Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Movie, Book, and Music Review Public Enemies

I got to see the movie "Public Enemies" yesterday afternoon.
And, I am taking the VarmintWife to see it tonight.
She was unable to go yesterday (the opening day here in Dillon, Montana).
I enjoyed it very much on many levels - it was action packed - it was suspenseful - it was surprising - it had lots of blood and gore and MOST importantly it had close ups of lots of COOL guns!
I would give it a 95 on a scale of 1 to 100.
I really, really liked it.
It may have some unfactual instances and scenes - I am not that familiar with John Dillinger and his run ins with the law but if you want a double popcorn bag full of entertainement and excitement and great old guns by all means go see "Public Enemies" on the big screen.
On second thought, I will give "Public Enemies" a 96!
I held back a point or two on my scale because Johnny Depp is such a liberal puke in real life - but he is sure a great actor.
Hope you all get to see it and enjoy it as much as I did - I won't reveal any of the plot twists or story telling methods but will say this a person MUST pay attention to the story all along to get the full plot.
No bathroom breaks then, and its about 2 hours and 10 minutes long.
Can't wait to see it again tonight.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

it shows up here on Friday.......may knock off work an hour early and go to the 4 o'clock show....

Rattler: I was just up in your corner of the state on an extended Prairie Dog Hunt a couple weeks ago - north of Miles City I did not see a movie theatre!
I hope you don't have to drive to far to see the show and I certainly hope you enjoy it.
Drive careful.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Miles City is a ways south and west from me....2 and a half hour drive.......ive got to walk all of a block from work to hit the theater here in Wolf Point.....we have two screens even add that to the fact the wife is a co-manager of it and i dont even have to pay to get in

I liked it.

Rattler: Wow! Good for you and the "benefit" (movie situation!) in that regard.
Enjoy that situation!
I think the movie theater in Baker, Montana (way south of you) is for sale. I was through there a couple years ago and a for sale sign was in the marquee thing.
I always wanted to own a movie theater (free popcorn!).
Alas my wife decided to spawn kind of late in life and I am just this December going to have 2 boys graduating from two out of state colleges with two degrees apiece.
Its been a trying 6 1/2 years of late!
I am to old now to be starting up another business.
Hope all is well up Wolf Point way.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Look for the biography of Melvin Purvis, "Vendetta".
It is good to read after seeing the movie.

I friend of mine owns some of Dillinger's guns, which he got from Purvis. I'll PM you the photos. Johnny Depp and the actor who played Purvis visited with him and spent time getting down the mannerisms of Purvis, Dillinger and other G-men.

Lee24: Interesting information.
My E-mail is VarmintGuyaol.com
Thanks
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

finally saw it last night.....good movie.....not outstanding but worth seeing.....course i also had alot on my mind yesterday aswell....

VarmintGuy,
I am looking on some backup drives for where I put the digital photos of Dillinger's stuff. Some of it has some glare from a lamp, so I may reshoot them with a better camera, using a Polarizing filter.

Good God, when are you all going to stop falling for Lee24's bullshit?

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2925575/1

As for the movie, understand that it was a FICTIONALIZED account of John Dillinger's last year on Earth.

Bricktop,
I will try to take some new photos tomorrow, with a note to you in the photo.

If you receive public television, ask them to get a copy of the 2009 documentary on Melvin Purvis, which interviews my friend. It is available in the public television system.

Bricktop: What did you think of the movie itself?
Were you entertained?
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I think it was entertaining and I think Michael Mann captured the spirit of what occurred with tracking Dillinger and his gang; the FBI is portrayed as in over their heads (they were) and desperate to catch him (also true), while Dillinger and his gang are also portrayed as desperate not to get caught. However, I think Mann took an overly sympathetic view of Dillinger.

Bricktop: In my 29 year career as a POH-lice I caught MORE than my share of bank robbers.
By more than my share I mean I took down 6 of them.
That does't sound like many - and its not. But I worked my whole street career on the "graveyard" shift (from 8:00 PM until 4:00 AM!) and all the banks were closed well before I started my shifts.
I used methods not to much different than Purvis did - informants are a critical. I used informants to capture 3 of those 6 bank robbers and the other three fell to a method/tactic I do not wish to discuss publicly!
Bottom line is bank robbers DESPERATELY do not want to be caught!
The punishment for bank robbery is way more severe than similar but less "federal" crimes! WAY MORE SEVERE.
Its always been that way and always will be.
I think the FBI back then was extremely undermanned and there were social sympathies from much of the public towards bank robbers back then - and that didn't help.
Glad you were entertained - more than indulging in a historical critique of the movie I enjoyed the armaments, the action, the photography and the old cars VERY much.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I am very well aware of the penalties for bank robbery; minimum 7-year sentence if a weapon was used, though most of the serial robbers who only produce a note but no weapon receive about a year or so. Federal sentencing guidelines are public record and widely reported in the newspaper as well. (One of the parents at my oldest daughter's birthday party a few years back was an FBI SA in charge of a bank robbery squad.) And no, it hasn't ALWAYS been like that. During the time portrayed in the movie, bank robbery wasn't a federal crime. (Taking a stolen car across state lines was and that was the FBI's actual interest in Dillinger.)

The FBI had only been carrying weapons a year or two prior to Dillinger's death and Hoover was desperate to transform the Bureau of Investigation into a professional law enforcement agency.

Bricktop: The FDIC began insuring bank deposits in 1933 and bank robbery has been a Federal offense since then!
Robbing a bank has always brought a more severe sentence than say robbing the local Woolworht's store!
IF you think a bank robber only gets sentenced to 1 year in the callaboose for robbing a bank then you are vastly misinformed!
Bank robbery is one crime you DO NOT want to be convicted of!
The Feds WILL seize any and all of your assets to the point of recovering all monies you may have originally stolen and for costs of investigating said crime!
AND if you have no assets at the time of your arrest/conviction then once you get out of Federal Prison and DO acquire assets the Feds WILL then seize those assets in the future until your "obligation" to the FDIC and the law enforcement agencies involved is met!
Hell if 1 year was the penalty for bank robbery I might even consider becoming a "note passer"?
Yeah just mosey on down to your local bank and pass them a note demanding money and see what a long term [bleep] falls on your head!
I am thinking of buying the DVD of Public Enemies when it comes out.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I held back a point or two on my scale because Johnny Depp is such a liberal puke in real life - but he is sure a great actor.


VG, I thought so too until I saw him on David jerk Letterman.
Said he was looking forward to his kids getting a little older
so he could start shooting with them.I almost fell out of my chair. Well, he didn't say every one should do it,but I never would have guessed that he liked to, Bob

BOBBALEE: I to have always held young Mr. Depp in great disdain because of his liberal bent - good for him taking his young'uns out to go shooting when they are old enough.
David Letterman is another liberal puke that I abhor!
That white sock wearing fruit ball is deserving of this major [bleep] that began heaping up on him, of recent!
It LITERALLY makes me sick that he owns land in Montana!
Theres an old saying (I forget how it goes exactly) about being young and liberal and then aging and gaining perspective and responsibility and becoming more and more traditional (conservative!) that I hope will apply to Mr. Depp!
I hope Mr. Depp lives a safe and long life and enjoys his progeny to the max - especially when they go out shooting together.
I would never have guessed!
Hold int the wind
VarmintGuy

VarmintGuy, I well understand your revulsion toward Letterman.

IF he had land in Texas I'd send him brochures about Oklahoma.

Good Hunting. Bob

I read the book "Public Enemies," but didn't see the movie (I'm not much of a movie-goer). The book was entertaining, though it tended to drag here and there. What I found most surprising is that the "Gangster Era" apparently encompassed only a couple of years in the 1930's....before reading the book, I simply assumed that it lasted a decade or more during that period. Aside from "Public Enemies," there are also a coupla new bios on Bonnie and Clyde. I read one of them, "Go Down Together," and found it interesting to learn what low-end piss ants B&C were in real life.

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were common white trash low life cowards.

If you'd like to read about the actual tracking of and killing of Bonnie & Clyde, you should pick up a very interesting book about one of the great Texas Rangers, "I'm Frank Hamer, The Life Of A Texas Peace Officer," by John H. Jenkins and H. Gordon Frost, The Pemberton Press, Austin and New York, (c) 1980.

Hamer was the man who pulled the trigger on those two despicable cowards.

Great read also for more interesting stories of life among the "hard cases" of Texas.

L.W.

Wrong. (No surprise.) Bank robbery did NOT become a federal crime until the passage of the Bank Robbery & Incidental Crimes Statute in 1934. Look it up.

No, I'm not misinformed at all. That's your department. Federal sentencing guidelines take into account whether a weapon was used, whether injury was caused, etc. Note passers typically only serve ONE year.

Here, see if you can read and understand this:

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/113796

"The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables and any applicable statutory sentencing factors."

And where Mike Royko's son received 30 months for attempting to rob a bank with a fake bomb:

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loca...ed-bank-robbery-sentencing-65075292.html

Contact any U.S. Attorney's office or any FBI bank robbery squad if you doubt me. I've stated my sources of information and have invited you to refute them. You have failed to do so.

Let's see you refute this, VarmintGuy:

"1349 Bank Robbery�General Overview

Subsection (b) outlines the penalties for anyone who takes and carries away, with the intent to steal or purloin, any property or money or any thing of value in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of any bank, credit union, or savings and loan. The maximum penalty for violation of this subsection is a fine and ten years imprisonment if the value of the property exceeds $100. The maximum penalty is a fine and one year imprisonment if the property's value is $100 or less."

http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm01349.htm

That's direct from the U.S. Justice Department. Let me know if you have trouble understanding that.

Bricktop: How about the five additional years for being armed and committing a crime in federal institution?
How about threats to kill at a Federal Insured Bank?
How about your cited "ten years" being more than 99% of all first class felonious felons state prosecuted felons actually do get senteneced to.
I will repeat, because you are not very smart, you don't want to be found guilty of and sentenced FOR BANK ROBBERY!
The sentences for this are, IN REAL LIFE, way more severe than comparable crimes! NO plea bargains allowed when it comes to bank robbery - they prosecute YOU to the full extent of the federal laws!
I know, I been there - I seen it!
In other words I have been to hundreds of sentencings and sentencing hearings and if you think one of your brother turds who robs a mom and pop grocery with his gat and threatens to shoot gets the same sentence that one of your brother turds gets who does the same thing at a Federal Institution then you are just [bleep]!
Take it from me, there "Bricktop" (does this refer to your head being like a brick - by the way?), the bank robber always has and always will get a MUCH stiffer sentence than the common state prosecuted perp for virtually the same crime!
I am not saying thats a good thing mind you - I AM SAYING that is the way it is!
PERIOD!
While you have your law book open check into what happened to federal parole as compared to state!
He-he!
You've been trounced there Brickbrain!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Reading and comprehension are obviously a very weak skill set to you.

I have provided a link directly from the U.S. Department of Justice outlining the penalties for bank robbery. They are categorized by the amounts of money taken, use of weapons, and if someone was assaulted or killed in the commission of the crime.

I have also provided you with a couple of REAL life cases. Those are my sources that you are most welcome to question.

In response, you have only provided ignorant and immature invective that has exposed you for the blithering idiot you really are. You can either read and and understand the information provided or you can't and won't. Perhaps ignorance is truly bliss for your ilk.

Here, see if you can read any of these links. Maybe have someone read them to you. And draw some pictures if necessary.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/pr/pr_2003_007.shtml
http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11712240&nav=menu554_1_1
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705335420/Bank-robber-gets-break-on-sentence.html
http://www4.vindy.com/content/local_regional/314868525819045.php

And four years handed out to an armed bank robber:
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/post_45.html

The only trouncing thus far has been whatever you've inflicted on your own silly ass.

Brickbrain: I see your "real life" trouncing did not sit well witt-cha!
Need some'mo duz ya?
He-he!
You poor ignorant fool!
In YOUR first link YOU make MY case FOR me!
I will quote from it now: "We also want to send a message to anyone thinking about robbing a bank to make quick money: The odds are against you. In New York City, we capture seven out of every 10 bank robbers," Commissioner Kelly said. "The average sentence for someone convicted in an unarmed bank robbery is five years in prison; in armed robbery, which is prosecuted federally, the average sentence in 12 years."
End of your provided link/quote.
What part of that DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND???
BRICKBRAIN if you think the average mom and pop "armed robber" gets an "average sentence" of 12 years in PRISON (as YOUR cited example clearly defines!!!) then you have permanently set up residence in LA-LA land!
That contention of yours is stupid and contrary to reality!
You see there, BRICKBRAIN, "I" have been to ACTUAL real life trials and sentencings!!!
LOTS of them.
I stand with your cited link (the FIRST and only one I needed to see by the way!) and 12 years for an armed robbery of a Federal Institution or bank is common - I have never seen a 12 year sentence for a single armed robbery of a mom and pop or a jewelery store of a gas station.
If you are to stupid to understand that then thats simply more bad news for you!
Thanks for providing me with the link to "trounce" you, and your bricklikebrain, with AGAIN!
He-he!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

You are without a doubt, the dumbest God-damned person with whom I've dealt this entire month.

Exactly what is your background in law enforcement? Other than someone who is particularly fond of excessively using exclamation points, all I can tell is you were some kind of pinhead, local-yokel, Barney Fife, piece-of-dogshit who tends to believe he is truly a legend in his own mind. I would be damned surprised if you were with a federal agency. Outside of poultry inspection, that is.

Post up who you are if you're some kind of kick ass mofo fed so we can check it out. If you've done even ten percent of what you claimed on all of these cases, there'll be beaucoup public records out there for me and everyone else to read.

I've posted federal sentencing guidelines from the U.S. Department of Justice. You wanted to argue with that when you were and are obviously WRONG.

I've posted several newspaper accounts of recent bank robbery sentences. One received 24 months in which a pursuing cop broke his leg. That doesn't seem particularly excessive. Another received 30 months for bank robbery and check theft. You've argued that as well and you are OBVIOUSLY WRONG. Has Montana become some sort of hotbed of bank robbery activity all of a sudden?

I don't exactly see any of the other police-type people rushing to your defense on here or trying to refute anything I've posted. Which brings me to my most important question: Just how thick-headed ARE you? Only someone as profoundly STUPID as you would actually believe he was in the right on this discussion.

Oh, and lay off the exclamation points, dummy.

Just watched this film this evening.I thought it was very entertaining-it reminded me somewhat of a 1930's era "Heat",which makes sense considering it's a Michael Mann flick.

Lots of interesting guns on display.Purvis wielding a spoon handle Mauser sporter with DST was pure gold.

Brian.

Haven't watched it yet, but probably will. It's got to get to a five-day-rental before I'll fool with it.

was ok ,,i liked it