I'm looking for a good, well thought out detective movie to watch, preferabl!
Question: It could also be a mystery or a whodunit movie, but it can't be mindless. For instance, a good example would be 'all the presidents' men with Robert Reford and dustin hoffman. Doesn't really have to be detective, it could also be a court movie, or a journalism or a crime movie, but nothing mindless for god sake. Good quality, not too many chase scenes or mindless explosions or violence. This is a hard question to answer, but good luck.
Answers: It could also be a mystery or a whodunit movie, but it can't be mindless. For instance, a good example would be 'all the presidents' men with Robert Reford and dustin hoffman. Doesn't really have to be detective, it could also be a court movie, or a journalism or a crime movie, but nothing mindless for god sake. Good quality, not too many chase scenes or mindless explosions or violence. This is a hard question to answer, but good luck.
Chinatown (1974)
Obsession (1976)
Sleuth (1972)
Blow Out aka Blowout (1981)
Dead of Winter (1987)
Body Heat (1981)
Don't Look Now (1973)~I'm not sure if this is far away from what you want, but most people who see this film remain fascinated by it. It does include a rather graphic sex scene though it shouldn't be all that shocking since they are husband and wife; rumor has it that the scene was edited, toning it down. Since I haven't seen it for many years, I'm not certain.
Klute (1971)
Suspect (1987)
The Verdict (1982)
American Gigolo (1980)
Frantic (1988)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)
Eyewitness (1981)
Black Widow (1987)
Kill Me Again (1989)
The Conversation (1974)~You might find this one very worthwhile with its workman's approach to bugging and eavesdropping.
The Boys from Brazil (1978)
The China Syndrome (1979)~We're dealing with television journalism in this one, which hit the screens around the same time as Three Mile Island.
Absolution (1981)
Deathtrap (1982)
Marathon Man (1976)~I don't recall if there are chase scenes, but I do remember it being a thriller.
The Sting (1973)~While it has its light side, watching the operation being set up is rather like seeing a mystery in reverse, rather like the approach they take with Columbo's cases.
Criminal Law (1989)
Betrayed (1988)
Bedroom Window (1987)
Blood Simple (1985)
Manhunter (1986)~If I recall correctly, this one avoids the graphic violence of the later Thomas Harris-based films.
Witness (1985)~focuses on television journalism
Here are some outstanding films dealing with journalism:
Missing (1982)~"Missing is a 1982 film directed by Costa Gavras, starring Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea and Charles Cioffi. It is based on the true story of American journalist Charles Horman, who disappeared in the bloody aftermath of the Chilean coup of 1973 that deposed President Salvador Allende. It depicts Horman's father and wife searching in vain to determine his fate. The film is based on a book first published under the title The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice (1978) by Thomas Hauser (later republished under the title Missing in 1982)."
The Killing Fields (1984)~TAGLINE: He was a reporter for the New York Times whose coverage of the Cambodian War would win him a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. But the friend who made it possible was half the world away with his life in great danger. This is the story of war and friendship, the anguish of a country and of one man's will to live.
Sam Waterston co-stars with Haing S. Ngor, a doctor-turned-actor who lived through this nightmarish time, won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role. NOTE: Ngor was found shot to death in the garage of his apartment building in Los Angeles on Feb. 25, 1996. Relatives and friends speculated that the killing was revenge for his opposition to the Khmer Rouge.
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)~"The story is a complicated psychological plot set in Indonesia during the overthrow of President Sukarno. It follows a group of expatriate journalists in Jakarta before and around a supposed coup attempt by the Communist Party of Indonesia on September 30, 1965. These events were pivotal in shaping the modern history of Indonesia. The film stars Mel Gibson as an Australian journalist, Sigourney Weaver as a British Embassy officer, and Linda Hunt as Gibson's (male) local contact, a photographer (for which role she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress). It was banned in Indonesia until 1999, and as such, the film was shot in both Australia and the Philippines."
Absence of Malice (1981)~If you want investigative journalism, this is the film for you! It shows all that can go wrong when a reporter gets careless or too ambitious. Stars are Paul Newman and Sally Field, plus Melinda Dillon in a heartbreaking performance.
"Paul Newman plays the son of a long dead Mafia boss who is a simple liquor warehouse owner. Frustrated in his attempt to solve a murder of a union head, a prosecutor leaks a false story that Newman is a target of the investigation, hoping that he will tell them something for protection. As his life begins to unravel, others are hurt by the story. Sally Field, the reporter, is in the clear under the Absence of Malice rule in slander and libel cases. Knowing nothing to trade to the prosecutors, Newman must regain control of his life on different ground."
I know that you aren't asking for older films, but I was wondering if you've seen these:
Games (1967)
Blowup aka Blow Up (1966)~This film inspired Brian DePalma's film Blow Out.
Have you seen "When Strangers Appear?", starring Radha Mitchell, Barry Watson and Josh Lucas? This has become one of my favorite films that could be dubbed Hitchcockian, even down to having a McGuffin~a mysterious disk.
Murder on the Orient Express
Inspector Lavardin. It's French, but it's a detective movie and is good and well thought out.
The Verdict (1982) with Paul Newman was good.
"A lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling."
Absence of Malice (1981) with Paul Newman again.
"An investigative reporter at a Florida newspaper (Sally Field) gets duped by a prosecutor (Bob Balaban) into running a bogus story about a warehouse owner (Paul Newman) who, because of the article, is now the prime suspect in the disappearance of a local union leader. The reporter gets professionally and romantically involved with the man whose life she may have ruined."
Presumed Innocent (1990) with Harrison Ford
"When the woman deputy prosecutor R.K. Sabich had an affair with is murdered the prosecutor asks him to lead the investigation. When Sabich digs too deeply he finds himself framed for the murder."
The Long Goodbye
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070334/
The Day of the Jackal
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069947/plot...
Here it is.......
"DICK TRACY " (Madonna is in it )