Thursday, May 2, 2019

Thursday Movie Picks-True Crime


We are inundated with true crime on a constant basis with tv shows centering on actual crimes and we lap it up. I have to admit, I do like watching "Forensic Files" and other shows because it involves the human psyche and what makes evil jerks tick. Sometimes, I must turn it off and enjoy something fun or beautiful because it becomes too much. Now, that being said, I do watch movies about true crime and I have chosen 3 that fit the bill. Check out Wandering Through The Shelves to find out  what everyone else have chosen. Here are my 3...

1. THE BOSTON STRANGLER-1968


This is a true story based on the actual serial killer that terrorized Boston in the late 60’s. He preyed on elderly women and this film was about trying to capture the killer. The lawman wa played by Henry Fonda and the killer was portrayed by Tony Curtis who gave a stellar performance as a married plumber who killed. It’s done almost like a docudrama and to great effectiveness without showing gore.

2. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN- 2002


This is a more lighthearted film which is based on fact...for the most part. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a young Frank Abignale who has a penchant for fraud at quite the young age. Tom Hanks plays the FBI agent, sans humour, who is hot on his trail for years. You get to see the young Frank deal with the break up of his parents’ marriage and slowly edge into fraud by becoming an airline pilot, a doctor and lawyer. The real Frank even showed up on To Tell The Truth, an old Game Show I loved to watch. This is one film that is a fun watch even though it is about a criminal.

3. SPOTLIGHT-2015


I know, I went with all new movies except the first one which is still a modern one in film land. Anyway, this film is about how the Boston Globe investigated and blew the lid off the child sex abuse and cover-up the priests were doing behind closed church doors. I was taken with the subject since I went to a Catholic school which was hell and, in fact, one priest was having an affair with the mayor of the city, both were tied up, naked, by street hustlers they picked up and both charged with taking money from the bingo my high school had on a regular basis. Oh and my principal, a priest, is now in jail for keeping child porn. Just last night 2 teens were stabbed at my old High School! Oops...I digress, where was I?  Oh yes, This film, although a tough subject, truly sheds light on what was kept hidden for decades and it is powerfully acted. The ending credits left me speechless. It won the Oscar for Best Picture.

I almost went with a couple of classic films but I thought I would go new this time.

Which 3 would you choose.


46 comments:

  1. Love your last two picks, especially Spotlight. Your Catholic school sounds like a nightmare, good lord.

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  2. Three great films. I had the pleasure of meeting Frank Abignale many years ago and my talks with him influenced security decisions I made in our finance offices.
    Yesterday I watched a documentary called All the Queen's Horses about the comptroller in Dixon, Ilinois who embezzled $53 million over 20 years. Incredible!
    Oh the catholic school nightmares many can recall, including my parents. Which is why my sis and I went to public school.

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    1. That’s so cool that you met this man. He must have been fascinating to talk to. Did you see the movie? I have to see this documentary which sounds excellent.

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    2. I met him after I had seen the movie. He did point out some liberties that were taken in the movie, though now I would be hard-pressed to remember what they were, lol.

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  3. Hi, Birgit!

    Mrs. Shady and I are also FFF's - Forensic Files fanatics. It's a series that invites binge watching.

    Wow, BB, I have seen all three of your featured films and like/love them all. The risk paid off when Tony Curtis was cast as The Boston Strangler because, as you agree, he did a brilliant job with the role. Catch Me If You Can is a stylish film loaded with stars and rising stars, including one of my favorite actresses, the always adorable Amy Adams. I own that one on DVD. I cringed when I read your horror stories about going to a Catholic school. Mrs. S and I watched Spotlight a year ago and thought it was terrific. Along with "Beetlejuice," the cast includes another of my favorite actresses Rachel McAdams.

    Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend, dear friend BB!

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    1. I do like watch FF and find it fascinating. They took a risk using Tony Curtis because most of his films were comedies but they forgot some of his great dramatic roles. I really liked Spotlight and Catch Me which was much better than I thought it would be.

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  4. I haven't seen the last one, but would like to. The story about your high school would make a compelling movie as well! :o

    Yes, Tony Curtis was brilliant as the Boston Strangler and I bet most people didn't think he could pull it off. I loved Catch Me If You Can and own the DVD, so I've seen it a few times. On this theme, so many movies come to mind: Casino, Goodfellas, In Cold Blood, Dog Day Afternoon... Have you seen From Hell? Johnny Depp plays an opium-addicted detective investigating Jack The Ripper. It's brilliant!

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    1. I hated my high school because of the bullying I had to deal with but the nutty priests and nuns..yeah that was something else. There are so many movies for this theme and yes, I have seen From Hell which is excellent

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  5. I saw Catch Me If You Can and did enjoy it. Horrors with what Spotlight is about. I had heard its name, but didn't know what it was about. It is such a scandal with the whole priest thing. I'm glad I left the church years ago.

    betty

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    1. I think, there are good priests out there for sure but there were and are many that used the priesthood to disguise their disgusting ways and get away with it.

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  6. Hi Birgit - I haven't seen the Boston Strangler ... though I should. The other two are very good movies ... particularly Spotlight - which I really enjoyed. Great choices - cheers Hilary

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    1. Yeah! You’ve seen a couple of the movies I chose!

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  7. I’m so glad to see Catch Me If You Can as it’s such an underrated film as well as my favorite Spielberg movie.

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    1. Glad you liked it so and you gave a great review of it

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  8. Modern films? What's happened to you? ;)

    There really are a lot of true crime movies to pick from, aren't there? And TV shows.

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    1. I know, I took some wonky pills..hahahaaa. There are so many I could have chosen but these are the ones that popped into my head plus a few others.

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  9. I've seen all of your picks and they are good ones. I was particularly impressed with Spotlight as it was so fast-paced with good dialogue. I had read Frank Abagnale's story back around 1981 I think and loved the book. It was so cool that they finally made a movie about it as it's such a fascinating story.

    I thought In Cold Blood was particularly well done with its creepy reality. Also, some of the great gangster films like Bonnie and Clyde. I'm

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Glad you saw all of them and liked Spotlight. I still have not seen In Cold Blood but I have seen Bonnie and Clyde and I almost chose it along with M and Baby Face Nelson

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  10. Good picks. Would The Untouchables be considered true crime?

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  11. Wow, the stuff going on in your high school days sounds as interesting as some of these films!

    I saw The Boston Strangler once, when it first came out, and remember my friend Kevin reacting to a scene in a gay bar by saying "They have places like that in Boston?" That movie hit home -- literally -- because I live in Massachusetts, fifty miles from Boston.

    Never saw Spotlight before, but I'm taking it home from the library today!

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    1. Yes, this came out after I left that high school but the one student wanting to run guns to the contras was going on along with all the drugs which I had no clue until a sting happened. The one teacher coming on to me occurred along with another priest loving all the girl students sitting on his lap. I hope you like the movie because it’s a good one

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    2. Excellent flick! But I had to laugh at a scene featuring only Michael Keaton, John Slattery, and Mark Ruffalo... because in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they play the Vulture (Spider-Man villain), Howard Stark (Tony's dad), and Bruce Banner (the Hulk) respectively! And sleazy lawyer MacLeish was played by Billy Crudup, Dr. Manhattan in DC's Watchmen!

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  12. The only one on my have seen list is Catch Me If You Can. That was a good film. I read a book about the Boston Strangler though, mostly because I had heard the name and didn't know anything about it. Happy almost weekend! Hugs-Erika

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    1. That movie was good eh? The Boston Strangler was very famous as one of the first, in North America, to get a lot of coverage as a serial killer.

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  13. Three excellent choices. Boston Strangler was so much grittier than I expected. Very well done but I've only watched it from start to finish the one time. Spotlight on its own is an excellent film but it reminds me so much of All the President's Men which is a nearly perfect movie so it suffers in comparison. Catch Me if You Can is so fun and yet has serious underpinnings. Both Tom Hanks and DiCaprio are perfect in their roles.

    So many films to choose from but I managed to winnow down to three.

    Anatomy of a Murder (1959)-Complex, provocative and at the time of its release scandalous story of on Army Lieutenant (Ben Gazzara) accused of the murder of a man he claims raped his loose moraled wife (Lee Remick). He’s defended by a laconic but wily lawyer (James Stewart) who goes up against an equally canny prosecutor (George C. Scott). Excellent Otto Preminger courtroom drama with a top flight cast that also includes Eve Arden and Arthur O’Connell is based on a novel whose source was an actual murder case.

    Heavenly Creatures (1994)-When wealthy teenager Juliet (Kate Winslet) transfers from England to Christchurch, New Zealand, with her family, she meets and quickly bonds with quiet, brooding Pauline (Melanie Lynskey) through their shared love of singing screen star Mario Lanza and games of make believe. At first all is well but when their parents begin to suspect that their increasingly intense friendship is becoming something more the girls decide to run away to America. As the girls fears focus on anyone who might tear them apart they take extreme measures to remove anything or anyone they see as obstacles. Based on a notorious New Zealand murder case this brilliantly acted and chilling drama was the first major critical success for director Peter Jackson.

    Zodiac (2007)-In the late 1960s and 1970s, San Francisco is gripped by fear as its residents are plagued by a serial killer who calls himself Zodiac. Investigators (Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards) and reporters (Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr.) become obsessed with learning the killer's identity and bringing him to justice. Meanwhile, Zodiac claims victim after victim and taunts the authorities with cryptic messages, cyphers and menacing phone calls. Unsettling David Finchner film has its share of good points but deals with an ugly, ghoulish story.

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    1. It was very gritty and compelling. I have yet to see All The President's men but I know of it and am not surprised it draws strong comparisons. Zodiac is the popular choice this week and one I almost went with. It is so sad as all these types of cases are. Heavenly creatures is excellent and I would love to see it again. You know, I love James Stewart and I have this movie on DVD but I still haven't seen it! I know, sad.

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  14. I've only seen Catch Me If You Can, and I met Frank Abignale when he gave a talk about security and staying safe in the computer age last autumn in Wichita. I wanted to see Spotlight, but didn't make it before it was gone.

    Some other people have offered films I have seen, like In Cold Blood. If you live in KS, you are required to watch it (grin). Of course, I saw it on TV and NOT in a movie theater.

    I love true crime, too. I could watch Lt. Kenda, Homicide Hunter all day long.

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  15. Ooooh, Catch Me If You Can, such a good one!

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  16. I will make a note not to attened the same cathloic school. Good picks. Catch me if You can is such breezy fun.

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  17. Some good ones indeed. Catch me if you can was a fun one. Zodiac and The Untouchables come to mind.

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  18. BIRGIT ~
    I haven't seen any of your picks, although I've read a couple books about the topic of the third movie on your list.

    Off the top of my head, I couldn't even think of any True Crime movies I've seen, with the exception of a made-for-TV movie starring Steve Railsback and based on Charles Manson and the book 'Helter Skelter'. That was a good one.

    But Lee mentioned 'In Cold Blood' and, yes, I've seen that a couple times.

    I guess I'm more inclined to read books about True Crime than I am to watch movies based on it.

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

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    1. Railsback was spooky as hell in Helter Skelter! I swear, the man's eyes would follow you around the room from inside your TV screen.

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  19. I enjoy true crime, just recently watched The Kidnapping of Madeleine McCann on Netflix. They did it as a series with a lot of episodes to go in depth. I've seen Catch Me if You Can. It's actually a light rather funny film, not typical for the genre.

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  20. I really liked Christopher Walken in Catch Me If You Can. Not a bad movie, indeed.

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  21. Oh my goodness, Birgit. I'm so sorry that people like that were working at your school. One of the things I loath the most are folks who pretend to be pious and pure and do horrific, hurtful things to others.

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  22. Had to laugh at the comment you left on my T Tuesday post. Your mind was NOT in the gutter. The restaurant is known for its busty scantily clad female servers.

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  23. Hi Birgit...just back from 5 nights away and doing my catch up...love true crime ..there is so much to choose from especially liked catch me if you can,,,,so now to get caught up on the washing xxx

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  24. Birgit,

    'Catch Me If You Can' is an excellent movie. The other two I don't know and I seriously doubt the last one is a film I'd be interested in watching. I hate to see anything that shows children in such horrible situations as this recreation. Thanks for the share and have a funtastic week!

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  25. I remember the Boston Strangler murders. Scary stuff.

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  26. Hey Birget,
    Some good movies tonight. One think I wish you would do is get a Follow by Email Widget. I am a lot better a commenting when I'm reminded that someone has posted.
    Rick

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  27. I didn't see the movie but I think the Catch Me If You Can story is fascinating:) A little scary, but fascinating:)

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  28. Ugh. You'd mentioned that priest. What a sick man. Sounds like an interesting, relevant movie. And Catch Me if You Can sounds fun.
    Great picks, Birgit.

    Be well, sweet lady.

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  29. I've seen your last two.
    Catch Me if You Can is fine, I just find it tries too hard to dazzle us with main character's cons.
    I like Spotlight. The whole investigative journalism thing was very interesting.

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    ReplyDelete