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![]() A story of brothers ripped apart by revolution should be better than the formulaic The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Cloaked in the emerald charm of Ireland, yet curiously unengaging, it’s more socialist screed about the Irish republican revolution than ripping good yarn. The Irish revolutio…
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Brothers, close as can be, ripped apart
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![]() Big Sur destroys Jack Kerouac’s legend, revealing the beatnik icon to be a self-pitying, self-absorbed alky. Generations of young romantics were awestruck by the celebrated author, pining for his life On The Road. I’ve long been one of those romantics, so was eager for a peek. But, as it’s sa…
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Cassady & Kerouac - fake & real
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![]() Glamorous L.A. noir from back when real men wore fedoras makes Mulholland Falls a high calorie treat. A sultry Jennifer Connolly cavorting with John Malkovich and Nick Nolte makes it a guilty pleasure. Cheesy dialogue makes it a bit tough to swallow. Should this luxo crime thriller be bett…
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Malkovich & Connelly make the movie
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![]() Ultra-smart, psychic, but troubled opium smoking and laudanum ingesting inspector Aberline (Johnny Depp) leads us through this dark adventure of the hunt for Jack the Ripper. This is Victorian London at its worst, filthy streets, filthy harlots, crazy medical procedures, and even crazier results… |
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![]() Your Highness dons the trappings of Ye Olde English knights and damsels, mixes in sorcerers and pagan mythology, then filters the unholy brew through a 21st century slacker’s sensibility. Such low brow humor in high brow settings makes for a fun movie if you don’t mind tongue-deeply-in-cheek c…
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Low Brow Humor in High Brow Settings
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![]() The “Cotton Club” is one and and a half performances away from being a very good for great movie, but as they say “If my grandma had wheels, she’d have a trolley”. Well that’s not quite accurate but overall it is a very appealing, ambitious movie that is marred by a very over the top performance …
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![]() The Lone Ranger is Tonto’s movie. Good thing, since Tonto is played by Johnny Depp. Everybody knows this, just as everybody knows Johnny Depp is mighty white. Ironically, only in P.C. Hollywood would it be politically acceptable for a white guy to play an iconic Indian character in a 21st ce…
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Depp's look from a White painter, per...
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![]() Killing Kennedy could easily be titled Kennedy’s Killer given its salutary focus on Lee Harvey Oswald. JFK we knew. It’s unfortunate then that Killing Kennedy spends time on the Leader of the Free World’s womanizing. Given 90 minutes of real runtime, bikinis take away from also understanding …
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Killing Kennedy brings this to life.
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![]() Grey Gardens is a fascinating biography of Jackie Kennedy’s aunt and cousin as they descend from high society to seedy eccentricity. The movie’s hardly worth seeking out, but eminently watchable for those interested in the lifestyles of the rich and famous, the Hamptons, or all things Kennedy. …
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The real Beales.
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![]() In Old California is a simpleminded recreation of Old Sacramento in 1848 and then 1849, made in 1942. A quasi-historical tale, it mostly exists to showcase John Wayne looking quite-the-dandy, from Boston even. The settings are the thing now: pre-49er San Francisco and then up the river to Old…
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John Wayne, the Boston Dandy
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