Category Archives: movie review

Two-and-a-Half Murders in Black and White

Posted on March 30, 2025 by JE

I watched a couple of pretty good new-to-me movies that could loosely be described as noir: Panique (1946) and The Window (1949). Both of them are based on fiction I haven’t read, but now kind of want to. Reviews follow, … Continue reading →

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Lured Lucy

Posted on March 8, 2025 by JE

D and I watched Lured (1947). It was watchable, maybe even rewatchable. With a script by Leo Rosten (of Joys of Yiddish fame), I expected it to be wittier than it was. But, given that it’s about the hunt for … Continue reading →

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State of the Onion

Posted on December 27, 2022 by JE

A kind of review, I guess. Executive summary: a fun satire of techbro billionaires and their self-built cults, set inside a movie about mystery stories and puzzles. It’s maybe half an hour too long, like practically every movie made nowadays. … Continue reading →

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B+ Movie: ME & MY GAL

Posted on December 19, 2022 by JE

Executive summary: this is an interesting pre-Hays-Code comedy/melodrama that’s worth watching at least once. Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett star in this fast-moving but minor movie, directed by Raoul Walsh in 19 days and written by at least seven people … Continue reading →

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Screwball of Fire

Posted on December 16, 2022 by JE

I’m just off a couple weeks of grading at the end of the term. When I’m grading stacks of quizzes, I usually have a video running in the background to assuage the pain of this unnatural activity. This semester I … Continue reading →

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“Enos Marmor Iuvato!”

Posted on July 17, 2012 by JE

Movies don’t generally do space adventure well. The best sf movies involving space travel are mostly science fantasy (e.g. the Star Wars franchise). Which I also like, but which is different. So I was excited to hear about Mars, an … Continue reading →

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The Re-Mazing Spider-Man

Posted on July 11, 2012 by JE

I went to see The Amazing Spider-Man last weekend, like millions of my fellow Americans, some of whom had seen it before. Sometimes I felt like I’d seen it before, too–but as someone who’s been following Spidey’s career for well … Continue reading →

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Make Womb! Make Womb!

Posted on April 3, 2012 by JE

As fate and my innamorata would have it, I watched (within the space of a few days) two movies based on old Ira Levin novels: The Stepford Wives and Rosemary’s Baby. It seems crazy to give a spoiler alert about movies … Continue reading →

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Bath of the Titans

Posted on April 1, 2012 by JE

On Friday evening I set out with an intrepid band to see The Maltese Falcon on the big screen at the Valentine theater in the big town of Toledo. Through a set of hilarious circumstances we ended up eating dinner … Continue reading →

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Batman Strikes Out, and 2 Pix

Posted on March 20, 2011 by JE

I rewatched Batman Returns recently. It’s a visually beautiful movie. It reminded me constantly of an over-the-top production of an opera–an impression helped along by a lushly operatic soundtrack by Danny Elfman. For visual effects CGI can’t rival, the movie … Continue reading →

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