Con movies mentioned in Castle?

Catch Me if You Can, based on a true story. You can read the book after or you spoil the movie.

The Sting
House of Games

The Usual Suspects

And I give a vote also to House of Games ( not as well known a movie as it deserves to be. Really excellent. )

There is also a well done recent TV series on USA network which will begin airing new episodes tomorrow night at 10 PM and repeats later.

It’s called White Collar.

To get the gist of the storyline you may want to catch up on past episodes through iTunes or Netflix. It’s on a weird type of broadcast schedule where they divide the “season” into two blocks, one of which was during the summer and the second batch just starting up again now (tomorrow).

Basically it’s about a skilled and charismatic con man who is let out of jail on condition of his continuing to help the lawman who caught him in solving current crimes. Of course the FBI guy is responsible for making sure he stays on the right side of the law. Lots of interesting and fairly intricate plot lines so far.

Two more con classic movies.

How could I have missed the title which I originally thought (through careless reading) was the screen name of our distinguished expert, Filmfann.

The Flim Flam Man (George C. Scott)

And the fabulous classic starring vehicle for the young Tatum O’Neal and her father, Ryan.

Paper Moon

Just ignore all the recent nonsensical happenings amongst the various members of that family.

This picture predated all of that and was filmed in (and portrays) a more innocent age

Paper Moon is a true classic which nobody should miss.

Another oldie but goody is:

The Thomas Crown Affair

But with two recommendations:

Watch the original (1968) version with Steve McQueen first. Yes, I know that black and white is kind of old fashioned nowadays, but In this case it allows concentration on the mood of the movie without distractions on scenic or wardrobe issues.

Secondly, go to YouTube and listen to the words of the song “Windmills of Your Mind” several times before watching the film. Most are familiar with the tune more than the intricate poetry of the words. But rarely has a soundtrack song been woven so integrally into the picture for which of is remembered. The Academy Award that year went to this song and rightfully so. It was that good at mirroring the mood of the part of the picture in which it was highlighted (the glider scene).

The later remake of this classic wasn’t half bad and Pierce Brosnan is certainly easy on the eyes, but definitely see the original first. You won’t be sorry.

There aren’t many movies which I’ll spend the time to watch again if they’re running on TV but this is definitely one that I just can’t resist whenever it appears. It’s really that good.