Thursday, June 18, 2009

Ten (10) Favorite Films Set in CHICAGO



With the new movie, "PUBLIC ENEMIES" due to release in a month, I decided to post this list of my favorite movies set in Chicago, Illinois. Although the last two Batman films were shot there, both are set in the fictional Gotham City and therefore, not on my list. Enjoy:


TEN (10) FAVORITE FILMS SET IN CHICAGO




1. "The Sting" (1973) - This Oscar winner is about two Depression-era grifters who run a detailed con job on a dangerous local gangster. Directed by George Roy Hill, Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Robert Shaw starred.





2. "Some Like It Hot" (1959) - Billy Wilder directed and co-wrote, what I believe to be one of the best comedies ever made, about two jazz muscicians who witness a mob hit and hide out by disguising themselves as women and joining an all-female band. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon starred.





3. "The Untouchables" (1987) - Brian DePalma directed this version of the conflict between Treasury agent Elliot Ness and mobster Al Capone in 1930 Chicago. Kevin Costner, Oscar winner Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, Billy Drago and Robert DiNiro starred.





4. "The Road to Perdition" (2002) - Tom Hanks portrayed an early 30s hit man for the mob who is forced to protect his son, when the latter witnesses a murder. Adapted from Max Allan Collins' graphic novel, the movie wsa directed by Sam Mendes and co-starred Paul Newman, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason-Leigh, Daniel Craig and Tyler Hoechlin.





5. "The Fugitive" (1993) - Harrison Ford and Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones co-starred in this execellent screen adaptation of the famous TV series about a doctor wrongfully accused of his wife's murder. Jerome Krabbe, Joe Pantoliano, Andreas Katsulas and Sela Ward co-starred.





6. "While You Were Sleeping" (1995) - An elevated train ticket collector pretends to be engaged to an unconscious man she had rescued and ends up being drawn into his family. Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher and Jack Warden starred.





7. "The Blues Brothers" (1980) - John Landis directed this musical about the Blues Brothers (characters from a "Saturday Night Live" sketch) who attempt to reform their band in order to raise money to save their old Roman Catholic orphanage from foreclosure. John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd starred.





8. "Chicago" (2002) - Rob Marshall directed this Oscar winning adaptation of the stage musical that explored the themes of celebrity and scandal in Jazz Age Chicago. Renee Zellweger, Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones, John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah and Richard Gere starred.





9. "Eight Men Out" (1988) - John Sayles directed this tale about Major League Baseball's 1919 "Black Sox" scandal, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox conspired with gamblers to intentionally lose the World Series. David Strathairn, John Cusack, D.B. Sweeney, Charlie Sheen and John Maloney starred.





10. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986) - Matthew Broderick starred in this winning comedy about a high school senior who decides to skip school and spend the spring day in downtown Chicago with his girlfriend and best friend. Directed by John Hughes, the movie co-starred Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jennifer Grey and Jeffrey Jones.

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