Posts Tagged ‘blackmail’

Out of the Past (1947)

Friday, December 19th, 2008
Genres: Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller
Countries: USA
Actors: Robert Mitchum | Jane Greer | Kirk Douglas | Rhonda Fleming | Richard Webb | Steve Brodie | Virginia Huston | Paul Valentine | Dickie Moore | Ken Niles | Brooks Benedict | Oliver Blake | Eumenio Blanco | Wesley Bly | Hubert Brill
Directors: Jacques Tourneur
Download: DivX iPod 

For the last three years, Jeff Bailey has been laying low and trying to live a normal life. He’s been running his own gas station but prior to that, had been a pretty good private detective. His last job had been for a gangster, Whit Sterling, who him to find Kathy Moffat, who just happens to have shot him, and recover the $40,000 she stole. Jeff found her in Mexico but fell in love with her. She eventually ran out on him and he decided it might be better if he found a new line of work. When one of Sterling’s henchmen happens to see him pumping gas, he’s summoned to the gangster’s Lake Tahoe estate. Sterling’s offer is quite simple: recover some incriminating tax files and all will be forgotten. Jeff soon realizes however that he’s being set up and framed for murder.

Citizen Kane (1941)

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Genres: Drama | Mystery
Countries: USA
Actors: Joseph Cotten | Dorothy Comingore | Agnes Moorehead | Ruth Warrick | Ray Collins | Erskine Sanford | Everett Sloane | William Alland | Paul Stewart | George Coulouris | Fortunio Bonanova | Gus Schilling | Philip Van Zandt | Georgia Backus | Harry Shannon
Directors: Orson Welles
Download: DivX iPod 

Considered by many to be the best film ever made, this is the story of Charles Foster Kane. The film opens with a long shot of Xanadu - the private estate of one of the world’s richest men. In the middle of the estate is a castle. We see, inside the castle, a dying man examining a winter scene within a crystal ball. As he drops it, it smashes, and one word is heard - “Rosebud…” What follows are pieces of newsreel-like footage detailing how Kane amassed his fortune, and turning around full circle at the end.

The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Genres: Action | Adventure
Countries: UK | USA
Actors: Sean Connery | Michael Caine | Christopher Plummer | Saeed Jaffrey | Doghmi Larbi | Jack May | Karroom Ben Bouih | Mohammad Shamsi | Albert Moses | Paul Antrim | Graham Acres | The Blue Dancers of Goulamine | Shakira Caine | Gurmuks Singh | Kimat Singh
Directors: John Huston
Download: DivX iPod 

” The Man Who Would Be King” is about two ambitious ex-soldiers stationed in India who set out to become the rulers of an entire country. After finishing their tour of duty in India, Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan have decided that India is “too small for the likes of them,” so they decide to bribe a local ruler and extort money from him, in order to buy twenty Martini rifles, which they will use to take over villages in Kafristan. They face many challenges and perils along the way, including difficult terrain, hostile natives, freezing temperatures, and an avalanche high in the mountains. They eventually come to a small village, Urheb, where they meet Ootah and Billy Fish, an Indian who speaks English; he then becomes their translator. They then train the natives of this village to use the rifles, and soon conquer village after village. During a battle, Daniel is struck by an arrow that seemingly sticks out of his chest. The ignorant natives believe that he must be a God for not having died, and fall down and begin worshiping him. Daniel and Peachy decide that it would be easier for a “God ” to take over the country, so they pretend that Daniel is a god, the son of Alexander the Great who has returned after 2200 years to again rule Kafristan. The entire country celebrated the return of their new ruler, the Son of Segunda (”Alexander”). As a token of their admiration, the holiest of holy men gives Daniel all of the gold and riches left by Alexander in 328 B.C. It is enough to make them the richest men in the world . . . All goes well until Daniel’s ego and greed gets the best of him. He asks Peachy to bow when he walks in front of him. He later tells Peachy that he has decided to stay, and now believes that he is the son of Alexander ( ‘in spirit, anyways”), and that to fulfill his destiny, he will marry Roxanne, like his “father” Alexander did before him. The Kafiri’s believe that a mortal cannot marry a God, but Daniel goes ahead anyway. Peachy was set to leave with his share of the treasure, but Daniel convinced him to stay ” for old time’s sake” for the wedding. At the ceremony, Roxanne, believing that she would soon die, bites Daniel, drawing blood. The entire crowd realizes that since Danny is bleeding, that he is a man, not a God, and that he has been deceiving them the entire time. Peachy grabs Daniel and they run off with their twenty soldiers, shooting at the crowd of monks who set out to kill them. They are eventually captured, and Daniel is forced to walk out on a rope bridge. The monks cut the ropes, and Daniel bravely falls to his death. Peachy is later crucified; when they come to see him the next day, he is still alive, and they say that it is a miracle that he lived and they cut him down. He eventually climbs down into the valley and retrieves Danny’s head, still wearing the crown. He brings it back to Rudyard Kipling, a writer for the Northern Star, as proof that Daniel accomplished his goal, and became the King of Kafristan. Themes developed in the story: 1. ambition 2. friendship 3. taking risks 4. perseverance (not giving up) 5. power 6. honor and dignity

The Ref (1994)

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Genres: Comedy | Crime | Drama
Countries: USA
Actors: Denis Leary | Judy Davis | Kevin Spacey | Robert J. Steinmiller Jr. | Glynis Johns | Raymond J. Barry | Richard Bright | Christine Baranski | Adam LeFevre | Phillip Nicoll | Ellie Raab | Bill Raymond | John Scurti | Jim Turner | Herbie Ade
Directors: Ted Demme
Download: DivX iPod 

Denis Leary plays an unfortunate cat burglar, who is abandonded by his partner in the middle of a heist, and is forced to take an irritating Connecticut couple (Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis) hostage. He soon finds that he took more than he bargained for when the couple’s blackmailing son and despicable in-laws step into the picture. Before long they’re driving him nuts with their petty bickering and family problems. The only way for him to survive is to be their referee and resolve their differences, before he can be nabbed by the police.

Meet Wally Sparks (1997)

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
Genres: Comedy
Countries: USA
Actors: Rodney Dangerfield | Debi Mazar | David Ogden Stiers | Burt Reynolds | Rita McKenzie | Lisa Thornhill | Mark L. Taylor | Cindy Williams | Gilbert Gottfried | Tony Danza | Karen Duffy | Eamonn Roche | Sir Mix a Lot | Michael Weatherly | Glenn Walker Harris Jr.
Directors: Peter Baldwin
Download: DivX iPod 

Wally Sparks is a tabloid TV show reporter who’s trying to boost ratings on his show. He goes to the governor’s mansion to uncover a sex scandal.

Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)

Monday, November 10th, 2008
Genres: Comedy | Thriller
Countries: USA
Actors: Helen Mirren | Katie Holmes | Jeffrey Tambor | Barry Watson | Marisa Coughlan | Liz Stauber | Michael McKean | Molly Ringwald | Vivica A. Fox | John Patrick White | Robert Gant | Marissa Jaret Winokur | Cameron Glenar | Alan Heitz | Brian Klugman
Directors: Kevin Williamson
Download: DivX iPod 

Leigh Ann Watson is a teenage student at Grandsboro High. An “A” in history would make her valedictorian and get her a scholarship to Harvard. When she turns in her history project, a 365 day diary of a girl accused in the Salem witch trials, a 6 month effort, she receives a “C” from history teacher Mrs. Tingle, the meanest teacher at Grandsboro High. This gives an opportunity for Marybeth Carter, a rival student, to achieve an “A” and become valedictorian. As Leigh Ann tries to catch up doing extra credit by setting up graduation seating with her best friend, Jo Lynn, history class failure Luke Churner, enters with Mrs. Tingle’s final exam cheat sheet. Leigh Ann is caught with it and Mrs. Tingle threatens to tell the Principal about it. The result would have been expulsion, so the trio of teenagers attempt to regain Leigh Ann’s innocence by reasoning with Mrs. Tingle. When their attempt fails, they attack Mrs. Tingle and tie her to her bed. Is there a possible way to prove Leigh Ann innocent?

Broken Arrow (1996)

Sunday, October 26th, 2008
Genres: Action | Adventure | Thriller
Countries: USA
Actors: John Travolta | Christian Slater | Samantha Mathis | Delroy Lindo | Bob Gunton | Frank Whaley | Howie Long | Vondie Curtis-Hall | Jack Thompson | Vyto Ruginis | Ousaun Elam | Shaun Toub | Casey Biggs | Jeffrey J. Stephen | Joey Box
Directors: John Woo
Download:  

Major Deakins is a tough U.S. Air Force pilot who is assigned to a flight mission with ‘nice-guy’ Captain Hale. They are to fly the B3 Stealth Bomber on wargame maneuvers over Utah loaded with two live nuclear weapons. Deakins, having been continually passed over for promotion, sells out his country and arranges to use the thermonuclear warheads under his command to blackmail the U.S. government. The only thing standing in his way is his old buddy, Captain Hale….

Carlito’s Way (1993)

Saturday, October 11th, 2008
Genres: Crime | Drama | Thriller
Countries: USA
Actors: Al Pacino | Sean Penn | Penelope Ann Miller | John Leguizamo | Ingrid Rogers | Luis Guzmán | James Rebhorn | Joseph Siravo | Viggo Mortensen | Richard Foronjy | Jorge Porcel | Frank Minucci | Adrian Pasdar | John Ortiz | Ángel Salazar
Directors: Brian De Palma
Download:  

Carlito Brigante is released from jail after serving five years of a much longer stretch. He vows to go straight and to live life as a fine, upstanding citizen. He even rekindles a romance with his ex-lover. However, Carlito’s associates cannot seem to leave him in peace…his nephew involves him a pool-room gunfight, his lawyer asks him for “favours” which spiral out of control, and even an old friend (now a wheelchair bound paraplegic) tries to get him into trouble with the law. Carlito decides to make a run for Florida and the promise of a new life, but has one final dramatic escape to make from some hoods who believe (wrongly) that he was behind the murder of their boss.

The Body (2001)

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
Genres: Drama | Romance | Thriller
Countries: Germany | Israel | USA
Actors: Antonio Banderas | Olivia Williams | John Shrapnel | Derek Jacobi | Jason Flemyng | John Wood | Lillian Hurst | Makram Khoury | Vernon Dobtcheff | Ian McNeice | Muhamed Bakri | Yoav Dekelbaum | Sami Samir | Jordan Licht | Limor Goldstein
Directors: Jonas McCord
Download: DVD iPod 

An ancient skeleton has been discovered in Jerusalem in a rich man’s tomb. Colouration of the wrist and leg bones indicates the cause of death was crucifiction. other signs, include a gold coin bearing the marks of Pontius Pilate and faint markings around the skull, lead authorities to suspect that these could be the bones of Christ. Politicians, clerics, religious extremists and those using terror as a means to an end, find their beliefs and identities test while risking their lives to unearth the truth

007 Thunderball (1965)

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
Genres: Action | Adventure | Thriller
Countries: UK
Actors: Sean Connery | Adolfo Celi | Rik Van Nutter | Guy Doleman | Bernard Lee | Desmond Llewelyn | Roland Culver | Earl Cameron | Paul Stassino | Philip Locke | George Pravda | Michael Brennan | Leonard Sachs | Edward Underdown | Reginald Beckwith
Directors:
Download: DivX iPod 

When two colleagues of James Bond are murdered, James follows the widow of a double agent who has been killed - and a confrontation ensues. The double agent is part of SPECTRE, and the organization’s meeting in a secret lair in Paris regrets the agent’s passing as it deals with new criminal business. Emilio Largo, a ruthless and flamboyant one-eyed enforcer, has hatched a scheme against the North Atlantic Treaty powers that begins at a rehabilitation clinic near an RAF airbase. Scheduled to pilot an RAF Vulcan strategic bomber on a normal “fail-safe” flight is Francois Derval, who is having a passionate affair with the magnificently endowed beauty Fiona Volpe - an affair that SPECTRE exploits. Soon, the Vulcan and its warload of two nuclear bombs has been hijacked, the bombs seized by Largo, for use in SPECTRE’s most audacious extortion scheme yet. James Bond, however, finds a key clue in the sister of Francois Derval, Dominique “Domino” Derval, a beautiful young woman who is a passionate scuba-diver living in Nassau. When James investigates Domino, he comes into contact with a SPECTRE operation on the island, and he gets help from HMSS’ man in Nassau, Pinder, and in old CIA chum Felix Leiter. But when James and Felix find out what SPECTRE is up to, it may be to late to save a major US coastal city from nuclear annihilation.