Spitball Army

Basis for countless family/show biz melodramas since? Fascinating interweaving of silent cinema and musical numbers.

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Finely-tuned ensemble acting, by turns deeply romantic, hilarious, appropriately treacherous. Amy Acker FTW!

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Sinister; moody; angular. As if Terrence Malick directed Shadow of a Doubt with dialogue; except Malick didn’t make this. What if the house guest cooked the housekeeper, but they continued to eat even after they suspected it, since it was cooked so well. #Stoker Stoker is a great example of a director fulfilling film’s potential […]

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Turns out to be my favorite Almodóvar film so far. Cleverly disguised rape scene; effective use of Pina Bausch dance sets.

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Turns out to be my fave Almodovar film so far. Cleverly disguised rape scene; effective use of Pina Bausch dance sets.

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The esteemed Criterion Collection will be releasing a remastered, re-tooled and gussied-up edition of Fritz Lang’s film noir Ministry of Fear on blu-ray on March 12th. I stumbled upon my VHS copy of the film while cleaning out a closet recently; here is its video box art circa 1996 (the front, shown above; the back, […]

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Today’s film, which was a crackerjack. It’s a 1937 early film noir, directed by the great Fritz Lang (only his second American film). Henry Fonda does a great job as an ex-convict trying to go straight, but gets pushed back into his old ways due in great part to societal rejection. You can see the […]

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“The Impossible” at The Summit, Birmingham.

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“A Late Quartet” at The Edge 12, Birmingham. Movie and a beer!

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At the start of 2011, I began compiling a list of films and other entertainments that I viewed either in the theater or via disc and cable. My Mom does this and, while I can’t say that she necessarily inspired me to take up the habit, I have enjoyed going back to the list and […]

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