Movie Moxie Podcast 23: Oscar Noms, The Rite, The Mechanice plus Crime Films

This week Shannon the Movie Moxie chats up Oscar nominations, recent theatrical releases of The Rite and The Mechanic as well as looking at crime films as a film genre.

0:00 – 1:30 - Introduction
1:30 – 9:00 – News – Oscar Nominations
9:00 – 14:00 – The Rite Review
14:00 – 21:30 – The Mechanic Review
21:30 – 24:30 – Storytime
24:30 – 44:00 – Crime as a Genre
44:00 –47:20 – DVD releases
47:20 – 49:30 – Upcoming up Next Week
49:30 – 50:34 – Outro


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Show Notes

• Oscar nominations: Full List, detailed by film, simple film list
• Oscar nominated films reviewed: The King's Speech, True Grit, Inception, The Social Network, Black Swan, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Animal Kingdom, Blue Valentine, Country Strong, Hereafter, Incendies, Salt, The Wolfman, Tron: Legacy and Unstoppable
• My pick of the week: Discovering Hamlet
• DVD Releases of the week mentioned: Never Let Me Go, Monsters, Let Me In and 22 Bullets
• I mention the Book to Film Club where we recently read I Am Number Four

Crime Films As a Film Genre Notes

• Crime Films defined by Wikipedia
• Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.[1]
• Gangster/Mafia Films: The Godfather, Goodfellas, Japanese Yakuza films, Triad films
• South Korean Crime Films: Rough Cut / Yeong-hwa-neun yeong-hwa-da, Breathless / Ddongpari
• Directors: Quentin Tarantino, John Woo, Johnny To, Luc Besson
• Biopics: Mesrine, Carlos, Public Enemies
• Feels like a biopic: A Prophet
• Heist Films: Heat, all the Oceans films, The Good Thief, Bob le Flambeur, The Italian Job (both versions)
• Hit Men & Women: The Professional, Replacement Killers, La Femme Nikita
• People Who Fall Into Crime: Perrier's Bounty, The Pusher Trilogy
• Crime Comedies: Grosse Pointe Blank
• I mention the Filmspotting heist film marathon
• See list of all crime films reviewed
• Not Crime films: In general, cop films are not crime films as they do not follow the criminals but rather the discovery of them (mysteries), smash-'em-up-ness around them (action) or being unnerved and on edge of what will happen due to them (thriller).

Shannon's Favourite Crime Films:

• Recent Australian: Animal Kingdom, The Square, Cactus
• Recent British: Down Terrace, Harry Brown
• Plus: Enter the Void, Black, Espion(s) / Spy(ies)
• All-time favourites: The Professional , The Replacement Killers and Boy A
• Documentary: My Greatest Escape / Ne me liberez pas, je m'en charge

Recommendations from Others:

• Le Samorai, El Aura, Breathless, Fargo, Goodfellas, Badlands, Shaft, Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), The Killer inside me (2010), To Live and Die in L.A., White Heat, Hard-Boiled, The French Connection, Bullitt, Key Largo, True Romance, Cotton Club, Bonnie & Clyde, Bugsy, Heat, Get Carter, Gangster No. 1, Sexy Beast and Layer Cake.
• Thanks Kurt, Christian, Gala, Matthew and Leslie for the recommends!
• Have your say week to week by liking the Movie Moxie Facebook Page

IMDB Top 50 Crime Films (as of Feb 2, 2011)
1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2. The Godfather (1972)
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. Pulp Fiction (1994)
5. The Dark Knight (2008)
6. Goodfellas (1990)
7. City of God (2002)
8. Rear Window (1954)
9. The Usual Suspects (1995)
10. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
11. Se7en (1995)
12. Elite Squad 2 (2010)
13. Memento (2000)
14. Leon: The Professional (1994)
15. Double Indemnity (1944)
16. American History X (1998)
17. Paths of Glory (1957)
18. M (1931)
19. Vertigo (1958)
20. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
21. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
22. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
23. The Departed (2006)
24. Chinatown (1974)
25. Rashômon (1950)
26. L.A. Confidential (1997)
27. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
28. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
29. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
30. On the Waterfront (1954)
31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
32. The Green Mile (1999)
33. The Sting (1973)
34. Yôjinbô (1961)
35. Touch of Evil (1958)
36. Beware of the Car (1966)
37. Les diaboliques (1955)
38. Sin City (2005)
39. Die Hard (1988)
40. Strangers on a Train (1951)
41. Batman Begins (2005)
42. Le trou (1960)
43. Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960)
44. Fargo (1996)
45. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
46. Heat (1995)
47. No Country for Old Men (2007)
48. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
49. Dzhentlmeny udachi (1972)
50. The Big Sleep (1946)