Chinatown (1974), Athadu (2005), There Will Be Blood (2007), The Goonies (1985), El Dorado (1967), On Top of Old Smoky (1953), Terror in a Texas Town (1958), Motherless Brooklyn (2019) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Land Grab movies.
Storyline: In 1937 Los Angeles, private investigator Jake 'J.J.' Gittes specializes in cheating-spouse cases. His current target is Hollis Mulwray, high-profile chief engineer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, whose wife suspects him of infidelity. In following Mulwray, Gittes witnesses some usual business dealings, such as a public meeting for construction of a new dam to create additional water supply for Los Angeles, as fresh water is vital to the growing community during the chronic drought; Mulwray opposes the dam. Eventually Gittes sees Mulwray meeting with an unknown young woman who isn't his wife. Once news of the supposed tryst between Mulwray and this woman hits the media, additional information comes to light that makes Gittes believe that Mulwray is being framed for something and that he himself is being set up. In his investigation of the issue behind Mulwray's framing and his own setup, Gittes is assisted by Mulwray's wife Evelyn, but he thinks she isn't being ...
Plot Keywords: neo noir, female nudity, murder, surveillance, femme fatale, adultery, incestuous relationship ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: To receive a sympathy vote, a crooked politician plans his own assassination attempt. Nandu is hired to merely wound the politician, but someone else pulls the trigger first. Framed for murder, Nandu flees and meets Pardhu, a man returning home after a long absence. The young man is killed in the police crossfire meant for Nandu. Nandu assumes Pardhu's identity and his new "cousin" has a romantic interest in him...
Plot Keywords: investigator, mortuary, one against many, assumed identity, redemption, farm, grandfather grandson relationship ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: The intersecting life stories of Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday in early twentieth century California presents miner-turned-oilman Daniel Plainview, a driven man who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He works hard but also takes advantage of those around him at their expense if need be. His business partner/son (H.W.) is, in reality, an "acquired" child whose true biological single-parent father (working on one of Daniel's rigs) died in a workplace accident. Daniel is deeply protective of H.W. if only for what H.W. brings to the partnership. Eli Sunday is one in a pair of twins whose family farm Daniel purchases for the major oil deposit located on it. Eli, a local preacher and a self-proclaimed faith healer, wants the money from the sale of the property to finance his own church. The lives of the two competitive men often clash as Daniel pumps oil off the property and tries to acquire all the surrounding land at bargain prices to be able to build a pipeline to the ...
Plot Keywords: oil, misanthrope, alcoholic, alcoholism, shot in the head, milkshake, capitalism ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Mikey Walsh and Brandon Walsh are brothers whose family is preparing to move because developers want to build a golf course in the place of their neighborhood -- unless enough money is raised to stop the construction of the golf course, and that's quite doubtful. But when Mikey stumbles upon a treasure map of the famed "One-Eyed" Willy's hidden fortune, Mikey, Brandon, and their friends Lawrence "Chunk" Cohen, Clark "Mouth" Devereaux, Andrea "Andy" Carmichael, Stefanie "Stef" Steinbrenner, and Richard "Data" Wang, calling themselves The Goonies, set out on a quest to find the treasure in hopes of saving their neighborhood. The treasure is in a cavern, but the entrance to the cavern is under the restaurant of evil thief Mama Fratelli and her sons Jake Fratelli, Francis Fratelli, and the severely disfigured Lotney "Sloth" Fratelli. Sloth befriends the Goonies and decides to help them.
Plot Keywords: treasure hunt, outlaw, teen comedy, teen movie, pirate, treasure map, map ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Hired gunman Cole Thornton turns down a job with Bart Jason as it would mean having to fight an old sheriff friend. Some months later he finds out the lawman is on the bottle and a top gunfighter is heading his way to help Jason. Along with young Mississippi, handy with a knife and now armed with a diabolical shotgun, Cole returns to help.
Plot Keywords: alcoholic, based on novel, alcoholism, chase, sheriff, double gun holster, two gun holster ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Poachers are harassing toll road owner Jen Larrabee. They want her land because it holds valuable minerals. Autry and the Cass County Boys, mistaken for Texas Rangers, help out.—Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Plot Keywords: bound and gagged, jail break, land grab, mistaken identity, robbery, singing cowboy, tied to a chair ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Sven Hanson is one of a number of farmers whom Ed McNeil wants to run off their land (because he knows there's oil on it). When Hanson is murdered by McNeil's gunman, Johnny Crale, Hanson's friend Pepe Mirada hides his knowledge of the murderer's identity in order to protect his family. When Hanson's son George arrives and takes up his father's cause, not only Mirada but also Johnny Crale begin to reevaluate their attitudes.—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>
Plot Keywords: greed, hotel owner, target practice, murder witness, mexican american, shot to death, arson ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Set against the backdrop of 1950s New York, "Motherless Brooklyn" follows Lionel Essrog (Norton), a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome, as he ventures to solve his friend's murder. Armed only with a few clues and the powerful engine of his obsessive mind, Lionel unravels closely-guarded secrets that hold the fate of the whole city in the balance.—Warner Bros.
Plot Keywords: neo noir, 1950s, jazz music, based on novel, friendship, urban decay, corrupt official ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Cavanaugh and McCauley are after the ranchers land. When the Government announces the land will be put up for auction, the ranchers pool their money only to have it stolen by Cavanaugh's men. They then plan to sell their cattle but Cavanaugh announces a fake gold strike and the cowhands all leave. But Gene's hobo friend the Judge says he will get the cattle to market and he sends out a signal to his hobo friends.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>
Plot Keywords: singing cowboy, horse and carriage, hypnotism, jail, new mexico, resort, robbery ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: CHAP. 1, HI YO SILVER: An outlaw leader planning to take control of Texas after the Civil War kills Colonel Jeffries, a man empowered to levy taxes, and assumes his identity. His men then murder a troop of Rangers. Tonto finds one Ranger still alive and he becomes the Lone Ranger. A Jeffries spy thinks one of five men is the Lone Ranger and to eliminate his enemy, Jeffries has all five captured and sentenced to death. CHAP. 2, THUNDERING EARTH: Jeffries' men plan to wipe out a wagon train of Texans. CHAP. 3, PITFALL: Jeffries forces Blanchard to send a recommendation that he be made Governor. The Lone Ranger chases the courier but a spiked pit awaits him. CHAP. 4, AGENT OF TREACHERY: Jeffries prepares another trap for the Lone Ranger. CHAP. 5, STEAMING CALDRON: Catching one of Jeffries' men who trailed a wounded Jim Clark to their secret caved, there is a fight and the Lone Ranger ends up trapped in a pit with a steaming cauldron. CHAP. 6, RED MAN'S COURAGE: Clark dies from his wounds. Of the four remaining Rangers, the identity of the Lone Ranger is still unknown. When Jeffries' men kill two Indians and leave silver bullets, their tribesmen capture Tonto and prepare to kill him. CHAP. 7, WHEELS OF DISASTER: Joan has been placed in a wagon with gun powder and the Lone Ranger rides to save her. CHAP. 8, FATAL TREASURE: The Rangers get Jeffries' silver but retrieving it the next day, two of the Rangers get trapped in a well. CHAP. 9, MISSING SPUR: The Rangers are jailed for taking the silver. Kester has obtained the spur from the Lone Ranger and now says he will identify him. CHAP. 10, FLAMING FURY: The Lone Ranger and Tonto get trapped in a burning barn. CHAP. 11, SILVER BULLET: When Jeffries' men kill Bob Stuart's uncle, the maker of the silver bullets, Stuart trails them and ends up in a gunfight. CHAP. 12, ESCAPE: Stuart dies leaving three Rangers. Trying to save Joan and her father, they and the Lone Ranger are in a stage that goes over a cliff. CHAP. 13, FATAL PLUNGE: Chapter 1 flashback. CHAP. 14, MESSENGER OF DOOM: Kester uses the Rangers' pigeons to locate their secret cave. Greatly outnumbered, Forrest collapses the cave ceiling killing himself and the soldiers. CHAP. 15, LAST OF THE RANGERS: The two remaining Rangers try to escape from the rest of Jeffries' men but one is killed. The Lone Ranger organizes the Texans who then meet Jeffries and his men in a final shootout. With the Texans now in control the Lone Ranger finally unmasks.—Maurice VanAuken <vanauken@comcast.net>
Plot Keywords: confession, rejection, treachery, anxiety, gang leader, gang member, serial ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In Nome, Alaska, miner Roy Glennister and his partner Dextry, financed by saloon entertainer Cherry Malotte, fight to save their gold claim from crooked commissioner Alexander McNamara.
Plot Keywords: bare chested male fighting, gold mine, steamship, u.s. marshal, stage, revolver, frontier town ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: A prospector discovers natural cement and suggests it should be used for a new dam. But this is the last thing the badmen of Trail End want, as they have a monopoly of the wagons needed to haul rocks to the site. A pretty sheriff notwithstanding, it's a job for a singing marshal.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Plot Keywords: murder, u.s. marshal, grindhouse film, scheme, guitar player, land grab, hit and run ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: A stranger comes to town looking for his estranged wife. He finds her running the local girls. He also finds a town and sheriff afraid of their own shadow, scared of a landowner they never see who rules through his rowdy sidekicks. The stranger is a town tamer by trade, and he accepts a $500 commission to sort things out.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Plot Keywords: revenge, building on fire, casino, gambler, gunfighter, brothel madam, orchestral music score ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Wolf Valley is in the throes of a land-grab engineered by Barlow and Taylor. The fight against them is led by Billy Carson, who is framed on a murder charge which the outlaws believe will drive him out of the territory. But instead of running, Billy surrenders and stands trial before Judge Ryan, a square shooter. After weighing the evidence, Ryan finds Bill not guilty but sentences Billy to jail for 30 days for disturbing the peace because the Judge thinks that is the only way to save Billy from the vengeance of Barlow and Taylor. But, without Billy's leadership, the settlers are helpless and ranches are burned, cattle rustled, the town is shot up, the bank robbed and the mining claim owned by Billy and Fuzzy Jones is confiscated. Ryan releases Billy who puts on a fake mustache, gets a sombrero and poses as a Mexican cattle-buyer in order to work his way into the gang.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: dual role, land grab, cattle rustling ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Gene Autry attempts to arrange that both the Indians and ranchers, scheduled to be driven from their land by Mesa City's mew aqueduct, benefit from the deal, which is opposed by town banker Mason. Mason stirs up the Indians against Gene but, with help from school teacher Carol, Gene is able to expose Mason's schemes.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: loan, foreclosure, stampede, indian reservation, government official, construction site, sabotage ...
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