His Dudeness' Recent Movie Watches

A League of Their Own (1992)

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Official Trailer: A League of Their Own (1992)

The Hollywood version of the AAGPBL (All-American Girls Professional Baseball League 1943-1954) which was started up when MLB players began being drafted to fight in WWII. This is a part of history many don’t know, or don’t remember. The cast can actually play the game, field, throw and hit unlike many other baseball movies starring men (Major League, I’m looking at you!). There is one racial snipe included where the black woman picks up an errant ball and throws it all the way home and stings the catcher's hand. It's just a reminder that there were no POC included with the new equal opportunity league. The women never had their Jackie Robinson. Nevertheless, it still gets a solid 8 out of 10.
 

House of Frankenstein (1944)

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House of Frankenstein (1944) Official Trailer #1 - John Carradine Movie

Universal brings back their Big Three horror icons for an all-star monster mash. This time Karloff keeps off the make-up and takes the role of the mad scientist as he resurrects Dracula (John Carradine), the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) and even the Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.). A solid 7 out of 10.
 

Groundhog Day (1993)

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Groundhog Day (1993) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

Bill Murray plays the role of a self-centered, egocentric prick who is a Weatherman for a local Pittsburgh TV affiliate assigned to cover Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day. Since this is Murray’s natural demeanor, he pulls off the role swimmingly. However, fate throws him a curveball and puts him into a perpetual time loop where he is forced to live the day over and over again. Only the brilliant writing and directing skills of Harold Ramis allows for a transformation of Murray’s character to that of an actual human being. It gets a 9 out of 10.
 
Romeo Must Die (2000)

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Romeo Must Die (2000) Official Trailer - Aaliyah, Jet Li Action Movie HD

A re-telling of the classic Romeo & Juliet storyline told in the modern-era of Oakland California. Two rival families face off to control the waterfront property of the port city for the potential incoming of an NFL expansion team (this was after the Oakland Raiders had left the town for the 2nd time). Jet Li stars as the new Romeo as he woos the black daughter of the rival organized crime boss. This was one of the first Hollywood movies to incorporate wire-work in their martial arts action scenes and the poor execution of it is rather apparent. Overall, the movie gets a 7 out of 10.
 
I loved this film.


John Simon of New York magazine considered the film to be Huston's best work since The African Queen, twenty-three years earlier.[12] Jay Cocks of Time magazine wrote, "John Huston has been wanting to make this movie for more than twenty years. It was worth the wait. A mellow, brassy, vigorous movie, rich in adventure and melancholy, The Man Who Would Be King represents the best work Huston has done in a decade.

Like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1947), The Man Who Would Be King is also a meditation on the excesses of ambition and avarice."[17] Vincent Canby of The New York Times felt the film "manages to be great fun in itself while being most faithful to Kipling, whose story, written in the 1890's, is a kind of raffish metaphor for the British colonial experience that did not end for another half century."[18]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four complete stars, writing the film is a "swashbuckling adventure, pure and simple, and in the hands of a master. It's been a long time since there's been an escapist entertainment quite this unabashed and thrilling and fun ...We get strong characterizations, we get excitement and, best of all, we get to laugh every once in a while.

"[19] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune, who also gave the film four complete stars, praised the film as "a genuinely witty and literate adventure story ...that should appeal to the whole family. Kids over the age of 10 will enjoy being transported into another world of casbahs and camels; adults will be hooked by the witty dialog, much of it taken from its source, a Rudyard Kipling story."[20] A review in Variety was critical of the film mostly because of Caine's performance, stating "Whether it was the intention of the director-adapter John Huston or not, the tale of action and adventure became a too-broad comedy, mostly due to the poor performance of Michael Caine".[21]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 97% based on 31 reviews, with an average score of 8.5/10.[22] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, calculated a score of 91 based on 15 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[23] In 2019, in a ranking of Caine's filmography, Andrew Pulver of The Guardian selected the film as Caine's best-ever role.[24] Both Connery and Caine have considered the movie their favorite of all they had worked on.[25][15]

Accolades[edit]​

 
You call yourself "His Dudeness" and yet so far not one movie that Jeff Bridges was in?

Jeff Bridges is my favorite actor. And before that, when I was kid, my favorite TV show was Sea Hunt with his dad Lloyd Bridges.

Here are two of my favorites from his pre-Dude days.


 
High Plains Drifter (1973)

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High Plains Drifter (1973) Original Trailer [FHD]

Clint Eastwood plays one of the hardest anti-heroes in film history, well before the moniker was created. A true Man-with-No-Name movie (the three credited in the actual series all had Clint’s character have a name but you really had to pay attention to catch them), he plays a drifter that comes to a mining town with the goal of a drink and a bath. After killing the three town bullies, he is given the opportunity to have anything he wants if only he will assume the role of town protector against the pending attack of a trio of released prisoners.

Punishment and revenge is the subject of this movie as we eventually learn the identity of the anti-hero and why he actually came to Lago. Easily one of Eastwood’s finest performances, this movie that could never be made today because of its controversial content, gets a 9 out of 10.
 
Kiss of the Spider Woman


86%Tomatometer36 Reviews
FRESH AUDIENCE SCORE.
81%Audience Score5,000+ Ratings
In a prison cell somewhere in Latin America, two very different men warily confront each other. Molina (William Hurt) is first seen wrapping his head in a towel, in the shape of a turban, while Valentin (Raul Julia), bearded and classically macho in appearance, watches with a mixture of fascination and revulsion. During the time spent together, the two men come to understand and respect each other.
 
Scenes of the Crime (2001)

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Scenes of the Crime (2001) - IMDb - Trailer

Jeff Bridges plays a Mob Boss taken hostage for ransom which leaps off the rails almost immediately. With the brains behind the operation (Peter Greene) killed, now the driver (Jon Abrahams) - who has a Steve McQueen obsession - is forced to adapt on the fly while two crime families fight over an unpaid debt. Noah Wyle (E.R., The Librarian) plays Bridges’ personal bodyguard and shows a dimension of his acting ability not seen before. This “based on true events” story bombed at the box office but is definitely worth your time. An excellent edge of your seat drama with a few twists and turns built in. A solid 7 out of 10.
 
Kiss of the Spider Woman


86%Tomatometer36 Reviews
FRESH AUDIENCE SCORE.
81%Audience Score5,000+ Ratings
In a prison cell somewhere in Latin America, two very different men warily confront each other. Molina (William Hurt) is first seen wrapping his head in a towel, in the shape of a turban, while Valentin (Raul Julia), bearded and classically macho in appearance, watches with a mixture of fascination and revulsion. During the time spent together, the two men come to understand and respect each other.
That was good. Weird but good. I became a Raol Julia fan after that film.
 
Sophies Choice


Stingo (Peter MacNicol), a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie (Meryl Streep) and her lover Nathan (Kevin Kline), he learns that Sophie is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.

76%Tomatometer42 Reviews
FRESH AUDIENCE SCORE.
85%Audience Score10,000+ Ratings
 
Avenging Angelo (2002)

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AVENGING ANGELO - Trailer Originale

Stallone plays a mafia bodyguard charged with protecting the mob boss’s daughter from assassination in retaliation for murders that the boss sanctioned. Stallone seems hamstrung and never really develops the character and Stowe plays a woman who goes from innocent bystander to Mafioso hard-case just too easily. This could have been much, much more with a different director (who never worked with Stallone again) or if Stallone had been given the reigns with the writing, production or direction. This only gets 6 out of 10 stars.
 

A case of mistaken identity lands Slevin into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses. Under constant surveillance by Detective Brikowski and assassin Goodkat, he must get them before they get him.

I don't usually like violent or revenge movies, but for some reason this one I love.
 
Batman Returns (1992)

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Batman Returns: Trailer

The 2nd movie in original Batman movie franchise. Tim Burton and Michael Keaton reunite again to bring the Dark Knight back to the silver screen. This time the Caped Crusader is double teamed by the Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). Both characters leave much on the table and are in no was as good of a recreation as Jack’s Joker. Christopher Walken brings more cowbell to the flick by playing the role of the evil corporate CEO who likes to manipulate things behind the scenes. A step down from the original, Batman Returns only gets 7 out of 10.
 
Scenes of the Crime (2001)

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Scenes of the Crime (2001) - IMDb - Trailer

Jeff Bridges plays a Mob Boss taken hostage for ransom which leaps off the rails almost immediately. With the brains behind the operation (Peter Greene) killed, now the driver (Jon Abrahams) - who has a Steve McQueen obsession - is forced to adapt on the fly while two crime families fight over an unpaid debt. Noah Wyle (E.R., The Librarian) plays Bridges’ personal bodyguard and shows a dimension of his acting ability not seen before. This “based on true events” story bombed at the box office but is definitely worth your time. An excellent edge of your seat drama with a few twists and turns built in. A solid 7 out of 10.
Is that Jeff Bridges with a John Gotti hair do?
 
Arlington Road


Widowed when his FBI agent wife is killed by an extremist group, college professor Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) becomes obsessed with the culture of these groups -- especially when his new all-American neighbors, Oliver (Tim Robbins) and Cheryl Lang (Joan Cusack), start acting suspiciously. With each twist, the mystery deepens and questions loom as to whether Faraday is consumed by fear and driven by paranoia, or whether a lethal conspiracy has been born on Arlington Road.

63%Tomatometer92 Reviews
FRESH AUDIENCE SCORE.
74%Audience Score25,000+ Ratings
 
The Abyss (1989)

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The Abyss | Remastered 4K In Theaters | Official Trailer

An American nuclear sub goes down in the Atlantic under unknown circumstances. A civilian deep sea platform is recruited by the government to assist a SEAL team in the rescue/recovery of the crew and top secret assets aboard the boat. Unknown to everyone, visitors have taken up residence in a 3-mile deep abyss in the region. The underwater crew fights the elements and human hostility in an attempt to survive, only to come face to face with beings capable of wiping all of humanity off of the face of the planet.

Cameron overcomes all of the scientific difficulties and conflicts in the story by following the lead of writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs by simply waving them away and crediting the resolutions to “they must have done something.” A solid 8 out of 10, especially if you view the Special Edition.
 
Red Sun (1971)

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red sun trailer

In this rather unique Western, East meets West as cinematic legends Charles Bronson and Toshirō Mifune team up to hunt down Bronson’s backstabbing partner (Alain Delon) who has stolen a precious sword given by the Emperor of Japan to the United States as a sign of friendship between the two countries. Ursula Andress provides the eyecandy as a woman torn between two lovers. The movie drags somewhat, but still gets a 7 out of 10.
 


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