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MacGuffin Spotlight
Bird Watching – In Defense of “Marie Antoinette”
It saddens me that the prevalent thought is that Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006) was a disappointing follow-up to her career-making Lost in Translation (2003). In box office terms, yes, it very much underperformed. And it didn’t storm the awards season as Translation did. But…
READ MOREAn Appreciation – Modern Times
One of the most iconic images Charlie Chaplin ever gave to the world came in Modern Times (1936). It happens early on in the movie. The Little Tramp, working diligently on an automated assembly line, gets distracted and starts to lag behind. Desperate, he jumps…
READ MOREMacGuffin Roundtable #5 – House
The MacGuffin crew discusses House, from director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi and starring Kimiko Ikegami. This episode can be played online via the flash player below or it can be downloaded from here. It is available on both iTunes and Zune.
READ MORECharlie Chaplin at SIFF – The Gold Rush
The Seattle International Film Festival theater is currently hosting a series of Charlie Chaplin classics in new 35mm prints. Amongst them is one of Chaplin’s most iconic of all films, The Gold Rush. And this screening is a great excuse to revisit this classic. Often…
READ MORECharlie Chaplin at SIFF – City Lights
There was a time, not too long ago, when Charlie Chaplin was seen as the most famous man on earth. His films transcended borders, languages, and cultural barriers. Everyone knew who he was; his image held firmly in the minds of movie audiences around the…
READ MOREBird Watching – Cheryl Hines’s “Serious Moonlight”
One might, in general, think that a bad way to get someone to love you is to throw a flower pot at their head, knocking them unconscious, then duct tape them to a chair so they wake up unable to move. Louise, played by Meg…
READ MOREAn Appreciation – My Man Godfrey
The other day, I was looking through my movie collection, and ran across a film I loved but had totally forgotten about. I put it in my player and watched it for old time’s sake, and once again, I fell back in love with it…
READ MOREThe Tomb of Terror – Magic (1978)
Every Saturday night The Tomb of Terror opens, unleashing reviews of the obscure and the classic in horror cinema. Abracadabra, I sit on his knee. Presto-chango, And now he is me. Hocus pocus, We take her to bed. Magic is fun; We’re dead. This poem…
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