MASB 07/16/2020What did you think of The Anderson Tapes? I think Sean Connery did his best acting in the 4 or 5 movies he did with Lumet.
Khushrenada 07/16/2020I'm mixed about it. I enjoy a heist film but The Anderson Tapes doesn't really satisfy that pleasure. It's more focused on making the point about the growth of surveillance and how a heist or crime like this almost can't be committed anymore because there's too many devices around to record what's going on in the world. So, watching the heist unfold sort of feels pointless. The first time through, you wonder if there is some twist coming that you aren't seeing but the twist comes more from the irony of what happens to all the evidence collected in regards to the crime.
And some of the technology used now looks so old-fashioned / obsolete. Yet, the point still stands. Nowadays, so many people have trained themselves to just click away at events and encounters with their phones in images and videos. The end result is that it has led to more people being arrested or charged because of this. I think back to the Vancouver Stanley Cup Riots. Police used camera footage from buildings and what was posted on social media to find some many of the people responsible for property damage and charge them. 10 years ago, it would have been way harder and way more people would have gotten away with what they did.
MASB I liked Connery's interactions with the psychologist at the beginning of the film. Feels like something you'd go through in that situation.
I think Lumet was ahead of his time in many ways on some of his films. The Anderson Tapes, Network, Dog Day Afternoon...
I would recommend watching The Offence, a movie made by Lumet and Connery just after The Anderson Tapes. Very different movie. Kind of a downer, so don't watch when you want a happy movie.
Khushrenada My other knock on the film was that I saw it maybe 10 years ago and last year I saw it playing on TCM. I couldn't remember anything about it so I started watching it again. Watching it, I knew I'd seen it and refreshed my memory about it. But I can't recall the psychologist scene you mention since I came in late to the picture. To its credit, you get hooked into and it is compelling but I do think it is something one can easily forget about after. I don't think it has much staying power. Compared to something like Dog Day Afternoon for a failed heist, it just doesn't seem to have anything in the story or the direction to make it rise up into something special or impactful.
When looking up Lumet films, I found this article made in 2011 about his movies:
https://www.indiewire.com/2012/04/the-films-of-sidney-lumet-a-retrospective-252714/I've been going through it and now there a whole bunch of other movies I want to see.
On the subject of Connery and Lumet, The Hill is the movie that has got me most interested in checking out so far.
And Deathtrap with Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine. That seems like something I need to check out also.
MASB The Hill may be Connery's best performance ever. Death Trap is a fun thriller of sorts.
Khushrenada You seem to be more up Lumet films than me. What all have you seen of his works. (Yeah, from the blurb about the film on that indiewire article, it seemed like it could be a great Connery role/performance which is why it rocketed to the top of other works I need to check out from Lumet.)
MASB I've also seen Family Business, the last Connery-Lumet pairing. He plays Dustin Hoffman's ex-con father. It's basically a family drama with some fun bits, dealing with how much of the family history they should embrace and what they should do to be themselves as well. Not as good as the other Connery movies, but good.
Like I said, I've seen The Offence where Connery plays a cop that has been affected by all he has seen on the job and where he lets that lead him. And I've seen one of Lumet's last movies, Strip Search. The issues it deals with is very much of its time and yet always applicable.
KhushrenadaGoing through the films Connery has starred in, I'd say my favorite non-Bond role would be the one he has in The Man Who Would Be King.
MASB That's a great one. Robin and Marian is another good movie. Plus there's Zardoz, the ultimate 70's Connery movie. :wink:
Robin and Marian also shows yet again, what a great actor Robert Shaw was. Even watching him shave is interesting. :p
KhushrenadaI gotta see Zardoz at some point. I remember seeing clips of it around 2000/2001 and it just looked so ridiculous and bizarre but have yet to ever seriously think about doing so.
MASB It has the NWR_James seal of approval!
Khushrenada Sorry but the James seal of approval doesn't carry much weight with me. Compared to his approval, the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality looks like the Michelin Star equivalent of gaming.
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game thread to remind me it is the first of a month again. While Nintendo has been doing a lot of Mario stuff already, it just seems right that a Nintendo forum should also be joining in celebrating the man in red. 
So, here's a chance to put on whatever Mario related avatar you choose, ugly or not, and give everyone's favorite go-karting hero a small salute. (Regular Birdo avatars do not count! 
)
