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Month: October 2023

The Strange Case of Joe Patroni: Part One

The Strange Case of Joe Patroni: Part One

When Arthur Hailey’s novel Airport was published in 1968, the literary world was introduced to TWA maintenance chief Joe Patroni, a no-nonsense, cigar chomping trouble-shooter operating out of Chicago’s fictional Lincoln International Airport. In the novel, Patroni races the clock to remove an Aero-Mexico Boeing 707, that is mired in snow and mud, blocking a crucial runway, before another crippled 707 can make an emergency landing on the same runway. Set during a massive snowstorm, Airport unfolds over an 8-hour…

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Berlin 1945: Diary of a Metropolis.

Berlin 1945: Diary of a Metropolis.

Released: 2020 Dir.: Volker Heise Berlin 1945: Diary of a Metropolis is a 3-part documentary mini-series from Germany about the fate of Berlin from Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 1945. As told through the diaries of average citizens, soldiers, both German and Soviet, POWs used as forced labor to build makeshift defenses, a Jewish woman hiding in the city fearing for the fate of her husband and children, among others, and the arrogant and delusional Dr. Goebbels who misleads the populous that…

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All Through the Night: ‘This is Broadway, Not Berlin!’

All Through the Night: ‘This is Broadway, Not Berlin!’

Released: 1942 Dir.: Vincent Sherman How can you not like a movie that pits Humphrey Bogart against Conrad Veidt? Better still, gangsters versus Nazis! All Through the Night has this, and more. Add William Demarest, Frank McHugh, Judith Anderson, Jackie Gleason, Phil Silvers, and the always awesome Peter Lorre, and you have a great night’s entertainment. Gloves Donahue (Humphrey Bogart) is a popular Broadway sporting figure and man about town, in other words a gambler. And when Gloves’ friend, and…

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Hiroshima mon amour: ‘…the Obvious Necessity of Remembering…’

Hiroshima mon amour: ‘…the Obvious Necessity of Remembering…’

Released: 1959 Dir.: Alain Resnais First time viewing reaction. I’ve known about Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima mon amour for years but knew absolutely nothing about it. And that’s how I went into the film when I watched it for the first time Monday night. It is a beautiful, yet devastating film. I understand that the main characters, who are unnamed in the film, but are identified in cast listings as, Elle (Emmanuelle Riva) and Lui (Eiji Okada), can be interpreted as…

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The Three Stooges: Three Sappy People.

The Three Stooges: Three Sappy People.

Released: 1939 Dir.: Jules White The Christmas of 1987 was a special Christmas for me. For it was the year I gave my dad the ultimate Christmas gift. The gift of the The Three Stooges, on VHS. This release featured three of the Stooges short comedies, Playing the Ponies, An Ache in Every Stake, and Three Sappy People. All of them are gems, with the Stooges in their prime. Every Christmas dinner was at my Aunt Virginia and Uncle Ted’s…

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Tomorrow Never Dies: How I Spent International James Bond Day.

Tomorrow Never Dies: How I Spent International James Bond Day.

Released: 1997 Dir.: Roger Spottiswoode This past October 5th was International James Bond Day, marking the 61st anniversary of the first 007 movie to be released in theaters. While many fans may have marked the occasion by watching Dr. No, I decided to choose a Bond film at random. Using high tech methods that would make Q proud, I wrote all the 007 titles on small bits of paper and carefully placed them in a mixing bowl. Stirring vigorously, placing…

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Dishonored: ‘I Am Not Afraid of Death Either’.

Dishonored: ‘I Am Not Afraid of Death Either’.

Released: 1931 Dir.: Josef von Sternberg Vienna. On a rainy night in 1915, a prostitute committed suicide and her body is being removed from her apartment. With neighbors looking on, Marie Kolerer (Marlene Dietrich), a fellow lady of the evening, replies to a snarky remark about her facing the same fate. Marie replies, ‘No I am not. I am not afraid of life. Although I am not afraid of death, either.’ Marie’s remark is overheard by the Chief of the…

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