UKC

I need some suggestions for some GREAT crime thrillers, whodonits, court room investigative dramas.

Epic on the scale of JFK or all absorbing like Zodiac

whats rated by the UKC collective?

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:


Zodiac was kind of epic! It spanned a 14 year timescale (regardless of what the lack of Jake Gyllenhaal's ageing might have otherwise indicated!)

I'm not up on mysteries/thrillers where the audience is kept guessing, but there are some GREAT court films

Anatomy of a Murder (classic courtroom drama)
Primal Fear (slightly glossy and ludicrous but very watchable, three great performances)
Inherit the Wind (another classic courtroom drama though not exactly a whodunnit)
Judgement at Nuremberg (same director and lead actor as Inherit the Wind but on a much bigger canvas and with a bigger theme...again not a whodunnit)


Ooh I just remembered a GREAT little thriller from the 80s. Black Widow starring Debra Winger and Theresa Russell.

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

you seen identity?not a massively brilliant film but a good idea

In reply to Blue Straggler:

seen last two but will chck out 1st two thanks, james stewart one looks good

In reply to beastofackworth:

will be on thta too it looks good and missus likes cusack for some reason

In reply to Daithi O Murachu: i dont know if its under the same "crime thriller" tag as yours but heat is a great crime film,and so is ronin.

In reply to beastofackworth:

it looks good

what about this i uncovered anyone seen it

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054452/
The Truth

looks good too

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

I listed 5...which one have you overlooked...and why can't you watch a good thriller twice? Try some Mamet. House of Games, The Spanish Prisoner, Spartan

In reply to Blue Straggler:

i should have said i seen black widow,

id not chose directly to watch a film twice, such as rent it , go to cinema again ( with exception of silence of he lambs went on 2 consecutive nights to that), or download it.

indirectly id choose to watch a showing on tv say

In reply to Daithi O Murachu: To Live And Die in LA. And a neat little b movie, SWITCHBACK

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:
I would suggest "The Killer Inside Me" of modern films, written by Jim Thompson, which leads me on to "The Grifters" , also a Thompson story and featuring your mate's mate Cusack, which leads me into my favourite sub- genre, the "con" film.
Of these, I would recommend the previously mentioned "House of Games" and
" Confidence". I am currently trying to watch "The Brothers Bloom" but the fact that I could put it on hold after 20 minutes suggests that it is not in the same league as these others.
If you want courtroom, you can't beat 12 Angry Men. People have tried since, and failed.

In reply to Tom Valentine: saw the killer inside me at the cinema-one of the worst film ive ever seen.if it hadnt been for jessica alba getting towelled all over i would surely have left the cinema

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Wow, I thought Confidence was pretty dreadful! And I was HUGELY disappointed with The Grifters after missing it on original release and finally getting round to it after about 15 years of build-up. It felt like Mamet minus the structure and dialogue, and the notion that Anjelica Huston, weirdly dolled up to look like a 60-year-old hag, was "sexy", was ludicrous...mind you, watching Annette Bening clearly being told to act like Melanie Griffith, was also a turn-off. Still, to each his own.

I think 12 Angry Men has been beaten as a courtroom drama, it is good but not without flaws. Major flaws that bring it down.

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

Brick. But you have to be alert and listen to every line of dialogue.

The Killers (the Robert Siodmak version AND the Don Siegel one. Not to be confused with last year's "Killers")

Red Rock West (and possibly Kill Me Again but I have not seen that in 20 years)

For ludicrous B-movie fun, "Under Suspicion" starring Liam Neeson and Tom Bell. For glossy B-movie downer, the unrelated "Under Suspicion" starring Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman.

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

Kiss of Death (late 50s film noir)

various Hitchcocks, North by Northwest being an obvious one though I think The 39 Steps and Foreign Correspondent were more involving.

lesser-known Hammer effort (a knock-off of Psycho, but arguably better) - Scream of Fear.

In reply to Blue Straggler: i thought confidence was good

you seen no country for old men?

In reply to beastofackworth: don't you bloody start!

In reply to Daithi O Murachu: Seven Days in May. Seven Days to Noon. The Manchurian Candidate. Black Sunday.

In reply to Daithi O Murachu: you'd love Wild Things

In reply to Blue Straggler:
If we're doing John Dahl I'll go for "The Last Seduction".
As to your comments about Ms Huston, by my reckoning she was in her late thirties in "The Grifters". If you think she looked like a 60 year old hag there must be some classy looking pensioners round your end.

In reply to Tom Valentine: The Last Seduction is a better film then Red Rock West but it isn't really a thriller or whodunnit..bBridget and the audience are generally one step ahead of everyone else. Huston looked good in 1990 in general but not in The Griftersl

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

I can't believe nobody has mentioned "Chinatown"!

In reply to Tom Valentine:
>


HUston in 1989 http://content8.flixster.com/photo/11/92/95/11929506_gal.jpg

Huston in The Grifters in 1990
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WsE6M_RjBIY/TLKr80vIxqI/AAAAAAAAcX4/8FKDK1vOAd4/s...

Huston in The Addams Family in 1991
http://img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/66/41/14/18931838.jpg

That hair and make up job they did on her in The Grifters just didn't work as "con artist who uses her sexiness to scam people" and as someone who everyone thought was far too young to be John Cusack's mother. I thought she looked like his young granny

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

Miller's Crossing.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Where did you get that quote from? Someone hasn't been paying attention. Her job was not to use sex but to alter the odds at racetracks by putting big amounts of money on targeted horses, so Bobo and his mates could make a killing.

As to her looking like Cusack's grandmother - tell you what, you grab Dennis Quaid and I'll grab a granny.

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

Not sure if it's a crime thriller or not... A mystery / whodonit thriller, maybe.

Bad Day At Black Rock
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047849/

And
In the Heat of the Night - Sydney Poitier
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061811/

||-)

check out a film called "Primer" .. its not a crime film, but it'll keep you guessing and you'll probably still be figuring out the plot a few days later..

In reply to rustaldo:

I'm still trying to figure it out 3 years later!

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

Tenebrae
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

In reply to Daithi O Murachu: Tell No One, French Film, incredible. Originally a book by Harlan Coben, I believe

In reply to Levains_Alive:

yes seen it, exactly the type of film i enjoy most.

it was crackin

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:
LA Confidential - one of the best crime thrillers ever - great cast, excellent story & well made

In reply to Kelcat: It was on telly last night

In reply to Levains_Alive:
Outstanding film. An English/American remake is on the cards, I heard.

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

LA Confidential is cracking, got to watch that again some time. Also agree with Brick.

Not quite courtroom based but Leon and both French Connection films are good. Courage Under Fire is worth a watch if you spot it for £3 in Fopp, same goes with The General's Daughter, both military based investigations, not epically amazing though. Michael Clayton is a decent thriller/industrial spy type film.

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

Narc

In reply to MarkDH08:
Love LA Confidential... to me it is the perfect film... great cast, script and ending.

Turned Brick off after about 30 mins... Is it worth going back to?

E

In reply to Daithi O Murachu: have recently enjoyed watching "The Departed" (Di Caprio, Nicholson and Damon are the main stars but also quite a few Brit actors appear). Also "Mystic River" was good (apart from some of Sean Penn's slightly OTT emoting). Both quite violent and with unexpected turns.

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

Basil the Great Mouse Detective

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:


If you want to see an extremely realistic depiction of modern urban policing in an environment of racism and gang crime, then I recommend this: -

http://tinyurl.com/64z7g9c

(It's got a great soundtrack too).

In reply to Daithi O Murachu: How about State of Grace, Sean Penn, Ed Harris, Gary Oldman. Its a cracking crime film.

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

I liked the recent Channel 4 'Red Riding' films (on TV here but released at the Cinema in the states). Disturbing and dark but worth the effort.

Insomnia's a fine film. Not exactly a who-done-it but well worth a watch.

I really liked 'Brick' too, though it's more noir than thriller.

Chinatown or the Black Dahlia?

And not a film, but I got the BBC 6 part series 'State of Play', which is an investigative drama, which was 6 hours of utter brilliance.

In reply to SuperstarDJ:

i rewatched shutter island t'other evenin, and it just abouts fits the bill for thsi list.

but wow, im gona have some task ploughing through these suggestions, im still working through the german language film list and the "good people stories" film list from ages ago

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

My favourite film of all time, The Day of the Jackal.

Even though you know the ending the first time you see it, I can still watch it over and over again because of the sheer quality of the film.
No special effects, no music, no flashbacks, just simple brilliant storytelling.

In reply to Fredt:

I think there are special effects in The Day of the Jackal.
Do you think there is something wrong with flashbacks and music?

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Nothing wrong with them if the story needs it, I'm just saying that the direction, screenplay and acting and cinematography were so good, this film didn't need the special effects, music flashbacks etc.

In reply to Daithi O Murachu:

Just realised that no-one has mentioned "Ronin"; the best of all car chases (x2), plenty of plot twists, and the coolest man in cinema. (er, sorry Mr. Bean, i wasn't referring to you...)

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Yes they have. beastofackworth, 11 Feb

In reply to Tom Valentine:

I didn't mention it because despite those great car chases and some other shining moments, it's overall a bit of a misfire.