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Categories
Category Archives: Film Reviews
Wonder Woman 1984
Seeing Wonder Woman 1984 was both exhilarating and disappointing. It was our first movie “date” in nearly a year, and it was great to be back in a good theater with a large screen (I’d seen Tenet on my own … Continue reading
Mank and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank Two films that are sure to be receiving multiple Oscar nominations have recently been released. They were originally supposed to be seen in theaters (remember theaters?), but have landed on Netflix instead. They couldn’t be more different, except for … Continue reading
Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films
Tagged A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve, Amanda Seyfried, Ben Mankiewicz, Chadwick Boseman, Citizen Kane, David Fincher, Frank Merriam, Gary Oldman, George C. Wolfe, George Jazz Band, Heath Ledger, Herman Mankiewicz, Jack Fincher, Joseph Mankiewicz, Josh Mankiewicz, L.B. Mayer, Lackawanna Blues, Les Miserables, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Mamma Mia!, Mank, Marion Davies, Netflix, Orson Welles, Pauline Kael, Philip Seymour Hoffman, River Phoenix, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Viola Davis, William Randolph Hearst
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Tombstone (1993)
I was speaking with one of my sons the other day, and he made a Tombstone reference. I confessed that I hadn’t seen the film, and he humorously dropped his phone and generally expressed his horror and disappointment. The gauntlet … Continue reading
Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films
Tagged Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Billy Zane, Charlton Heston, Cobra, Dana Delaney, Doc Holliday, George Cosmatos, Jason Priestly, John Corbett, Jon Tenney, Kevin Jarre, Kurt Russell, Leviathan, Michael Biehn, Michael Rooker, Powers Boothe, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Sam Elliott, Stephen Lang, Thomas Haden Church, Tombstone, Val Kilmer, Wyatt Earp
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Tough Films, Great Performances: The Informer (1935) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
I’m not sure exactly what I imagined The Informer to be, but it wasn’t what I expected. This is the film that gave John Ford his first of four Best Director Oscars (still unmatched) and gave an Oscar to lead … Continue reading
Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films
Tagged Battle Cry, Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, Caged, Casablanca, Charles Laughton, Clark Cable, Dark Victory, Detective Story, Eleanor Powell, Elmer Bernstein, Ernest Borgnine, Franchot Tone, Frank Sinatra, From Here to Eternity, Gone with the Wind, Interrupted Melody, Jezebel, John Ford, Johnny Belinda, Kim Novak, Life with Father, Marlon Brando, Marty, Max Steiner, Mutiny on the County, Now Voyager, Otto Preminger, Sergeant York, Since You Went Away, The Caine Mutiny, The Garden of Allah, The Gay Divorcee, The Informer, The Letter, The Man with the Golden Arm, The Moon is Blue, The Sound of Music, Victor McLaughlin
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How Green Was My Valley (1941)
How Green Was My Valley is now, and will continue to be, best remembered as the film that “stole” the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars from Citizen Kane. If I have to come down on one side or the … Continue reading
Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films
Tagged Arthur C. Miller, Broken Blossoms, Citizen Kane, Donal Crisp, Drums Along the Mohawk, Gregg Toland, How Green Was My Valley, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Intolerance, Jezebel, John Ford, Maureen O'Hara, Mutiny on the Bounty, National Velvet, Pollyanna, Red Dust, Roddy McDowall, Spencer's Mountain, Stagecoach, The Birth of a Nation, The Grapes of Wrath, The Informer, The Life of Emile Zola, The Music Man, The Musketeers of Pig Alley, The Quiet Man, Tobacco Road, Walter Pidgeon, West Side Story, Wuthering Heights, Young Mr. Lincoln
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Da 5 Bloods
Spike Lee’s new film (streaming on Netflix) is simultaneously the most important film of the year so far, yet not necessarily the best one. It’s important because Lee is one of our most important filmmakers, and it’s important because … Continue reading
Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films
Tagged Apocalypse Now, Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods, Delroy Lindo, Do the Right Thing, General Norman Schwarzkopf, Heart of Darkness, Jonathan Majors, Joseph Conrad, President Trump, Spike Lee, Stormin' Norman, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Vietnam
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The Three to See: The Birth of a Nation, Gone with the Wind, and 12 Years a Slave
The Three to See: Birth of a Nation, Gone with the Wind, and 12 Years Slave As I wade into where angels fear to tread, I want to make it clear that I am stepping outside the current social discussion … Continue reading
Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films, Older Films
Tagged 12 Years a Slave, Benedict Cumberbatch, Broken Blossoms, Butterfly McQueen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Civil War, D.W. Griffith, Dark Victory, Dodge City, Gigi, Gone with the Wind, Green Book, Gunga Din, Hattie McDaniel, HBO Max, Hollywood, Intolerance, Jacqueline Stewart, Ku Klux Klan, Lillian Gish, Love Affair, Lupita Nyong'o, Max Steiner, Michael Fassbender, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, NAACP, Netflix, Ninotcha, Of Mice and Men, Olivia De Havilland, Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood, Oscars, Prissy, Reconstructionists, Sarah Paulson, Solomon Northup, Stagecoach, TCM, The Birth of a Nation, The Cheat, The Clansman, The Wizard of Oz, The Women, Viven Leigh, William Cameron Menzies, Woodrow Wilson, Wuthering Heights, YouTube
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Two Films from the Fifties: Niagara and Les Girls
Note: It’s been a long time since I’ve had time to write for this space. The pandemic hit hard, as I was just getting accustomed to handling four college courses (two were new). Once we went online, I had to … Continue reading
Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films
Tagged A Star is Born, An American in Paris, cyd charisse, Debbie Reynolds, Don Wilson, gene kelly, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, George Cukor, Grace Kelly, Hello Dolly, Henry Hathaway, Hitchcock, How the West Was Won, it's always fair weather, Jack Cole, James Mason, Jean Peters, Joseph Cotton, Joseph MAcDonald, Kay Kendall, Les Girls, Leslie Caron, Lurene Tuttle, Marilyn Monroe, Max Showalter, MGM, Mitzi Gaynor, My Fair Lady, Niagara, Rashomon, Rex Harrison, Richard Allan. How to Marry a Millionaire, Robert Burks, singin' in the rain, South Pacific, Taina Elg, Technicolor, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, The Women, True Grit, Vera Ellen
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Emma.
Not sure who thought the world needed another version of Jane Austen’s Emma. Perhaps there is always room for a great adaptation of a classic work. But in the case of the newly released Emma. (yes, the period is part … Continue reading
Jojo Rabbit
At the end of 1942’s Now, Voyager, Bette Davis turns to Paul Henreid, and utters the now classic line, “Oh, Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the moon. We have the stars.” I was reminded of that line when I caught … Continue reading
Film stuff by Mark 