Category Archives: Performers

“Premium Rush”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: “Premium Rush” is a shallow chase movie that, for the most part, doesn’t ask us to make too much of it. Its plot concerns a New York bike messenger (the ubiquitous Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is tasked with … Continue reading

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“Wake In Fright,” aka “Outback”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Movies aimed at revealing the essential brutishness of man are pretty hard to pull off. Attempting to scrape through the moral shell — to, in effect, reveal the rottenness of existence — they often end up feeling, well, pretty rotten. … Continue reading

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“Silver River”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: I watched this mid-period Raoul Walsh western a while back on the recommendation of co-blogger Sax von Stroheim. It stars Errol Flynn as a disgraced Union officer who’s decided to live in a purely selfish manner. In … Continue reading

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Moviemaking Linkage

Paleo Retiree writes: How much cocaine can one movie consume? What’s it like to direct Lindsay Lohan?

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“Since You Went Away,” a Culture’s Dreams, and the Agee-DOS Dosado

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: “Since You Went Away” doesn’t have a great reputation among filmbuffs, and it’s not hard to see why: it’s broad, sentimental, and downright propagandistic in its treatment of small-town American life (at nearly three hours, it’s also looooonnnngggg). … Continue reading

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Best Rock Intros

Fenster writes: Here is a 2006 Chicago Tribune article by Mark Caro making an attempt at naming the best rock intros of all time.  Granted, the article is a bit old but does it make a difference?  Most of the … Continue reading

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“Mike’s Murder”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: In the 1984 “Mike’s Murder,” Debra Winger plays Betty, a young woman whose staidness is underlain by a barely-discernible yearning for immediacy. She has the most sensible of jobs — she’s a bank teller — and … Continue reading

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“Thomas Graal’s Best Film”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Swedish film pioneer Mauritz Stiller is known mainly for his connection to Greta Garbo; it was he who brought her to MGM. But in the 1910s and early ’20s he was a major force in movies, perhaps … Continue reading

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Incredible

Fenster writes: Chucho commented on my Desert Island Discs post, mentioning slyly that that old pagan Rowan Williams included a song by the Incredible String Band among the eight he would take to a desert island. There are some artists … Continue reading

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Douglas Fairbanks and “When the Clouds Roll By”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: This Douglas Fairbanks project, the first directing effort of Victor Fleming, stands at the nexus of a number of popular art traditions. It dates from 1919, a year prior to Fairbanks’ swashbuckling debut in “The Mark … Continue reading

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