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Reflections of Evil: Steven Spielberg’s paranoia and conspiracy theories

There are few real-life figures more beloved in American cinema than Steven Spielberg. He’s earned that adoration without question, but his worship retards the dialogue around his work. Like his buddy Colonel G. Lucas, Spielberg is a brand first, a businessman second, and a filmmaker last. It’s time to loosen up the conversation. Spielberg is …

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10 Best Movie Car Chases of All Time (Epic Scenes)

A good car chase works for completely different reasons than its bipedal counterpart. Where a foot chase is more intimate, desperate, and rough, car chases are cool, exciting, almost romantic. Here the journey overwhelms destination: tough guys (and girls) driving sleek machines at impossible speeds. And unlike foot chases, there are no real limitations on …

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The Definitive Best Picture Losers

#20. The Exorcist (1973) Lost to: The Sting Crammed in between two Best Picture wins for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Godfather” films was an interesting little year that rewarded another pairing of Robert Redford and Paul Newman (trivia: “The Sting’s” Julia Phillips is the first time female producer to ever win Best Picture). The other big landmark …

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‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ on the big screen for just one more night

One of the best action movies of all time (if not just the 1980s) has returned to theaters, and if you missed your chance over the weekend, tonight’s all you have left. As part of their Classics Series, Cinemark is showing Steven Spielberg’s adventure classic Raiders of the Lost Ark at its chains tonight, as the …

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Looking at Dinosaurs: ‘Jurassic Park’ and Its Powerful Hold on a Generation

Jurassic Park, like many of Spielberg’s best films, allows us to be children again, even if this is, ironically, a film most kids would be scared to death by. It’s a movie that indulges in horror-movie tropes while making them feel fresh, layering a patina of intelligence over the intense, earth-rattling action. Though the human-dinosaur face-offs are the stuff of movie legend, the early sections where Drs. Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm, and Ellie Sattler debate the ethics of a theme park full of the living, breathing extinct are strangely fascinating and entertaining, at least to 28-year old me.

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When the absence of color enhances the experience

AMC is currently rerunning the first and second seasons of The Walking Dead in black and white each Thursday night.  For a fanbase that is growing tired of the channel over marketing the show and trying to ring every possible ounce of viewership it can I’m sure many are turned off by this “gimmick”.  Of …

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Extended Thoughts on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Directed by Gore Verbinski Written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy The phrase “less is more” comes to mind when thinking of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (hereafter referred to by its subtitle), though it’d be more …

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George Lucas: One (mega) hit wonder?

It’s a phrase out of the music industry:  one-hit wonders.  Those bands that come out of nowhere, hit the top of the charts with a catchy – maybe even impressive – single, or have one chart-topping album, and then never seem to be able to hit that sweet spot again.  Anybody remember Boston’s second album?  …

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SOS Staff Gateway Films: Michael Ryan – ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’

    Throughout November, SOS staffers will be discussing the movies that made them into film fanatics. (click here for the full list) Raiders of the Lost Ark Directed by Steven Spielberg Written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman imdb, USA, 1981 I grew up in a house …

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Portrayals of Nazis on film

Godwin’s Law, a well-known law of the internet dating back to the virtually prehistoric times of 1990, states that ‘as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one’ (see TV Tropes). Perhaps a related law should be established stating that ‘the more films are made within a …

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Indiana Jones meets Popeye

The cartoonist Chuck Forsman has created 6 Strips of scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark done in a Segar Popeye style. He is selling prints of the strip for $20 on The Oily Boutique. 11×17 digital print on heavy stock shipped in a tube. Visit the site and support the artist. Thanks to /film …

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