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Feature Four Frames

Using Deception for Good in Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) revolves around Mr. Fox (George Clooney), a cunning, somewhat egotistical bird thief. The film is a dry, witty comedy suitable for both children and adults; however, it’s greatest interest is the portrayal of a morally gray character. Anderson sets up expectations for Mr. Fox’s character in the opening scene, […]

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Hidden Gem Reviews

Hidden Gem: Jeff, Who Lives at Home (Duplass Brothers, 2011)

Jay and Mark Duplass’s film starts with Jason Segel’s 30 year-old slacker Jeff musing about the significance of fate into a dictaphone while sitting on the crapper. M. Night Shyamalan’s 2002 film Signs, with its thread of meaningful coincidences, points to a loose philosophy for Jeff to cling to as he idles away endless hours […]

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Lost Classic Reviews

Lost Classic: The Comic (Carl Reiner, 1969)

Comedian and director Carl Reiner’s second directorial feature-length film, The Comic (1969), starred Dick Van Dyke as a fictitious silent film era comedian, Billy Bright. Bright, an over bearing, egocentric comic, never reached the level of fame he believed he should have, always falling victim to the behavior of others like his wife (and co-star) […]

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Lost Classic Reviews

Lost Classic: The Way, Way Back (Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, 2013)

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s The Way, Way Back is a typical teen movie in so many ways. It captures that feeling of taking a holiday from teenage angst – a holiday with the promise of being whoever you want to be for a short period of time. In a way, however, the film feels […]

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Feature Four Frames

Four Frames: Best In Show (Christopher Guest, 2000)

The attention to detail attained by Christopher Guest in his finest works is absolute. One of the many high watermarks of his career, the 2000 dog show satire Best In Show, looks and feels authentic in every frame. But more than that, underneath the wonderful comedy, it also looks and feels authentic in each and […]

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Lost Classic Reviews

Lost Classic: You Said A Mouthful (Lloyd Bacon, 1932)

“I really couldn’t respect a man unless he were a great swimmer,” says Alice Brandon (Ginger Rogers) to Joe Holt (Joe E. Brown) in Lloyd Bacon’s comedy You Said A Mouthful (1932). A common feature of screen comedies in the 1920s and ’30s was social commentary on masculinity, with comedians often cast as shy, timid […]

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Feature Screengem

Screengem: Del Griffith’s Travel Trunk in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (John Hughes, 1987)

This article contains spoilers – read at your own risk! “What did I do to wind up with this guy?” sighs a bemused Neal Page midway through John Hughes’ Thanksgiving-set comedy Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Anyone of the belief that things in life are sent to try us will conclude that Neal’s uptight advertising executive’s […]

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New Release Reviews

New Release: A Dozen Summers

Between the early 1950s and 1980s, a film company called The Children’s Film Foundation captured what being a child was all about. Their short films – usually running at under an hour – were aimed at younger audiences, primarily featuring children in the main roles with adults reduced to mere support. The resultant films provided […]

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Feature Screengem

Screengem: Keaton’s Train in The General (Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, 1926)

One of the most fondly remembered works of silent cinema, Keaton and Bruckman’s The General is a masterpiece in both daring comic performance and narrative simplicity – many of the greatest visual jokes ever filmed all revolve around one man and his train. That man is Johnnie Gray (Keaton), a railroad engineer whose attempt to enlist […]