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Not yet in the holiday spirit? Here’s a trio of yuletide-themed cartoons from the 1930s certain to provide a much-needed Christmas goose. Santa’s Workshop (1932) In my teens, my friend Timothy Murphy asked me, “You ...
This week we go West, Mae West, for a pair of saucy comedies: one’s pre-code, the other isn’t. She Done Him Wrong (1933) Across town at 20th Century Fox, it was child superstar Shirley Temple ...
Jack Webb was many things — director, actor, writer, gun-lover, John Bircher, recording artist, ultra-right-wing Viet Cong-hating fascist, two-fisted drinker, producer, chain smoker — but first and foremost, he was an auteur. His could be ...
How about a hilarious helping of Cold Turkey for Thanksgiving? Cold Turkey (1971) Looking to combat bad publicity with good, Big Tobacco offers $25 million to the one American town that can collectively kick the ...
This week’s picks are meant to get us through this transitional period. Bartleby (1970) With all the movies in my mental Rolodex, surely there’s one tale of a lead character who refuses to budge even ...
What do this week’s film have in common? A diverse trio of gay men with flavorful stories to tell. Capote (2005) There was something about the back page New York Times article detailing four grisly ...
Tsui Hark is one of world cinema’s exemplars of action. One can learn more about editing from five minutes of Hark than all the Bourne duds combined. Once in my care, it was just a ...
Keeping in the spirit of Borat’s return, here are a few words about his debut feature. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2005) Remember when enlightened comedy meant playing ...
We may not recall the first time we laughed or cried at a movie, but who doesn’t remember the first time they got well and truly scared in a theatre? Here are a trio of ...
Havana watch a trio of musicals set in pre-revolutionary Cuba. Care to join me? Week-End in Havana (1941) Out of the 480 steamship passengers stranded on a reef, Nan Spencer (Alice Faye), a hosiery salesgirl ...
Hitchcock-tober returns to the Angelika Film Center this month with five of the Master’s finest. Rear Window (1954) The rights to Cornell Woolrich’s short story “Murder from a Fixed Viewpoint,” were purchased by Hitch and ...
This week’s selections represent the best 2008 had to offer, starting with an invitation to the wedding of the decade. Rachel Getting Married (2008) Many were quick to complain about Jonathan Demme casting a feature ...
This week, I struck gold with Henry Silva. Johnny Cool is the swingingest Rat Pack neo-noir ever filmed without the active participation of Frank and Dean. Peter Lawford co-produced, Joey Bishop begged the question, “Would ...
It’s over, Johnny. Rambo: Last Blood was the final nail in the Rambo coffin. This week, we look back on the first and fourth installments of Sylvester Stallone’s fivefold franchise. First Blood (1982) Abandoned, betrayed, ...
Three things I know about Dracula. Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) It was not the famous bloodsucker’s first screen appearance: that distinction goes to the long lost Hungarian film Dracula’s Death, made a year ...
Tom Palazzolo is one of Chicago’s foremost documentarians, but you don’t have to be a local to appreciate his films. Anyone who’s ever had the occasion to visit a bustling deli will find something to ...