The Banality of Evil in Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest
The banality of evil winds its way around every scene. However, we do feel something. Tension, perhaps, mixed with boredom.
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Category: Film Reviews
Henson and Brooks Shine in The Color Purple (2023)
Taraji P. Henson does a good Shug Avery while the astonishing Danielle Brooks shines as Sofie, a proud lady who always speaks her mind.
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The Peasants (2023) All That Work for Naught!
Laughable when it should be serious, the movie has no drive. All the artistry in the world is useless if the underlying story is not up to scratch.
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Shayda (2023) Leaves You Underwhelmed.
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi is fine as the title character but her role does not have much depth. The same applies, but even more so, to the supporting cast.
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Fallen Leaves (2023) Is An Affair to Remember
The leads are just about perfect, and the film is enlivened at every turn by the director’s usual penchant for deadpan humor.
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Napoleon (2023) An Epic Disaster of Waterloo Proportions
An epic disaster of Waterloo proportions. The movie has no style and makes no sense. If you are looking for a history lesson, go elsewhere.
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May December (2023) is Todd Haynes’ Persona
Moore and Portman circle each other in a hypnotic dance while the standout performance in the movie is by Charles Melton as Joe, Gracie’s husband.
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Maestro (2023) Bradley Cooper’s Vain Impersonation of a Vain Man.
Leaving out vast chunks of the great conductor’s life, Cooper gives a vain impersonation of a vain man while Carey Mulligan takes the acting honors.
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American Fiction (2023) An Uneasy Blend of Satire and Drama.
What was originally smart and biting becomes cliched and soppy. Wright, however, who never sets a foot wrong, keeps you watching.
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Rustin (2023): Good Lead Performance Defeated by Cliched Script.
Unfortunately, the movie never takes off because of a cliche-ridden screenplay despite Domingo’s great performance.
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All of Us Strangers: The Best Movie Of 2023
The direction of Haigh in this film is exceptional, creating an enthralling atmosphere that visually amazes the audience.
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How to Have Sex (2023) Mia McKenna-Bruce shines in Manning Walker’s debut.
Walker’s film follows three teenage girls on vacation in Greece. Mia McKenna-Bruce delivers a heartbreaking performance as Tara. One of the year’s best.
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Saltburn (2023) Emerald Fennell’s Sophomore Triumph
Fennell’s writing and directing are brilliantly inventive, with humor, tragedy, and horror mixing perfectly. She gets immense support from her cinematographer, Linus Sandgren, whose work here is truly breathtaking.
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Dream Scenario (2023) Runs Out of Ideas….Fast
There are too many scenes straight out of Bunuel’s famously scathing “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie”. Gradually, you feel this movie has been stolen.
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The Killer (2023) Is No Thriller
After a while, you look around for real assassins like Edward Fox or John Malkovich. Skip this one in the cinema. Just stream it on Netflix.
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The Holdovers (2023) Paynless and Underwhelming.
“The Holdovers” is such a jumble of feel-good cliches that it doesn’t have a genuine bone in its body. As for the ending, it negates everything that went before it.
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Scorsese Scores Again With Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
Scorsese directs all of these multiple storylines with great flair. from the broad vistas to the most minute period detail in costume and production design.
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Anatomy of a Fall (2023) and a Spellbinding Sandra Hüller .
The film boasts in German actress Sandra Huller’s prime suspect, one of the cinema’s great performances.
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Godland (2023) Hlynur Pálmason’s Masterpiece
Pálmason, his cinematographer (Maria von Hausswolff), and his composer (Alex Zhang Hungtai), bring back colonial memories of such movies as “Black Robe”.
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“Priscilla” (2023) is “Marie Antoinette” Remade by a Lesser Director.
The only part of the movie that works – and gives you a look at what the movie could have been – are the opening scenes on the United States Army Base in Germany.
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Thanks to Bening and Foster, “Nyad” Radiates Dyke Power.
Both actresses are marvelous with Foster giving her best performance in decades.
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Fingernails (2023) Scratching a Chalkboard.
The cast seems to be at a loss, with only Jessie Buckley retaining a small amount of her natural intelligence and dignity.
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She Came to Me (2023) Rebecca Miller’s Sweet and Quirky Comedy Drama.
With “She Came to Me” we have the same quirky Miller, however, although the ideas are there they never come together to form a concrete whole.
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Fremont (2023) The Film’s Nonchalant Charm Wins You Over
In the second hour, the movie enters a different realm due to the appearance of Jeremy Allen White and his palpable chemistry with our leading lady.
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The Road Dog (2023) Road Movie Meets Stand-Up In This Wonderful Comedy.
Doug Stanhope is “The Road Dog” in writer/director Greg Glienna’s inspired blend of the road movie and stand-up comedy..
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Bottoms (2023). Never As Smart As It Thinks It Is!
There is some good stuff here. Former N.F.L running back Marshawn Lynch gets some well-deserved laughs as the club’s faculty adviser.
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Passages (2023) Rogowski + Gay Sex = Art House Smash.
The second homo tryst is the sexiest and most graphic gay moment ever captured in a mainstream film.
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Shortcomings (2023) Review. Randall Park’s Sweet Asian American Comedy.
Min, playing a dislikeable character, manages to make Ben, if not exactly likable, then certainly sympathetic. Both Sherry Cola and Debby Ryan are superb.
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Oppenheimer (2023). Despite Impressive Sequences, the Movie Drags. However, Murphy is Never Less Than Convincing.
In the midst of all this history and all of this chaos, Cillian Murphy gives one of the most intimate and internalized performances on film.
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Barbie (2023) Film Review. Dull, Boring and Nauseatingly Pink.
Sharon Rooney is irritating. She gets more screen time than any other Barbie (after Robbie) and this reeks of WOKE. The reason is her avoirdupois.
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Rien à Foutre (2023) Adèle Exarchopoulos Dazzles!
Adele Exarchopoulos gives a stunning performance as a flight attendant handling the grueling task of working for a low-cost carrier.
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Rotting in The Sun (2023) Self-Referential with Penises Galore.
Now, after ten years in the (relative) wilderness, Saavedra and Silva (and Silva’s co-screenwriter Peirano) have returned with a delicious slice of meta.
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Last Call (2023): A Serial Killer Preys on Gay Men in New York City.
Caronna gives these five men back their dignity, something they were stripped of when they became victims of a horrific crime.
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Still: A Michael J.Fox Movie (2023) A Davis Guggenheim Documentary
The immaculate comedic timing is still there, only now it unfolds at a slower pace, as Michael’s brain attempts to reach the rest of his body.
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Haulout (2022) is a Masterpiece.
A “haulout” is a place where walruses mate. Thanks to global warming, over 100,000 are packed into one tiny beach. The result is death on a horrific scale.
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BS High (2023). Greed and Exploitation in American High School Football.
American high school/college football is one big exploitation racket that massively exploits the young men on whose backs the whole system rests.
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Donyale Luna: Supermodel (2023).
Known “the first Black supermodel”, she was the first African-American model to grace the cover of Vogue – shot by photographer David Bailey – in March 1966.
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Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate (2023) Netflix Documentary Review
Cantu introduces you to people that you may not have heard of before. And those that you have, like Ernst Rohm and Magnus Hirschfeld are discussed…
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Pauline Kael, Was It Really What She Said?
The greatest movie critic of her generation. Pauline wrote the most incisive and respectful response. It was a gorgeous review of “Blade Runner”…
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The Super Models Documentary (2023). Two Unanswered Questions.
For me, there were two glaring unanswered questions: The first is how differently Christy is treated relative to Naomi, Cindy, and Linda.
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The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) Film Review
Condon is breathtakingly good, capturing every scene she’s in with a mixture of common sense and sadness, but always with a drollness lurking in the background.
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Nitram (2022) Film Review
As for Judy Davis she gives what is probably her most outstanding performance, which means it’s one of the greatest performances ever captured on film
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Flee (2021) Film Review
I left “Flee” with that “floating-on-air feeling” that you get after seeing something special. After seeing a masterpiece.
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The Hand of God (2021) Film Review
Memories of Fellini and the Taviani Brothers at their peak. It’s his “Amarcord” (I remember). It’s also his “La Dolce Vita.”
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Parallel Mothers (2021) Film Review
Now, ” Live Flesh” has dropped to the number two position. “Parallel Mothers” is the new movie at the top of my treasured Almodóvar catalog.
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West Side Story (2021) Film Review
West Side Story is Spielberg’s Triumph! Of course, it is Anita who is the real star of the movie and Ariana DeBose is astonishing.
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Quo Vadis Aida (2020) Film Review
Aida knows the horrific fate that awaits her husband and two sons if they are found and, for two hours, you watch as she frantically tries to get them out.
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Under The Skin (2014) Film Review
Guys with erect penises walking downward into a transparent ooze, confused, as Scarlett walks on another level above them.
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Take Shelter (2011) Film Review
It boasts a tremendous performance by Michael Shannon as a quiet man, raising a family, who has horrific nightmares and daytime visions of a meteorological disturbance followed by a feeling that we (the Earth) are being visited by something alien.
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Aftersun (2022) Film Review
“Aftersun” is unforgettable movie. Proustian, in that it is both a remembrance of things past and a search of lost time, it’s one of the best films of 2022.
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Causeway (2022) Film Review
And Henry gives a tour de force performance that matches his spine-tingling monologue in “If Beale Street Could Talk”. Like Lawrence he is one of the all-time greats.
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Close (2022) Film Review
In the opening 45 minutes of “Close”, Belgian director Lukas Dhont captures an intimacy that is extraordinary in its delicacy.
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Emily The Criminal (2022) Film Review
Plaza’s performance is something to behold. All of that nervous energy is now bursting out in a performance that is always true and believable.
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Happening (2022) Film Review
The weeks pass and Anne begins to “show'”. Time is running out. Any attempt at a back street abortion is becoming increasingly dangerous.
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Drive My Car (2021) Film Review
As Yusuke drives into Hiroshima, the opening credits’ role forty minutes into the film. We realize that what we have seen so far is just a prelude to the main story.
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The Power of the Dog (2021) Film Review
“The Power of the Dog” is one of the best films of 2021. Campion directs with an expert hand assisted by Ari Wegner’s cinematography and Jonny Greenwood’s memorable score.
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Spencer (2021) Film Review
Stewart is simply amazing in the role channeling all that star power into a Diana, you feel you know instantly.
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The Worst Person in the World (2021) Film Review
Time stands still as Julie leaves Aksel, frozen in the kitchen as he pours her a cup of coffee, and runs through the streets of daytime Oslo.
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You Can Live Forever (2023) Film Review
Laporte is tremendous in portraying a complex character who appears to have an “escape” but really doesn’t. It’s a heartbreaking performance.
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Bodies, Bodies, Bodies (2022) Film Review
Beautifully Queer friendly, the relationship between Bee (Maria Bakalova) and Sophiie (Amanda Stenberg) is the emotional center of the movie.
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The Cathedral (2022) Film Review
D’Ambrose direction is reminiscent of John Cassavetes. He places his camera and lets the action unfold as his actors enter and exit the scene.
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Lady Chatterley’s Lover (2022) Film Review
Superb performances by Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell transform this adaptation into a film of great beauty and, yes, sensuality.
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The Menu (2022) Film Review
There is a fantastic faceoff between Fiennes and a mysterious guest who was not invited. She is played by the extraordinary Anna Taylor-Joy
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The Tale of King Crab (2022) Film Review
The directors are extremely cine-literate. However, their references never seemed forced and I basked in their cinematic vision.
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Great Freedom (2021) Film Review
Meise directs what must be some of the most beautiful and heartfelt scenes ever captured on film between two men in love.
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Passing (2021) Film Review
You cannot take your eyes off Ruth Negga’s Claire, a Black woman who can pass for White in New York in 1929.
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Dance of the Forty-One (2020) Film Review
Ignacio de la Torre was the son in law of Mexico’s president for life and dictator Porfirio Díaz’s. But he was leading a double life with his lover Evaristo.
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Undine (2020) Film Review
Christian Petzold’s direction is so seductive, and the two leads are so effective, that you fall easily for “Undine’s” charms.
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The Covenant (2023) Film Review
Matching Gyllenhaal, Salim gives a supremely dignified yet deeply moving performance that is worthy of a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
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The Eight Mountains (2023) Film Review
If there is a weakness in the film, it is Borghi’s subservient presence to Marinelli. This changes dramatically n the film’s final sequence…
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Girl Picture (2022) Film Review
Aamu Milonoff is exceptionally good, giving a beautifully grounded yet magical performance. The kind that makes you sit up and take notice.
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God’s Country (2022) Film Review
But the movie belongs to Newton who gives the best performance of her career here. We are completely in her spell.
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The Inspection (2022) Film Review
The revelation is Pope. Those big, beautiful, expressive eyes speak volumes and question volumes. A gay man, you can feel his star presence.
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Till (2022) Film Review
The 2023 Best Actress Oscar Goes To…Danielle Deadwyler in Till. And as she reaches the volta of her magnificent speech she does something extraordinary…
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Watcher (2022) Film Review
A marvelous performance by Maika Monroe, who shares with her namesake a beauty and star quality that gives any movie in which she appears a touch of class.
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The Green Knight (2021) Film Review
David Lowery’s enthralling “The Green Knight”. Alicia Vikander does double duty as a peasant girl, and the mistress of a mysterious household.
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Tick, tick…Boom! (2021) Film Review
Although we know the eventual outcome, there is no great tragedy awaiting us at the end of the movie. In fact, it is a celebration of life.
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The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) Film Review
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” is filled with brilliant touches. The major reason to see this movie is Kathryn Hunter who plays all three witches.
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Dear Comrades (2020) Film Review
Andrei Konchalovsky’s Searing Indictment of a little-known Khrushchev Era Massacre is his best work in years.
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Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (2023) Film Review
We also discover, in a beautifully acted scene by McAdams, who steals the picture, that Barbara is estranged from her devoutly Christian parents.
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Blackberry (2023) Film Review
Balsillie is the yin to Lazaridis” yang. Baruchel and Howerton complement one another at every turn as Balsillie has eyes for the Pittsburgh Steelers!
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Monica (2023) Film Review
Pallaoro is blessed with two actresses who are able to convey oceans of emotion with their eyes and Lysette, a real-life trans actress, is wonderful.
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Sick of Myself (2023) Film Review
If you can take moments of extreme gore and disfigurement – it succeeds more as a horror movie than as a piece of social satire – you could do worse.
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Hit the Road (2022) Film Review
The film begins with one of the most memorable opening scenes in recent memory. It’s a glorious and inventive piece of true cinema magic.
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The Whale (2022) Film Review
As Charlie, an overweight teacher, Brendan Fraser gives a very sweet and appealing performance in director Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale”.
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Jockey (2021) Film Review
Collins and Parker have a wonderful rapport based on their shared love of horses, and there might be something deeper between them.
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Palm Trees and Power Lines (2023) Film Review
McInerny is fine in the lead. The problem is that her character is utterly vacuous. The director Jamie Dack has both style and confidence.
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Return to Seoul (2023) Film Review
Director Davy Chou likes to have his main character bottle up their emotions and then express these feelings in a couple of spectacular dance sequences.
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Blonde (2022) Film Review – Marilyn Monroe is exploited once again
Immersing herself completely in the role of Norma Jean/Marilyn Monroe, Ana de Armas is sensational. And exhausting!
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Tár (2022) Film Review
However, no one seems to have stopped and thought about the age difference between these two maestros. By my calculations, Lenny would have been teaching Lydia when she was five years old!
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White Noise (2022) Film Review
Our savior is Driver, who, against all odds, manages to give another really good performance in inhospitable settings.
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Shiva Baby (2021) Film Review
Finally, a toast, amid all this great food, to four extraordinarily talented actresses: Sennott, Draper, Gordon, and Argon.
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Fully Realized Humans (2020) Film Review
Jess Wexler and Joshua Leonard have such a natural chemistry that I assumed that they were a couple in real-life.
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Babylon (2022) Film Review
I had no problem sitting through the movie’s bloated 180-minute running because, through all of this nothingness, five actors manage to make lasting impressions
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Pieces of a Woman (2020) Film Review
How can an actress who is pushing ninety be the mother of an actress in her late twenties or early thirties? Not impossible, but implausible.
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The Fabelmans (2022) Film Review
He films one of his jock tormentors as a blond God-like figure – I swear, it reminded me of Leni Riefenstahl’s “Olympia.”
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Licorice Pizza (2021) Film Review
“Licorice Pizza” and the gay stereotype. Here is a mincing queen with movements so exaggerated he could have Tourette’s syndrome.
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Asteroid City (2023) Film Review
The broad ensemble in front of the camera is adrift as the eccentric director obsesses over minutiae. It’s all unbearably precious.
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Performance (1970) Film Review
There will always be an argument as to who was the real auteur behind the camera.
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Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) Film Review
Starring a luminous Carrie Snodgress, the last movie that director Frank Perry and his screenwriter wife Eleanor made together is their best.
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Women in Love (1970) Film Review
Future gay activist Larry Kramer’s adaptation of D.H Lawrence’s 1920 novel was an enormous critical and commercial success earning four Oscar Nominations:
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There Was A Crooked Man (1970) Film Review
Hume Cronyn and John Randolph are our happy and well-adjusted gay couple. Yes, they fight and bicker all the time. However, they are clearly madly in love with each other.
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The Boys in the Band (1970) Film Review
As we saw in the 2020 remake, Mart Crowley’s play “The Boys in the Band” has stood the test of time beautifully.
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The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) Film Review
Excellent work by Robert Stephens (his best screen performance) and Colin Blakely (Dr. Watson). Geneviève Page gives a gorgeous melancholy performance.
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The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1971) Film Review
“The Garden of the Finzi Continis” is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by gay Italian writer Giorgio Bassani who is played in the film by Helmut Berger.
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Death In Venice (1971) Film Review
Visconti’s best idea was changing Aschenbach’s profession from a writer to a composer opening up the movie to the Mahler Adagietto .
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Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) Film Review
In “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, Murray Head plays a free-spirited bisexual who is having simultaneous relationships with Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch.
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The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) Film Review
A landmark in both New Queer Cinema and the New German Cinema, Fassbinder’s examination of the dynamics of a lesbian love triangle was shot in der wunderkind’s apartment.
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Cabaret (1972) Film Review
Based on the 1966 Broadway musical “Cabaret” by Kander and Ebb which was adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s The Berlin Stories” (1945).
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Pete ‘n’ Tillie (1972) Film Review
And then there Tillie’s other best friend Jimmy, the film’s token gay guy, played by René Auberjonois, who had one of the most memorable names in cinema.
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Play It As It Lays (1972) Film Review
Unfortunately, despite a good performance by Weld, the film only comes alive when she is driving endlessly around LA’s spectacular freeways.
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Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973) Film Review
Rita Walden, played beautifully by Joanne Woodward, in what is probably her best performance is about to go through a midlife crisis.
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The Day of the Jackal (1973) Film Review
Another example of a gay character whose sole purpose in the movie is to be killed. Still, Zinnemmann and Rodgers treat his character with a modicum of respect.
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Chinatown (1974) Polanski’s Noir Masterpiece
Polanski captured the FEEL of LA better than anyone before or sense. Jack Nicholson gives his greatest performance as private dick J. J. ” Jake” Gittes.
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The Great Gatsby (1974) Film Review
Directed by Jack Clayton, from an adaptation by Francis Ford Coppola, this was the third film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age masterpiece.
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Jeanne Dielman (1975) Film Review
In “Jeanne Dielman”, a feminist masterpiece, the everyday details of a caring mother contrast with her life as a prostitute.
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Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) Film Review
Weir, who showed, like Hitchcock, that horror can be visited upon us on the brightest and most beautiful of summer days.
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Film Review
It is, of course, a GROUP EXPERIENCE with those inspired zingers going back to the screen, composed by a generation of audience members over the years.
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Dog Day Afternoon (1975) Film Review
Pacino is magnificent. With Michael Corleone in The Godfather movies, “Dog Day Afternoon” is his defining role.
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Ode to Billy Joe (1976) Film Review
Why did Billy Joe McAllister jump off the Tallahassee Bridge? The answer, according to director Max Baer, is because he slept with a man.
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Carrie (1976) Film Review
Brian De Palma’s masterpiece and one of the GREAT HORROR MOVIES with tremendous performances from Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie. The unforgettable score is by Pino Donaggio.
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The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) Film Review
“Ripley”, Minghella’s masterpiece, boasts Matt Damon’s best performance plus stunning turns by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jude Law.
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All About Eve (1950) Film Review
Bette Davis in her greatest role with some of the best lines ever written. Both Addison and Eve are gay and he blackmails her.
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Caged (1950) Film Review
“Hype the New Fish”. Innocent Eleanor Parker spends time in a women’s prison. With Hope Emerson and Agnes Moorehead.
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Young Man with a Horn (1950) Film Review
Lauren Bacall is Kirk Douglas’ young man with a horn’s society wife who is also a closeted lesbian. Bacall is very good in a risque role.
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A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Film Review
The best play to film adaptation of all-time with two of the greatest performances: Vivien Leigh as Blanch DuBois and Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski.
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Strangers on a Train (1951) Film Review
Hitchcock reverses himself here, having gay actor Farley Granger play the straight character and straight actor Robert Walker play the gay character.
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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) Film Review
It’s Howard Hawks again, this time adapting the Jule Stein/Leo Robin Broadway smash “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”. With Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe.
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Niagara (1953) Film Review
The buildup to Monroe’s superstardom started here. The magnificent widescreen technicolor cinematography if by Joseph MacDonald.
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Johnny Guitar (1954) Film Review
A Western with two female leads is that rarest of cinematic jewels and, under Nicholas Ray’s direction, both Crawford and McCambridge play to the gallery.
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Rear Window (1954) Film Review
Stewart, Kelly, and Ritter are all magnificent. Kelly, looking radiant, gets to deliver one of the big screen’s all-time sexy lines.
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Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Film Review
Wood, Dean and Mineo form a nuclear family under the shadow of Griffith Park Observatory. Sal Mineo’s Plato is Hollywood’s first adolescent gay character.
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The Bad Seed (1956) Film Review
Nancy Kelly is ON 100% of the time straddling the twin minefields of camp and drama yet managing to accomplish both simultaneously.
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Written on the Wind (1956) Film Review
The film’s central tenet is that Kyle (Oscar Nominee Robert Stack) and his ruthless sister Marylee (Oscar winner Dorothy Malone) lust after the same man.
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Tea and Sympathy (1956) Film Review
One of Deborah Kerr’s most sympathetic performances. Both she she and John Kerr (no relation) originated their roles on the Broadway stage.
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Funny Face (1957) Film Review
“Funny Face“, the 1957 musical romantic comedy directed by Stanley Donen, boasts Audrey Hepburn’s most charming screen performance.
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A Touch of Evil (1958) Film Review
Yes, that is Mercedes McCambridge as the unnamed lesbian gang leader getting her kicks while watching Janet Leigh getting roughed up in Welles’ other masterwork.
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Auntie Mame (1958) Film Review
Gay director Morton DaCosta (his real name) directs like he is still in the theatre – he did better in his second and final visit to Hollywood with “The Music Man”.
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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) Film Review
Richard Brooks respectable adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play opens with Brick (Paul Newman) pining and drinking in his bedroom for the memory of his best friend (read lover) Skipper.
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Vertigo (1958) Film Review
Anchored by an incredible performance by James Stewart as Scotty Ferguson a private detective and ex-cop who suffers from vertigo (fear of heights) after a coworker fell to his death, and Kim Novak is spectacular in the dual role of Judy/Madeleine.
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Suddenly Last Summer (1959) Film Review
The movie is risible, its few pleasures come from Hepburn’s regal (but very nasty) mother who will do anything to protect her son’s memory.
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Some Like it Hot (1959) Film Review
“Some Like It Hot“ was only the second (following Otto Preminger’s “The Moon is Blue” in 1953) mainstream Hollywood movie NOT to be submitted to the Hays Office.
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North by Northwest (1959) Film Review
Eva Marie Saint gives Grace Kelly in “Rear Window” a run for her money as Hitchcock’s most elegant leading lady and the chemistry between the two leads is more palpable than in any Hollywood picture before or since.
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Pillow Talk (1959) Film Review
Hudson’s characters has a gay alter ego named “Rex” and supporting actors Tony Randall and Nick Allen are constantly brushing off the gay ceiling.
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Ben Hur (1959) Film Review
If you believe Gore Vidal it was all because of a lover’s spat. Wyler and Boyd were in on the ruse, and Boyd played his scenes that way, but Heston was not.
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The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) Film Review
A beautiful adaptation of the William Inge play directed by Delbert Mann from a great script by Harriet Frank Jr. and Irving Ravetch..
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Psycho (1960) Film Review
Anthony Perkins’ Norman Bates made him immortal while, at the same, time, ending his career in Hollywood. A masterpiece.
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Spartacus (1960) Film Review
The Kirk Douglas/Stanley Kubrick epic has not aged well but the supporting cast,, particularly Laurence Olivier and Peter Ustinov, make it worth seeing.
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Victim (1960) Film Review
They say that this film did more to sway public and political opinion on homosexuality in England than any parliamentary discussion.
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A Taste of Honey (1961) Film Review
Although he was playing a teenager, gay actor Murray Melvin was almost thirty when he made “A Taste of Honey” with Rita Tushingham.
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The Children’s Hour (1961) Film Review
Not having the courage of his convictions, what started out as bravery ended in cowardice and it’s a shame.
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Advice and Consent (1962) Film Review
Preminger always liked to be cutting edge and he was with “Advise and Consent” a beautifully written, acted and directed movie.
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Whatever Happened Baby Jane? (1962) Film Review
Both of Hollywood’s grande dames Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are in top form with Davis getting the showier role as faded child star Baby Jane Hudson.
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That Touch of Mink (1962) Film Review
In between the Rock Hudson movies “Lover Come Back” (1961) and “Send Me no Flowers” (1964), Doris Day paired up with Cary Grant.
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David and Lisa (1962) Film Review
In fact, many of Theodore Isaac Rubin’s beliefs have now fallen out of favor. Despite the film’s sensitive moments, it often seems dangerously simplistic and naive.
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Billy Budd (1962) Film Review
Many, including gay composer Benjamin Britton and his famous opera, maintain that there is an undercurrent of homoeroticism between the three leads.
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The L-Shaped Room (1963) Film Review
Writer/director Bryan Forbes lovely and faithful adaptation of the Lynne Reid Banks novel boasts Leslie Caron’s greatest performance.
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The Servant (1963) Film Review
A savage indictment of the waning British class system, it’s one of the most chilling films ever made. Winner of Best Screenplay of 1964 from the NYFCC.
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The Haunting (1963) Film Review
As a chic Greenwich village lesbian named Theo, whose couture is designed by Mary Quant, Claire Bloom is a knockout in Robert Wise’s 1963 movie “The Haunting”.
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The Best Man (1964) Film Review
“The Best Man” boasts three outstanding performances: Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson and pre-code star Lee Tracy who returns to the screen.
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Seven Days in May (1964) Film Review
A peak entry in the American political thriller genre, the film boasts four of the greatest performances of the sixties.
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The Leather Boys (1964) Film Review
Canadian journeyman Sidney J. Furie, does a striking job with this “gay” love story set within the milieu of London’s biker subculture.
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The Loved One (1965) Film Review
Great fun was had by all adapting Evelyn Waugh’s 1948 short satirical novel about the funeral business in Los Angeles.
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Darling (1965) Film Review
“Darling” stars the impossibly beautiful Julie Christie, even if far more people saw in her as Laura in David Lean’s “Doctor Zhivago”.
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My Hustler (1965) Film Review
“My Hustler” is a hugely different film from Warhol’s previous offerings with a solid narrative and surprisingly good performances.
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Persona (1966) Film Review
Two of the world’s greatest actresses under the gaze of one of the greatest movie directors the world has ever known.
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Valley of the Dolls (1967) Film Review
A movie to be seen AT A MIDNIGHT SCREENING WITH A GAY CROWD, – a GROUP experience. Do not see this movie on your own.
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Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) Film Review
John Huston’s favorite of all his movies. Brando does something amazing with his closeted gay character who is married to Elizabeth Taylor.
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Portrait of Jason (1967) Film Review
A true breakthrough and a film that has improved with age. Documentary filmmaker Shirley Clarke interviews gay African American hustler and aspiring cabaret performer Jason Holliday in his apartment at the Hotel Chelsea.
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The Swimmer (1968) Film Review
With a near-great performance by Burt Lancaster as the title character who “swims his way home” through his “river” of backyard swimming pools…
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The Fox (1968) Film Review
“The Fox” does interesting things with color saturation (Bill Fraker) and the Lalo Schifrin score has entered the jazz canon.
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No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) Film Review
“Dorian”, Gill’s hairdresser persona is, of course, gay with a classic sibilant-rich delivery. In the movie’s best scene, just as he is caressing the neck of his intended victim Miss Belle Poppie…
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The Detective (1968) Film Review
However, the awful script by Abby Mann – “Judgement at Nuremberg” – and the mediocre direction by Gordon Douglas put the kibosh on everything.
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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Film Review
In Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”, HAL 9000 is the psychotic gay computer abord Discovery One. HAL is in love with Dave and quickly dispatches with copilot Frank.
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The Killing of Sister George (1968) Film Review
Beryl Reid is marvelous as “George”. That’s not her name. It’s the name of the character she plays in a beloved long-running BBC series.
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Rachel, Rachel (1968) Film Review
Highly regarded at the time of its release (NYFCC awards going to Newman as Best Director and Woodward as Best Actress), it seems a bit underwhelming today.
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The Sergeant (1968) Film Review
The subject matter, its release during the Christmas season, and a couple of scathing reviews by the major critics of the time, sealed its fate.
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The Damned (1969) Film Review
Luchino Viconti’s “The Damned” centers on the Essenbecks (read Krupp family) on the night of the Reichstag fire in early 1933.
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Staircase (1969) Film Review
On the stage Dyer may have been trying to project two sides of his own personality. However, any such subtlety is lost in translation.
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Midnight Cowboy (1969) Film Review
John Schlesinger’s American debut is only X-rated movie to win Best Picture. It boasts two great performances courtesy of Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffmann.
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Last Summer (1969) Film Review
..but it is Hershey who is really stunning as the manipulative Sandy. Then, into their lives wanders Rhoda (Oscar nominee Cathy Burns)…
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Goodbye Columbus (1969) Film Review
The Queer element in the film comes from Brenda’s older brother Ron. Ron has the hots for Neil (Richard Benjamin) who he keeps inviting back to his room.
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The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Film Review
Director James Whale’s masterpiece is as close to Susan Sontag’s definition of high camp as the movies can deliver.
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Top Hat (1935) Film Review
The Best of the Astaire-Rogers movies. Cinematography: David Abel. Production Design: Carroll Clark/Van Nest Polglase. Songs: Irving Berlin.
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Sylvia Scarlet (1935) Film Review
Both gay and trans, Sylvia/Sylvester set the bar impossibly high for years to come. One of the great financial disasters of the 1930s, it resulted in Hepburn being labelled box office poison.
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Dodsworth (1936) Film Review
“Dodsworth”: William Wyler’s masterpiece, the best movie ever made about the fear of growing old. It was Wyler’s first Oscar nomination.
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The Women (1939) Film Review
Every character in the movie, and every animal featured, was female. Great work by Crawford, Russell, Shearer and Mary Boland.
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The Wizard of Oz (1939) Film Review
She captured everyone’s heart, gay or straight. There is something vulnerable yet confident about her. And then there is that incredible voice!
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Rebecca (1940) Film Review
“Rebecca”, marked the arrival in Hollywood of the man who was, or would eventually become, the greatest director in the history of cinema.
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The Maltese Falcon (1941) Film Review
The performances are there to savor with the great Mary Astor doing a superb turn as Bridget O’ Shaughnessy and the gay triumvirate bringing up the rear!
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The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) Film Review
Monty Wooley delights as the impossibly pompous Sheridan Whiteside in William Keighley’s wonderful adaptation of the Kauffman/Hart play.
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Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Film Review
Alfred Hitchcock, the cinema’s greatest director, made seven perfect films in which every shot, every camera move, every editing sequence is, well, perfect.
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Double Indemnity (1944) Film Review
“Double Indemnity” is the best of the three great film noirs of 1944, the others being “Laura” and “The Woman in the Window”. The three leads are superb as is Wilder’s direction.
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Laura (1944) Film Review
“Laura” is one of the classic film noirs. Gene Tierney is born and Clifton Webb becomes a star in his fifties. Haunting Raksin score.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) Film Review
Albert Lewin directed his masterpiece, a superb adaptation of Oscar Wild’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” with a beautiful Hurd Hatfield.
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Gilda (1946) Film Review
Feast your eyes on Vidor’s stylish direction, Rudolph Mate lush black-and-white cinematography the Jean Louis gowns and, of course, Rita Hayworth as Gilda.
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Notorious (1946) Film Review
The term “MacGuffin” originated by Angus MacPhail for film, adopted by Alfred Hitchcock, and later extended to a similar device in other fiction. The MacGuffin here is the Uranium in the cellar.
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Red River (1948) Film Review
1948 was the year of Montgomery Clift. In addition to Hawkes “Red River” there was Fred Zinnemann’s “The Search” and William Wyler’s “The Heiress”.
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Rope (1948) Film Review
The story, which is based on the Leopold and Loeb case is irresistible. Granger and Dall are perfection and Jimmy Stewart is also amazing.
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Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Film Review
In “Kind Hearts and Coronets”: Alec Guinness has fun playing all eight (or nine) of the unfortunate D’Ascoynes, including Lady Agatha D’Ascoyne. The photograph shows Dennis Price with Joan Greenwood who plays that little minx Sibella.
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Adam’s Rib (1949) Film Review
Marvelous acting by Judy Holliday, Jean Hagen, Hope Emerson, Tom Ewell and, as Amanda’s “gay best friend”, David Wayne.
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Strange Way of Life (2023) Almodovar By Saint Laurent
As the movie proceeds, we realize this is more Saint Laurent than Almodovar. If only he trusted himself more and let the beauty come from within.
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Andrea Arnold’s Sensational Live Action Shorts
A young mother (Natalie Press), who wants to rekindle an old relationship, neglects her four children for an evening.
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Shayda (2023) Poster.
Australia’s entry for Best International Film. In Farsi. Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. Director Noora Niasari. Executive Producer Cate Blanchett.
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