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The Basketball Diaries (1995)
The true story of the death of innocence and the birth of an artist.
Filmmaker(s): Scott Kalvert

A high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.

Visions of the Other Side Unless you are just filling space until you die, you're going to want something out of experiences like this. The idea is supposed to be that someone can guide us to alternative worlds and report back with something useful or at...


Published May 17, 2023
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The Barbershop (1894)

“Interior of Barber Shop. Man comes in, takes off his coat; sits down, smokes; is handed a paper by attendant, who points out a joke; both laugh. Meantime the man in the chair is shaved and has his hair cut. Very funny.” (Edison's Latest Wonders, 1894)

The Choreography of Layers The history of anything involves trying to discover the accidents of convention that stuck. Movies could have taken off from any of a number of the already mature arts: especially painting. It turned out — much the worse I fear — to...


Published May 17, 2023
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The Barber (2002)
Darkness can do strange things to a man
Filmmaker(s): Michael Bafaro

In the small town of Revelstoke, Alaska, local barber Dexter is surprised to learn that the body of Lucy Waters has been discovered. Having killed this woman, days ago, he hoped her body wouldn't be found until spring. Through the eyes of a serial killer, we discover the chilling layer of a weary town whose only concern is another long, dark winter.

Hair, Cut "Fargo" without the go, "Albino Alligator" without the wrinkles, "The Gardener" without Angie, "Invisible Man" made visible, "Insomnia" without the light and most of all, "Twin Peaks" with only one peak. McDowell has built a career of his role in "Clockwork Orange:" a demented brilliance...


Published May 17, 2023
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The Band Wagon (1953)
Get Aboard!
Filmmaker(s): Vincente Minnelli

A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop.

42nd Street in the Rain The colour musical film is a strange beast. Hollywood explored many of its possibilities. And people did buy lots of tickets. But until very recently, musicals were all but dead. That’s because they were never able to create a self sustaining...


Published May 17, 2023
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The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005)
Selfhood begins with a walking away, and love is proved in the letting go.
Filmmaker(s): Rebecca Miller

Jack Slavin is an environmentalist with a heart condition who lives with his daughter, Rose, on an isolated island. While Jack fights against developers who wish to build in the area, he also craves more contact with other people. When he invites his girlfriend, Kathleen, and her sons, Rodney and Thaddius, to move in, Rose is upset. The complicated family dynamics makes things difficult for everyone in the house.

Overdeveloped Oh man, how sad. It is a sad story of failure that itself is a failure. It is placed in a world where the unnatural is impinging on the natural and that is called undesirable. And it itself is so unnatural, so manufactured and manipulative...


Published May 17, 2023
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The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
I took you out of the gutter... I can fling you back!
Filmmaker(s): Vincente Minnelli

Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood producer, Jonathan Shields, as seen through the eyes of various acquaintances, including a writer, James Lee Bartlow; a star, Georgia Lorrison; and a director, Fred Amiel. He is a hard-driving, ambitious man who ruthlessly uses everyone on the way to becoming one of Hollywood's top movie makers.

Just Bad There are an astonishing number of movies about the movie business. many of these interest me because they use the situation as a way of engaging the audience: we are tricked into being the audience IN the film. This is a common trick,...


Published May 17, 2023
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The Aviator (2004)
Some men dream the future. He built it.
Filmmaker(s): Martin Scorsese

A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Three Characters We all live in our own movies, and particularly like movies of people who do so more literally. Here are three in one film: Martin Scorsese: My regular readers know that I have been very critical of his films. Sure, they are crafted well enough,...


Published May 17, 2023
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The Dark Knight (2008)
Welcome to a world without rules.
Filmmaker(s): Christopher Nolan

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.

The Noir Card Two things interesting about this for me. (I’ll let others talk about Heath.) One is how much more of a comic book it is than a film. I don’t mean that it is sillier or more fantastic, but that the values seem to be...


Published May 17, 2023
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments.
Filmmaker(s): David Fincher

Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.

Clockworks Fincher understands cinematic narrative construction and has the craft to match. I fell under his spell during “Fight Club”. The idea there was to play a game with inner narrative. It was, I think when Pitt first found his way into full collaboration with a director’s...


Published May 17, 2023
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Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Sometimes, to follow your dreams... you've got to bend the rules!
Filmmaker(s): Gurinder Chadha

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.

Us Watching Them The only interesting thing about this is the appearance of two energetic actresses. One pleasantly mooneyes at the camera and the other has a strong enough presence to have hope (despite "Pirates" and "Phantom") that she might not disappoint like so many others. I...


Published May 17, 2023
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