In honor of Eva Marie Saint, who passed away at 102, Throwback Thursday heads back to 1959 for Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. Cary Grant, spies, trains, Mount Rushmore, one very determined crop duster, and Eva Marie Saint at her absolute best. Nearly seventy years later, this thing still moves better than most thrillers made today.
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Critics hated it, audiences stayed away, and I couldn't care less. Death to Smoochy remains my favorite comedy ever made, thanks to Robin Williams going completely off the rails, Edward Norton playing the world's most sincere fuchsia rhino, and one very unfortunately shaped batch of cookies.
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The Nun's Story is one of Audrey Hepburn's greatest performances and one of the most overlooked films of her career. Patient, beautiful, and devastating. Available free on Tubi.
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Howard Hawks' Sergeant York is exactly the kind of movie that used to get made and doesn't anymore. Gary Cooper's Oscar-winning performance makes this one worth every minute.
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The Dungeon opens with Deathstalker, the 1983 Roger Corman sword and sorcery film that defines the genre at its most unfiltered. Theia condemns it. Thalia has feelings about Lana Clarkson. The Never-Ending Countdown begins.
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The Memorial Day countdown reaches its last new review at #3. We Were Soldiers covers the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965 with the respect and emotional weight it deserves. Mel Gibson, Sam Elliott, and the entire cast are extraordinary. Full review.
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The Memorial Day countdown reaches #4. Oliver Stone served in Vietnam and spent ten years trying to get Platoon made. That urgency is in every frame. Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, and Charlie Sheen are all exceptional. Full review.
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The Indian in the Cupboard had one of the best premises of any 90s kids movie. Toys coming to life as real people with real histories. It just never had the nerve to follow through on what it set up.
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The Memorial Day countdown continues with #5. Hacksaw Ridge tells the true story of Desmond Doss, the unarmed medic who saved 75 men at Okinawa. Mel Gibson directs it with ferocity. Andrew Garfield is extraordinary. Full review.
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The Memorial Day countdown rolls on with #6. Full Metal Jacket is two movies in one. The Parris Island half is Kubrick at his absolute peak. The Vietnam half is excellent on its own terms. Both together are essential viewing.
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Our Memorial Day countdown continues with a review of The Longest Day. This beast covers D-Day from every angle with one of the greatest casts ever assembled. It's three hours of old Hollywood ambition that still holds up.
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Patton isn't really a war film in the traditional sense. It's a character study of one of history's most complicated military minds, anchored by George C. Scott's all-time great performance.
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Midway got written off by critics in 2019 and that was mostly unfair. Roland Emmerich's Pacific War epic is flawed but worth your time, especially around this Memorial Day weekend and the lead up to it.
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William Wyler directs Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in the film that made her a star. Charming, beautiful, and honest enough to skip the fairy tale ending. A perfect film.
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Stanley Donen directs Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in their only film together — a mystery thriller dressed up as a romantic comedy, and one of the most underrated films of the 1960s. The Audrey Hepburn Rewatch series rolls on, this time doubled up as the fourth Throwback Thursday feature.
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Blake Edwards directs Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in one of the most iconic performances in cinema history. Charming, beautiful, and a little melancholy in all the right ways.
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William Wyler directs Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine in one of the darker films either actress ever made. A child's malicious lie destroys two women's lives, and the ending doesn't pull its punch.
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Mel Gibson at his peak, Jodie Foster at her most charming, and one of the most likable supporting casts of the nineties. Maverick (1994) is still an absolute blast.
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Deep Impact came out the same summer as Armageddon and has been unfairly compared to it ever since. It is the better film. Robert Duvall is outstanding, Tea Leoni earns her emotional payoff, and it treats the audience like adults.
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Kid me watched Blank Check twenty or thirty times and loved every minute of it. Adult me can see the seams. Still a decent watch for the nostalgia and Karen Duffy and Tone Loc make it worth revisiting at least once.
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