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Author: Craig

Kiss of Death: Tommy Udo- “I won’t give you the peel off a grape.”

Kiss of Death: Tommy Udo- “I won’t give you the peel off a grape.”

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Released: August 1947 Directed by: Henry Hathaway Cast: Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark, Taylor Holmes, Howard Smith, Karl Malden, Anthony Ross, Robert Adler, Rollin Bauer, Harry Bellaver, and Mildred Dunnock as Mrs. Rizzo. Spoilers? You betcha! In Kiss of Death, it’s appropriate that we first meet Tommy Udo (Richard Widmark) in a New York City Courthouse holding cell. Muttering insults to the guards and befriending fellow cellmate Nick Bianco (Victor Mature). While Nick is tentative, Tommy sees…

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Captains of the Clouds: Hollywood Comes to Canada.

Captains of the Clouds: Hollywood Comes to Canada.

Released: February 1942 Directed by: Michael Curtiz Cast: James Cagney, Dennis Morgan, Brenda Marshall, Alan Hale, George Tobias, Reginald Gardiner, W.A.(Billy) Bishop, Reginald Denny, Russell Arms, Paul Cavanagh, and Clem Bevans as Sam ‘Store-Teeth’ Morrison. Being Canadian, I’m a little biased when it comes to Captains of the Clouds. Released in 1942, it is one of several Warner Brothers films produced during World War 2 that showcased the Allied contributions to the European war. Films like Edge of Darkness, Passage…

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Jump Cuts: More of My Letterboxd Reviews. Take Two

Jump Cuts: More of My Letterboxd Reviews. Take Two

A new batch of reviews from my Letterboxd account. These films were found on Tubi, Amazon Prime, Netflix, the Criterion Channel, and my personal collection. The only editing I’ve done is to correct some bad/awkward grammar. Letterboxd uses a 5-star rating system, which I will be including. The Quiet Earth (1985) Starring Bruno Lawrence, Alison Routledge, Anzac Wallace, Pete Smith, Tom Hyde, Norman Fletcher. Directed by Geoff Murphy. **** Zac (Bruno Lawrence) wakes up one morning, only to find everyone…

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Jump Cuts: A Collection of My LETTERBOXD Reviews. Take One.

Jump Cuts: A Collection of My LETTERBOXD Reviews. Take One.

For those of you who may not be familiar, Letterboxd is a movie app where you can keep track of, rate, and review the movies you watch. I’ve gotten into the habit of writing short reviews immediately following a movie I’ve just watched, sometimes while the closing credits are still rolling. Anyway, after going back and re-reading some of these nuggets of ‘cinematic insight’, I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorites. These films were found…

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Bicycle Thieves: So Simple, So Basic, So Completely Unattainable.

Bicycle Thieves: So Simple, So Basic, So Completely Unattainable.

Released: November 1948. Directed by: Vittorio De Sica Cast: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Elena Altieri, Gino Saltamerenda, Giulio Chiari, Vittorio Antonucci, Michele Sakara, Carlo Jachino as A Beggar. Few films are so simple, yet so profound, honest, emotional, and 76 years after its original release, so brutally relevant today. Bicycle Thieves is that movie. The story is simple, Antonio Ricci (LamBerto Maggiorani) is an unemployed man with a wife and two small children. Antonio gets a job, but…

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‘Who are Those Guys?’: The Super Posse in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

‘Who are Those Guys?’: The Super Posse in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Released: September 1969 Directed by: George Roy Hill Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin, Henry Jones, Jeff Corey, George Furth, Cloris Leachman, Ted Cassidy, Kenneth Mars, Donnelly Rhodes, Timothy Scott, and Charles Dierkop as Flat Nose Curry. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the iconic western from 1969, contains many classic scenes and characters. The knife fight between Butch (Paul Newman) and Harvey Logan (Ted Cassidy), ‘Rain Drops Keep Fallin’ on My Head’, Woodcock (George Furth) who…

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The Big Lift: Significant, Palatable Propaganda.

The Big Lift: Significant, Palatable Propaganda.

Released: April 1950 Directed by: George Seaton Cast: Montgomery Clift, Paul Douglas, Cornell Borchers, Bruni Lobel, O.E. Hasse, Dante V. Morel, John R. Mason, Gail R. Plush, Mack Blevins, William A. Stewart as Capt. William A. Stewart. Shot in 1949, at the tail end of the Berlin Airlift, The Big Lift is a propaganda film. But unlike most propaganda films, The Big Lift is uniquely palatable. It is also significant. As time marches on. The aftermath of the Second World…

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On the Remake Chopping Block: The Night of the Hunter.

On the Remake Chopping Block: The Night of the Hunter.

I recently heard there is going to be a ‘modern day’ remake of Charles Laughton’s 1955 classic, The Night of the Hunter, based on the novel by Davis Grubb. If I had been drinking coffee at the time I would have spit it out. This is yet another example of Hollywood throwing away money on a project that will in no way be better than the original, and a film nobody asked for. Trying to figure out why filmmakers want…

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Double Feature: Dragstrip Girl AND Hot Rod Girl.

Double Feature: Dragstrip Girl AND Hot Rod Girl.

Dragstrip Girl Directed by: Edward L. Cahn Released: April 1957 Cast: Fay Spain, John Ashley, Steve Terrell, Tommy Ivo, Judy Bamber, Russ Dender, Grazia Narciso, Tito Vuolo, Don Shelton, Dorthy Bruce, and Frank Gorshin as Tommy. Hot Rod Girl Directed by: Leslie H. Martinson Released: July 1956 Cast: Lori Nelson, Chuck Connors, John Smith, Mark Andrews, Roxanne Arlen, Fred Essler, Carolyn Kearney, Eddie Ryder, Del Erickson, Russell Thorson, and Frank Gorshin as Flat Top. You don’t really see double features…

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Sweet Smell of Success. 1957.
Sweet Smell of Success: One Gift Right After Another.

Sweet Smell of Success: One Gift Right After Another.

Directed by: Alexander Mackendrick Released: July 1957 Cast: Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner, Sam Levene, Lawrence Dobkin, Barbara Nichols, Joe Frisco, Emile Meyer, Edith Atwater, Jeff Donnell, the Chico Hamilton Quintet, and Jay Adler as Manny Davis. Spoilers? Yup. If there is a better movie than Sweet Smell of Success, you’ll have to forgive me for not catching its name. I was too busy cheering. In the early 80s I watched a few essential films for the…

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