My short review would be: Not enough Crazy, thankfully not very Stupid, could have used more Love. What that translates to is that this dramatic comedy directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa does not quite fulfill its title. Sure, […]
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Apollo 18 (2011) ✰ ✰ ½
Pseudo-documentaries with horror aspects have become relatively commonplace since the surprise hit The Blair Witch Project back in 1999, and with good reason: it is seemingly easy to create “lost footage” which, when suddenly, conveniently found, tells some very harrowing tales. […]
Continue reading »Theater of Blood (1973) ✰ ✰
London critics snub a Shakespearean actor following his career-capping cycle of some of the Bard’s most difficult plays. Deeply injured, he first tries to steal the trophy for Best Actor and then commits suicide in front of the surprised critics. […]
Continue reading »The book
Lee Marvin did not receive his first starring role until he was 40, but in three short years — following the successes of Cat Ballou (for which he won the Academy Award as Best Actor), The Professionals and especially The Dirty Dozen — […]
Continue reading »Why Lee?
For years I had been searching for a subject interesting to me that I could knowledgeably write about to break into the publishing world. I tried a book about baseball movies, but by the time I was into it, several […]
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A marvelous actress, Gloria Grahame (1923-1981) was also an iconic figure of film noir. Her talents are showcased in several classic motion pictures of the 1940s and 1950s, including It’s a Wonderful Life, Crossfire, In a Lonely Place, The Greatest Show […]
Continue reading »Why Gloria?
A question I am frequently asked is why write about Gloria Grahame? What is it about her or her movies that demanded my attention? As happened with my second book project, Korean War Filmography, I was led to Gloria by […]
Continue reading »The Good Earth (1937) ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰
I first witnessed this marvelous adaptation of Pearl S. Buck’s novel in grade school; it was shown to illustrate the culture, history and conditions in China. Although the film was immensely popular at the time of its release in 1937, […]
Continue reading »The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976) ✰ ✰ ✰
The majority of baseball films are thoroughly familiar and formulaic; one surprise is The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, a vibrant comedy-drama that celebrates black baseball players in the era before they were allowed into the major leagues. […]
Continue reading »Hell’s Outpost (1955) ✰ ✰ ✰
I first learned about this 1955 modern western as I was researching my Korean War film reference book. Based on a novel by Luke Short called Silver Lode, the film chronicles a Korean War veteran’s efforts to build a life […]
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