Tonight he’ll be at Rick’s. Eventually everyone goes to Rick’s.
Casablanca (1942) is one of the best movies of all time. It came out in the midst of World War II and yet doesn’t come close to the cheap tricks or laborious lectures of propaganda . Still, the context is there and an agenda. It won Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay Oscars. Some of dialogue is known by everyone. There are plenty of movies that won awards and had quotable…
It is much more disheartening to have to steal than to be stolen from.
I typically shy away from the term “masterpiece”. Perhaps that is because I conflate it with perfection rather than the mere work of a master. That perfection should be obvious to everyone and be separate from nostalgia and historical context–unless context is a conscious ingredient–and thus applies to very few films. In film, being a collaborative medium with so many people at work that go unseen…
Interestingly enough, while The Lady Vanishes presages the coming war and the propaganda films around it, Only Angels Have Wings is a precursor to the British RAF war films to come. A group of brave men, going up in the air with the full awareness that they may not land safely again. Comraderie, squabbles, and jealousies, and, most importantly, a girl on the ground to come home to who's rather ambivalent about the whole thing.…
Given that I didn't know exactly what I was in for, it is churlish of me to say I was very disappointed, but I was very disappointed. I saw good reviews, classical story, beautiful images, and thought "Finally, after over a year and a half, I'm finally going to see something awesome." Instead, Lowery made something decidedly weird. Admirably, there's no hand-holding through its nebulous plot and indecipherable motivations, but there was no relief from that nebulous indecipherablity. I saw…
It certainly feels every minute of 3 hours, but in a way that's a good thing. In an age of blitzkrieg plotting, a little time for a mystery to develop is nice. Problem is that the mystery, I suspect, barely holds up to scrutiny as the Batman, as parodied in the Adam West film, simply leaps from clue to clue until the conclusion is revealed to him (not by him). As my buddy Tyler often remarks on the Nolan films,…
Prof. Ratigan reviewed and rated Castles in the Sky on Sunday Jan 5, 2025
Prof. Ratigan reviewed and rated Only Angels Have Wings on Saturday Jan 4, 2025
Prof. Ratigan reviewed, liked and rated Bringing Up Baby on Saturday Jan 4, 2025
Prof. Ratigan added Indiscreet to his watchlist
Prof. Ratigan added Destination Tokyo to his watchlist
