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 Revenge
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I'm picking slightly older films today two of which are my favourites and have been picked before.
The Prestige (2006)
The Prestige (2006)
The Gist: After a tragic accident, two magicians become enemies, continually sabotaging each other's acts as revenge. I love this one. It's revenge tale, it's a mystery and a behind the scenes look at very secretive profession all rolled into one.
Léon: The Professional (1994)
The Gist: After her family is killed by a corrupt cop, a young girl seeks help from her professional hitman neighbour to train her so she can carry out her own revenge. Another one of my favourites.
The Page Turner (2006)
The Gist: A young girl fails her piano exam when she becomes distracted by one of the tester's thoughtless behaviour so years later the girl seeks revenge when she becomes the tester's page turner. I have not seen this a long time but I remember it to be a tense thriller as the audience awaits what the girl would actually do.
Léon: The Professional (1994)
The Gist: After her family is killed by a corrupt cop, a young girl seeks help from her professional hitman neighbour to train her so she can carry out her own revenge. Another one of my favourites.
The Page Turner (2006)
The Gist: A young girl fails her piano exam when she becomes distracted by one of the tester's thoughtless behaviour so years later the girl seeks revenge when she becomes the tester's page turner. I have not seen this a long time but I remember it to be a tense thriller as the audience awaits what the girl would actually do.
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I really like your first two choices but I've never seen The Page Turner, I dropped it in my Netflix queue as it sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteLove to read what you think of Page Turner.
DeleteThe Prestige is one of my all-time faves, so happy to see it here! I really like Leon, too. Jean Reno and Natalie Portman are so great, and Gary Oldman is such an OTT villain.
ReplyDeleteSo OTT, but Oldman made it work.
DeleteThose first two are terrific films. I saw The Prestige in the theatre and was instantly taken with it but for some reason put off The Professional until about two years ago. When I finally did I found it quite kinetic.
ReplyDeleteI'm unfamiliar with your last but I'm intrigued.
Since revenge is an integral part of film noir that's where I went looking for my picks this week.
No Way Out (1950)-Shot during a robbery lowlife criminal Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark) and his brother Johnny are cared for by young black doctor Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier) at the local hospital. Ray, a virulent bigot, protests loudly and when Johnny dies on the operating table (from an undiagnosed brain tumor) Ray becomes convinced it was murder and swears revenge. In frustration Luther and his mentor Dr. Wharton (Stephen McNally) turn to Johnny’s ex-wife Edie (Linda Darnell) to try and convince Ray of the truth. But despite being jailed Ray sends messages via another brother, the mute George (Harry Bellaver), to his gang and manages to incite the denizens of his ghetto-Beaver Canal-to attack the neighboring black community. Escaping Ray hunts Luther down leading to a nail biting face-off. Poitier’s first film, he’s good if a bit tentative, and overshadowed by Widmark and Linda Darnell both of whom give award level performances. Director Joseph Mankiewicz lead up to All About Eve is a brutal unfortunately still timely film about racial tensions.
Act of Violence (1949)-Frank Enley (Van Heflin) is regarded as a war hero in his small California town where he lives with his wife Edith (Janet Leigh) and young daughter but one day Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan) appears hell-bent on revenge and Frank’s life starts to spiral out of control. The truth is that Frank aided the Nazis during his interment leading to a thwarting of Joe’s escape and a crippling injury as well as the death of several others. Now Joe plans a deadly vindication. Tough, bleak noir.
Marked Woman (1937) - Mary Dwight (Bette Davis) and her four compatriots-Gabby, Estelle, Florrie and Emmy Lou-work as “hostesses” in a Manhattan nightclub that’s just been converted into a clip joint run by mob boss Johnny Vanning (Eduardo Ciannelli). Shortly afterwards they are pulled in by the crusading DA (Humphrey Bogart) and Mary takes the fall with assurances from Vanning that he will take care of her. But things go wrong and Mary’s innocent sister Betty is pulled into the web and ends up dead. When Vanning tries to weasel out of responsibility Mary tells him that she’ll get her revenge “Even if I have to crawl back from my grave to do it!” In response his thugs disfigure her which only strengthens her resolve to even the score.
I have seen very few noir and none of them were your picks.
DeleteI love The Professional which I haven’t seen in a long time but time to revisit it...fell in love with Jean Reno. The Prestige is also excellent and one you didn’t see coming. I don’t know the last film but just the idea you talk about sounds tense.
ReplyDeleteIf you're revisiting The Professional, look for the extended edition it has about 20plus extra minutes.
DeleteAhh, The Prestige is the only pick of yours I've seen and I'm gutted I didn't think of it myself! Such an incredible movie.
ReplyDeleteThe Prestige and Leon are such good movies!
ReplyDeleteLeon is a fabulous pick. I love that movie. Not as big on The Prestige as most, but it is a good movie and fits the theme. Haven't seen your other pick.
ReplyDeleteLove both Leon and Prestige, I think the latter is highly underated. I've been wanting to see The Page Turner for years!!
ReplyDeleteYou mean the Prestige, yes I suppose it gets overshadowed by Nolan's other bigger movies.
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