Great Scenes: Alec Baldwin’s motivational speech in Glengarry Glen Ross

glengarryglenrossI’m an Alec Baldwin fan from way back. Forget all you Johnny-come-latelys who are jazzed by his performances on 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live. I’m talking She’s Having a Baby and Working Girl. I’m talking The Hunt for Red October.

And then, 1990’s Miami Blues launched him into the pantheon. His performance in that wonderful film remains one of my favorite by anybody ever.

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Forgotten gems: Miami Blues

(This is the first in an occasional series on movies that never got the recognition they deserved)

1990 was a landmark year for one of my favorite genres — the crime film. Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, the Coen Brothers’ Miller’s Crossing, Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita and Stephen Frears’ The Grifters all hit screens that year to massive critical acclaim.

But lost in the pack was George Armitage’s stylish, funny and violent Miami Blues, an adaptation of Charles Willeford’s novel and one of the very best films of the 90s.

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