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Post by petrolino on Jan 6, 2020 0:50:20 GMT
Yes, they made 12 movies together. I have not seen any other Aranda movies, and none have tempted me. Let me know if I am missing anything special. Victoria Abril I only knew from Almodovar's ¡Átame! (1989), where she played opposite Antonio Banderas. Her film debut was in Richard Lester's Robin and Marian (1976), starring Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn. Maribel Verdú most will know as the tragic lady in Y tu mamá también, the film which launched Alfonso Cuarón's career. She does not have any better luck in "Amantes". The male lead, Jorge Sanz, I only knew from Belle Epoque (1992). Though as different as chalk and cheese from "amantes" (very light comedy v bleak self-destruction) he basically plays the same part - a gormless and randy young stud just out of national army service, who has no direction in life and just lets things happen to him. The main difference is that in Amantes he is torn between two women whereas in Belle Epoque he has to choose one of four sisters (after sampling each of them first, of course). He had previously played the young Conan in Conan the Barbarian (1982).
I'd recommend 'Girl With The Golden Panties' (1980), which I think was the first of several adaptations of the work of novelist Juan Marse by Vicente Aranda. Also, I like the pensive drama 'Time Of Silence' (1986). Perhaps their most popular collaboration is 'Lovers' (1991).
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Post by london777 on Jan 26, 2020 4:53:10 GMT
In Larceny (1948) dir: George Sherman, Dan Duryea and John Payne play the leader and right-hand man of a gang of con-men. The plot concerns their attempt to con a grieving war-widow into building a juveniles shelter and sports-club as a monument to her dead husband, then making off with the donated funds. George Sherman was a prolific director of second-features in the 1940s and 1950s. When given the chance he created some better-quality films, as here, and also The Sleeping City (1949). Larceny benefits from a good cast, especially Shelley Winters as an infatuated floozy with some sharp repartee, and more nuanced characterization than is usual in such low-budget quickies. Worth a look if you are a Noir fan. A pity it wrapped up with a "happy" ending when the logical one would have been bleak.
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Post by OldAussie on Jan 26, 2020 6:41:54 GMT
just a small part of the film....Martin Balsam in Little Big Man
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Post by bravomailer on Feb 11, 2020 5:07:54 GMT
The Handmaiden - a S Korean film about a three-way con. 8/10
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Post by london777 on Feb 27, 2020 0:24:21 GMT
Half a Sinner (1934) dir: Kurt Neumann tells the story of a hilly-billy preacher who is really a con-man and card-sharp. Joel McCrae is the male lead and Mickey Rooney and Walter Brennan also appear. It was remade as Alias the Deacon (1940) dir: Christy Cabanne Not to be confused with Half a Sinner (1940) dir: Al Christie which is a totally different story. Confusin', ain't it?
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Post by london777 on Mar 5, 2020 15:11:05 GMT
Parasite (2019) dir: Joon-ho Bong must be one of the best films released this decade ... etc And now available for your delectation in black and white (with the director's blessing): Parasite: Black & White Version
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Post by london777 on Mar 10, 2020 22:16:32 GMT
And we cannot omit "Lord Melbury".
This was the pilot episode for the Fawlty Towers series. Cleese toned down the Benny Hill-type slapstick which is in evidence here during the following eleven episodes. Fortunately.
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Post by theravenking on Mar 11, 2020 13:18:32 GMT
Ghost (1990)Oda Mae Brown thinks she is a con-artist BUT is she ? Thanks, BAT, you have laid a ghost for me. Watching Black Rainbow (1989) dir: Mike Hodges I found the scene where fake medium Rosanna Arquette is compelled to utter true prophecies very compelling. It reminded me of something but I could not think what. The two instances are handled differently. Goldberg's as broad comedy, and Arquette's as disturbingly psychological. Are there other examples of fake mediums surprised to find that they have real powers after all? Red Lights (2012) is another movie about fake mediums.
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Post by theravenking on Mar 11, 2020 13:34:09 GMT
Some other movies built around clever cons:
Malice (1993)
Best Laid Plans (1999)
The Best Offer (2013)
Gold (2016)
Games (1967)
El Cortez (2006)
Croupier (1998)
Basil (1997)
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Autumn
Sophomore
@lily
Posts: 184
Likes: 183
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Post by Autumn on Mar 11, 2020 22:21:36 GMT
The Netflix series Messiah - maybe? I'm wondering about this as well. The reveal about him and his brother leads us one way,....but the plane crash leads us another. Interesting to see where they'll take this.
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Post by london777 on Mar 29, 2020 3:21:03 GMT
The Charmer (1987) 6-part TV mini-series directed by Alan Gibson. I don't know why I did not include this earlier as it is one of my all-time favourite UK TV series. Based on Patrick Hamilton's "Gorse Trilogy" it is about the duel between Ralph Gorse (brilliantly played by Nigel Havers), a seducer, con-man and, eventually, worse, and his principle victim, Donald Stimpson (played by Bernard Hepton) who plots his revenge. Music is by Richard Rodney Bennett. Starting out as a Noel Coward style '30s black comedy, it gets deeper and darker as sociopath Gorse loses touch with his humanity.
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Post by london777 on Apr 5, 2020 17:42:12 GMT
The Story of a Cheat (1936) written and directed by, and starring, Sacha Guitry. The multi-talented playwright Guitry never fully reconciled to the advent of cinema, so he takes an unorthodox approach to telling the tale of his hero's adventures.
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Post by london777 on Apr 18, 2020 17:27:06 GMT
No intricate nefarious schemes in our next example. Confidence trickery at its most basic level. So basic it would only work with the cerebrally challenged, as here. In The Whisperers (1967) dir: Brian Forbes, lowlife Mrs Noonan (played by inveterate TV supporting actress Avis Bunnage, getting a rare chance to strut her stuff on the big screen), forces her friendship on dotty old Mrs Ross (Edith Evans) in the waiting area of the Benefits Office, takes her home and plies her with port stiffened with methylated spirits. Then steals the money from her handbag before her ratbag husband trundles the unconscious victim across town in a handcart and dumps her near her flat. I started to watch this movie the night before last, but gave up after half hour because it was so depressing. Felt braver in the daylight yesterday so continued, and it picked up as other characters and events entered (especially my favorite Eric Portman, outstanding in one of his last roles). Quite good, but I do not think kitchen-sink is really Bryan Forbes' strength, though his heart is in the right place. It has become topical again with its testament to the NHS and social services battling against impossible odds.
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Post by bravomailer on Apr 18, 2020 20:21:57 GMT
The Netflix series Messiah - maybe? I'm wondering about this as well. The reveal about him and his brother leads us one way,....but the plane crash leads us another. Interesting to see where they'll take this. Unfortunately, Netflix isn't picking up a second season.
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Post by bravomailer on Apr 18, 2020 20:24:17 GMT
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Post by manfromplanetx on May 17, 2020 8:39:45 GMT
Foolish Wives (1922) Directed, Written and Produced by Erich von Stroheim The story of a Monte Carlo con-artist who under cover of an impressive title is Count Wladislaw Sergius Karamzin (Erich von Stroheim). He uses the con to seduce rich women and while at it he extorts money from the hapless femmes also . The Count is not the only con-artist here, partners in crime are his two live-in "cousins" ? Her Highness Olga and Princess Vera Petchikoff (Maude George and Mae Busch). The ménage-a-trois finance their decadent high-roller lifestyle through counterfeiting and by shamelessly setting up the con with the darkly charming Count, on moneyed, naïve tourists. The extraordinary film is a bold melodrama complete with some sensational intertitles. The director already had earned himself a reputation as a lavish spendthrift, an avant-garde visionary director, his films remain triumphs of sumptuous and exotic period detail. Way over budget, the estimated cost of Foolish Wives was around $1,225,00 and the studio advertised that fact for publicity, the "first million-dollar movie" to come out of Hollywood. With the subtle shifting of loyalties and much intrigue the original story ran for over 6 hours, but with studio demands & the censor scissors the end release came in at just under 2hrs, furious von Stroheim lamented it was now "the skeleton of my dead child" Foolish Wives has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant...
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Post by Rufus-T on May 19, 2020 16:25:35 GMT
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Post by london777 on May 19, 2020 19:26:51 GMT
Totòtruffa '62 (1961) dir: Camillo Mastrocinque. Totò and his partner operate various scams to gain money to keep his daughter in an expensive private dance academy.
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Post by Rufus-T on May 19, 2020 19:52:25 GMT
A more recent movie
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Post by london777 on May 21, 2020 0:59:14 GMT
May 19, 2020 18:13:15 GMT -4 manfromplanetx said:
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