Welcome to the Kitchen Table! I don't know about you, but sometimes I am in the mood for some cinematic adventure. Cruising through Netflix, I found some movies that would qualify, tonight's theme being:
Pirates and Thieves
Follow below the orange squiggle for movies!
Swashbuckler
This movie from 1976 has quite a cast, and it is an honest swashbuckler. It is a popcorn movie peopled with stock characters but hey, Roger Ebert liked it:
It's a flat-out pirate movie, by heavens, with desperadoes swinging aboard with swords in their teeth, with maidens in iron cages, with barrels of rum and bloody duels and daring rescues. The movie is better technically than the classics of the 1930s, but in terms of vision, it's a blood relative of, well, "Captain Blood."
With Robert Shaw and James Earl Jones leading the cast of pirates, Genvieve Bujold as the fiesty maiden, and Peter Boyle and Beau Bridges as the baddies (Bridges plays a character called "Major Folly") -- oh, and the marvelous Geoffrey Holder as the exotic "Cudjo", it's worth a look, especially if you have a bottle of rum handy. This film also gives a film credit to the ship, a replica of Drake's "Golden Hind", renamed in the film, "The Blarney Cock". Apparently, this was the only pirate movie ever that used a ship of the proper era. One weird thing, Anjelica Huston is in this movie ("The Woman of Dark Visage") -- without a single line.
The Great Train Robbery
A classic from 1978! Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Down play pirates of a different era -- Victorians robbing a train, a task that takes meticulous planning and timing. I suppose this could go under the category of heist movie (a topic for another night) but I like it for tonight. So there!
Robot & Frank
From 2012, a movie about the near future when AI will be a part of people's lives. Frank is a retired cat burglar, played by the wonderful Frank Langella. Frank is in decline, his cognition gradually slipping, so his children get him a robot to help him out and to establish healthy routine in his life. Well, the robot's rigid rules don't prohibit stealing, so when Frank undertakes a project, stealing an irritating neighbor's jewels, the robot helps -- because the burglary project is giving Frank focus. It's such a charming and sentimental film you hardly notice the sci fi elements.
Firefly
One of the best TV series ever, in my book -- only I never saw it when it first aired, in 2002 and 2003. Joss Wheden created a great ensemble show that is a sci fi/western/pirate story, all rolled into one. The story takes place upon a smuggling ship, "Serenity", named after the site of a terrible battle of a Civil War in which the Captain and First Mate saw all their companions die, for lack of promised support. Yes, Captain Mal Reynolds is a rather bitter man -- but he treats his crew like family. This show has humor, adventure, and plenty of piracy to satisfy anyone wanting the classic themes of a swashbuckler. If you've never seen Firefly, you don't know what you have missed!
Got any favorite movies about pirates and thieves? Pirate movies are really about freedom more than about crime, don't you think? Come in, be comfortable, and tell us about your day and weekend plans.
Prior Streaming Movies on a Friday Night subjects:
At the Table
Ghosts
Resilient People
Love
Food and Our Health
Cozy Mysteries
Playing Shakespeare
For Children
Romantic Comedy
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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