John Connor's Entertainment Log

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BAD BOYS 1983 Rick Rosenthal

2h 3m | Crime | Drama | Thriller
Writer: Richard Di Lello
Cast: Sean Penn, Reni Santoni, Jim Moody, Eric Gurry, Esai Morales, Ally Sheedy, Clancy Brown

First time viewing. Don't know how this has stayed off my radar all this time, good stuff! Sean Penn was a seriously intense young actor back then, impressive performance. Thanks to @Hey Fredrick, for listing it as an 1983 favorite.

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WINDWALKER 1980 Kieth Merrill

1h 48m | Adventure | Drama | Western | Fantasy
Writer: Ray Goldrup, Blaine Yorgason
Cast: Trevor Howard, Nick Ramus, James Remar, Serene Hedin





INTO THE NIGHT 1985 John Landis

1h 55m | Thriller | Action | Comedy | Drama | Crime | Romance
Writer: Ron Koslow
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dan Aykroyd, David Cronenberg, Jim Henson, David Bowie, Richard Farnsworth, Vera Miles


A lighthearted 'one crazy night' scenario, neo-noir comedy thriller.
Ed Okin (Goldblum) a guy who suffers from insomnia and marital problems meets Diana (Pfeiffer) a femme fatale damsel in distress model on the run.
Together they get into all kinds of crazy stuff and they even bump into evil henchman David Bowie. Enjoyable score; blues alternated with synth sounds, signature eighties cars, interior designs and color schemes. Eighties nostalgists will love this, 'west coast After Hours'.

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ARCHIVE 81' 2022 Rebecca Sonnenshine (Season 1)


It was aiight, supernatural fantasy/horror/mystery series, 8 episodes easy binge. Familiar ingredients from Stranger Things and Dark but not of the same caliber.




PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET 1953 Samuel Fuller

1h 20m | Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller
Writer: Dwight Taylor
Cast: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Murvyn Vye


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SILKWOOD 1983 Mike Nichols

2h 11m | Drama | Thriller
Writers: Nora Ephron, Alice Arlen
Cast: Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher, Craig T. Nelson, Fred Ward, Diana Scarwid, Ron Silver





DERSU UZALA 1975 Akira Kurosawa

2h 22m | Drama | Adventure
Writers: Akira Kurosawa, Vladimir Arsenyev, Yuri Nagibin
Cast: Yuriy Solomin, Maksim Munzuk, Mikhail Bychkov, Svetlana Danilchenko


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THE CAINE MUTINY 1954 Edward Dmytryk

2h 4m | Drama | War
Writers: Herman Wouk, Stanley Roberts
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, Robert Francis, May Wynn, Tom Tully, E.G. Marshall, Lee Marvin


Loved this naval-battle/courtroom drama, a must-see for fans of A Few Good Men and Crimson Tide.
The scenes with Bogart and José Ferrer make up for any flaws it might have.
Should have watched this sooner, shout-out mark_f and Flicker for listing this as a favorite.






THE LAST RUN 1971 Richard Fleischer

1h 35m | Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller
Writer: Alan Sharp
Cast: George C. Scott, Tony Musante, Trish Van Devere, Colleen Dewhurst

A retired Chicago mob getaway driver takes on one last job before retiring permanently to a peaceful life in a rural southern Portugal fishing village..

Beautiful shooting locations in France, Spain and Portugal with good cinematography by Sven Nykvist.

John Huston was supposed to direct, but was replaced after a series of confrontations with Richard Fleischer. The cast includes Scott's then-wife, Colleen Dewhurst, alongside his wife-to-be, Trish Van Devere.

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OUTLAND 1981 Peter Hyams

1h 49m | Sci-Fi | Thriller | Western
Writer: Peter Hyams
Cast: Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen, James B. Sikking, Clarke Peters

Solid 'Space Western' hugely influenced by Alien and the classic Western High Noon. Many claim it takes place within the same cinematic universe as Alien but I didn't see any conclusive evidence for this claim.

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BOILING POINT 2021 Philip Barantini

1h 32m | Drama | Thriller
Writers: Philip Barantini, James Cummings
Cast: Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice May Feetham, Jason Flemyng, Hannah Walters, Malachi Kirby, Izuka Hoyle

Intense, realistic, single take with great dialogue and performances. Stephen Graham is steadily climbing on my all time best British actor list.

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NIGHTMARE ALLEY 2021 Guillermo del Toro

2h 30m | Crime | Thriller | Drama
Writers: Kim Morgan, William Lindsay Gresham
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen



NIGHTMARE ALLEY 1947 Edmund Goulding

1h 50m | Drama | Film-Noir
Writers: Jules Furthman, William Lindsay Gresham
Cast: Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, Helen Walker, Taylor Holmes, Mike Mazurki, Ian Keith, Roy Roberts


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GREAT EXPECTATIONS 1946 David Lean

1h 58m | Adventure | Drama | Mystery | Romance
Writer: Charles Dickens
Cast: John Mills, Tony Wager, Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons, Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Alec Guinness





A BETTER TOMORROW I & II 1986/87 John Woo (re-watch)

1h 35m/1h 45m | Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller
Writer: Hark Tsui
Cast: Ti Lung, Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, Guan Shan


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THE HEIRESS 1949 William Wyler

1h 55m | Drama | History | Romance
Writers: Henry James, Augustus Goetz, Ruth Goetz
Cast: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins


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GTA Online: The Contract


Both the gameplay and the soundtrack are great.

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Super Bowl LVI halftime show
Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, 50 cent


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SCREAM 2022 Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

1h 54m | Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Writer: James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick
Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid







WINTER’S BONE 2010 Debra Granik

1h 40m | Mystery | Thriller
Writers: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Kevin Breznahan, Dale Dickey


Well directed by Granik, the atmosphere is ominous, tense and creepy (think Ozark). Strengthened by a noteworthy performance by JLaw. This film easily makes my all time favorite Mystery/Thrillers list.

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MISSING 1982 Costa-Gavras

2h 2m | Biography | Drama | History | Mystery | Thriller
Writer: Thomas Hauser
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, John Shea, Melanie Mayron





WINDTALKERS 2002 John Woo (re-watch)

2h 14m | Action | War | Drama | History
Writers: John Rice, Joe Batteer
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, Christian Slater