Catch up with the idea behind this series here. World War II was winding down and the nation was ready to be happy again. So, naturally the Best Picture award went to “The Lost Weekend.” Perhaps it was a show of unity with war partners France, as it would be the first film to win […]

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“A film must always be finished, even if it is in the dark.” This line may come froma brand new film, Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces,” but it’s an apt pointer to a vintage film retrospective in New York that surely forms the oddest news item of the day. In “Broken Embraces,” the line is spoken […]

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Now I know I mention British film publication Sight & Sound quite often (I don’t work for them, honest), but they keep printing such good stuff. The September issue, just out, has an extensive career profile, with accompanying interview, on Clint Eastwood – a happy coincidence in the week that our friend Mr Foote’s book […]

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Clint Eastwood is largely considered one of the most uneven directors working today.  For every probing piece of thematic greatness (“Unforgiven,” “Mystic River”) there are three or four considerable missteps, from “The Gauntlet” and “Heartbreak Ridge” to “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” and “Blood Work.” Such inconsistency is the price a hard-working […]

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