How many years has it been since “I only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials” became a hipster cliché? A few years ago, I attended a party where the betting action was not on the outcome of the game itself, but on how many advertising tropes (incorrigible pets, anthropomorphized beverages) would be seen...
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For Reels
Still trailering at halftime: What to watch for at the Super Bowl
31 Days of Oscar Begins… Yesterday. Whoops.
It’s time once again for one of my favorite times of the year: 31 Days of Oscar, on Turner Classic Movies.
Each year, the cable net ends their programming season with a month full of Oscar winners, from recent films to films from the 20s, Oscar winners all.
From now until March 2nd, it’s an all...
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Opening in Orlando — February 3rd, 2012
Big Miracle — Hey, John Krasinski: Remember when Steve Carell couldn’t stop talking about that big career shift he was going to make into movies, and you figured his rising tide was gonna lift all boats? Remember when you carefully and methodically plotted out your own crossover path that entailed getting your nose bloodied...
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The Double Feature: New York, New York — It’s a Hell of a Town
This week’s film’s are Angela Christlieb and Stephen Kijak’s Cinemania and Bennett Miller’s The Cruise.
If you’ve ever been to New York City, even if you never ventured out into the City beyond Times Sq, you met some of the wonderful weirdos and oddballs that the City has both given birth to and accepted in as...
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Sunday Film News Roundup — Jan 29th, 2012
There were two really awful stories in the news this week and neither one of them had anything to do with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close getting a Best Picture nomination.
1) Bingham Ray died.
2) Theo Angelopoulos died.
What the fuck?
Bingham Ray’s name might not be as familiar as Angelopoulos’ name, but what he helped bring...
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What’s new in “Dark Knight Rises” spoilers
Hey, see the title of this blog? It means we’re going deep into rumor and speculation about the arcane plot points of one of this year’s most anticipated releases. So if you want to maintain your innocence and avoid disappointment, you know what to do, right? Right! Don’t enroll at Full Sail. I mean,...
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Why No One Was Really “Robbed” in Oscar Snubs
So, one month from tonight the 84th Academy Awards will take place, and Twitter will light afire with the spurned bleating of people who didn’t like the films that won. It’s already on fire with people who don’t like the nominations. Whether it be the snubs (Albert Brooks, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, etc) or...
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Opening in Orlando — January 26th, 2012
Albert Nobbs — Reviewed this week. (R)
A Dangerous Method — Reviewed this week. (Link pending.) (R)
The Grey — Now fully into his second career as the world’s least likely action hero, Liam Neeson has to brave the punishing weather and vicious predators of the Alaskan wild. Or, as Todd Palin calls it, “a staycation.”...
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The Double Feature: I Dig Music, Man.
This week’s films are Cameron Crowe’s Untitled (aka Almost Famous: The Bootleg Cut) and Daryl Duke’s Payday.
At first glance these films seem to have nothing much in common. One is about a 70s rock band on the fringes of popularity, hoping their one hit single makes them the next Allman Brothers Band, travelling the country...
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Sunday Film News Roundup — January 22, 2012
Wikipedia (and others)’s battle against SOPA and PIPA obviously dominated the news this week, with the user-submitted encyclopedia going dark for 24 to the whiny consternation of high school and college students nationwide. I mean, holy shit. You shouldn’t be using Wikipedia for homework.
Just as big a news story, I think, was the Supremes’...
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