Angels with Dirty Faces, 1938

Directed by Michael Curtiz
Written by John Wexley and Warren Duff
Starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, the Bowery Boys

This is a good (not great) gangster movie. I'm told it's a kind of response to The Public Enemy, which is evident from its moral/social pointedness and Pat O'Brien's tough and completely morally upright priest. That being said, it's a good story, and there are lots of good performances (and interesting to see Humphrey Bogart's supporting role as not what you think of from Casablanca or the detective movies). Cagney's a pleasure, of course. And, even if the ending comes off as a little contrived, it's still pretty interesting.

Angels with Dirty Faces at IMDB.

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The Big Lebowski, 1998

Directed by Joel Coen
Written by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore

There's little I can add to the volumes that have been written about this movie. I really enjoy it. There's something so loopy about it, and it has the random quality that is in so many Coen brothers movies, but it all hangs together. For what it's worth, my second-favorite scene (these days) is the discussion with Donny, Walter, and the Dude in which Walter utters the famous "at least it's an ethos" line; my all-time favorite scene, and this has been the case for quite some time, is the first scene between the Dude and Maude, during which she shows him the clip from Logjammin' ("he fixes the cable?"). I heard that Julianne Moore chose an accent for Maude that would be from no distinct location but indicative of wealth; I hope that's so, because that's exactly what she does ("this compulsive fornicator is taking my father for the proverbial r-r-ride"). It's absolutely in The Pantheon.

"Oh, I know that guy. He's a nihilist."

The places to hear from me:
Food - josh lubarr food stuff
Geekiness - geekiness(josh lubarr)
Movies - Old Movies and New with Josh Lubarr
Politics - Progressive Politics (per Josh Lubarr)
Silliness and comedy - Le Repository du Silliness, avec Josh Lubarr
Favorite movies - The Pantheon
Me generally - Josh Lubarr's web site extraordinaire
Also also - Josh's Part of lubarr.com