#Gambit (1966)

[gameraboy2]

Gambit (1966)

[barnabasshadows]

[crowdvscritic]

round up // JULY 24

An unofficial July theme: optimism! 

From a rom-com about the possibilities of the Space Race, silly Minion antics, movie theaters making a comeback, traveling to new places, and the most exciting Olympics in years, things are looking up. July is also a great time to take stock of the year’s movie output. The writers at ZekeFilm rounded up our individual top five films and named our cumulative top five in our Best of the Year (So Far) piece. (I also did a deeper dive on my favorite film so far.) I'm not saying we've found the joy of a dull moment of precedented-ness, but these Round Up of pop culture picks gave July a more relaxed, celebratory feeling.

July Crowd-Pleasers

1. Fly Me to the Moon (2024) 

If you’ve ever watched a romantic comedy baked in misunderstandings, secrets, and false identities—think Pillow Talk or How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days—then you know the appeal of Fly Me to the Moon. Romances are about chemistry, which Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum have to spare, and comedies require a light touch, which is just what this semi-real retelling of the first moon landing needs. Read my full review for ZekeFilm or watch my review on KMOV. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

2. Despicable Me 4 (2024)

I have no new insight into this cinematic universe, and the plot points are so becoming interchangeable you could just read my review of 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru to understand what I thought of Despicable Me 4. All I know is Minions make me feel like I’m a giggling 6-year-old again, and I don’t care about the lack of innovation as long as that lasts. Crowd: 10/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

3. Twisters (2024)

The joy of Twisters is that in spite of its empyrean spectacle, it always stays grounded. Also, Glen Powell (and Brisket). Read my full review for ZekeFilm. Crowd: 10/10 // Critic: 8/10

4. Thelma (2024)

Imagine The Beekeper if Phylicia Rashad decided to go after the scammer criminals herself. Also, imagine she was 93 years old and could only use resources available to nonagenarians. June Squibb is hilarious as a grandma who doesn’t know when to quit, and Josh Margolin’s debut feature finds a sweeter center than Jason Statham did earlier this year. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

5. A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

All hail sequels that are much better than they need to be! Though, in this case, keep your hails to a whisper. Lupita N’yongo, Joseph Quinn, and one endearing feline prove this franchise has legs—albeit spindly alien ones—and a heart outside the single family we saw in the first two chapters. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

MORE JULY CROWD-PLEASERS // About Time (2013) is an underseen rom-com that graciously does not overthink its time travel mechanics // I have never seen a commercial for Paddington (2014) or Paddington 2 (2017) that made me want to watch them—why were these charming, clever movies hidden behind gross-out jokes in their marketing? // The Great Debaters (2007) and The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society (2018) prove Glen Powell has always had it, and both films have plenty to recommend apart from his small roles // Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) may not be as vibrant as in the '80s but it does capture the same fun // Is Andrew McCarthy’s navel-gazing documentary Brats (2024) preoccupied with a therapeutic exploration of self? Is it extremely watchable for anyone with a love for 1980s popular cinema? Yes, and YES.

July Critic Picks

1. London! 

“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford.” That Samuel Johnson quote is overused for a reason. This month I returned to the United Kingdom for the first time since a three-week study abroad trip in 2012. A few activities were repeats from my college days (Harrod’s, National Gallery, Westminster Abbey), and I’ve now seen Six on two continents (great on both). Aside from a quick day trip to Stonehenge and Bath, the rest of my time was spent in London, discovering new coffee shops with baked goods on every corner and packing in as many museum visits as possible. If you’re headed across the Pond anytime soon, these are my top new-to-me cultural picks: 

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Christian Heritage City Walk Tour

Churchill War Rooms

The Design Museum, specifically Barbie: The Exhibition

High tea at The Rosebery in the Mandarin Oriental

National Portrait Gallery, especially the exhibit Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens

Natural History Museum, specifically the dinosaur fossils because Jurassic Park rules

Portobello Road Market, including standing in front of the Notting Hill Bookshop asking it to love me 

Roman Baths

St. Paul’s Cathedral, though make sure you’re warmed up before attempting to climb to the top

Stonehenge

Victoria and Albert Museum, which is extra special when you wait in the gift shop line behind Tessa Thompson, who seems just as lovely in person as she does on screen

2. Double Feature — Classic Espionage Thrillers: Saboteur (1942) + Mirage (1965)

Because we all need more plot twists in our lives. In Saboteur (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Robert Cummings is framed for sabotaging the U.S. war efforts and goes on the run to discover the real culprits in true Hitchcock fashion. In Mirage (8/10 // 8/10), Gregory Peck realizes he’s lost two years of memories and goes on the run to discover the real conspiracy in similar fashion to Charade (since they share a screenwriter and co-stars).

3. Gambit (1966)

Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine are trying to pull off an art heist in swinging ‘60s style. What else do you need to know? Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

4. Making Movies by Sidney Lumet (1996)

Before The Big Picture podcast celebrated Sidney Lumet’s 100th birthday, I read his memoir/filmmaking guide and wished I’d read it years ago. The director of Network and The Verdict explains his filmmaking philosophies and techniques without getting too inside baseball or talking down to us. It feels like joining him in production meetings, sound stages, and editing rooms. I won’t look just at his work differently—these insights will impact my perspective on all watching going forward.

5. Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony

So far this Olympics has felt like the burst of joy and optimism I’ve wanted the Olympics to feel like since 2020, and the opening ceremony was full of all the pomp, circumstance, spectacle, sparkle, fireworks, Lady Gaga, and Minions I could ask for. 

MORE JULY CRITIC PICKS // Wicked Little Letters (2024) is a fun twist on the Parable of the Two Sons // The gender politics of Forever, Darling (1956) are silly today, but boy, did Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball have chemistry! // Death on the Diamond (1934) is a silly murder mystery set on the baseball diamond, but I can’t resist the St. Louis Cardinals as heroes // When Ladies Meet (1941) lets Joan Crawford shine in a rom-com

Also in July…

As Kyla and I continue the final season of SO IT’S A SHOW?, we dig into references Gilmore Girls makes to Sylvia Plath and The Bell Jar in ep. 141. What is the tragedy that Rory and Lorelai allude to? Is Gwyneth Paltrow any good at playing this poet in a movie? And why does Rory love her work so much? No need to finish that copy of The Bell Jar that’s been sitting half-read on your nightstand for years—we’ve got all the answers!

Photo credits: London my own. Making Movies. All others IMDb.com.

[henk-heijmans]

A feisty fox drives a snow goose from her nest, a gambit before an act of egg thievery, North America, 2013 - by Sergey Gorshkov (1966), Russian

[ladybegood]

Michael Caine photographed by Bob Willoughby on the set of Gambit (1966)

[lizyork8509]

Kim Novak in Bell Book And Candle (1958). Costumes by Oscar winner (for The Solid Gold Cadillac) Jean Louis. He was also nominated for Gambit (1966), Pal Joey (1957) and A Star Is Born (1955) - as well as other films (14 nominations in all!).

[nancywheeeler]

omg!! please share what other heist films you watched, that’s such a fun idea. and which was your fav!!!!

i would love to share my watchlist for heist week!! all are films before 1970, because i wanted to watch heists new to me, but i'll also include some modern heist movies i love at the bottom!

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) — the granddaddy of the heist genre. it's really good! and it has every aspect of the heist (the planning, the execution, and the fallout), which i love.

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) — so goofy and fun. features fantastic Alec Guinness performance and some great screwball elements (one of the final sequences reminded me a lot of the climax of What's Up, Doc.)

Ocean's Eleven (1960) — eh. I felt the problems were threefold: 1) took forever just to get to the heist, 2) all the guys looked the same and most did not have a defining role in the heist, and 3) Hay's Code ending. It's not terrible, but not worth watching when there is a far superior remake.

The League of Gentlemen (1960) — i can often be found on letterboxd bemoaning the fact there is probably an alternate universe where monty python made a heist movie and we're not in that universe. but! this film is definitely the closest we're gonna get. similar to the lavender hill mob in that they're both very british and very, very funny. really loved the level of shenanigans going here.

Gambit (1966) — my favorite of the week! it's a smaller heist (three person crew), but the film really plays with the idea of expectation vs. actual execution, and the assumptions white british guys make about, among other things, everyone who is not also a white british guy. bonus: shirley maclaine and michael caine have incredible chemistry. a great watch! highly recommend!

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) — love when hot people commit crimes and other hot people try to stop them. the pacing here is a bit wonky, but it has a slick, sexy opening sequence and i'll never say no to a cat and mouse game. the heisting is definitely secondary though, just so you know that going in.

All the Heists I Loved Before: The Killing (1956), The Italian Job (1969), Sneakers (1992), Ocean's 11 (2001), Inception (2010), The Town (2010), Logan Lucky (2017), American Animals (2018), Ocean's 8 (2018)

[filmnoirfoundation]

TCMFF Day One

Opening night of TCMFF includes a healthy dose of crime. The gala event will be PULP FICTION (1994), 6:30 PM at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, with John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Harvey Keitel in conversation. FNF prez Eddie Muller will introduce Raoul Walsh’s WHITE HEAT (1949) at American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre, 7:00 PM. On the lighter side, CLUE will play poolside at The Hollywood Roosevelt , 7:30 PM with Lesley Ann Warren in attendance.

The second round of screenings include Richard Brooks IN COLD BLOOD (1967), introduced by producer Michael Uslan, 9:30 at the TCL Chinese Theatres Multiplex, House 1 and the world premiere restoration of GAMBIT (1966), introduced by writer and film historian Sloan DeForrest.

WHITE HEAT

(1949): “Top of the world, Ma!” A G-man (Edmond O'Brien) infiltrates a gang run by a mother-fixated psychotic, James Cagney in a standout performance. This film marks the cinematic movement away from the traditional Warner Brothers’ portrayal of the gangster to the more cynical and psychological film noir interpretation. Virginia Kellogg garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story for the film. Pointless trivia: Naked Gun 33 1/3 borrowed the plot. Dir. Raoul Walsh

IN COLD BLOOD

(1967) Bleak adaptation of Truman Capote’s groundbreaking true crime book. Two men (Robert Blake and Scott Wilson) brutally murder a small-town Kansas family, thinking that ten thousand dollars is hidden in the house. They flee with the forty-three dollars that they actually found, and the FBI hunts them. Dir. Richard Brooks

[lilydvoratrelundar]

[cha-melodius]

hi! ⭐️ for love is a losing game pretty please?

HELLO I didn't mean to leave this for an entire day lol, but I've barely had a moment to breathe today and I wanted to be able to sit and think about this one.

Ok, Love is a Losing Game! So as I mention in the fic notes, I decided to write this fic after @eavos posted something in the tmfu discord server about The Queen's Gambit and how it'd make a good setting for a napollya AU. At first I didn't really think that much of it, but then I WATCHED The Queen's Gambit and the idea took hold of me like woah. Before this fic I'd written one long-form AU, and I certainly didn't expect this to become my longest ever fic, nor how MUCH I'd end up putting into it.

I've never done more research for a fic than I did for this fic. I planned it out using actual chess tournaments in the 1960s (whereupon I quickly learned just how fictional The Queen's Gambit was lol), getting into the nitty gritty of how many players and from what countries actually played them. Most of the chess games in the fic are real—I read an absurd number of tournament recaps in old archived issues of Chess Life magazine. I also got some information about grandmasters' lives and careers from various articles in there, as well as other stories online.

Illya's career wasn't really patterned off of any one player, but Napoleon's is roughly based on that of Bobby Fischer (this is one of the big reasons why, every time I think about 'filing off the serial numbers' of this fic, I reject the idea—I fear it would be written off as 'what if Bobby Fischer was gay', even when there's nothing of Fischer's personality in this). And don't get me started on the research/planning I did for the World Chess Championship at the end; I had spreadsheets to figure out the points and how to make it work out like I wanted it to.

Since this was the early days of me planning fics, I didn't have a great sense of chapters, nor did I have a very detailed outline. I'll post it here, in fact (behind a cut for spoilers, just in case).

Before I drop the rest, if anyone who's not a TMFU fan ends up reading this far, here's my tiny plea: If you love my fics, give this one a chance. You don't need to know anything about the fandom, I promise; consider it an original novel lol. But I still think this is among my best works, and it deserves to be read more than it is.

Ok, the outline. This was it—the championship, the date, very brief note about what was happening, and who won the tournament (tournaments in parentheses happened offscreen). I do not now recall what the asterisks mean lmao.

(US National Championship & Zonal, New York 1965 – Napoleon)

Hastings International Chess Congress 1966 (Jan) – Meet for the first time (Illya, Ch)*

Mar del Plata, Argentina 1966 (March) – Begin off-book games (draw, Co)

(World Chess Championship, Moscow 1966 – Illya)

Piatigorsky Cup, Santa Monica 1966 (July) – Affair begins (1–1, Illya Ch)*

Chess Olympiad, Havana 1966 (Oct) – Discovery (Soviets)

Palma de Mallorca, Spain 1966 (Nov) – Napoleon absent (Illya loses)

US Championship, New York 1966 (Dec) – Illya shows up looking for Napoleon*

Monte Carlo Tournament, Monaco 1967 (March) – Napoleon returns (Napoleon, Co)

Canadian Centennial Grand Masters Chess Tournament, Winnipeg 1967 (Oct) – Illya misses (Napoleon)*

Sousse Interzonal, Tunisia 1967 (Nov) – Napoleon wins

(Hoogovens 1968; Monte Carlo 1968; Chess Olympiad, Lugano 1968; Palma 1968)

World Chess Championship, Reykjavík 1969 (June) – Illya v. Napoleon (Napoleon)*

San Juan International Tournament, Puerto Rico 1969 (Oct) – Defection

Some of the early ones really ballooned, like Mar del Plata and the Piatigorsky Cup, because I really needed to give their relationship space to develop. And I'm so glad I did, I love all those moments and conversations they have. Sometimes I feel like I'm rushing through fics more these days, and this one was one I just allowed to grow, which is part of what makes it so delightful.

Anyway if you ever have questions about this fic please feel free to ask, I will never not want to talk about it. I love it so so much. Thank you for asking!!

[fotzepolitic]

She Is Conann

She Dies Tomorrow

The Red Shoes

Reds

We're All Going To The World's Fair

Donnie Darko

Righting Wrongs (1986)

Cop (1988)

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)

Mean Streets

Taxi Driver

Hidden City (1987)

Pinocchio 964

Artists And Models

Gambit (1966)

Pretty Poison (1968)

Fantasmas

Problemista

Seven Samurai

Crocus (1971)

Jefferson Circus Songs (1973)

Pinball (2013)

Joy Street (1995)

El doctor (2006)

Visitation (2011)

[streetlegal1978]

gonna watch gambit 1966 next it looks like shirley maclaine is doing yellow face in it this should be good

[gatutor]

Shirley MacLaine-Michael Caine "Ladrona por amor" (Gambit) 1966, de Ronald Neame.

[nelson-riddle-me-this]

Making playlists for the drive to/from this year's TCM Classic Film Festival and for movies whose scores I don't have/aren't available I like to think I'm pretty good at finding music that fits. Representing Grand Hotel (1932) I have the march that accompanies King Kong's NY debut in the original 30s movie. It's got a touch of glamour and theatricality in a very 30s way and there's good re-recordings of it. To stand in for the caper comedy Gambit (1966) [scored by Maurice Jarre] I've got some bossa nova source music from his score to Gran Prix (1966) and parts of John Williams' score to How To Steal A Million released that same year.

[crestfallercanyon]

A Tag Game! Thank you so much @mybrainismelted for tagging me! <3

📺favorite tv show? This answer is likely to change, and while I do love Shameless (and feel like that's the anticipated response lol) it is not actually my favorite tv show. It's up there (especially seasons 1-4), but I think the dedication of fav tv show as of now has to go to The Queen's Gambit. Nothing inspired me the way that show did, I obsessed over it for over a year, I have approximately 4 billion pins on Pinterest of it, and the track for the Mexico City Invitational 1966 got me through one of the hardest exams of my life. I am going to answer the rest of the questions with Shameless though because TQG doesn't really have a lot of what these questions are asking.

🕴️ favorite character? (I am so excited that @mybrainismelted mentioned Sheila, because I LOVE her in Shameless, she was one of my favorite characters, too). My other favorite is Ian. He is a sweet boy who is always trying so hard, and my heart kind of breaks for him all the time (In TQG, my fav character is Beth Harmon, gotta love her).

💋favorite relationship in the show? Ian and Mickey.

👯‍♂️fav sibling relationship in the show? I adore Ian and Fiona. I feel like Ian was the last one who was her "baby brother," and not as much "her kids" (though they all were) and I think the way they saw each other was so sweet. I just -- when Fiona asks how her "sweetface" is doing I wanted to CRY. Fiona with any of her siblings (except maybe Debbie in later seasons) though is always fun to watch.

🎨favorite art form? Probably music.

⚡️a talent you wish you had? Digital art. I've tried, I want to be good at it, but I'm terrible and it feels weird, so I stick to pen and paper for drawing.

☀️what is one thing that can always make your day better? music. particularly hearing someone play the piano.

🎬favorite fictional character of all time? Of all time??? That's so hard. Probably Link from Legend of Zelda. I've followed many iterations of him over the years and he never fails to make me happy and entertain me for several hours.

🌅dream place to travel to? Also Iceland, haha -- I always wanted to see Reykjavík.

🎈you’re planning a huge party, what’s the theme? Unlikely to host a huge party, but if it was like a gala I'd try for a Night Circus Theme? that'd be cool. With my actual money threshold, though, something that makes me laugh. My friend hosted a Golden Girls party and it was a blast. Or honestly, Twilight never ceases to entertain.

🍕favorite pizza topping of all time? pepperoni

🥂you can pick ONE celebrity to have dinner with…who? Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She seems absolutely brilliant.

🎥favorite movie that you kinda know is bad but you still love? There are parts to Secondhand Lions that are not great (the flashbacks in particular, and the ending is corny as hell), but it is one of my favorite movies of all time.

👖how would you describe your style? I dress very farmery midwest, and admittedly a little camp counselorish. Lots of jeans, graphic tees, henley style longsleeves and tanks, flannels/oversized button downs, crew neck sweatshirts and three-quarter-zips; lots of layers.

🖤finally, something making you smile this week? my friends and I are doing practical magic midnight margaritas for new years and I am SO excited.

tagging @mmmichyyy, @michellemisfit, @callivich, @go-catch-a-chickn, and anyone who would like to participate!

[chronomally]

I watched 1966's Gambit and found out there was a 2012 remake but honestly the only changes to the original Gambit I would want are to make Nicole actually Asian, have her fall in love with Shabhandar, and wipe clean the uncomfortable veneer of imperialism over the top of it