Best Boston movie EVER?
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westhamu — 20 years ago(September 28, 2005 05:56 AM)
Mystic River was brilliant (far better than Eastwood's over-hyped Hilary Swank boxing movie) but Eddie Coyle is it. I saw this movie in 1974 through the projectionist's window sitting next to my Dad who was working an illegal second job as a projectionist at the time (he was a NSW copper)at the old Cronulla Picture Theatre south of Sydney; The Friends of Eddie Coyle ably directed by Peter Yates of Bullitt fame and featuring a very good and aging Robert Mitchum. What a film! You still cant get it on video or DVD in Australia and believe me I've tried; I dont know why, it isn't ever even on TV late at night. But is it one of the best gangster movies ever made? Eddie Coyle, after loyally and faithfully serving his overlords is ceremoniously and perfunctorily screwed by both the Mafia (Peter Boyle especially) and the coppers. A very big eye opener (re. moral ambiguity) for me at the age of thirteen. Id seen the Godfather a year earlier at the age of twelve but the plight of the Eddie Coyles of this world worried me for months. Eddie Coyle was no Vito Corleone and the Vito Corleones of this world the Eddie Coyles cant fight. The first really great 'loser' film I saw.
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beatnick68-1 — 17 years ago(October 01, 2008 04:59 PM)
I agree totally. I remember as a kid in the 80's how grimy downtown Boston was..industrial in places, sleazy in others. I miss that. It gave a sense of "danger" to a kid taking the Red Line in to go to the arcades and electronics stores. Makes me laugh now that a kid from Dorchester had to go downtown for that kind of "danger." Total reversal now.
The neighborhoods too are well represented in this flick. In fact, the final scene of the movie (in the parking lot of the bowling alley complex) takes place very, very near to where my family was living in '74.
Re: huge cars.my first car after I got my licensea 1974 Delta Olds 88. The thing was so huge that when you took a corner, you had to pull over to wait for the back end of the car to catch up. The back seat was roughly the size of a futon.
In this movie, and a few others, I love checking out the old skyline. I also worked at the 500 Boylston/222 Berkely office complex for about 7 years and it's so weird not seeing that Victrola Radio shaped building looming over the river. I can remember when that was under construction in the late 80'sI'd walk past it when taking my high school girlfriend to the movies at Copley Place.
Ahhhmemory lane. -
jaygill-1 — 18 years ago(August 31, 2007 11:50 PM)
Just saw another one tonight on Retroplex. "Fuzz" (1972) with Tom Skerritt, Burt Reynolds, Raquel Welch and Yul Brenner. I can't believe I never heard of it before! Pretty funny comedy/drama about Boston detectives trying to solve several cases. It reminded me how much Boston has changed since I was a little kid. There were a ton of buildings missing from the landscape I have grown accustomed to over the years.
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tween_us — 16 years ago(May 31, 2009 01:21 PM)
Not sure how accurate it is, but here's a link to a list of films set in Boston:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films,_operas,_and_plays_set_in_B oston#Film -
SMG_in_CT — 16 years ago(July 07, 2009 11:06 AM)
In FEB 2005, the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine had this excellent article on the "Best" AND "Worst" Boston Movies.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/02/27/reel_bos ton/
I think that they got it right! -