I've seen more classic boxing movies than matches in my lifetime. Golden Boy, The Set-Up, Champion, The Harder They Fall, Rocky, Raging Bull. The truth is, if I cared any less about men pummeling each other for money, it would be an effort.Read More
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Out of the Past isn’t just a movie. It’s the archetype of film noir. At TCM.com, Felicia Feaster and John M. Miller break down the drama’s key attributes: “Bitter, cynical, fatalistic and peppered with some of the best tough-guy dialogue in the genre, Out of the Past is a consummate example” of the hard-boiled flicks that flooded theaters in the 1940s and ‘50s.Read More
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James Cagney never said, “You dirty rat,” but he did name his favorite movie: “Many people assume that one of those knock-down, drag-em-outs would be my choice. A discerning critic...can’t understand why I would choose Yankee Doodle Dandy over White Heat and The Public Enemy.Read More
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Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 8th. You could give your Mom a card, flowers, or an apology for putting her through 27 hours of labor. But why not give her a gift you can enjoy together? The classic rom-com, Sabrina. Because the best things in life aren’t things. They’re experiences with people we love.Read More
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Show biz has had its share of “official” teams: Laurel & Hardy. Martin & Lewis. Sonny & Cher. Then there’s Tracy & Hepburn. From 1942 until Tracy’s death in 1967, they were an “unofficial” team in nine movies, and a devoted couple after hours.Read More
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Troops, tanks, bullets, bombs. They’re all essential wartime tools. But in 1942, world leaders acknowledged that a mere movie called Mrs. Miniver was a “secret weapon” that changed the hearts and minds of millions...which was exactly the point.Read More
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Humphrey Bogart told Orson Welles that he was shooting “the worst picture I’ve ever been in.” Ingrid Bergman pleaded with director Michael Curtiz to reveal which man her character would choose, yet with daily script revisions, the best Curtiz could offer was, “Play it in between.” Everyone at Warner Bros. thought it would be a big, fat nothin’ muffin.Read More
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Regular readers of this blog know that I love “Pre-Code” films, those naughty little gems made between 1930 and 1934, when studios were in the risqué business of ignoring strict Motion Picture Production Code censorship...er, guidelines.Read More
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