CineSavant
Crime of Passion
Witness the 'fifties transformation of the femme fatale from scheming murderess to self-deluding social climber. Barbara Stanwyck redefines herself once again in…
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Fear of the Velvet Curtain
FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE: JEANNE DIELMAN…
WARNING: The following piece was written without regard to the presence of “spoilers.” We see the interior of a quiet apartment. It…
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One Million B.C.
Leapin' Lizards! The original cavemen vs. dinosaurs saga is a winner -- if viewer involvement trumps visual effects, it's got a narrow…
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The Big Sick
This modern romantic comedy about stand-up comedians generates a genuine warmth about people, the ones-who-need-people kind. Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon's…
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The Illustrated Man
Ray Bradbury adapted to the screen is always something to check out; this Jack Smight- directed trio of stories bound together by…
Fear of the Velvet Curtain
TOHO DREAMS
Is it possible, in the grand age of visual and storytelling sophistication in which we live (the sarcasm is coming through, isn’t…
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The Emperor in August
This great recent Japanese epic is all but unknown here -- and is the kind of adult historical show that we seem…
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David Lynch: The Art Life
Twin Peaks: The Return recently ended its 18 hour run on Showtime and with that it can be said that the 41…
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The Love of a Woman
Welcome to the world of Jean Grémillon, where adult characters work through adult problems without benefit of melodramatic excess. The impressively directed…
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Love with the Proper Stranger
What are two individualistic, highly motivated movie stars supposed to do when faced with an unimaginative studio system eager to misuse their…
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The Lost World (1925)
*Sigh* — Not a day goes by that I don’t miss my escaped brontosaurus. This wonder movie of the silent era, which…
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La Poison
One of the most insightful commentaries on Sacha Guitry’s La Poison can be found right there on the cover of Criterion’s beautiful…
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Flipper Season One
Back in 1964 a lot of people still thought dolphins were fish, but by the time this TV show was finished, we…
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A ‘Close Encounters’ Example of Forced Perspective
‘Close Encounters’ awareness is up this week, what with a national mini-release of the 1977 Steven Spielberg hit, so I reached into…
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Krakatoa East of Java
'Things Blowing Up Good' has been surefire entertainment since the beginning of cinema, but this ill-fated Cinerama extravaganza about the biggest explosion…
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Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
A how-to book for fledgling libertines, David Reuben’s bestselling Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)…
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The Law and Jake Wade
Many of MGM's productions were scraping bottom in 1958, yet the studio found one more acceptable western vehicle for their last big…
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Kid Galahad
He sings, he fixes cars, and he takes punches better than De Niro's Raging Bull. Elvis Presley excels in one of his…
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Red Line 7000
It's finally here in all its glory, the Howard Hawks movie nobody loves. The epitome of clueless '60s filmmaking by an auteur…
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Festival: Folk Music at Newport, 1963-1966
We thought all the great vintage music documentaries were accounted for, but Murray Lerner's look at the Newport Folk Festival in the…
Fear of the Velvet Curtain
1941: A GREAT COMEDY FOR SLIM PICKENS DAY
On Monday, August 28, 2017, Turner Classic Movies will devote an entire day of their “Summer Under the Stars” series to the…
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Certain Women
Is this the new feminist minimalism? Director Kelly Reichart doesn't like labels, and to her credit as a woman director, her amalgam…
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Jerry Lewis Returns to the Cosmos
On August 20, 2017, Jerry Lewis took a pratfall off this mortal coil, presumably knocking an unwitting dowager on her keister and…
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The Noose Hangs High
Even lesser Abbott & Costello movies are still comedy gravy to the avid fans of the fast-talking duo. Their first film deal…
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The Stranger
Edward G. Robinson uncovers another killer, but this time he's after a Nazi mass murderer, not an insurance salesman. Orson Welles' most…