Greatest Films (clubs 2-10) 3rd in an ongoing series

Clubs represent the masculine generative/destructive force and as such the 13 films representing the various clubs will be war/conflict/adventure type films cause that's how I roll.

2 of clubs - The Thief of Bagdad, Michael Powell, and others (dir)
Sabu as Abu kicks ass. A wonderful fantasy/kids film, and despite being from 1940 has aged well.

3 of clubs - The Roaring Twenties, Raoul Walsh (dir)
James Cagney did many gangster roles, but this was one of his best. Bogart's supporting turn ain't bad either. Cagney as Eddie Bartlett is all energy and menace (despite his small frame) and this movie is compelled by his kineticism.

4 of clubs - Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg (dir)
In many ways this is just a Republic serial with a bigger budget, but in many other ways this is the classic American big studio summer blockbuster and few of the imitators have come close.

5 of clubs - The Wild Bunch, Sam Peckinpah (dir)
A great western, a great film, bloody, cynical, the acting, cinematography and directing conspire to make the perfect anti-hero western.

6 of clubs - Kill Bill (Vol 1 & Vol 2), QT (dir)
The most masculine chick flick ever made (and yet seeing The Bride with her daughter at the end brings a tear to my eye)

7 of clubs - Patton, Franklin J. Schaffner (dir)
Arguably the greatest acting performance in a biographical film, ever. Also greatly illustrates the laws of unintended consequences. I suspect the makers of the film didn't expect audiences to be as sympathetic with Patton and his view of warfare as they were. His jingoism and bloodlust were supposed to be consumed with ironic detachment, instead most audiences saw him as a positive representation of American gumption and can-do-itiveness and the flag scene was meant to echo the fascist he fought, but most saw pride and passion.

8 of clubs - The Big Sleep, Howard Hawks (dir)
Still the best hard-boiled detective film (the only other one that comes close is Devil in a Blue Dress). Treats the source with respect, and seeing wartime L.A. as a place where hauntingly hot women work at every job (from bookshop worker, to taxi-driver) is a nice touch. And how can you not love a film that has William Faulkner helping to adapt a Raymond Chandler novel with Howard Hawks directing Bogie and Bacall at the inception of their love affair.

9 of clubs - Spartacus, Stanley Kubrick (dir)
Big, sweeping filmmaking at its best. 'Nuff said

10 of clubs - Terminator 2: Judgment Day, James Cameron (dir)
Bigtime action/sci-fi done right. The role that made Schwarzenegger governor. This film led to so many bad imitators and awful trends but it still should be viewed as the kickass film that it is.



UPDATE:

For ease of navigation, and just in case anyone comes to any of these individual posts randomly, I'm adding a link to each of the nine posts within each posts.

Summary
2-10 of Hearts
JQKA of Hearts
2-10 of Clubs
JQKA of Clubs
2-10 of Diamonds
JQKA of Diamonds
2-10 of Spades
JQKA of Spades
Jokers