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Boyhood (I) (2014)
12 years in the making.
Filmmaker(s): Richard Linklater

The film tells a story of a divorced couple trying to raise their young son. The story follows the boy for twelve years, from first grade at age 6 through 12th grade at age 17-18, and examines his relationship with his parents as he grows.

Students, Teachers, Dogs When I watch a reasonably well built film, I cruise at two levels. One is the excellence of how I am captured by the way the narrative unfolds in a world I am seduced into maintaining (and possibly cocreating). The other gliding level...


Published February 5, 2024
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The Monuments Men (2014)
It was the greatest art heist in history
Filmmaker(s): George Clooney

Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators, and art historians who went to the front lines of WWII to rescue the world’s artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their rightful owners. With the art hidden behind enemy lines, how could these guys hope to succeed?

The Diary I am thankful that Clooney is working. I’ve heard him speak as himself; he is a good man, interested in good things. I forgive him his lack of range as an actor, because the characters he plays are so engaging. And he made ‘Good...


Published February 5, 2024
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Phantom of Chinatown (1940)
A Slight Case Of Murder... Solved by Jimmy Wong!
Filmmaker(s): Phil Rosen

In the middle of a pictorial lecture on his recent expedition to the Mongolian Desert, Dr. John Benton,the famous explorer, drinks from the water bottle on his lecture table, collapses and dies. His last words "Eternal Fire" are the only clue Chinese detective Jimmy Wong and Captain Street of the police department have to work on.

Conspiratorial Filmmaking I maintain that some very important conventions were worked out in 30s mysteries. The Charlie Chan series was instrumental in some of these, and this is the last of them. It incidentally has Charlie‘s son as the detective, the first Asian playing the character....


Published February 5, 2024
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The House of Fear (1939)
Filmmaker(s): Joe May

A detective goes undercover as a producer to investigate an actor's murder, which occurred during the performance of a play...

Triple Staged I watch these old mysteries not because I expect to find a good one. They rarely are, but often you can see a free art experimenting with different cinematic tricks while no one yet had a settled cinematic vocabulary. And here is a good...


Published February 5, 2024
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Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox (2006)
A documentary about obsession, compassion and all-purpose soap.
Filmmaker(s): Sara Lamm

A human story about a socially responsible company, “Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox” documents the complicated family legacy behind the counterculture’s favorite cleaning product — Bronner’s son, 68-year-old Ralph, endured over 15 orphanages and foster homes as a child, but despite difficult memories, is his father’s most ardent fan.

Legacy, Chemistry Documentaries are hard to do. Nearly always what the filmmaker encounters is the complexity of life, from which they try to pull a narrative. Most often, that narrative is refined, abstracted from the world to match expectations. The best of these instead challenge our...


Published February 5, 2024
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Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Live. Die. Repeat.
Filmmaker(s): Doug Liman

Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.

Combat with Explicit Watchers Superficially, this has what it needs to be a financial success: novel aliens, lots of combat, competence all around and the smile. But it also has advanced interesting, structure. This structure did not originate in the movie community, it should be noted. The...


Published February 5, 2024
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The House of the Yellow Carpet (1983)
Filmmaker(s): Carlo Lizzani

Franca and her husband Antonio decide to sell a yellow rug which was a gift of Franca's stepfather. One day, while Antonio is out, a strange man rings saying he wishes to buy the rug. But the man's visit begins a twisted a nightmare.

Encounters with Others in One Body For the first 4/5s, this is a cheaply done version of a few similar films, where a husband concocts a drama to fool his wife. In this case, it is validate a perceived infatuation with another (albeit deceased) man. But as...


Published February 5, 2024
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The Mysterious Affair at Styles (2022)

The Big Reveal This almost made it to my list of fours, just based on its ambition. But I am returning to comments after an absence, and don’t want to be rash. It seems unlikely that you will see this, so I will uncharacteristically describe it. The...


Published February 4, 2024
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The Color Out of Space (2010)
No one, no one forgets it...
Filmmaker(s): Huan Vu

Arkham, 1975: Jonathan Davis' father has disappeared. His tracks lead to Germany, to the Swabian-Franconian Forest where he was stationed after the Second World War. Jonathan sets out to find him and bring him home, but deep in the woods he discovers a dark mystery from the past. Based on H.P. Lovecraft's short novel "The Colour Out of Space".

Boys and Brown Leaves Very spooky, slow. Based on a Lovecraft story. The trigger event has a meteorite landing and exhibiting inscrutable properties, diffusing into the air. It is the remnants of a craft. German scientists from the 30s — one of our most enduring stereotypes —...


Published February 4, 2024
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Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
All heroes start somewhere.
Filmmaker(s): James Gunn

Light years from Earth, 26 years after being abducted, Peter Quill finds himself the prime target of a manhunt after discovering an orb wanted by Ronan the Accuser.

Buckaroo Steals from Marvel I don’t know where this came from, whether it incubated in this form in comics for years. Or whether someone at the Studio hired someone else smart. What I do know is that Marvel is playing with fire with this. They know...


Published February 4, 2024
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