Don--I don't think there's a detective in The Conversation.
I won't quibble with 1 through 5 or even #6 (as I'm one of the few people who seem to like The Long Goodbye), but all those movies from the 1990s and 2000s? Hmmmmm...
Deb--The description of "The Conversation" at Amazon:
"Francis Ford Coppola's provoking mystery-thriller stars Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, an expert surveillance man. A routine wiretapping job turns into a nightmare when Harry hears something disturbing in his recording of a young couple in a park. His investigation of the tape and how it might be used sends Harry spiraling into a web of secrecy, murder and paranoia."
Close enough for me.
Also, I meant to mention one of my very favorite PI movies, which was not only not on this list, but is not even available on DVD (at least I've never seen it)--from the book by Roger Simon and starring Richard Dreyfuss as Moses Wine, "The Big Fix."
Don--I stand corrected. I, too, love The Conversation (I think that scene in the hotel room where Hackman flushes the toilet is one if the scariest in movie history), but I just don't think of it as a detective movie per se.
Tony Rome, 8mm, and 8 Million Ways to Die make the cut but not Out of the Past? Anybody who makes a list of great detective movies and does not include Out of the Past is just wrong. Hell, I'd put The Zero Effect ahead of a lot of these.
Fine list, but there are two superb Robert Benton shows you could easily add.
The Late Show, in which Art Carney is hired to find Lily Tomlin's cat, and all hell breaks loose.
Twilight, a contemporary noir of Hollywood, with a cast to die for: Paul Newman; Susan Sarandon; Gene Hackman; James Garner; Stockard Channing; and a very young Reese Witherspoon.
Re. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang... Don't forget, the paperback covers were modeled on the old Mike Shayne mysteries.
THE LATE SHOW is great. TWILIGHT was good, but not great, I thought. Reese does a nude scene though. I have those paperback covers from KISS KISS BANG BANG right here on the computer desk.
12 comments:
Not at all a bad list...but there are so many good choices..."The Conversation," another Gene Hackman movie, would fit in well.
Don--I don't think there's a detective in The Conversation.
I won't quibble with 1 through 5 or even #6 (as I'm one of the few people who seem to like The Long Goodbye), but all those movies from the 1990s and 2000s? Hmmmmm...
I'm a quibbler, but maybe that's just because I didn't like some of the movies.
8 Million Ways to Die sucked, really sucked.
That's one I didn't like, Cap'n.
Deb--The description of "The Conversation" at Amazon:
"Francis Ford Coppola's provoking mystery-thriller stars Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, an expert surveillance man. A routine wiretapping job turns into a nightmare when Harry hears something disturbing in his recording of a young couple in a park. His investigation of the tape and how it might be used sends Harry spiraling into a web of secrecy, murder and paranoia."
Close enough for me.
Also, I meant to mention one of my very favorite PI movies, which was not only not on this list, but is not even available on DVD (at least I've never seen it)--from the book by Roger Simon and starring Richard Dreyfuss as Moses Wine, "The Big Fix."
Don--I stand corrected. I, too, love The Conversation (I think that scene in the hotel room where Hackman flushes the toilet is one if the scariest in movie history), but I just don't think of it as a detective movie per se.
Tony Rome, 8mm, and 8 Million Ways to Die make the cut but not Out of the Past? Anybody who makes a list of great detective movies and does not include Out of the Past is just wrong. Hell, I'd put The Zero Effect ahead of a lot of these.
I haven't seen 8mm, but I've seen TONY ROME. It was an okay little movie, but that's about all.
Fine list, but there are two superb Robert Benton shows you could easily add.
The Late Show, in which Art Carney is hired to find Lily Tomlin's cat, and all hell breaks loose.
Twilight, a contemporary noir of Hollywood, with a cast to die for: Paul Newman; Susan Sarandon; Gene Hackman; James Garner; Stockard Channing; and a very young Reese Witherspoon.
Re. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang... Don't forget, the paperback covers were modeled on the old Mike Shayne mysteries.
THE LATE SHOW is great. TWILIGHT was good, but not great, I thought. Reese does a nude scene though. I have those paperback covers from KISS KISS BANG BANG right here on the computer desk.
Courageous of them to list THE LONG GOODBYE--a great film universally reviled.
Randy, you're right about OUT OF THE PAST.
I have a soft spot in my heart (& head) for TONY ROME, PJ and GUNN, but that may be because I was young & impressionable when I saw them.
Post a Comment