When I watch shows like The Wire and The Shield, both of which I count as all-time favorites, I see Sidney Lumet, Jay Presson Allen, and Robert Daley's fingerprints all over them.
Pool by pool, they form a river all the way to our house.
About Me
Some Desert Island Discs
GANG OF FOUR: Entertainment
LOVE: Forever Changes
THE BEACH BOYS: Sunflower
AIR: Talkie Walkie
LIQUID LIQUID: Liquid Liquid
DEL SHANNON: Home & Away
!!!: Louden Up Now
THE CURE: Disintegration
JOHN BARRY: Body Heat
THE SMITHS: The Queen is Dead
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Born to Run
RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS: Blank Generation
ELVIS COSTELLO: Get Happy!!!
TELEVISION: Marquee Moon
MARVIN HAMLISCH: The Swimmer
JOHN WILLIAMS: Superman
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Back to Mono
MARVIN GAYE: What's Going On
GOBLIN: Dawn of the Dead
THE WHO: Quadrophenia
TALKING HEADS: The Name of This Band is Talking Heads
ARTHUR B. RUBINSTEIN: Blue Thunder
GIORGIO MORODER: American Gigolo
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Larry Levan, Journey Into Paradise
BUZZCOCKS: Operator's Manual
VANGELIS: Blade Runner
TANGERINE DREAM: Thief
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Crème De La Crème: Philly Soul Classics And Rarities
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Cruising
ELMER BERNSTEIN: Heavy Metal
BELLE & SEBASTIAN: If You're Feeling Sinister
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Hearing is Believing, The Jack Nitzsche Story
CURTIS MAYFIELD: Superfly
THE FEELIES: Crazy Rhythms
DELTA 5: Singles & Sessions 1979-1981
MICHEL LEGRAND: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
SLOWDIVE: Souvlaki
ESG: A South Bronx Story
TALK TALK: It's My Life
NEW ORDER: Substance
DAVID BOWIE: Low
ENNIO MORRICONE: Once Upon a Time In America
FRANCOISE HARDY: Comment Te Dire Adieu
6 comments:
Agreed. HOMICIDE is another show that I felt owed a lot to Lumet's films. And, of course, LAW & ORDER owes a huge debt to Lumet's cop 'n' corruption films.
As for Lumet, I always found that Q&A was a criminally underrated film. It features a powerful performance by Nick Nolte - quite possibly my fave of his but the film pretty much dropped out of sight when it came out and hasn't been heard from since. What a shame.
J.D.:
HOMICIDE is another big void in my television series viewing. Obviously there's THE WIRE / David Simon connection with that show. LAW & ORDER is so ubiquitous and its formula so familiar nowadays, that it holds less interest to me. Of course, the late Jerry Orbach would star on L & O years after his great turn in PRINCE OF THE CITY. I know you're a big fan of Q & A after reading your superb write-up awhile back...I still need to re-watch as I have not seen in 20 years.
Another Lumet film I dig that doesn't get enough love is NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN. I still don't know how I feel about the casting of Andy Garcia but the film is a solid, engaging piece of work nonetheless.
Saw NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN when it came out and was not a huge fan. Garcia's casting definitely played a part...he ain't a favorite of mine. The trailer for NFoM was memorable in that it used clips or stills of the best of Lumet--SERPICO and DOG DAY AFTERNOON and, possibly, PRINCE OF THE CITY, I can't recall.
Prince Of The City is a great movie! Treat at his best. Underrated.
Ty,
I agree with you. Not enough people have sat down and given PRINCE OF THE CITY a chance. Of course, most people don't remember Treat Williams, if they ever knew of him in the first place. I think he's brilliant here. If it had starred an icon like Pacino or De Niro, it would be much more well-known, though not necessarily a better film.
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