Plot: Doug Roberts, Architect, returns from a long vacation to find work nearly completed on his skyscraper. He goes to the party that night concerned he’s found that his wiring specifications have not been followed and that the building continues to develop short circuits. When the fire begins, Michael O’Halleran is the chief on duty as a series of daring rescues punctuate the terror of a building too tall to have a fire successfully fought from the ground.Read More »
Plot: The past collides with the present in this excavation of the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam: a journey from World War II to recent years of pandemic and protest and a provocative, life-affirming reflection on memory, time and what’s…Read More »
Ace Bonner returns to Arizona several years after he abandoned his family, Junior Bonner is a wild young man. Against the typical rodeo championship, family drama erupts.Read More »
Johnny Ross works for Chicago mobster Peter Ross, his brother. In April 1968 Johnny Ross escapes two attempts on his life and flees to San Francisco, where he is placed in protective custody by politician Walter Chalmers, who hopes to use Ross to further his own national aspirations. To protect Ross, Chalmers asks the SFPD to assign Detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt and his partners, Sergeants Don Delgetti and Carl Stanton, to guard him at a flophouse near an overhead freeway. It looks like a simple assignment, but at 1 AM the next day it all goes awry in a blast of a shotgun, leaving Stanton and Ross fighting for life at San Francisco General. Bullitt gets what information he can, but breathing down his neck is the angered Chalmers who vows to ruin Bullitt’s career should Ross die. Bullitt gets a break when the gunman appears at the hospital to finish off Ross, and Bullitt gets a good look at him; now Bullitt must smoke out the gunman and his backup man before Chalmers carries out his threat, leading to a high-speed pursuit, a fiery crash at a gas station, and a fingerprint check that leads to a stunning discovery about Ross, and about a couple staying at a swanky hotel in San Mateo.Read More »
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A documentary following the lives of motorcycle racers and racing enthusiasts, including actor Steve McQueen. First asking the question “Why do they do it?” this film looks at the people who devote (and sometimes risk) their lives to racing on tracks and off-road courses around the world.Read More »
As a monetary rater of movies, you can tell that I have leanings. My film studies background is rooted in films noir and gritty westerns and at heart, The Getaway is a pulp crime drama with a southwestern flavor. Of course I love it; there’s a heist, a duel, a shootout, a con and every other genre staple that I’ve written about before (not to mention it played a pivotal role in my graduating thesis). It’s true that these details ingratiate the film to me, but it’s also true that The Getaway is a fantastic film. It’s a Steve McQueen movie, after all! That alone makes it a classic and worth watching.Read More »
Synopsis by Eleanor Mannikka
Based on an actual bank heist (and even using the St. Louis policemen who took part in thwarting the original robbery), this fairly ho-hum caper film stars Steve McQueen as the driver of the getaway car for the four bank robbers. The four men go over their plan several times, including dry runs to cover every possible contingent. These preparations take up most of the film, so that by the time the thieves are ready to do it, the audience has been ready forever. The actual scenario when the thieves walk into the bank is fast-paced, and as might be expected, even the best-laid plans cannot foresee everything.Read More »
Summary:
Based on a true story by Paul Brickhill, this epic adventure about a mass escape planned by Allied officers being kept in an elite German P.O.W. camp, especially designed to prevent it, is a great World War II movie spectacle. John Sturges directed the film whose screenplay was in part written by James Clavell. The all star cast makes every storyline interesting and includes: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, and David McCallum among others. Though it’s only Oscar recognition was a nomination for Editing, its score is also memorable. #19 on AFI’s Most Heart-Pounding Movies list.Read More »
Almost in breadth and depth of a documentary, this movie depicts an auto race during the 70s on the world’s hardest endurance course: Le Mans in France. The race goes over 24 hours on 14.5 kilometers of cordoned country road. Every few hours the two drivers per car alternate – but it’s still a challenge for concentration and material. In the focus is the duel between the German Stahler in Ferrari 512LM and the American Delaney in Gulf Team Porsche 917. Delaney is under extraordinary pressure, because the year before he caused a severe accident, in which his friend Lisa’s husband was killed.Read More »