Entertainment · Film · Movies

Brutally Realistic, The Set-Up is an Honest Look at a Boxer’s Life

  I’m a fan of the Rocky film franchise, so with the release of Rocky spinoff, Creed, I have decided to look at one of Hollywood’s best boxing contenders. Robert Wise was an incredibly versatile director and one of Hollywood’s most accomplished. He helmed a long list of films in a variety of genres that… Continue reading Brutally Realistic, The Set-Up is an Honest Look at a Boxer’s Life

Entertainment · Film · Movies

Philippe Noiret and Salvatore Cascio are Superb in Cinema Paradiso

Take a wistful glimpse at the early postwar years with filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso. This beautiful film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival and Foreign Language Film At the Academy Awards in 1990. There was a time when the local movie house was “the” gathering place of small towns.… Continue reading Philippe Noiret and Salvatore Cascio are Superb in Cinema Paradiso

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Stalag 17 is a Masterpiece

During his long and storied career, Wilder had an amazing knack for making films that were not only considered film classics but also model examples of their genre. Wilder defined the film noir genre with Double Indemnity. No one tackled the subject of Hollywood the way he did when he made Sunset Boulevard. With Stalag… Continue reading Stalag 17 is a Masterpiece

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Acting Extraordinaire from Signoret, Clouzot and Meurisse in Masterpiece Les Diaboliques

This is one of my favourite films! My best friend and I even performed a version of this in our French class. I had seen the film years before, when I was 10 or 11. They used to rerun these great films all the time, now PBS or Public Broadcasting Service, TVO, TCM and Silver… Continue reading Acting Extraordinaire from Signoret, Clouzot and Meurisse in Masterpiece Les Diaboliques

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Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake in Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels

Joel McCrea plays a director in Sullivan’s Travels. He has carved out a career of churning out one comedy after another. He remains unfulfilled and longs to make a “serious” film, one that would allow him to leave his mark not only in the film industry but on the world. Successful, yet spoiled and naive,… Continue reading Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake in Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels

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Belmondo and Seberg captivate us in Breathless

In this classic 1960 French film, Jean-Paul Belmondo is a wandering criminal and Jean Seberg plays his American girlfriend. Jean-Luc Godard’s first feature-length work was Belmondo’s breakthrough film. I was in my teens when I discovered this on late night tv, my introduction to the French way of filmmaking, French New Wave. It is captivating!… Continue reading Belmondo and Seberg captivate us in Breathless

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Taylor and Burton are Simply Electrifying in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf takes a harrowing look at the volatile relationship between an aging professor and his embittered wife. Elizabeth Taylor proves once again what a truly magnificent actress she was in this Academy Award winning performance. Along with Richard Burton, the two actors give the performances of their lives. Try to take… Continue reading Taylor and Burton are Simply Electrifying in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf