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Friday, January 4, 2019

Thursday Movie Picks #234: Place in Title



Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Place in Title

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Today is the first TMP of the year, which means if you're here today you've already checked out the updated final 2019 schedule and I hope you keep joining in the fun for the rest of the year. Now on to today's theme place in title, here are three that I like.

Twin Falls Idaho (1999)
I don't even know if the movie is actually set in Idaho or just referencing the characters who are twins with Falls as their last name. This is one that I would want to rewatch because I remember loving it. The gist: conjoined twins, one of whom is very sick, go in search of their mother who gave them up when they were children. 

Brooklyn (2015) 
I've picked this before last year for the Meet the Parents theme and it fits so well here too. I really like this one, it's just a very well crafted film and Saoirse Ronan is excellent in it. The gist: a young Irish immigrant in 1950s Brooklyn gets torn between two countries when tragedy occurs back in Ireland.

The Only Living Boy in New York (2017)
This was a very recent watch and I like it. It has little hints of 500 Days of Summer with the narration but without the quirkiness. The gist: a recent college graduate finds out that his father has a mistress. In his determination to break up the affair he ends up sleeping with the mistress and learning more about his parents past in the process.

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9 comments:

  1. I've never heard of Twin Falls Idaho but it sound interesting. I loved Brooklyn.

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  2. I thought about adding Brooklyn but I wanted to keep it for something else. :D

    Haven't heard about the other two though!

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  3. Oh how did Ii not think to include Brooklyn?! Love that movie. I've never heard of The Only Living Boy in New York but it sounds like something I would enjoy.

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  4. I haven't heard of your last but find Twin Falls Idaho an interesting quirky film. I l liked Brooklyn overall but Ronan's character's actions in the latter part of the film ticked me off to the point I almost shut it off.

    When I was deciding on titles I was amazed how many included the name Shanghai in them so I did a theme within the theme using three that I'd seen (and had to leave off four more).

    Shanghai Express (1932)- In Peking, China, during a civil war, British Capt. Donald Harvey (Clive Brook) meets his old flame Magdalen (Marlene Dietrich) and learns with dismay that she has become a prostitute known as Shanghai Lily. Both are traveling to Shanghai via train, and while they grow reacquainted, they remain unaware that they are traveling with spy and rebel army leader Henry Chang (Warner Oland). On Chang's orders, his forces attack the train, terrorize the passengers and hold Donald hostage. Full of atmospheric cinematography and amazing costumes with both Dietrich and Anna May Wong extraordinary.

    The Shanghai Gesture (1941)-Weird hothouse drama about gambling house/brothel boss Mother Gin Sling (Ona Munson)-originally Mother Goddamn in the stage play this was based on-who out of spite degrades her British ex-lover's (Walter Huston) daughter (Gene Tierney). Last completed American film of famously difficult and exorbitant director Erich Von Stroheim.

    The Shanghai Story (1954)-When a police raid in search of a Communist spy strands all westerners within a hotel in post-WW2 Shanghai disillusioned American Dr. Dan Maynard (Edmond O'Brien) initially clashes the Tangier-born Rita King (Ruth Roman). But they are drawn together as Rita attempts to use her connection to new police chief, Colonel Zorek (Marvin Miller) to outwit their interrogators and armed guards to help their group flee to safety. Standard adventure is boosted by the strength of the performances of its two lead performers.

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    1. I wouldn't call Twin Falls Idaho quirky...I found it very strange and had looked very depressing at first. I almost turned it off initially.

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  5. The only one I've seen is Brooklyn. It is a well-crafted film from a technical point. However, the story didn't click for me and I didn't care for it. Like Joel said, the main character just really irked my nerves.

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  6. I’ve only seen Brooklyn which is a very good film and showcases this actress so well. I don’t know the other 2 but I wouldn’t mind watching your 3rd pick.

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