Movies

‘Vertigo’ (1958) a surreal, maybe unreal, masterpiece

“Vertigo” (1958) is the second-best film of all time according to Sight & Sound’s 2022 worldwide poll of critics and directors, beaten out only by

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Hollywood takes three shots at ‘Maltese Falcon’ (1931-41)

We have a tendency to think history is simpler than it really is. It’s tempting to think Dashiell Hammett wrote “The Maltese Falcon” in 1930

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Savini’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1990) a remake worth doing

The “Living Dead” series is unusual in that the first three George Romero films got remade even while Romero himself was still doing the primary

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‘Fetch’ didn’t happen, but at least ‘Mean Girls’ (2004) did

“Mean Girls” (2004), both a time capsule of Lindsay Lohan at the height of her brief powers and one of the last good high school

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‘Rear Window’s’ (1954) views on privacy, spying remain relevant

A lot of single-apartment movies from the early decades of film feature a rear-projection backdrop out the window (1948’s “Rope”) or are shot from the

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John’s top 10 movies of 2023

In movies, 2023 was a year of endings for major action franchises. Sort of; we know that nothing truly ends anymore. “John Wick” bowed out

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‘Strange Days’ (1995) rings in a future of untrustworthy institutions, virtual socializing

In his directorial work, James Cameron set aside sci-fi visions after 1991’s “Terminator 2” to prove he could do comedy (1994’s “True Lies”) and historic

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‘Dial M for Murder’ (1954) … or for masterpiece

“Dial M for Murder” (1954) goes through phases of whodunit, “how are they gonna do it,” “how will the frame job work” and howcatchem. The

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‘Barbie’ doesn’t fully exploit culture-clash humor

“Barbie” wouldn’t be a good idea for a product tie-in movie, except that it’s about how it’s not a good idea for a product tie-in

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‘Oppenheimer’ is an epic, but not quite the bomb

“Oppenheimer” is the most important piece of cinematic homework of 2023, something that would be invaluable to civics classes learning about the back rooms of

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