Thursday Movie Picks #69: Secret Agents and Spies

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  Secret Agents and Spies

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It's obvious why I have this theme this week; Spectre opens. I don't even like Bond movies even though I might not have watch one from beginning to end, but enough bits and pieces to know it's not something I'd like. Actually I haven't watch that many secret agents / spy movies so my options are limited.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Beyond us knowing that the street kid is recruited by a secret agency, we didn't really get much secret agenting and spying. It was mostly training for the kids and some assassinating by the adults. Still this was a fun movie, so much better than what I expected and I hear there's going to be a sequel. If you like the first Kick-Ass movie, I think you'd like this one too.

Duplicity (2009)

With organisations being worth more than countries, this is where most spying is probably heading: corporate espionage. The premise of it is interesting to me and I like Gilroy's Michael Clayton so I thought this would be as good. While it isn't as great, it is a fun watch. It's more of a romantic comedy thriller with snappy dialogue.

The East (2013)

A woman working for a private intelligence firm infiltrates a aggressive environmental group to gather information for their client/s who are on the group's hit list. Once again an interesting premise and far different from the kind that is usually associated with spy movies. Commercials organisations are involved in this one too, but of course for very different reasons.

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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 #21: Movies Adapted from a Play (non-Shakespeare and non-musical)
Thursday Movie Picks #24: Movies Driven Entirely by People Talking
Thursday Movie Picks #23: Coming of Age Movies 
Thursday Movie Picks #3: Movies set in a Mental Institution
Thursday Movie Picks #50: All in the Family Edition: Sibling Relationships (Biologically Related)

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

 

 

 

Thursday Movie Picks #68: Halloween Edition - Ghost Movies (Suggested by John Hitchcock)

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 Halloween Edition - Werewolves

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Hey it's October and the whole of this month I'm running the Halloween Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the weeks.

October 1 - Halloween Edition: Alfred Hitchcock Movies
October 8 - Halloween Edition: Villainous Children (Suggested by Wendell)
October 15 - Halloween Edition: Asian Horror
October 22 - Halloween Edition: Werewolves
October 29 - Halloween Edition: Ghost Movies (Suggested by John Hitchcock)

This is actually the second time I'm running the Halloween edition. If you missed it last year, check out last year's themes below:

October 2 2014 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 2014 - Zombie Movies
October 16 2014 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 2014 - Vampire Movies
October 30 2014- Haunted Buildings

Hey welcome to the last week of the TMP Halloween Edition. I know, I know, how did October past by so quickly? I hope you have had a fun one watching scary movies. This week's theme was suggested by John Hitchcock @ HitchcocksWorld and I have to say, I love a good ghost story. I've already featured Shutter and The Devil's Backbone before, so I won't recycle them, but if you haven't seen them, go do it! Anyway here are some more of my favourites:

The Sixth Sense (1999)
I can't believe I haven't talked about The Sixth Sense on this blog yet! I think a good ghost story is both scary and tragic and this one balances it really well. That scene with the girl vomiting under the covers freaked me out until I understood what was going on and then it was just incredibly sad. The movie had so many moments like that.
 
Casper (1995)
I grew up watching this movie. We had a laser disc of it and I watched it a lot. Like who wouldn't want to live in an old manor and meet a friendly ghost?

Nang-Nak (1999)
For some reason I forgot all about this title when we had the Asian Horror theme so it's great that it suits this week perfectly. Set in 19th century Thailand, a man is summoned for war and leaves his pregnant wife living alone in an isolated house. After months away, he comes home to his wife and new born baby. All is well until he eventually finds out what had really happen when he was away. The movie is apparently based on a Thai legend and the story is so very tragic and sad; just the way I like ghost stories. Plus this is a period movie. If Anna and the King is the only glimpse of 19th century Thailand you ever saw on screen, try Nang Nak. I think the movie did an excellent job of recreating the period.

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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 #28: Movies with Colour in the Title
Thursday Movie Picks #17: Movies Featuring Amnesiacs
Thursday Movie Picks #25: Bank Robberies
Thursday Movie Picks #13: Zombie Movies
Thursday Movie Picks #22: Movies that Feature a Family Secret

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday Movie Picks #67: Halloween Edition - Werewolves

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 Halloween Edition - Werewolves

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Hey it's October and the whole of this month I'm running the Halloween Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the weeks.

October 1 - Halloween Edition: Alfred Hitchcock Movies
October 8 - Halloween Edition: Villainous Children (Suggested by Wendell)
October 15 - Halloween Edition: Asian Horror
October 22 - Halloween Edition: Werewolves
October 29 - Halloween Edition: Ghost Movies (Suggested by John Hitchcock)

This is actually the second time I'm running the Halloween edition. If you missed it last year, check out last year's themes below:

October 2 2014 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 2014 - Zombie Movies
October 16 2014 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 2014 - Vampire Movies
October 30 2014- Haunted Buildings

Hey welcome to another TMP Halloween Edition. This week it's Werewolves! As I try to recall the werewolf movies I've seen, turns out I haven't seen that many. So I am looking for to some suggestions. In random order, here are my picks:

Underworld (2003)
I know Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans is more fitting for today's theme but I didn't like it so my pick is the first movie from the franchise. Love the futuristic world Underworld created in which the vampire and lycans are battling in an ongoing war that is centuries old.
 
Dog Soldiers (2002)
A squad of British soldiers is in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands for a military exercise when they find themselves hunted by a pack of werewolves. They seek shelter at an empty country house and prepare for a battle they are utterly unprepared for as the werewolves circle the house. Like this movie a lot. Suspenseful, plenty of action and scary too.

Ginger Snaps (2000)
I really really love the 1st and 2nd act of the movie which is a female coming of age slash werewolf tale where the werewolf transformation is a metaphor for puberty. We all know how so much fewer female coming of stories there are and this one hits the nail on some aspects of it. If I wasn't lazy at finding gifs, this post would have been filled with several awesome Ginger Snaps gifs. While I like much of the dark humour, there were still times when it was just a little too morbid - Brigitte and Ginger are certainly more more morbidly creative than Harold (from Harold and Maude). Anyway...the third act happened and it went all out werewolf story, seemingly dropping the coming of age aspect and so I found the ending just very disappointing.

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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 #28: Movies with Colour in the Title
Thursday Movie Picks #17: Movies Featuring Amnesiacs
Thursday Movie Picks #25: Bank Robberies
Thursday Movie Picks #13: Zombie Movies
Thursday Movie Picks #22: Movies that Feature a Family Secret

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday Movie Picks #66: Halloween Edition - Asian Horror

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 Halloween Edition - Asian Horror

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Hey it's October and the whole of this month I'm running the Halloween Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the weeks.

October 1 - Halloween Edition: Alfred Hitchcock Movies
October 8 - Halloween Edition: Villainous Children (Suggested by Wendell)
October 15 - Halloween Edition: Asian Horror
October 22 - Halloween Edition: Werewolves
October 29 - Halloween Edition: Ghost Movies (Suggested by John Hitchcock)

This is actually the second time I'm running the Halloween edition. If you missed it last year, check out last year's themes below:

October 2 2014 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 2014 - Zombie Movies
October 16 2014 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 2014 - Vampire Movies
October 30 2014- Haunted Buildings


Hey welcome to another TMP Halloween Edition. This week it's Asian Horror! I don't know if it's true or I'm just imagining it, but has there been fewer Asian Horror released recently. Or at least if there are still as many, they just don't get as much attention? I haven't seen one in a long time. Asian Horror used to be big in the late 90s and early 2000s; all the major hits were getting American remakes. Now it's quiet. Anyway here are my three picks; at least one is recycled but I can't resist.

Shutter (2004) 
A photographer and his girlfriend starts noticing mysterious shadows in their photographs after an accident. They start investigating and turns out that the photographer's friends too have such similar photographs; they all share a dark past. Love Shutter. It was remade in 2008. The remake was not as spooky and tragically sad as the original, and it made some odd choices with some of the changes.
 
The Maid (2005)
Not a lot of local horror movies have been made; this one is really the only one I've seen and I like it. Creepy and I did not guess the twist. In it a young Filipino woman, Rosa, comes to Singapore to work as a live in maid for a local family and arrives on the first day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar where it is believed the gates of hell are open and spirits wander among the living. Her employers advises her on the do's and don'ts for the month so as to not to offend the spirits but Rosa makes a mistake and soon spooky things start to happen.

The Housemaid (2010) 
Unlike my other picks today, this one doesn't deal with supernatural; it's more of psychological thriller/horror. In the movie a woman starts working for a wealthy family as a maid and nanny for the couple's daughter. She and the master of the house soon begins an affair and when it is found out, things go nuts. Interesting movie. Very modern, sleek, cold and dark. Not quite sure about the end but I'm definitely interested in seeing the original 1960 movie.

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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 #28: Movies with Colour in the Title
Thursday Movie Picks #17: Movies Featuring Amnesiacs
Thursday Movie Picks #25: Bank Robberies
Thursday Movie Picks #13: Zombie Movies
Thursday Movie Picks #22: Movies that Feature a Family Secret

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday Movie Picks #65: Halloween Edition - Villainous Children (Suggested by Wendell)

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 Halloween Edition - Villainous Children

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Hey it's October and the whole of this month I'm running the Halloween Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the weeks.

October 1 - Halloween Edition: Alfred Hitchcock Movies
October 8 - Halloween Edition: Villainous Children (Suggested by Wendell)
October 15 - Halloween Edition: Asian Horror
October 22 - Halloween Edition: Werewolves
October 29 - Halloween Edition: Ghost Movies (Suggested by John Hitchcock)

This is actually the second time I'm running the Halloween edition. If you missed it last year, check out last year's themes below:

October 2 2014 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 2014 - Zombie Movies
October 16 2014 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 2014 - Vampire Movies
October 30 2014- Haunted Buildings

Hey it's the second week of TMP Halloween Edition. This week's theme is a suggestion from Wendell@DellonMovies. I thought this would have been an easy week but my choices seem limited and a few I had picked before and were titles I imagined will be picked by a lot of others. So I tried to think a little outside the box and stretch the children's age to include teens. Under 18 is children right?

The Crucible (1996)
I don't know much about the Salem Witch trials other than towns going crazy, accusing and executing people for witchcraft. Basically you have no defense once you're accused of witchcraft. I saw The Crucible recently and at least in the case in Salem Village it began with a few children having fits which was soon seen as them being enchanted. It was infuriating to see the children play a vicious game and getting a lot of attention, which they probably initially had no idea the repercussions of but possibly later too cowardly to admit, still it was so much worse that the adults subscribe to their lies feeding the hysteria even when there was so much doubt in the air.
 
Battle Royale (2000)
Not all the kids in the chosen class were villainous of course. Many just had to survive. Still there were some that were a little trigger happy.

Chocolate War (1988)
I've picked this movie before for TMP #48 and can't help but pick it again. Love the book; the movie falls a little short but is still a worthy watch. The story has a great villain mastermind who orchestrates a final showdown that breaks the spirit of the new kid who dares to rebel against his secret society rituals and rules, and with most of the school pretty much partaking in all of the villain's orchestration.

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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 #28: Movies with Colour in the Title
Thursday Movie Picks #17: Movies Featuring Amnesiacs
Thursday Movie Picks #25: Bank Robberies
Thursday Movie Picks #13: Zombie Movies
Thursday Movie Picks #22: Movies that Feature a Family Secret

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday Movie Picks #64: Halloween Edition - Alfred Hitchcock Movies

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 Halloween Edition - Alfred Hitchcock Movies

---

Hey it's October and the whole of this month I'm running the Halloween Edition. Take a look at what's in store for the rest of the weeks.

October 1 - Halloween Edition: Alfred Hitchcock Movies
October 8 - Halloween Edition: Villainous Children (Suggested by Wendell)
October 15 - Halloween Edition: Asian Horror
October 22 - Halloween Edition: Werewolves
October 29 - Halloween Edition: Ghost Movies (Suggested by John Hitchcock)

This is actually the second time I'm running the Halloween edition. If you missed it last year, check out last year's themes below:

October 2 2014 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 2014 - Zombie Movies
October 16 2014 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 2014 - Vampire Movies
October 30 2014- Haunted Buildings


Well this week is Alfred Hitchcock movies! I have picked a few of his movies before for other weeks' themes (namely Rebecca, Psycho, The Lady Vanishes and Strangers on a Train) so for the sake of variety, I will not be picking them again. Still, of the ones I've watched, I do like a couple of them so it was hard just picking three.  

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
A young woman craves for excitement in her dull life and is thrilled when her favorite charming Uncle Charlie comes to stay with her family for a visit. However she soon discover he is harbouring some dark secrets. If you like Stoker, I'd recommend seeing this; there are some similarities.

Rear Window (1954)
Confined to his apartment after breaking his leg, Jeff a photographer begins spending his time observing his neighbours from his window. He soon begins to suspect that a man in the next building to have murdered a woman. Unable to move himself, he enlists his nurse and his girlfriend to do the investigating. Quite amazing how much suspense is created from just using a single location. Just cut all the other noise and rely on story, characters and good dialogue. This wasn't Hitchcock's only single location movie, they're all just as good but I had to choose just one. If you like Rear Window, check out Disturbia (2007) too which is sort of modern twist to the story and wasn't bad at all.

The Wrong Man (1956)
In The Wrong Man, a string bassist is mistaken for a criminal and his world is turned upside down when events and coincidences seem to conspire against him. I think this is one Hitchcock less popular movies and really is a simple mistaken identity story that is effectively scary.

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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 #28: Movies with Colour in the Title
Thursday Movie Picks #17: Movies Featuring Amnesiacs
Thursday Movie Picks #25: Bank Robberies
Thursday Movie Picks #13: Zombie Movies
Thursday Movie Picks #22: Movies that Feature a Family Secret

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers