Chuck Norris has never really done it for me when it comes to action movies. No matter what his martial arts skills, he’s not the best actor, and consequently, he found himself stuck in lower-budget action films, much like The Delta Force. But with all of it’s trappings and tropes, the film has a really…
Tag: martin balsam
12 Angry Men (1957) – Sidney Lumet
Reginald Rose wrote the absolutely engaging and captivating script for Lumet’s 12 Angry Men from his own source material and received an Oscar nomination for it as well as a Best Picture nomination with his fellow producer Henry Fonda, both of whom deferred their salary to get the film made. The film was also nominated…
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) – Blake Edwards
Based on the novel by Truman Capote, and featuring music by Henry Mancini, this romantic classic stars Audrey Hepburn, and George Peppard. It is also the next stop on the Romantic and Melodrama chapter of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film. The film, as solid as it is, features Mickey Rooney’s racist and…
The Twilight Zone (1963) – The New Exhibit, and Of Late I Think of Cliffordville
Look, there’s the signpost up ahead, it’s time to enter The Twilight Zone as I continue my exploration of The Complete Series on blu-ray available now from Paramount Pictures. This week starts with The New Exhibit, which was written by Charles Beaumont and first aired on 4 April, 1963. The story follows Martin Lombard Senescu…
Cape Fear (1962) – J. Lee Thompson
The classic Robert Mitchum/Gregory Peck thriller is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Point Blank. I’m ashamed to admit I had never seen the original before now, I’d seen the remake with Nolte and De Niro, but not this one. So going in, I…
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) – Joseph Sargent
This entry on the 101 Action Movies list is based on the novel by John Godey and is hugely entertaining. The way everyone talks to each other is just so ‘New York.’ There is that irreverent tone to their voices, even when dealing with the film’s baddies, that made me laugh, smile and enjoy…
The Anderson Tapes (1971) – Sidney Lumet
Mr. Sean Connery appears on the 101 Action Movies list again, this time on the other side of the law, as the likable Duke Anderson, sans hairpiece, a safe-cracker, fresh from a ten-year stint in prison, who is about to dive back into the only world he’s known, only to find it’s changed in this film from…
The Mind Reels 