To Steal a Diamond

It's amazing how fascinated people are by material things. Not to sound like I'm above it all. I'm right in there with the rest of the world. I think deep down, we're all a bit materialistic.

Which is why there are always a ton of movies about thieves and robberies and all that jazz. So today we're going to have a little chat about what I think are the 5 best films about stealing diamonds.

In no particular order:

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

So I may have lied a bit when I said that this wasn't in order, because this film is absolutely my favorite film  that I'm putting here. The film follows an odd foursome - gangster and leader George Thomason (a twist on the name of the actor who plays him), crony Ken Pile (Michael Palin), con artist Wanda Gershwitz (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Otto West (Kevin Kline), the latter two having been brought in from the outside.

Honestly, the theft itself is not the focus of the movie, unlike most heist films. In fact, the heist is easy and goes without a glitch, except for one little old lady who happens to see them. So they hide the diamonds and walk away, only to have Wanda and Otto turn in George and try to take the loot for themselves).

A Birthday Note to Roger Ebert

Dear Mr. Ebert,

I'd like to start off by wishing you a very wonderful and happy 68th birthday today. It really is amazing that you have been writing reviews for the Chicago Sun Times since 1967 - that's 44 years of reviewing film.

So yes, being one of the longest running and most famous film critics in the world is a true accomplishment, and it is no secret that people trust and respect your opinion more than any other critic today.

But the truth is, it's more than your consistency and skill in reviewing that has made you arguably the most important film critic today. It's the fact that you, along with others, such as the amazing Pauline Kael (I must give credit where credit is due), finally gave a VOICE to criticism. I took a film class first semester in which we read a bunch of reviews for Katharine Hepburn films, from both the time of release and more modern times. The truth is, reviews that came before seemed to have no spirit, no spark that reflects whether the critic had a passion for the film or not. It was either great, good, average or bad.

And then I read your review for Guess Who's Coming for Dinner, which you wrote in your second year of reviewing for the Sun Times, and I was immediately engrossed.