Just listening now. Sad to say I saw this for the first time a year ago & it did nothing for me. I just found it incredibly straightforward/predictable. I even gave the DVD away to a charity shop...

Great episode, you guys. On a side note, related to an offhand comment one of you guys made during the proceedings: I'm curious to hear a commentary on The Birds; your general opinion of it seemed to be fairly negative, which surprised me, as it's considered one of Hitchcock's better films (an opinion I agree with).

Also, another side note related to an offhand comment made by Dorkman: go and buy the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover. It basically just rewrote the entire movie (not a shred of dialogue in it is in the screenplay), makes far more sense (parts of it are almost exactly in line with some of the fixes you guys suggested in your prequel commentaries), and is genuinely emotional and exciting. And Stover's description of the duel between Anakin, Dooku and Obi-Wan stands with the Princess Bride duel as one of the best swordfights in literature that I've read.

Last edited by Abbie (2013-07-02 18:37:46)

You know, without Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Redford would have had to name his film festival after his role in The Sting. The "Hooker Film Festival" just wouldn't be the same.

GREAT film!

Right, needed to point out a few things for those who loved this film, and wanted more.

For a comedic take on this I can't recommend enough "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" Steve Martin in the Redford role & Michael Cane in the Newman role.

For a series that took this idea and ran with it, the BBC series "Hustle", 8 Seasons running with a good cast that does cons in the great style of the Sting.

I get that.
And I really enjoyed Leverage while it was running. However it really pushed the bounds of a traditional grifting/heist crew story and evolved into more extravagent type of capers. And while I love the Eliot stuff, I have to say, the ability to run a con with out the actual need for violence seemed much more ... in the vein of the Sting.

I've been waiting for an excuse to sit down with this. The lighting is brutal, Redford is probably too old and in my opinion there's one too many "Ya falla"s, but the movie is damn good.

It's ironically refreshing that Lonnegan never catches on to them for a reversal. And it works. The tension of the entire movie hinges on Shaw's incredible performance, even if it never happenes, you believe he at anytime could figure it out and then proceed to do unspeakable things to them. Instead we see a man blinded and eventually consumed by his own greed. The pokergame is one of the most tense and enjoyable scenes I've seen in a long time. Awesome.

I would definetly watch a word for word, scene by scene remake of this if they did it properly. I'm not a big fan of the movie's throwback aesthetics as is, the lighting, the sets, the music and the sometimes overstated acting. With more sensual photography and production in general this could be one of my favourites.

So, ShaNaNa at Woodstock.

Why didn't anyone tell me how great this movie was?

Oh...y-you did a whole commentary last year? And I ignored it until now? Even though I owned the Blu-Ray all this time? Well, this one's on me.