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12 Angry Men 1957
My father always told me this was his favorite film. Watching 12 ANGRY MEN, today...in his honor, I can understand why. Under Sidney Lumet's brilliant direction, Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden, Robert Webber, Ed Begley, E.G. Marshall, John Fielder, Joseph Sweeney, Edward Binns, and George Voskovec all shine in this thought-provoking jury-room drama. Only the great Sidney Lumet could turn a 2-room story into a very compelling and memorable feature film.
Criterion Blu-ray edition was a little grainy, and took some getting used to, otherwise was a pleasure to watch.
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2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
Still stellar, still amazing. No matter how many times I watch Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, I still find myself amazed by its genius...and mystery.
That said, the "new" 70mm print shown this evening at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art was a disappointment. The picture had soft focus in more than a few places (which may have been a projection issue) which took away from the incredible visuals Kubrick used. The colors looked worn and drawn...with…
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2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
Fourth disc on my Stanley Kubrick Blu-ray boxed set. Another Stanley Kubrick masterpiece. The film is literally a feast for the eyes and ears. 2001 represents cinema in its purest form...a audio/visual experience that stimulates the senses, and invigorates the mind. 2001 takes you on a trip that goes far beyond the notions of story, character, and plot. Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's vision was light years ahead of its time, and we STILL haven't caught up. I have…
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21 Jump Street 2012
I loved this, it's very funny. Really enjoyed it. Who knew?
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Above Suspicion 1943
Fairly good World War II-era Hitchcockian-type thriller directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray, with Basil Rathbone and Conrad Veidt. Has a bit of a frivolity to it that perhaps prevents it from being a true, nail-biting thriller. That said, it's certainly entertaining enough, and Joan looks marvelous...
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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter 2012
Enjoyable, yet by no means good. First off, the film looked cheap, and the cinematography looked like crap. Caleb Deschanel shot this? I refuse to believe it. The whole look of the movie is washed-out scenes that resembled stuff I used to watch on CBS television when I was a kid. Much of the action is cloudy in a murky mist, so you can't really tell what's going on. Timur uses the same, dated, slow-mo stuff he used for WANTED...yet…
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A Bridge Too Far 1977
Though well-made, with an all-star international cast, A BRIDGE TOO FAR's ambition gets the better of it, with a result that is far from satisfying. Sir Richard Attenborough's direction, along with William Goldman's script fails in the end to deliver an engrossing and dynamic story. It's big alright, and features a lot of big names...yet with such a large cast of characters, it's hard to connect to any one of of them. The story in itself is a great one, yet A BRIDGE TOO FAR does not make the impact that it should...
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Absence of Malice 1981
Released in 1981, and directed by the late great Sydney Pollack...ABSENCE OF MALICE stars Paul Newman as a liquor importer/exporter named Michael Gallagher, who gets his name smeared by a small federal task force whose goal it is to shake Michael Gallagher down for information connecting to the recent disappearace/murder of a high level union worker. What does not help Gallagher is his family connection to the mob...his father was a criminal bootlegger, and his uncle is a local mob…
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A Clockwork Orange 1971
Fifth disc on my Stanley Kubrick Blu-ray boxed set. Another Stanley Kubrick masterpiece, an essential film in my life. For many years, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE was my favorite ever movie of all time. Ever since I was 12, this movie has had a profound effect on me. It's another great example of Kubrick telling a great story through pictures and music. Wendy Carlos's electronic interpretations of Beethoven classics helps define the eerie, cold, futuristic tone of the film. Music is…
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Adam's Rib 1949
Was not a fan of this classic Hepburn/Tracy screwball battle of the sexes. I had loved their first film together, WOMAN OF THE YEAR, yet ADAM'S RIB was a disappointment, with a lackluster script, and a meandering story that never really comes together.
