you English intellectuals will be the death of us all

Yet more examples of me liking what others dislike, and vice versa. Given that my blog readers are rendered mute by my brilliance, I don't expect to see any recommendations here, either. I will keep watching whatever shows up on my radar!

The Jackal (1997) - "During an FBI raid on a Moscow nightclub, the brother of Russian gangster Terek Murad (David Hayman) is killed. Murad wants revenge and hires anonymous hit man the Jackal (Bruce Willis) to kill FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston (Sidney Poitier). With the help of Russian agent Valentina Koslova (Diane Venora), Preston finds the only man who knows what the notorious Jackal looks like, imprisoned IRA terrorist Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere), and forces him to help hunt down the hit man."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: Bruce Willis movies are sometimes very enjoyable, and I like this kind of international thriller
IMDB: 6.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 23% Audience: 52%
my IMDB: 9/10

notable quote: "They say Basques live by the vendetta. If they hate someone, it's to the death. It's the same when they love."

MPAA rating: R

directed by: Michael Caton-Jones

my notes: Richard Gere is outstanding. This is the best of his career (so far).

overall: recommended

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) - "Dr. Ben McKenna (James Stewart) is on vacation with his wife (Doris Day) and son in Morocco when a chance encounter with a stranger sets their trip, and their lives, on a drastically different course. The stranger, killed in front of the family in the marketplace, reveals an assassination plot to the Americans. The couple's son is abducted in order to ensure the plot is kept secret, and suddenly the mother and father, with no help from the police, must figure out a way to get their child back."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I like Doris Day
IMDB: 7.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 87% Audience: 84%
my IMDB: 7/10

AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Songs: "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" #48

notable quote: "I guess you're the kind of gal they don't forget."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Alfred Hitchcock 

my notes: previously reviewed here. I didn't love it as much the second time around, but it's a good one.

Academy Award winner: Best Music, Original Song—Jay Livingston, Ray Evans "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)" 
overall: recommended

Junior Bonner (1972) - "A week with Junior Bonner, a rodeo pro on the wrong side of 40, broke, bruised, and headed into Prescott, his home town, for the annual 4th of July Frontier Days. His dad, Ace, is a dissolute dreamer fixed on finding gold in Australia; his mom is resigned to Ace's roving; his brother Curly is tearing up the countryside to make a million in real estate. Junior just wants to stay on a bucking Brahma for eight seconds, hang out with Ace, find a way to spend time with a beautiful woman whose eyes catch his, and earn enough to get to next week's rodeo. As the old West and its code give way to progress, Junior is lonesome, laconic, and on the road - just where he wants to be."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: Steve McQueen films are worth seeing - if only to see whether they're worth a damn
IMDB: 6.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 92% Audience: 63%
my IMDB: 3/10

notable quote: "'As far as I'm concerned, you can go to hell or Australia, but not with me!' 

    'Well, they're both down under.'"

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Sam Peckinpah

my notes: dull, grumpy

overall: not recommended

U.S. Marshals (1998) - "When a prisoner transport plane crashes, one prisoner, Mark Sheridan, skillfully escapes and saves lives at the same time. Deputy Sam Gerard and his team of U.S. Marshals pursue relentlessly, but Gerard begins to suspect that there is more to the exceptional fugitive than what he has been told. Meanwhile, Sheridan struggles to avoid capture while seeking answers of his own. Until the final scene, both Gerard and Sheridan are in jeopardy of the unknown"
Source: satellite TV
I watched it because: I was out in the middle of nowhere, wind was howling, and I needed company
IMDB: 6.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 25% Audience: 53%
my IMDB: 6/10

notable quote: "You are really on my very last nerve. You are a mind-boggling pain in my ass."

MPAA rating: PG-13

directed by: Stuart Baird

my notes: nice and twisty, for a popcorn movie

overall:  recommended

Tombstone (1993) - "Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and his brothers, Morgan (Bill Paxton) and Virgil (Sam Elliott), have left their gunslinger ways behind them to settle down and start a business in the town of Tombstone, Ariz. While they aren't looking to find trouble, trouble soon finds them when they become targets of the ruthless Cowboy gang. Now, together with Wyatt's best friend, Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), the brothers pick up their guns once more to restore order to a lawless land."
Source: satellite TV
I watched it because: I don't think I can not watch this, given the opportunity
IMDB: 7.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 74% Audience: 94%
my IMDB: 9/10

notable quote:  "Why, does this mean we're not friends anymore? You know, if I thought you weren't my friend ... I just don't think I could bear it!"

MPAA rating: R

directed by: George P. Cosmatos

my notes: previously reviewed here. I love this film. 

overall: most highly recommended

[the title quotation comes from The Man Who Knew Too Much]