Answer time!
#1: Grosse Point Blank
In this 1997 dark comedy, John Cusack - pictured here kneeling over the body of a guy he just killed with a pen - plays Martin Blank, a career hitman. He mysteriously left the suburban Detroit hometown of his youth on prom night, ten years ago. But, now he's returned to carry out a contract killing and attend his high school reunion.
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#2: The Virgin Suicides
That's the Lisbon family in the screenshot, before the tragic day when the youngest of the five sisters killed herself. The story is told in flashback through the eyes of a group of neighborhood boys who become obsessed with the lives of the remaining sisters, while the strict, overprotective Lisbon parents react to their daughter's death by isolating the family from the rest of the community.
Coincidentally, the geographical setting for this movie is the same as movie #1, and that locale comprises most of the name of movie #1 as well.
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#3: Léon: The Professional
This 1994 Luc Besson movie marked the film debut for a 12 year-old Natalie Portman. Her reluctant mentor, the hitman on the left in the screenshot, lays out his rules to her: "No women, no kids, that's the rules."
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#4: Airplane!
Perhaps most memorable among the many hilarious lines Lloyd Bridges delivers in this classic comedy are:
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking."
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking."
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines."
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue."
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#5: Beverly Hills Cop
This movie features Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, and Ronnie Cox as cops who need to keep an eye on Detroit police detective Axel Foley while he's in town unofficially investigating a friends murder. Interestingly, (and as an aside), this was originally supposed to be strictly an action movie, and was primarily written as a vehicle for Sylvester Stallone.
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#6: Another Earth
This limited release, 2011 sci-fi drama didn't create much of a box office splash. In fact, I only know a few people who have even heard of it. But, if you're not looking for hard, quasi-factual science fiction, it's definitely a good watch. In the film, astronomers discover a nearby planet that is very similar to Earth, and as the movie progresses, the planet gets closer and closer to our own world.
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#7: The Jerk
From the scene leading up to the one in the screenshot: "The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here!!"
From the scene just after the screenshot, after a few shots are fired but miss their target: "He hates these cans! Stay away from the cans!!"
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#8: R.I.P.D.
Before being permitted to proceed to the afterlife, corrupt cops who die are forced into service protecting the world of the living from the undead, who are covertly working to bring about the apocalypse. Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds play undead cop buddies in this 2013 movie that held a lot of potential, but ultimately disappointed.
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As always, thanks for playing, guys!
