Tag: #film
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The Apartment (1960)
“Ya know, I used to live like Robinson Crusoe; I mean, shipwrecked among 8 million people. And then one day I saw a footprint in the sand, and there you were.” -C.C. Baxter, The Apartment (1960) Making it through the holidays in a new city for the first time is one of the most challenging times…
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(500) Days of Summer (2009)
One of my friends called me “the (enneagram) fouriest four to ever four.” I have a tendency in life to idealize and romanticize. Part of me only feels comfortable when there is a slight melancholy to something. Habitually, I find myself wallowing in sad music because it makes me feel. I find that expression to…
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The French Connection (1971)
Heroin is an evil drug. It is a poison that has killed more American soldiers than combat in the modern era (and by a wide margin). Given the damage we know heroin to cause, it may be of no surprise the rage it inspires as an antagonist itself in film especially during the latter years…
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A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Storytelling and imagery in film changed dramatically in the 1970s, and with this being the first Kubrick movie I’ve reviewed, this blog is about to get really annoying. A Clockwork Orange was one of the first really racy books I remember reading in high school. I remember my grandparents being quite appalled when I told…
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Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
One of the chief storytelling moments is the point of no return. It’s the exact moment in action where a journey is fundamentally and irreparably changed. Stakes are raised, futures are changed. and worlds are altered. For the film industry, this was 1962. The moment David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia hit the screens, it…
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Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Sometimes I watch movies to feel something: fear, anger, joy, elation, redemption. Sometimes I watch a movie as a pretense for shoveling popcorn into my mouth and giggling for an hour and a half. Singin’ in the Rain is definitely the latter. While most remember the big number with Gene Kelly hooking the lamp post…
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The Searchers (1956)
“Here comes John Wayne! ‘I’m not gonna cry about my pa! I’m gonna build an airport! Put my name on it!’ Why Michael? So you can fly away from your feelings?” -Tobias Fünke, circa 2004 John Ford’s 1956 Western epic The Searchers is a complicated film. It’s beautifully shot, but tonally tough for modern audiences.…
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Avatar 2: The Way of Water (2022)
“I finally saw Avatar, and I thought it lived up to the hype!” -Carl Lorthner, circa 2010 Avatar and Avatar 2: The Way of the Water will never make the AFI Top 100, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy it, so here is my first goofy review about a movie I will probably only…
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Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Bill Murray in Caddyshack, Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover, Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids, John Candy in Stripes, and both the leads in Bringing Up Baby. These are my first ballot inductees into the Screwball Character Hall of Fame. I did not realize this until a little research into this movie, but the screwball comedy has…
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
I go to the movies for many reasons. Here is one of them. I want to see wondrous sights not available in the real world, in stories where myth and dreams are set free to play. Animation opens that possibility, because it is freed from gravity and the chains of the possible. Realistic films show…