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Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where you share three movies to fit the theme of the week each Thursday.
This week's theme is true events and since there are so many (great) movies based on true stories and it's impossible to pick three only, I went with three films whose stories are so unbelievable to be true. But they are actually true.
Alive (1993)
The plane carrying the Uruguayan rugby team crashes on the Andes Mountains, and the survivors are forced to use desperate measures to survive, like eating their dead friends. What those people went through, I can't even imagine that. This is one of those movies that are really hard to sit through but it's remarkable.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Before even turning 19, Frank Abagnale Jr. conned million of dollars worth of checks as a pilot, doctor and legal prosecutor. I still can't believe someone could do all that in such a short time. I'm 23 and I'm still not able to take my own doctor appointment. I'm just kidding. Anyway, the film is (the) fun (one) and there's a young Leonardo DiCaprio which is always nice to see.
Changeling (2008)
Five months after a 9-year-old boy went missing, LAPD finds a boy who fits the description and brings him back to his mother. Only the woman insists he's not her boy and will keep waiting for her real son. This film left me speechless. Not because of what that poor woman went through, but because of what happened to those kids. I don't know how people feel about this film, but I love it. It's one of my favourites from Eastwood and Angelina Jolie gives such a wonderful performance.
Changeling is such an emotional movie but I felt as a film it is quite a mess, like two films in one - one following the mother, the other with the killer and the kids. Angelina is terrific in the role and Ryan and Malkovich are great but I felt this marked the beginning of decline in Eastwood's directorial efforts where he didn't know which story he wants to tell with his subsequent films
ReplyDeleteI agree that's a big of an issue here, but I still love it.
DeleteSadly, Changeling is the only one I've seen all the way through. I have seen bits and pieces of both Alive and Catch Me If You Can, but never gave either a proper watch. I need to fix that.
ReplyDeleteYes, you do!
DeleteI LOVE Changeling. The only issue I had was Jeffrey Donovan's accent. He didn't have one for the first 20 minutes then suddenly became Irish? What?
ReplyDeleteI don't know why but that happens in a lot of movies :(
DeleteGood choices all. I saw Alive in the theatre and thought I was prepared because I knew the story going in. I was wrong! I managed to make it all the way through but it was grueling.
ReplyDeleteAngelina Jolie was terrific in Changeling but I thought the overall film was kind of a mess. A well put together mess but one nonetheless. Still an incredible story.
LOVE Catch Me If You Can from it's day-glo opening credits all the way through to its conclusion. Both DiCaprio and Hanks, as well as Christopher Walken, drive into their roles and carry the audience right along. Spielberg directs with a jaunty hand.
You're right there are tons of great movies based on actual events so I didn't drive myself crazy going through possibles. I pick the first three favorites that came to mind. My last is one of my all time favs.
Frost/Nixon (2008)-In 1977 well known showman David Frost (Michael Sheen) famous for glib interviews with pop stars is suffering a bit of a slump. He hits upon what he thinks is a surefire idea for a ratings grabbing showpiece. He sets out to interview former president Richard Nixon (Frank Langella), living in seclusion in San Clemente, CA after resigning in disgrace following the Watergate scandal. Nixon’s agent Swifty Lazar sure that it will be a puff piece encourages Tricky Dicky to take the sizable amount of money offered and run. The series of interviews get off to a rocky start with a loquacious and obdurate Nixon evading any sort of hard questioning but suddenly an unexpected breakthrough changes the course of the sessions into a revealing confessional. Sheen & Langella repeated their roles from the hit Broadway play that was the basis for the film which in turn was based on the actual interviews.
The Queen (2006)-In 1997 Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) has been on the English throne for 45 years, respected and beloved worldwide. Even more popular, though not within the royal family, is her former daughter-in-law Princess Diana whose marriage to Prince Charles had collapsed in acrimony after a decade of high exposure. She has since become a goodwill ambassador for many worthwhile causes as well as a paparazzi magnet and a bane to her former mother-in-law. When Diana is killed in a car accident caused by those same paparazzi hounding her the queen believes the proper course is a quiet funeral followed by a period of private mourning owing to the fact that Diana is no longer considered a member of the royal family. That turns out to be an almost catastrophic miscalculation that threatens the sovereignty of the throne and which requires new Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) to step in and guide her through to avert a disastrous outcome. Helen Mirren won an Oscar for her much lauded performance.
Inherit the Wind (1960)-Small town teacher Bertram Cates (Dick York-best known as the first Darrin on Bewitched) is arrested for teaching Darwin’s evolutionary theory to his students and put on trial. Representing him gratis is famed attorney Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy) as the opposition is spearheaded by blustery litigator Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March) while wryly cynical newspaperman E. K. Hornbecker (Gene Kelly) observes and reports. As passions run high in the oppressive summer heat the local pastor Reverend Jeremiah Brown (Claude Akins) incites the townspeople with fiery rhetoric. A real acting showcase for both leads aided by a beautiful performance from Florence Eldridge (she was March’s spouse in real life) as Brady’s gentle wife who tries to temper his more outrageous behavior. Semi fictionalized version of the Scopes Monkey trial wherein famed lawyers Clarence Darrow & William Jennings Bryant fought in court over Darwin’s theory.
I've been meaning to watch The Queen forever. Frost/Nixon also sounds good. I'll check it out.
DeleteI saw the 1970's film about the Plane crash which is horrible beyond belief. I haven't seen the remake though. I love the other 2 picks. Catch Me is such an engaging film and it amazes me how amazing the real kid is and if he could have applied hi,self, how much he could have done. The Changeling was angersome for me because of the way the woman was treated by the cops who just dropped a totally different kid in her home and said that it was hers. Gripping film and one of Eastwood's best
ReplyDeleteYes! Finally someone who agrees on Changeling being one of Eastwood's best. That story though, I still can't believe it's true. Poor woman.
DeleteI love Catch Me If You Can! Its not talked about enough. I;m not a Jolie fan so I skipped Changeling but the true story is horrific.
ReplyDeleteI know right! More people need to see it.
DeleteCatch Me If You Can was fun. I haven't seen the Changeling either because I'm not a Jolie fan too plus the trailers never really sold me on the movie.
DeleteIt was the same for me too but I watched it anyway and I really liked it.
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