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The Way Back
Good 29 Points 2011

A dramatic survival story amidst panoramic and equally dramatic scenery. The Way Back tells a tale of several men who escape the brutality of a Siberian gulag in the early 40’s to trudge their way through vast expanses of differing landscapes: a fierce Siberian winter, forests, tundra, desert,…

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Giant
Great 66 Points 1956

A deserved classic, this aptly titled movie features giant stars, a ginormous mansion incongruously stuck in the heart of the giant state of Texas, a running time that exceeds three hours and giant story elements. It all works amazingly well, never seeming drawn-out or boring, notwithstanding a …

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WikChip Image Legendary stars in a provocative pose.
Bringing Up Baby
Really Great 66 Points 1938

Screwball romantic-comedies don’t get much better than Bringing Up Baby, “Baby” being a leopard and its adoptive parents a never better Cary Grant & Katherine Hepburn. Three quarters of a century after its premiere, Howard Hawks’ classic remains a delightfully ticklish cinematic confection.

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WikChip Image Kate & Cary as Susan & David
His Girl Friday
Great 66 Points 1940

Fast talking, smartalecky comedy hit a peak with His Girl Friday. Still LOL funny today, it’s also plenty clever enough to travel through the ages as intelligent entertainment for movie lovers of any generation.

How could it not be? It stars the most versatile movie star ever in Cary Grant…

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WikChip Image Grant & Russell - made for each other
The Man Who Kne...
Great 66 Points 1934

Though more than a little dated, the original Man Who Knew Too Much remains a must see for fans of spy thrillers and classic filmcraft. Dryer than a vermouth-free martini, perfectly shot in high contrast B&W and crafted in such accomplished fashion that Hitch’s nickname – The Master – could h…

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WikChip Image Classic Lorre: Oily, Sinister, Depraved
A Secret
Really Great 66 Points 2007

More a wartime romantic mystery than anything, A Secret is nonetheless as fine a Holocaust picture as you’ll find. Being French, it’s also a sensual love story, or two.

Let’s start at the beginning even though the movie starts in the middle. A supremely athletic and thoroughly assimilated …

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WikChip Image Cécile De France: lithe object of desire
King of the Hill
Really Great 66 Points 1993

King of the Hill is a real life Little Rascals, what with pipsqueak brothers living alone during the Great Depression. Amazingly, it’s the truthy autobiography of A.E. Hotchner, Paul Newman’s pal and business partner. Even if fictional, it would still charm and enlighten, as it’s a perfect fi…

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WikChip Video Charming and Enlightening
Oz the Great an...
Barely OK 66 Points 2013

More wimpy than wicked, Oz the Great and Powerful unleashes plenty of sound and fury, signifying nothing more than a reminder that real movie magic doesn’t come from FX. It comes from charm and wit. IOW, this huge production seeks to recreate the timeless magic of The Wizard of Oz….

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WikChip Image Some things can't be improved.
Double Indemnity
Perfect 66 Points 1944

Want to hear what perfect dialog sounds like? Listen to Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. Credit Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain and director Billy Wilder, three legendary writers who didn’t get along but nonetheless birthed “the paradigmatic film noir.”1

A perfect…

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WikChip Video MacMurray & Stanwyck speak perfect di...
The Philadelphi...
Very Good 66 Points 1940

Call me crazy, but I find The Philadelphia Story inferior to Bringing Up Baby, its contemporaneous cousin. Katherine Hepburn’s comeback movie – the picture that cemented her status as a hit-making star – is a very fine romcom and an understandable member of seven American Film Institute all-t…

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WikChip Image Starburst: Grant, Hepburn, Stewart