Tag Archives: Film

Notes on “First Blood”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: The 1982 “First Blood” has much in common with the Kirk Douglas vehicle “Lonely Are the Brave,” made 20 years earlier. The heroes of both movies are veterans and pariahs, and they duke it out with … Continue reading

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Juxtaposin’: Speechifying

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

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Movie Poster Du Jour: “Man of Aran”

Fabrzio del Wrongo writes: This British three-sheet for Robert Flaherty’s 1934 “Man of Aran” was designed by Marc Stone, a notable commercial artist who was responsible for some great posters, including a couple for the Karloff horror vehicle “The Ghoul.” … Continue reading

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Listing Movies: 101 American Movies

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: In July the BBC published a list purporting to represent the “greatest” examples of American filmmaking. I put the key word in quotes because I’m not sure what it means. The only clarification offered by the … Continue reading

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Notes on “Tusk”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: In “Tusk,” writer-director Kevin Smith burrows deep into a hole of self-loathing and misanthropy. He’s beating up on the digital age, on young people, on hip callowness: the movie plays like the howl of a onetime … Continue reading

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Notes on “Let’s Go Native”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Like many early talkies, the 1930 “Let’s Go Native” is so effortlessly weird it serves as proof an innate American tendency toward surrealism. Jeanette MacDonald — still in her lingerie-naughty, pre-MGM phase — plays a Broadway … Continue reading

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“The Fisher King”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: There’s a lot going on in “The Fisher King.” Perhaps too much. The mythic elements in Richard LaGravenese’s screenplay threaten to tip the movie out of balance, to spoil subtext by shoving it in your face. … Continue reading

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Like a Holy Candle

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: There are four sorts of scenes alternated: (1) the particular history of Judith; (2) the gentle courtship of Nathan and Naomi, types of the inhabitants of Bethulia; (3) pictures of the streets, with the population flowing … Continue reading

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Notes on “The Man from Laramie”

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: As he does in all the Westerns he made with director Anthony Mann, James Stewart stalks through “The Man from Laramie” with wraith-like resoluteness. His Will Lockhart wears a brown, waist-length corduroy jacket, a battered hat, … Continue reading

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Reflection of the Day

Fenster writes: Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn reflect on My Dinner with Andre. Both of you have said that the characters in My Dinner With Andre are not, in fact, you. But how much of you is in those characters? AG: … Continue reading

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