Wednesday, October 28, 2009

MR. WARMTH: The Don Rickles Project (2007)

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This John Landis documentary on the great insult comedian barely gets the job done. The film never finds its focus, jumping around from his ...
Tuesday, October 27, 2009

THE TWELVE CHAIRS (1970)

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Mel Brooks’ version of this oft-filmed Russian story (the one about the jewels hidden in a lost chair) was probably too gentle a comedy to c...
Sunday, October 25, 2009

EL CID (1961)

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The critical rep for this Anthony Mann epic on Spain’s great national hero/martyr has risen dramatically in the past decade. As well it shou...

10:30 P.M. SUMMER (1966)

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Melina Mercouri & Peter Finch are Madrid-bound with their young daughter & best pal Romy Schneider, but life gets complicated in th...
Thursday, October 22, 2009

THE MYSTERY OF PICASSO (1956)

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Pablo Picasso after WWII: Spent force living off past achievements (see Simon Schama; et al.) or Still the most vital artist of the last cen...

DEFIANCE (2008)

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In WWII Poland, four brothers run off to join the resistance, but find a greater purpose establishing a forest sanctuary for more than a tho...
Sunday, October 18, 2009

HELL TO ETERNITY (1960)

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Fact-based story about Guy Gabaldon, an orphaned Mexican-American kid who’s taken in by a Japanese-American family. When WWII breaks out, hi...
Saturday, October 17, 2009

BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA (1974)

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This scorned & ignored pic from that iconoclastic icon, Sam Peckinpah, is close to being a nihilistic masterpiece. It’s the sort of utte...

UNA MUJER SIN AMOR / A WOMAN WITHOUT LOVE (1950)

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A fascinating ‘What If’ film. Though Luis Buñuel is much honored for his early avant garde work and for his later bourgeoisie-busting art-h...