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Gritty Realistic 70s Action/Dramas...

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  • Originally posted by Matt H. View Post
    I'll be checking it out soon.

    Nice to see you back, Paul.


    Thank you!
    'You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow'

    http://www.paul-a-j-lewis.com (my photography website)
    'All explaining in movies can be thrown out, I think': Elmore Leonard

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    • A friend of mine told me that it looked like the old "gritty '70s movies" thread had been deleted. I was not able to find it. If it still exists, please merge this.

      It's finally time for me to acquire and watch Johnny Got His Gun. A review on Amazon mentioned that the Shout Factory DVD is cut. Is this true, and is there a better alternative?

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      • Maybe not the type of "grittiness" that prevails in this thread, but I recently saw T.R. Baskin and it really had something to say about loneliness and alienation. Great cast including Candice Bergen, Peter Boyle, and James Caan. In a weird way this reminded me of Taking Off, except not a comedy at all. This got me to take another look at Peter Hyams' filmography. I mostly know him as the director of Busting and Capricorn One, but he also wrote and produced a bunch of stuff, including this. And he was a cinematographer! Almost as many hats as Russ Meyer.

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        • Little Murders is another film I watched recently and really enjoyed. Very dark comedy with Elliot Gould, and very prescient. Based on a play by Jules Feiffer. Maybe as biting as Carnal Knowledge, but more farcical.

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          • Yeah I love Little Murders, I have a paperback of the play it is based on.

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            • I actually put off watching it for a few months, afraid that I wouldn't enjoy it. Glad to be wrong. Don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this.

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              • The Wedding scene with Donald Sutherland is hilarious and a highpoint of the film I think.

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                • Agreed. The father of the bride is incredibly funny in that scene as well.

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                  • Just watched Busting! I should have watched Busting! earlier. Busting rules.

                    Busting looks like the connective tissue between Butch Cassidy and 48 Hours. It's better than either of those movies though- and I write that as William Goldman fanatic.

                    The way Hyams keeps the camera moving in this is something very special. To do those tracking shots in the action so expertly and before steadicam was fucking amazing. Plus the script is properly funny and Gould knows how to deliver a zinger.

                    Loved this film.
                    "Never let the fact that they are doing it wrong stop you from doing it right." Hyman Mandell.

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                    • Busting is pretty great. I particularly love Gould in this. I appreciate that Antonio Fargas and Sid Haig are both in it--wish they'd had a scene together. Love the score. Off the top of my head it's basically a six-note riff, but they are are constantly shifting the tempo and orchestration to fit the setting. And that dude that plays the main villain always elevates what he's in. Blanking on his name, gonna look him up and come back and do a stealth edit so no one will ever know.

                      Allen Garfield. Yeah, that guy was great. R.I.P.
                      When I was a kid I was really frustrated for the vice cops in this, being thwarted and misassigned by their boss who is low-key in the bag for the monster (or at least his bosses seem to be). But as an adult I really react to the futility of their job from the standpoint that consensual crimes should be decriminalized and they should be out policing violent crimes or at least property crimes and not this nonsense.
                      Marshall Crist
                      Senior Member
                      Last edited by Marshall Crist; 02-23-2023, 01:10 AM.

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                      • I've wanted to see Busting forever but have never found a way to view it. My torrenting days are behind me, I prefer a legit release if possible.

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                        • Originally posted by Randy G View Post
                          I've wanted to see Busting forever but have never found a way to view it. My torrenting days are behind me, I prefer a legit release if possible.
                          It's on Kino Blu-ray. Well worth seeing. Also the second Peter Hyams film mentioned (after Dom's review of CAPRICORN ONE) in the past couple of days. This rules because I'm a huge fan of Hyams!
                          Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome? Why did you watch it, Max?

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                          • Originally posted by Matt H. View Post
                            Also the second Peter Hyams film mentioned (after Dom's review of CAPRICORN ONE) in the past couple of days. This rules because I'm a huge fan of Hyams!
                            What else would you recommend from the filmography? Loved Capricorn 1 and Busting but the other films of his that I've seen left me cold. 2010, End Of Days, Outland. There seems to be at least a few Van Damme films. Did he elevate any of those?
                            "Never let the fact that they are doing it wrong stop you from doing it right." Hyman Mandell.

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                            • Originally posted by Matt H. View Post

                              It's on Kino Blu-ray. Well worth seeing. Also the second Peter Hyams film mentioned (after Dom's review of CAPRICORN ONE) in the past couple of days. This rules because I'm a huge fan of Hyams!
                              Thanks found it, last time I looked it wasn't available!

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                              • Originally posted by Dom D View Post

                                What else would you recommend from the filmography? Loved Capricorn 1 and Busting but the other films of his that I've seen left me cold. 2010, End Of Days, Outland. There seems to be at least a few Van Damme films. Did he elevate any of those?
                                Definitely check out THE STAR CHAMBER (possibly his best), NARROW MARGIN and RUNNING SCARED. The latter is a nice companion piece to BUSTING, only a bit toned down for the '80s. It has a pretty clever twist around the 40 minute mark that transcends the buddy cop genre in a unique way. One flaw is probably the most fake-looking snow I can recall seeing in a film; it's like the filmmakers had never seen real snow before. It's a fun movie, though.

                                As far as the Van Damme films go, I was pleasantly surprised with ENEMIES CLOSER. It's much better than you'd think. Van Damme is the villain too. I've never really warmed up to TIMECOP, though it's decent. SUDDEN DEATH is fine, although it never takes off like it should.
                                Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome? Why did you watch it, Max?

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