Tag Archives: Casablanca

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

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Summer Fun: One good, one medium, and one piece of dreck

    Incredibles 2 Incredibles 2, a financial success and the longest animated feature film in history, is a good argument for not popping out a sequel right after the success of the first film. Fortunately, this film is more … Continue reading

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Three by Boyer: Liliom (1934), Algiers (1938), and Love Affair (1939)

Charles Boyer was thought of as retro and a subject of satire when I was young. He was somewhere between the worlds of my parents and grandparents, and most of us knew that he was the model for Pepé Le … Continue reading

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The Other “Gaslight” (British, 1940)

Most folks interested in classic Hollywood films know Gaslight, the 1944 melodrama that gave Ingrid Bergman her first Oscar. Also the winner of the Oscar for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White, it was a well-regarded, deftly crafted film that received … Continue reading

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Watch on the Rhine (1943) and In Which We Serve (1942)

My excursions into the films of Powell and Pressburger brought me back into the world of the 1940s, and specifically, World War II. My next film to see is 49th Parallel (also known as The Invaders in the U.S.), which … Continue reading

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La La Land

I haven’t seen Moonlight yet (I live in Rochester, New York, not a major city, and it takes awhile for films to get here at times), but La La Land may well be the best film of the year. It’s … Continue reading

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Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge, Mel Gibson’s film about the bravery of World War II medic Desmond Doss during the Battle of Okinawa, is an extraordinary film and a massive Rorschach test. This is Gibson’s return to directing after his monumental success with … Continue reading

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Allied

Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, Cast Away) has created an unusual semi-old-fashioned war and romance film in Allied. Unfortunately, most of its early press had to do with its stars—Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard—and their non-existent romance that then … Continue reading

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Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Somewhere in the middle of loud action, threatening dinosaurs and pixilated activities in films ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, Tom Cruise managed to release the latest film in the Mission Impossible series. Rogue Nation is one of the … Continue reading

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