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Dark City
The year before Matrix and more than a decade before Inception came Dark City. Perhaps The Matrix’s all-around brilliance and incredible special effects cast a permanent shadow on Dark City. Yet it is a compelling and fascinating story in its own right. And I can’t help but think Nolan’s incredible shifting cityscapes owe some debt…
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The Day of the Jackal
As the elaborate cat-and-mouse game unfolds, it’s never quite clear who is the hunted and who the hunter. The Jackal (a brilliant Edward Fox as a professional assassin) is stalking de Gaulle. And the entire French government is stalking the Jackal. I suppose one knows that de Gaulle isn’t going to die, but what makes…
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Midnight Run
Charles Grodin displays immense actorly patience, letting you warm to his character oh so slowly. His blank, backward-staring gaze – not De Niro’s fire, humor and despair – dominate Midnight Run. Then come the moments when he confiscates “counterfeit” bills, slams the train door on De Niro, and turns out, gloriously, to be a pilot.…
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13 Assassins
Whichever version you choose to watch of 13 Assassins, you won’t go wrong. The new version is faster, bloodier and more visually striking. The old version has the same great story beats and is even more perfectly Japanese. Not to be missed by anyone who enjoys Samurai movies (and who doesn’t?). (Prime)