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The Ghost of Joe E. Lewis
Each month, I join my movie club for brunch where we engage in a lively discussion of all things cinematic. Being a down-to-earth group with no pretentions, we favor two watering holes on Chicago’s...
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Seriously?
It’s been a little over a year since I debuted here, and in that time I’ve stirred up a handful of firestorms–but weirdly, not the ones I expected. I posted a clip of Buster Keaton as a sympathetic...
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My Afternoon with Eddie Foy
I love vaudeville and old-time vaudevillians, probably because I grew up watching Hollywood musicals that romanticized that heady era when the underprivileged, the penniless, and the disadvantaged used...
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How about a “big screen” tennis biography?
It was over 5 years ago that I wrote on these pages about my other passion and its relation to this one, and referred to an ‘essay’ that I’d written on the topic for my site. (The article is really...
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Vincente on Vincent
Today, the films of Anthony Quinn are spotlighted as part of TCM’s Summer Under the Stars. Lust for Life, one of my favorite movies featuring the earthy, expressive actor, airs this evening. However,...
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Reel Presidents: From JFK to Millard Fillmore
Given Daniel Day Lewis’s heralded performance and the stellar work of a bevy of character actors, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln will undoubtedly sweep the acting categories during this awards season. The...
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Reel Presidents: Searching for Lincoln
As a follow-up to last week’s commentary on movie presidents, I intended to devote this week’s post to Abraham Lincoln, wrapping up with a discussion of the recent cinematic odes to the 16thpresident,...
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Reel Presidents: Lincoln the Man, the Politician, and the Vampire Hunter
For my last in a series on movie presidents, I return to the cinematic interpretations of the life and career of Abraham Lincoln for a look at the major biopics. The biopics are not a window into...
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Once Again, Remembering Vera-Ellen
Those of us who can’t resist a good MGM musical are no doubt now and again thinking about the great screen dancer Vera-Ellen, a sparkling screen presence in an number of films yet someone whose memory...
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Edison, the Man-ipulator
This month, TCM’s Friday Night Spotlight is devoted to “Science in the Movies,” which showcases flicks with at least a nominal connection to science, including biopics of famous scientists. Let’s face...
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When Fact Mirrors Fiction: AGATHA (1979)
On December 3, 1926 the popular mystery author Agatha Christie vanished following an argument with her husband who was demanding a divorce. Agatha was devastated by his decision but he responded to her...
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Makeup vs. Acting
The recent gangster biopic Black Mass stars Johnny Depp as real-life organized crime boss Whitey Bulger, a fixture in Boston’s criminal underworld from the 1960s through the 1990s. Depp gives an...
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Lust for Life: “You Look Too Fast”
Each Monday evening during the month of March, TCM celebrates “Art and Artists” by airing 18 movies about painters and sculptors. The most diverse films are those based on fictional artists or...
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Elvis & Nixon: A Match Made in Pop Culture Heaven
Elvis & Nixon opened over the weekend with little fanfare but with a barrage of unconstructive, ineffectual reviews. Liza Johnson directed this slice-of-Elvis-lore, which chronicles the time that...
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The Men Who Would Be King
Last week, I talked about the new indie film Elvis & Nixon, which is loosely based on the time that Elvis Presley made an impromptu visit to Washington D.C., to drop in on President Richard Nixon....
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Star-pics: Biopics of the Stars
Tomorrow, TCM devotes its daytime programming to biopics, or biographical pictures. Fans of this genre know not to expect an accurate chronicle of the life of a famous person; instead, biopics (or,...
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Once Again, Remembering Vera-Ellen
Those of us who can’t resist a good MGM musical are no doubt now and again thinking about the great screen dancer Vera-Ellen, a sparkling screen presence in an number of films yet someone whose memory...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Edison, the Man-ipulator
This month, TCM’s Friday Night Spotlight is devoted to “Science in the Movies,” which showcases flicks with at least a nominal connection to science, including biopics of famous scientists. Let’s face...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Fact Mirrors Fiction: AGATHA (1979)
On December 3, 1926 the popular mystery author Agatha Christie vanished following an argument with her husband who was demanding a divorce. Agatha was devastated by his decision but he responded to her...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Makeup vs. Acting
The recent gangster biopic Black Mass stars Johnny Depp as real-life organized crime boss Whitey Bulger, a fixture in Boston’s criminal underworld from the 1960s through the 1990s. Depp gives an...
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