Glengarry Glen Ross endures mainly as a spectacular display of verbal warfare and alpha-male gamesmanship. There’s a musical quality to it, with a great composer and a great chorus hitting the complicated runs of broken dialogue and solos that weave into profane poetry and nuggets of philosophical wisdom. Perhaps the greatest sign of the movie’s success, owed equally to Mamet’s script and this cast, is that it does a great sales job in itself, convincing us that there’s nobility to men who lie for a living — a bill of goods we’re all too happy to buy. [more inside]
posted by Trurl on Sep 29, 2011 - 67 comments

It was not easy to get Terence Malick to direct again, as this article about the making of "The Thin Red Line" from Vanity Fair shows.
posted by reenum on Jan 24, 2011 - 27 comments

Gravelly-voiced character actor James Gammon has passed away of cancer at the age of 70. His career spanned more than 50 years in television, (with roles from "Gunsmoke" to "Grays Anatomy",) film and theater, but most will probably remember him as either the cantankerous manager of the Cleveland Indians in the 1989 comedy "Major League" or as Don Johnson's crotchety, retired longshoreman father on the television show Nash Bridges. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Jul 18, 2010 - 23 comments

The Dybbuk (Yiddish, 1937; based on the 1914 play by S. Ansky.)
posted by Iridic on Mar 27, 2010 - 12 comments

The Knickerbocker Theater was an old-fashioned movie palace in Washington, DC designed by Reginald W. Geare for local theatre mogul, Harry Crandall. On January 28, 1922, while patrons were watching Jimmy Durante's film debut in the comedy Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford, 28 inches of snow caused the Knickerboof's roof to collapse, killing 98 people, in an event still known as the Knickerbocker snowstorm of 1922. [more inside]
posted by jonp72 on Feb 6, 2010 - 23 comments

Quick, before Tim Burton's "re-imagining dark gems of the 1970s" spree continues with the film version that will obliterate all recollection of the original musical thriller's style! Check out 1982's Emmy-winning televised performance of Sweeney Todd, with George Hearn and the inimitable Angela Lansbury. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15. Or, just skip to the highlights, A Little Priest, Epiphany. Also, check out the style of the inventive, minimalist revival or read the original penny dreadful!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur on Oct 14, 2007 - 42 comments