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This is a Time for Ghosts
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, horror is my favorite film genre. But that doesn’t stop me from occasionally getting aggravated by some of the female stereotypes that populate it. From...
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E’reway in-hay the oney-may… or The Exorcist as a sequel to Gold Diggers of 1933
I’ve been on a pre-Code jag lately. Mind you, I’ve watched movies all my life that were made before the enforcement of the Hollywood Production Code (which was drafted after the advent of sound but not...
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Dreams of a Rare Artistic Fiend
While we’re on the topic of great animators, it’s well past time I got around to saying a few words about Winsor McCay. He’s rightly hailed as one of the early pioneers of animated cartoons. You can’t...
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I Didn’t See That Coming: Playing Against Type in the 1980s
Actors and directors often give the public what they want. After all, their jobs involve entertaining the public and, to the degree that they are successful at any given job, that job will necessarily...
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A Valentine for Burt Reynolds
As a valentine to one of my favorite stars, I offer a celebratory tribute to Burt Reynolds, who turns 77 today. He is one of a handful of genuine stars, like Kurt Russell and Bruce Willis, who are...
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Happy Returns: Recent Box Office Hits in China and Korea
While the first quarter of the year has generally been a quiet time for Hollywood’s coffers, the rest of the world has been packing them in to their local multiplexes. Two of the bigger recent...
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The Cold (vs Warm) War
The other day I was having a conversation with someone on Twitter (I use the term “conversation” loosely for Twitter as it is really just 140 character bursts that go back and forth between several...
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All Love is Mad
When I first saw Karl Freund’s MAD LOVE (1935) 20 odd years ago I was somewhat disappointed by it. I had spent decades looking at still photos from the movie in various books I came across and I had...
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Reimagining Escape from the Planet of the Apes as a Warner Brothers gangster...
If you grew up, as I did, in the Seventies and came of age with 20th Century Fox’s PLANET OF THE APES films then it is likely that you have struggled over the past forty years to make a case for the...
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Thoughts on the Time Machine
Set your timers for this coming Tuesday (or set your time machine in case you’re reading this after Tuesday), because TCM will be showing the movie that gave this blog its name: George Pal’s production...
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Once Again, Remembering Vera-Ellen
Those of us who can’t resist a good MGM musical are no doubt now and again thinking about the great screen dancer Vera-Ellen, a sparkling screen presence in an number of films yet someone whose memory...
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Article 1
The Oscars are around the corner and, as an exhibitor, I’m especially excited about the Oscar Nominated Animation Shorts because this is one of the most popular programs we put on at the film series I...
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The Stunt Man
This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented honorary Oscars to AFI founder George Stevens, Jr., verite documentarian D.A. Pennebaker, and stuntman Hal Needham. While it is...
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Death Defiers: The Dawn Patrol (1930)
The aviation films of Howard Hawks are comprised of tightly knight groups of men confronting death. The bleakest entry, The Dawn Patrol (1930), also happened to be the first , a tale of a British Air...
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Please Sir, Can I Have Some More?
One thing I like to imagine when thinking about a film I really enjoy is what the side characters do in their spare time, that is, when they’re not busy propelling the story of the main character...
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Does Oscar gold come with an Oscar curse?
In the weeks leading up to the 85th Academy Awards the usual flood of articles about the so-called “Oscar Curse” or “Oscar Jinx” have started to appear. Journalists who write these superstitious...
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People you should know: Ross Elliott
I was watching GUN CRAZY (1950) the other night for the whateverth time and at about 66 minutes in I heard a familiar voice. I was looking at the woman in the ticket booth, in the way I love to focus...
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The clothes make the man
So, what should you set your timers this week, you ask? Well, there’s a block of Ealing Comedies coming up on Thursday that should be a destination for you. All of them are great, but it’s The Man in...
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Forgotten Oscar: 1928 -1934 Edition
Each year the Oscars ignite arguments between movie lovers between what did win and what didn’t win, what could have won and what should have won. And more often than not, by the very next year,...
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Moon Man
Last week, one of my favorite actors, Sam Rockwell, appeared on campus at Ringling College of Art and Design as part the Studio Lab Series. The Lab Series, in association with the digital filmmaking...
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