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Dressed to Kill (1946)
Queen…of a crime cult!
Filmmaker(s): Roy William Neill

A convicted thief in Dartmoor prison hides the location of the stolen Bank of England printing plates inside three music boxes. When the innocent purchasers of the boxes start to be murdered, Holmes and Watson investigate.

A Sad Goodbye These Basil Rathbone Holmes movies are a wonder. They deviate so far from the stories in intent, they offend. Yet at the same time, they were important to the redefinition of the British wartime character. They were not important at all in...
Published November 22, 2022
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Pendulum (2001)
Murder, betrayal, lies. Time reveals all.
Filmmaker(s): James D. Deck

The nature and lure of power: in Dallas, a councilman is on trial for corruption, the D.A. is running for the US Senate, a serial killer is slashing prostitutes, and a professor is murdered. Amanda Reeve is assigned to investigate the law-school killing. She hears rumors that the dead man offered women students good grades in exchange for sex. The trail leads her to two wealthy, beautiful students whose alibi is provided by a librarian. At the same time, the cops close in on the slasher. Meanwhile, Amanda misses her former lover, next in line to become D.A., and a reporter is fired for getting close to the truth about the Senate candidate. Is a cover-up or conspiracy in the works?

Primal Instinct The first howler in this is the notion that Texas hosts the “finest law school in the south,” as if it were possible — and if would matter if it was. Of course, once we are introduced to a DA running for Congress,...
Published November 22, 2022
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2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
How fast do you like it?
Filmmaker(s): John Singleton

It's a major double-cross when former police officer Brian O'Conner teams up with his ex-con buddy Roman Pearce to transport a shipment of "dirty" money for shady Miami-based import-export dealer Carter Verone. But the guys are actually working with undercover agent Monica Fuentes to bring Verone down.

Too “American” I actually liked the original for the unexpected reason that it was intelligently stylish. Judging as a viewer, it must be amazingly difficult to be stylish and fresh because Hollywood (and the advertising industry) turns styles into mannerisms. The first film did something...
Published November 22, 2022
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Federal Agents vs. Underworld, Inc. (1949)
Filmmaker(s): Fred C. Brannon

The female leader of an international crime ring steals a valuable artifact that can give her the power to control men's minds. Federal agents are dispatched to get it back and stop her evil plans.

Red Haired Magic This is a Republic serial, which is to say that it is tedious watching. You’ll find everything about this cheap and unimaginative. The device this time is an evil woman who has one of a pair of golden hands. Obtaining the second...
Published November 20, 2022
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Clue (1982)
It's not just a game anymore.
Filmmaker(s): Jonathan Lynn

Clue finds six colorful dinner guests gathered at the mansion of their host, Mr. Boddy -- who turns up dead after his secret is exposed: He was blackmailing all of them. With the killer among them, the guests and Boddy's chatty butler must suss out the culprit before the body count rises.

Hasn’t a Clue No genre has more opportunities for mind-bending and/amusing bends than the mystery. Especially film mysteries. And this one has a very promising foundation: a parody of a parody: ‘Murder by Death,’ which itself was rather clever in a lowbrow sort of way....
Published November 18, 2022
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Enola Holmes 2 (2022)
Go Big. Go Holmes.
Filmmaker(s): Harry Bradbeer

Now a detective-for-hire like her infamous brother, Enola Holmes takes on her first official case to find a missing girl, as the sparks of a dangerous conspiracy ignite a mystery that requires the help of friends — and Sherlock himself — to unravel.

Confidence Games Three things to like in this. The first is the obvious breaking of the fourth wall. Rather than be sly like Bruce Willis often was, this is in your face old school in-action narration. It is refreshing. Not so sure it will still...
Published November 12, 2022
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See How They Run (2022)
The greatest murder ever staged
Filmmaker(s): Tom George

In the West End of 1950s London, plans for a movie version of a smash-hit play come to an abrupt halt after a pivotal member of the crew is murdered. When world-weary Inspector Stoppard and eager rookie Constable Stalker take on the case, the two find themselves thrown into a puzzling whodunit within the glamorously sordid theater underground, investigating the mysterious homicide at their own peril.

More Layers The film itself is lovely, after the style of Anderson but with softer edges and more welcome split screens. The use of the splits is cinematically reflective of the story. That’s the real star here, though most folks focus on the comedic cops....
Published November 9, 2022
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The Outfit (2022)
Everyone has something up their sleeve.
Filmmaker(s): Graham Moore

Leonard is an English tailor who used to craft suits on London’s world-famous Savile Row. After a personal tragedy, he’s ended up in Chicago, operating a small tailor shop in a rough part of town where he makes beautiful clothes for the only people around who can afford them: a family of vicious gangsters.

Patterned Don’t read until after seeing this. Very likely, the effectiveness of this comes from a few key people with deep experience in the stage, plus possibly one person with a sensitive philosophy of blocking. So if you talked to them, you’d get a bunch...
Published November 2, 2022
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Irreversible (2002)
Time Destroys All Things.
Filmmaker(s): Gaspar Noé

A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.

Kubrick for Dummies One of the giants of film, Kubrick’s contribution was an exploration of plastic narrative within the story. A simple story just happens and the narrative stance is one of simple observance. Kubrick looked at competing perspectives, for instance ‘2001′ shifts among three...
Published October 30, 2022
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Insomnia (2002)
A tough cop. A brilliant killer. An unspeakable crime.
Filmmaker(s): Christopher Nolan

Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.

Waking Life The element that makes cinema unique is the ability to fold: to shuffle time and narrative both by the mind and eye. Nolan showed great promise with ‘Following’, built around a very ambitious narrative structure. It moved the notion of narration way in...
Published October 27, 2022
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