Friday, November 16, 2018

5 Off My Head: Rob Me Blind

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Steve McQueen's spectacular new movie Widows is out in theaters today -- read my review right here. As I get into a little in there Widows is totally a Heist Film while also undoing the usual ways of being a Heist Movie -- all the pieces are there but McQueen & Co put them together in unexpected ways. His focus on character and outward political resonances over the typical thriller beats takes the movie into emotionally strange places, I thought. Anyway that got me to thinking about other Heist Films which've used the template to undermine or twist it into weird new forms, and... well the list was long! Lots of filmmakers have done this before, sometimes by focusing on one aspect of the routine, by subverting the tone or by slicing the whole process to ribbons... there are lots of ways. So I made a little list of...

My Five Favorite Atypical Heist Movies

Jackie Brown (1997)
"My ass may be dumb, but I ain't no dumbass."

Drive (2011)
"There's no good sharks?"

Bound (1996)
"We make our own choices,
we pay our own prices."

Run Lola Run (1998)
"The ball is round, a game lasts 90 minutes,
everything else is pure theory. Off we go!"

Quick Change (1990)
"Honey, babe? You've got a gun. Shoot them."

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What are your favorite Heist Movies?
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