Answer time!
#1: Paris, Texas
Harry Dean Stanton, (left), and Dean Stockwell, (right), are brothers in this acclaimed 1984 drama. The movie opens with an extended shot of Stanton's character, Travis, wandering through the desert. When his brother ultimately enters the story, we learn that Travis has been missing for several years, having left his wife and young son behind. Also, Travis carries with him a picture of a vacant lot with a "For Sale" sign, saying that it's property he's purchased. The location of that property, (city and state), is the title of the movie.
**********
#2: The Village
This 2004 mystery is widely considered to be the last decent-quality movie written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film tells the story of an isolated town set in the 19th century whose residents are kept in perpetual fear of being visited by the evil creatures that live in the woods that surround them. That's one of the creatures in the screenshot. No, not Joaquin Phoenix, the other one. In red. With claws.
**********
#3: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Aside from his part in this movie, I don't think I've ever seen this comedian/actor without white hair. In fact, even going back to his appearances on Saturday Night Live in the `70s, (when he was in his early 30s), the man has seemingly always had white hair. But, he needed to appear younger for the role in this black and white, Carl Reiner mystery spoof, so he dyed it black.
**********
#4: Cool Hand Luke
"What we got here is failure to communicate." Of course, after eating 50 hard-boiled eggs, I can see how communicating might not exactly come easy.
**********
#5: Beetlejuice
Michael Keaton plays the title character in this 1988 Tim Burton comedy about the afterlife. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin are the recently deceased, and they're not particularly pleased with the new family that has moved into their home.
**********
#6: The Purge
Set in the near future, this 2013 horror/thriller's premise purports that if all violent crime is made permissible on one night each year, throughout the rest of the year violent crime, in general, will be virtually nonexistant. But, because only the wealthy can afford the elaborate security systems needed to protect themselves, the night primarily ends up being about poor people killing each other off.
**********
#7: The Great Escape
That's P.O.W. Steve McQueen watching out for German guards while a fellow prisoner emerges from a tunnel. I'd go on, but that really ought to be enough info to identify this movie if you've seen it.
**********
#8: Oblivion
Morgan Freeman, (in the screenshot), and Tom Cruise star in this 2013 sci-fi flick. In the movie, Earth has lost a war against alien invaders, (during which the Moon was destroyed), and the surviving humans are proceeding to relocate to Saturn's moon, Titan. Tom Cruise's character, Jack Harper, remains on Earth to provide sucurity for the massive, offshore fusion generators which are providing power to the humans on Titan. But, Jack is haunted by memories of another life... Memories that were supposed to have been purposely "wiped" years ago.
**********
As always, thanks for playing, everybody!
