we'll be knee-deep in fried chicken

Average rating: 7.75, with not a turkey in the bunch. Hurray!

The Bank Job (2008) - "Self-reformed petty criminal Terry Leather (Jason Statham) has become a financially struggling car dealer and settled into a pedestrian London life with his wife and kids, but takes the plunge into big crime when his ex-girlfriend, Martine (Saffron Burrows), turns up with an offer to pull off a lucrative bank heist. After Terry assembles his crew of misfits and begins the operation, he finds that there are other agendas at play, and powerful players who have designs on the vault's contents."
source: I own the DVD (last seen 2016, but not reviewed)
I watched it because: I was in the mood for complicated
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 80% Audience: 74%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "'We can smell the money, over.'

    'Look, money may be your god but it ain't mine, alright? I want a warm bath and a cup of tea, over.'"

MPAA rating: R

directed by: Roger Donaldson

my notes: it's a good one. Based on a true story, it's almost weirder than fiction. It's challenging and complex, distressing and funny and shocking. Statham's sense of humor comes out here, and I liked the personality of his crew.

overall:  recommended

Howards End (1992) - "Encounter of three social classes of England at the beginning of the twentieth century: the Victorian capitalists (the Wilcoxes) considering themselves as aristocrats, whose only god is money; the enlightened bourgeois (the Schlegels), humanistic and philanthropic; and the workers (the Basts), fighting to survive. The Schlegel sisters' humanism will be torn apart as they try both to softly knock down the Wilcox's prejudices and to help the Basts."

source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I read the novel for a grad-level History class during college, but didn't understand it as a story but by scholarly analysis. I have seen a more recent version (reviewed here) and liked it very well. This is the original, and a classic (see Oscars, below).
IMDB: 7.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 94% Audience: 81%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "'Did you see the dawn?'

    'Yes. It suddenly got light.'

    'And was it wonderful?'

    'No.'"

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: James Ivory

my notes: the later version made a lot out of something simple, while this was ... a lot. Very British, I—admittedly, a slow talker preferring slow talkers—was challenged to follow some of the dialog. I'm also not a big fan of the actress playing Helen Schlegel, which was a distraction. It is a beautiful film, though, gorgeously shot and well paced.

Academy Award winner:
• Best Actress—Emma Thompson

• Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material previously produced or published—Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

• Best Art Direction - Set Decoration—Luciana Arrighi, Ian Whittaker
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture—Ismail Merchant

• Best Supporting Actress—Vanessa Redgrave

• Best Director—James Ivory

• Best Cinematography—Tony Pierce-Roberts

• Best Costume Design—Jenny Beavan, John Bright

• Best Music, Original Score—Richard Robbins
overall:  recommended

Tin Cup (1996) - "Roy McAvoy is a failed pro golfer who lives in a Winnebago at a crummy driving range which he owns in the West Texas town of Salome. One day, a beautiful woman, Dr. Molly Griswold, appears at his driving range for golf lessons. She turns out to be the new girlfriend of McAvoy's longtime nemesis, the smarmy PGA superstar David Simms. Molly inspires Roy to start taking himself seriously again, and he decides to try to qualify for the US Open."
source: I own the DVD (previously reviewed here)
I watched it because: I was in the mood for a reliable comedy
IMDB: 6.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 72% Audience: 65%
my IMDB: 9/10

notable quote: "'Look, I love Earl, okay, but... I need you.'

    'You don't love me?'

    'Yeah, yeah, I-I love you too, goddammit.'

    'Well, as much as Earl?'

    'I don't know! I mean, when I was with Earl, I was thinking of you... Yes, uh, as much as Earl. More than Earl. More than Earl.'

    'Am I special?'

    'Well, if you can remove the sexual overtones and add a golf theme, then Romeo, I am your Juliet.'"

MPAA rating: R

directed by: Ron Shelton

my notes: ridiculous, joyful, and fun. Kevin Costner (Roy) is at his best playing lovable, obnoxious, and kinda dumb. Cheech Marin (Romeo) is both funny and smart, and the cameos from the real golf guys are well done—particularly, the almost humble appearance of oft-arrogant Johnny Miller.

overall: highly recommended

Stagecoach (1939) - "John Ford's landmark Western revolves around an assorted group of colorful passengers aboard the Overland stagecoach bound for Lordsburg, New Mexico, in the 1880s. An alcoholic philosophizer (Thomas Mitchell), a lady of ill repute (Claire Trevor) and a timid liquor salesman (Donald Meek) are among the motley crew of travelers who must contend with an escaped outlaw, the Ringo Kid (John Wayne), and the ever-present threat of an Apache attack as they make their way across the Wild West."
source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: I'm back into the Criterion Collection
IMDB: 7.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 86%
my IMDB: 8/10

AFI: 100 Years…100 Movies (original list 1998) #63

    10 Top 10 (2008) Western #9

MPAA rating: Approved

notable quote: "'You did a good job, Doc, even if you was drunk.'

    'Thank you, son. Professional compliments are always pleasing.'"

directed by: John Ford

my notes: a bit of a hard sell almost 90 years later, this is a fairly simple story done up big. A disparate bunch of folk end up on the same coach, riding crazily through Indian country. John Wayne as the outlaw (!), is squeaky clean and kind. Lovely Claire Trevor plays Dallas, an oddly delicate and sweet prostitute. My favorites were John Carradine as Hatfield, the suave and vaguely sinister Southern gentleman, and the marvelous Thomas Mitchell as the doctor, Josiah Boone. 

    Well worth seeing for the amazing stunt riding, including Wayne leaping from the front of the coach onto one of the rear horses, at speed.

Academy Award winner:
• Best Supporting Actor—Thomas Mitchell

• Best Music, Scoring—Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold, Leo Shuken
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture

• Best Director—Ford

• Best Cinematography, Black and White—Bert Glennon

• Best Art Direction—Alexander Tobuloff

• Best Film Editing—Otho Lovering, Dorothy Spencer
overall:  enthusiastically recommended

 

[the title quotation is from The Bank Job]