Ace in the Hole - MatthewHunt

The Thomas Crown Affair
(Norman Jewison, 1968)
Though he explored his rugged side in later movies, and his cooler side in earlier movies,
Steve McQueen perhaps epitomised his reputation as Hollywood It-Guy in this of-themoment,
groovy 60s heist flick. As millionaire criminal Thomas Crown, he exudes playboy
charm with a dangerous edge, seducing stone-faced insurance adjuster Vicki Anderson (Faye
Dunaway) with the most famous chess game in film history.
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
(Ken Annakin, 1965)
It's chocks away for a squadron of international comedians in this barnstorming comedy about
an aerial race from London to Paris in 1910. Robert Morley is the patriotic lord stumping up
£10,000 prize money, hoping that dashing Englishman James Fox will win the dosh, and his
daughter Sarah Miles's hand. Fast, slapstick fun, from beginning to end.
Three Colours Trilogy
(Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1993-94)
In two short years, Kieslowski produced three haunting films that form the high water mark of
old-style European arthouse cinema. His colour-coded trilogy explores liberty, equality and
fraternity using overlapping destinies between characters as a leitmotif: in Blue, a woman
(Juliette Binoche) grieves the loss of her family; in White, a Pole plots revenge against his
French ex-wife (Delpy); in Red, a model (Irene Jacob) and a judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant)
meet through a chance encounter.
Three Kings
(David O Russell, 1999)
Almost 10 years after the first Iraq war, and a couple of years before 9/11, this was a window
of opportunity to make a thoroughly cynical, subversive movie about rascally American
soldiers fighting in the Middle East. David Russell's movie is about three dodgy adventurers -
George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube - who set out to steal Kuwaiti gold. There are
some daring comments about hypocrisy and torture: an interesting, underrated movie.
The Three Musketeers
(Richard Lester, 1973)
Of the many screen versions of the Dumas classic, Lester's exuberant account is the most
outright fun: a rousing mix of knockabout action and coarse-grained humour, performed with
obvious merriment by a starry cast including Michael York as the artless D'Artagnan, Frank
Finlay, Richard Chamberlain and glowering Oliver Reed his trusty trio.
Throne of Blood
(Akira Kurosawa, 1957)
So many big-screen Shakespeare adaptations are stilted and self-conscious but these aren't
charges that can be levelled at Kurosawa's bloodcurdling Samurai-style reworking of
Macbeth. The action is transferred to a foggy medieval Japan, and a brutal, arrowy death
scene makes it an extraordinary finish.
Thunderball
(Terence Young, 1965)
Purists may argue over the greatest Bond movie, but the shadow this one cast over the series
cannot be ignored. The handmade approach to this film means that sequences such as the
fight between dozens of divers not only thrill in the context of the story, but amaze as feats of
physical film-making.
THX 1138
(George Lucas, 1971)
The story may borrow rather heavily from George Orwell, but Lucas' visuals are quite
stunning. A sterile future world populated by drugged-out shaven-headed citizens and policed
by robots, it has plenty of stark, interesting detail to engage the viewer - Walter Murch's
inventive collage soundtrack adds further layers.