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Josh Matthews

Comedy

Playtime — Jacques Tati’s 4th Feature Film

PlayTime 1967 ★★★★★ If you're beginning with Tati, I recommend avoiding this movie at first, until you've watched one or preferably two of his others. Start with "Monsieuer Hulot's Holiday," my least favorite of his but the most classic and basic. Then "Mon Oncle," then "Playtime." Watching in…
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December 19, 2020
Uncategorized

Crisis — Ingmar Bergman’s First Movie

Crisis 1946 ★★★½ Apparently not many people here have seen, or at least rated, Bergman's first feature film, the 1946 "Crisis." Of those who did, they are down on it, rather bizarrely. For its time, it's technically excellent. I was shocked to see Bergman had the blocking…
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December 19, 2020
Horror

Rosemary’s Baby

Rosemary’s Baby 1968 ★★½ I can envision using this movie in a critical thinking class. During the entire movie, I'm thinking about "pre-partum" syndrome, and then two hours into the movie, the Cassavetes character mentions it.  Here we have the crux of the simple horror movie: is…
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December 19, 2020
War

“The Ascent” — Larisa Shepitko

The Ascent 1977 ★★★ Larisa Shepitko's "The Ascent," intentionally or not, is an anti-Hollywood movie, much as say Tarkovsky's "Solaris" is just that. Both feature the Russian actor Anatoliy Solonitsyn, who has a great face, and who played Andrei Rublev in the film of the same…
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December 19, 2020
Video Essays

Why the PG-13 Rating is a Problem

https://youtu.be/iefY9K1N5Uk What's the difference between a PG-13 rated movie and an R-rated movie? I'll show you in this video, and I'll make the case that the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) rating system is absurd. The moral philosophy underlying the American movie ratings system…
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March 3, 2020
Video Essays

Akira Kurosawa — What Are His Greatest Movies

https://youtu.be/UhI5ybYCe6c Akira Kurosawa is a widely acknowledged master of the cinematic arts. His best-known films are considered by everybody to be beloved world classics: Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Red Beard, Yojimbo. I watched his 30 movies, thought hard about them, and then created this video for…
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February 28, 2020