tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7286673910044050811.post5821085624107000579..comments2024-03-26T18:28:58.729-04:00Comments on Just a Cineast: Thursday Movie Picks #269: HostagesTed S. (Just a Cineast)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12394770582776749331noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7286673910044050811.post-29746215914248606982019-09-05T21:30:35.847-04:002019-09-05T21:30:35.847-04:00I'm 0 for 3 on your picks again, though I'...I'm 0 for 3 on your picks again, though I'm familiar with your last pick at least. <br /><br />Brittani Burnhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07975067259283007280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7286673910044050811.post-10313248701872767412019-09-05T18:51:50.434-04:002019-09-05T18:51:50.434-04:00Split Second was a great surprise. I went into it ...Split Second was a great surprise. I went into it not really expecting much but watched because of Alexis Smith but it turned out to be quite compact and crisp. <br /><br />I watched The Terrorists for Sean Connery expecting it to be actiony and entertaining but it bored me stiff.<br /><br />We match on Pelham!! LOVE that movie! It really captures a sense of time and place and never overplays its hand with needless violence or wasted side stories. <br /><br />There's so many films where hostages play a part it was rather easy to come up with three.<br /><br />Hostages (1943)-A large group of Czechoslovakians are held hostages by the Gestapo until the supposed killer of a Nazi officer-actually a suicide-is turned in. Among the group is the leader of the resistance movement (William Bendix), working undercover as an apparently ignorant washroom attendant in the nightclub where the victim was last seen alive. Meanwhile a group of resistance fighters, led by Maria (Katina Paxinou), try to contact Bendix to establish the time to blow up a German ammunition supply and devise a plan to rescue the prisoners. This was double Oscar winner Luise Rainer’s last film for 54 years.<br /><br />The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)-Four men Misters Blue, Green, Grey and Brown board a New York subway train and take the 18 passengers hostage demanding one million dollars in an hour’s time or they will start killing the hostages, one a minute until their demands are met. Under the direction of laconic but sharp transit cop Zach Garber (Walter Matthau) the city tries to meet the deadline and negotiate the lives of the hostages. Slam bang adventure with a cast full of familiar faces really captures the pulsing feel of New York City in the 70’s.<br /><br />Argo (2012)-1979 Tehran, militants storm the U.S. embassy taking 66 American hostages. During the siege six manage to slip away and find refuge with the Canadian ambassador. Knowing that it's just a matter of time before the refugees are found and likely executed, the U.S. government calls on extractor Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to rescue them. Mendez's plan is to pose as a Hollywood producer scouting locations in Iran and train the refugees to act as his "film" crew. Affleck does well in blending all the intricacies of the plot into a cohesive taut whole.joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.com