Category Archives: Movies

Untimely Movie Review: Ben-Hur

Posted on January 28, 2019 by

There’s a moment, about two hours into Ben-Hur, when Charlton Heston’s title character tells Esther “We stood here before,” to which she replies “a long while ago,” and Heston responds, “Four years ago,” at which point I replied, “Feels longer.” That’s the … Continue reading →

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Timely Movie Review: The Last Jedi

Posted on December 20, 2017 by

I’m proud to say that I made it to The Last Jedi spoiler-free. But I did collect one bit of relevant information prior to seeing it.  I saw that the Rotten Tomatoes score was a strong 93%, with a robust sample size … Continue reading →

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Spy vs. Spy

Posted on July 18, 2016 by

In this episode, I examine one of the most infamous and protracted intellectual-property battles in entertainment history. The war over the rights to James Bond—specifically, the story and script for Thunderball—took over half a century to resolve fully. Luckily, this podcast … Continue reading →

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Timely Movie Review: The Force Awakens

Posted on April 8, 2016 by

We’ve all seen it by now, right? With this week’s blu-ray / digital release of The Force Awakens indicating that a reasonable time has elapsed, and since nobody else in the world has written anything online about Episode VII, I … Continue reading →

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Untimely Police Procedure Review: Running Scared

Posted on July 1, 2015 by

One of the more powerful and sadly ubiquitous stories of the past year has been the strained relationship between local law enforcement and the public, particularly in certain poor, heavily minority communities. Whether due to misguided militarization of police forces, … Continue reading →

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Untimely Movie Review: North by Northwest

Posted on May 26, 2015 by

After the bad taste in my mouth left by the subject of my last untimely review, I had rather high hopes for North by Northwest. It didn’t disappoint. North by Northwest is like a James Bond film, except if James Bond were … Continue reading →

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Untimely Movie Review: Gigi

Posted on April 3, 2015 by

After watching Gigi, I’m now more irritated than ever before that Saving Private Ryan didn’t win Best Picture. The movie—which did take home the Best Picture Oscar for 1958—begins with a borderline-elderly, thick-accented Parisian breaking the fourth wall to explain that … Continue reading →

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Timely Movie Review: Whiplash

Posted on February 26, 2015 by

  (Obvious spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen Whiplash, don’t read any further) I saw Birdman last week.  Interesting movie.  Michael Keaton was terrific. I never need to see it again. The first thing I did after watching Whiplash Monday night was to … Continue reading →

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Untimely Movie Review: An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain

Posted on October 3, 2014 by

The next two movies in the Warner Bros. 50 Film Collection are a pair of Gene Kelly musicals I’ll review in tandem: An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain.  These films present something of a dilemma for me as a … Continue reading →

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Untimely Movie Review: A Streetcar Named Desire

Posted on July 8, 2014 by

As the Warner Brothers 50 Film Collection moves into a new decade, the first movie from the 1950s is another story based on a play: Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire (which I will refer to simply as Streetcar to signal my … Continue reading →

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