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‘Freak’ Of The Weak: Fall TV Roulette (Part Three)
We are officially wrapping up the fall TV season now, as most shows have begun or are about to take a hiatus for the holidays, and others are taking a hiatus for… ever. Farewell, A To Z! Good riddance,...
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Famous Last Words: A Fond Farewell To The Tabloid Train Wreck
(Throwback Thursday: My final column for INsite Boston, originally published in April 2007. I still feel that I wrote this shortly after Hollywood reached a turning point; when the advent of the...
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Incoherent ‘Vice': A Defective Detective And A Slippery Mystery
Paul Thomas Anderson is considered one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. By some, one of the greatest filmmakers of any time. Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood are held up, almost...
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The Assassination Of Valerie Cherish: ‘The Comeback’ // “Valerie Faces The...
“No one? Really? Not ‘no one,’ Mark, because I believed in me. I’m not no one. That’s not nice. Maybe you don’t think I’m someone, but I have a birth certificate that says I am. Maybe you should talk...
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Nice Is Different Than Good: ‘The Babadook’&‘Into The Woods’
Into the woods To sell a film They don’t care how The time is now. Fairy tales are a universal language. Specific characters, like Cinderella and Red Riding Hood, appear in various versions of their...
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The Price Of Stardom: ‘The Comeback’ // “Valerie Gets What She Really Wants”
“It’s HBO. Not that many people are gonna see it.” But what does Valerie Cherish really want? The Comeback‘s Season Two finale answers that question once and for all. “Valerie Gets What She Really...
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Pretty As A Picture: ‘Big Eyes’&‘Ida’ Provide A Visual Feast
Art is subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A picture is worth a thousand words. And everybody — I mean everybody — is a critic. We critique based on the artist. A Picasso will be held up...
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Hard In The City’s “Best Of Google” Volume 3
Happy New Year! This little blog of mine has existed for a little over three years now, and you know what? The more I blog, the more I realize what ignorant freaks the human race can be, thanks to the...
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History Boys: The Brilliant British Lads Of ‘Theory,’‘Pride’&‘Imitation’
It happens every year. That handsomely produced movie, often British, usually a period piece. It’s a perfectly fine film — unchallenging, uncomplicated, more or less forgettable. It has the right...
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America’s ‘Most Violent': Chandor Explores The Price Of Prosperity
You don’t make a movie about Wall Street in 2011 unless you’re saying something about what’s going down in America. J.C. Chandor did that with the gripping drama Margin Call, taking us inside the...
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Into The Woods: ‘Looking’ Season Two Premiere // “Looking For The Promised Land”
It’s been nearly a year since Patrick, Dom, and Augustin signed off on us, and now they’re back, taking a relaxing weekend getaway to the woods. But watch out, boys! These woods are full of bears! And...
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‘Selma’& Louie Z: Awards Season’s Historical Heavyweights
Some films are great. Some films are Important. Some are both, some are neither. Many are one, attempting to be the other. This time of year always unleashes at least one major release about a...
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The Tens: Best Of Film 2014
It was a very good year at the movies… but a weird one. Reversing the trend of recent years, the summer blockbuster fare offered a surprising amount of good taste, from the goofy-fun Guardians Of The...
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The Not-Oscars 2014
Once again, it’s Oscar time. This year’s race is gearing up to be one of the least predictable in recent memory. For every race that has an all-but-guaranteed winner (Julianne Moore, Best Actress; J.K....
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Hard.in.the.City’s 2015 Oscars Drinking Game
No, Academy Awards drinking games are nothing new or novel, and yes, every other more reputable pop culture website has already posted one. But if I’m going to be watching the Oscars, and I’m going to...
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R.e.X. featuring Lana Lovesit // “B.O.M.D. (Bitches On My Dick)”
* Bitches, dick, Jack Daniels, and Jurassic Park references, all rolled into one. * *
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The Tens: Best Of Film 2007
My Top 10 for the year 2007 comes to you from the midst of the WGA Writer’s Strike of 2007-2008, when there was some doubt about whether or not a typical Oscar telecast would even be possible without...
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There And Back Again: The Sound, Fury & Nothingness Of ‘Mad Max’
I’m tempted to post my review of Mad Max: Fury Road as a series of questions that popped into my head while watching it, but I won’t do that. It’s an early summer blockbuster that is being hailed by...
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The Tens: Best Of Film 2006
Continuing my retroactive Top 10 lists, this one takes us back to 2006, originally published in my “Confessions of a Dangerous Film Student” column in INsite Boston. “Black Gold: Darkness Reigns During...
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The Tens: Best Of Film 2005
(A “Then & Now” perspective.) This Top 10 is actually a 20, because sometimes ten just isn’t enough. Actually, it’s because that’s how I wrote it back when it was originally published a decade...
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