicate each episode to smaller groups of characters and there would be more time to develop everyone individually.
ReplyDeleteHot Fuzz is a great choice, of course. I'll admit I wasn't expecting anyone else to pick that one, but that movie is a lot of fun.
I didn't find it convoluted. I suppose I expected a story about two double agents to be a tangled web...and it was. Yes it did lack female characters (and a pity that she had to be a love interest, it probably didn't need any romance at all) but that is often the case with movies dealing with the mob. Are the mob and the police department dealing with organised crimes still very male dominated? I think the movie would definitely make an interesting TV series, and since so many movies are being turn into a TV series this may just get one in the future.
DeleteDamn, my choices are very limited for this theme. Heck, I also pick Hot Fuzz for this week.
ReplyDeleteGreat picks! I haven't watched Dredd but loved The Departed and Hot Fuzz!
ReplyDeleteNice picks, we've got lots of agreement this week apparently - even with so many to choose from!
ReplyDeleteHot Fuzz is a very popular choice, unsurprisingly so of course. I think I still prefer Shaun of the Dead but Hot Fuzz still places second in the Cornetto trilogy. The Departed I haven't seen for...maybe four years...so my memory is very rusty on it but I liked it, not Scorsese's best work.
ReplyDeleteI think I may like Hot Fuzz a little more than Shawn of the Dead.
DeleteI know I'm in the minority but I absolutely hated The Departed. I had vaguely heard of Hot Fuzz but hadn't realized it was a comedy, it sounds fun so I'll have to catch up with it. Dredd is another I'm unfamiliar with but I like star Karl Urban so I'll be hunting that down too.
ReplyDeleteMy three for the week (plus an extra-there are so many good ones that fit the theme!):
Stakeout (1987)-Buddy movie is just what the title suggests. Two cops, Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez, are running a surveillance on an ex-girlfriend, Madeleine Stowe, of escaped convict, Aidan Quinn. All goes well until Dreyfuss accidently runs into Stowe and then falls for her. What separates this from the pack is the terrific chemistry between Dreyfuss and Estevez, good work by both Stowe and Quinn and an excellent pace set by director John Badham.
The Big Heat (1953)-Fritz Lang's noir masterpiece. A crooked cop commits suicide and leaves a letter full of incriminating evidence on the crime syndicate he was involved with. That letter is discovered by his Medusa of a wife who realizes it could bring down "the Big Heat" if exposed and uses it to her advantage. Honest cop Glenn Ford doing routine follow up on the suicide suspects something fishy and while probing gets a bit too close leading to tragedy and making him a dogged and determined man hellbent on justice. Punctured by burst of unexpected violence and tightly directed by Lang this has many fine performances and a stunning one by Gloria Grahame, perhaps her career best.
Lured (1947)-One of a kind little number from director Douglas Sirk with a truly eclectic cast. Lucille Ball plays a taxi dancer who is recruited by the London police as an undercover agent when her friend and fellow dancer disappears and may have fallen victim to a lonely hearts serial killer who meets his prey through newspaper personal ads. She proceeds to have many strange encounters, including an extremely odd one with Boris Karloff. She also crosses paths with nightclub owner and self proclaimed incorrigible cad George Sanders who charms her but perhaps has a dark secret. Ball, miles away from frumpy housewife Lucy Ricardo, comes across very well as the level headed protagonist.
Honorable Mention-No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)-A cat and mouse game between a prickly, mother ridden detective played by a hang dog George Segal and a serial killer who is a master of disguise, Rod Steiger in a scene stealing performance. It's a battle of wits between the two and George meets the knockout Lee Remick, who has her quirks too, along the way. A fun unusual ride.
Joel you are NOT alone. I did NOT like The Departed. I thought it was obvious and overdone (and only Jack, who I LOVED, was knowingly over-the-top). But then, I'm generally not a fan of cop movies except when they're super hard-boiled (like The Big Heat) and even then they're far from my favorite. Which is why I went a little silly this week...
DeleteAhh...haven't seen any of your picks Joel this week. I haven't generally haven't seen a lot of the older flicks.
DeleteAnyway, Hot Fuzz is a lot of fun, you're going to enjoy it.
I'm looking forward to Hot Fuzz, it's on its way to me now. Hope some of the ones I suggest pique your interest and that you might discover some new favorites or at least some you'll enjoy.
DeleteHot Fuzz! Yes!
ReplyDeleteOooh I like all three! If I were to participate this week, I'd probably have Hot Fuzz, LA Confidential and Police Academy on my list :D
ReplyDeletePolice Academy is a childhood watch, haven't seen it in ages.
DeleteLA Confidential is certainly very noir-ish stylish. I do remember liking it when I saw it a few years ago.