Category: Cinema
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The Enigmatic B. Traven and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Do you know who he is? I found out only recently, which I suppose is fitting given the man's Pynchon- and Salinger-like desire for obscurity. A while back, I caught the last half-hour of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, classic celluloid from 1948 starring Humphrey Bogart and John Huston. The Wikipedia article on The…
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Ron Radosh on Trumbo
Here. Excerpts: The film presents [Dalton] Trumbo as a hero and martyr for free speech, a principled rich Communist who nevertheless stands firm, sells his beautiful ranch for a “modest” new house in Los Angeles, and survives by writing film scripts — most run of the mill but some major films (such as the Academy…
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A Pawn Sacrifice
Despite the lukewarm reviews, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. But then I am a chess player who lived through the Fischer era and who remembers that far-off summer of '72 when Caissa and Mars colluded to give a chess match geopolitical significance. Boris Spassky had the support of the Soviet state; Fischer stood alone, his…
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American Sniper
It's a movie I haven't seen. I have no strong desire see it. I understand the principle; why do I need to rub my nose in the details? I know what a sniper is and I know what he does. It is an awful world in which snipers are needed, but they are, and they…
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A Most Wanted Man
A Most Wanted Man, based on the John le Carre novel and starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, was well worth the two hours I invested in it this morning. Some critics called it slow-moving. Why? Because it is thoughtful and thought-provoking with no unnecessary action or gratuitous sex and violence or mindless special effects? …
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Friday Cat Blogging: Inside Llewyn Davis
To Scottsdale this drizzly dreary dark December morning to see the Coen Bros. latest on its opening hereabouts, Inside Llewyn Davis. A tale of two kitties is a sub-motif that symbolizes the self-destructive folksinger's troubles, but it would take a couple more viewings for me to figure it out. The film gripped me and held…
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Big Sur, the Movie
It debuted hereabouts in Scottsdale this morning at 11:00 AM at Harkins 14. There were exactly three souls in attendance, mine included. Beautifully done and especially moving for this native Californian Kerouac aficionado who knows the book and the road and the bridge and the views and has had his own remarkable experiences at Big…
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Saturday Night at the Oldies: Beethoven, Billy Bob, and Peggy Lee
The Man Who Wasn't There is one of my favorite movies, and the best of Ludwig van Beethoven is as good as classical music gets. So enjoy the First Movement of the Moonlight Sonata to the masterful cinematography of the Coen Brothers. Here is the final scene of the movie. Ed Crane's last words: I…
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Hannah Arendt
I saw the movie Hannah Arendt this afternoon. I thought it well worth my time despite the bad reviews it received. Critics complained about the clunky portrayal of New York intellectuals and the hagiographic depiction of Arendt, but those faults and others escaped me immersed as I was in the ideas. The movie is about Arendt's…
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Roberto Rosselini’s Socrates
It was my good fortune to happen across Rosselini's Socrates the night before last, Good Friday night, on Turner Classic Movies. From 1971, in Italian with English subtitles. I tuned in about 15 minutes late, but it riveted my attention until the end. It is full of excellent, accurate dialog based on the texts of Plato that…
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Double Indemnity, 1944
I took a welcome break from the cable shout shows and the gun 'conversation' the other night to watch the 1944 film noir Double Indemnity, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, and Edward G. Robinson. The Stanwyck character talks an insurance agent played by MacMurray into murdering her husband in order to collect on a double indemnity policy. …
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2016: Obama’s America is a Must-See
Even-handed and extremely well-produced, 2016 exposes the anti-colonialist ideology that animates Obama's policy decisions. According to NPR, "so far, 2016 has made more than nine million dollars. It's already the sixth highest grossing political documentary of all time." It is even doing well in liberal New York City. I saw it at 1:30 PM today, Monday,…
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The Obama Movie, 2016
I'll be seeing it soon. Here are some remarks on the movie by Thomas Sowell. Excerpts: It was refreshing to see how addressing adults as adults could be effective, in an age when so many parts of the media address the public as if they were children who need a constant whirlwind of sounds and…
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Movie Notes: The History Boys
From the old blog, originally posted 29 December 2006: Most movies are trash, but not all, as witness The History Boys. It was well worth the drive to Scottsdale yesterday. Anyone serious about the humanities, from either side of the lectern, should enjoy it. It has much of what I look for in a movie:…
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Ebeneezer Scrooge and the Limits of Doxastic Voluntarism
Here is my favorite scene from my favorite movie version of Dickens' Christmas Carol. "There is more of gravy than of grave about you. Humbug!"