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Ryan D - Week One

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Last Chance U (season one) available on Netflix When Ryan sent me his assignment he told me to choose from a list of some of his recent favorite shows and movies. I had seen most of the list but there were two shows, in particular, that caught my eye. The first was Godless, a western series created by one of my favorite screenwriters and something I had been looking forward to for sometime. The second was a tv show called Last Chance U. To call this a tv show would be an insult. At first I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Based solely on the photograph of a college football player I figured I was in for a Friday Night Lights situation. You know, a fictional town with a fictional team and a spirited coach who was hated and adored and of course, players with chips on their shoulders. Turns out I was half right. But this ain't fiction... For starters, I had no idea that Junior Colleges had football teams let alone good ones. I am not a college football enthusiast by...
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Blaine: Day Seven - Hal Ashby

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In 1986, a very well respected and talented directed decided to try his hand at adapting a best selling novel. The novel was early in the series and they cast a handsome and charming leading man. He was a complex protagonist with many layers and demons but they pulled it off and made one of my all time favorite movies... That movie was MANHUNTER. That same year, another very well respected and talented directed tried his hand at adapting a best seller (also early in the series) and they, too, cast a handsome and charming leading man. He was a complex protagonist with many layers and demons but they did NOT pull it off and made one of the worst movies I've ever had to sit through... I give you, 8 MILLION WAYS TO DIE Nice try, Jeff. I felt like I died 8 million times while watching this slug of a film. I had told Blaine that I had already seen this film but I was wrong. I must have seen some of it a long time ago because if I had miraculously made it all the way thr...
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Blaine: Day Six - Mark Sandrich

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Blaine gives me a respite from criminals, crazies, rabbit holes, schemes, cops, robbers and thieves if only for a day with Sandrich's 1934 delight of a film... The Gay Divorcee I don't believe I've ever actually seen a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie until today. At least not in its entirety. And now I get it...they have crazy chemistry. Astaire plays professional dancer, Guy Holden, a true romantic who falls head over heels in love upon first sight of Rogers' Mimi Glossop... That's how he looks at her the entire film. It's refreshing, considering the sons-of-bitches I've endured this week. In fact, Guy loves Mimi so much that he spends the first half of the film stalking her, doing everything in his power to get her attention. But she wants nothing to do with him. Sure he's handsome and charming but Mimi has a terrible secret...she's married. Why is this such a secret? Maybe because it's 1934 and being unhappily married was different ...
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Blaine: Day Five - Samuel Fuller

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So far, I gotta say, this week has been mostly pleasurable (I've already bleached that "other" Louis Malle film out of my memory)...and today was no exception. First up, Fuller's near perfect noir: Pickup on South Street If you had asked me, yesterday, who Richard Widmark is I would have replied "some actor". Today I would have a different answer. He's a punk. He's a scoundrel. He's a fighter. He's a lover. And while he certainly needs a lesson in how to treat a lady, he's also my third favorite discovery of the week. Meet Skip McCoy, local pickpocket and all around scumbag... And don't let him near you on a crowded subway train. That's what sets this roller coaster in motion. His target? My second favorite obsession of the week, Jean Peters (Candy). Talk about a dame. Candy is on her way to do one final favor for her ex-lover. It's a simple drop, something she's done several times. But things go off the rails...
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Blaine: Day Four - Clint Eastwood

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I am so happy right now. Why? Because Blaine did me the huge solid of making me re-watch one of my all time favorite films...Eastwood's 1993 hug of a movie... A Perfect World They really don't make 'em like this anymore. Which is a weird thing to say about a movie made in 1993. Oh wait, that was 25 years ago? Nevermind. I was pretty happy to find this one on Blaine's list for a number of reasons: 1) we actually saw this in the theater together back in the day and 2) I've seen it several times since (although it's been a while). And, as seems to be the case with all of these movies I've seen before, I learn something new upon every viewing. One thing is for sure -- I love this screenplay. It's not perfect (few are), but it's rich and layered and really has the feel of a novel. It has recurring themes throughout and a fair balance between the bad guys on the run and the good guys giving chase. Eastwood's direction and acting are exactly what ...
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