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East of Eden
Great 66 Points 1955

Great American Movies based on Great American Novels reveal new insights at increasingly greater remove. Dating from 1955 and set in 1917, East of Eden is greatly insightful about the changes in America in the near half century between when it was set and made, and the half century plus between…

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WikChip Video James Dean, James Dean, James Dean!
Drive
Really Great 83 Points 2011

Where did Drive come from? Under-titled and under-promoted, it seems to have sprang from nowhere. Pity, because it’s an extremely invigorating thriller. It also burnishes Ryan Gosling’s growing legend while establishing Nicolas Winding Refn as a major Hollywood director. Wow.

Few action …

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WikChip Image Hammer in hand, Gosling looks for a n...
The Fighter
Really Great 88 Points 2010

New addition to the boxing movie canon? Absolutely, complete with elemental title, elemental story and devastating performances. A female power story as much as a male one, Melissa Leo, Christian Bale and Mark Walhberg’s maternal-fraternal triangle pegs the meter for codependency. When Amy Ada…

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WikChip Image All in the (dysfunctional) Family
King of the Hill
Really Great 66 Points 1993

King of the Hill is a real life Little Rascals, what with pipsqueak brothers living alone during the Great Depression. Amazingly, it’s the truthy autobiography of A.E. Hotchner, Paul Newman’s pal and business partner. Even if fictional, it would still charm and enlighten, as it’s a perfect fi…

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WikChip Video Charming and Enlightening
Mud
Really Great 86 Points 2013

Joe Morgenstern declared Mud an instant classic in the Wall Street Journal. Not sure why, but hell yes.

You almost want to ding Mud for being such a classically terrific movie, but damn if it doesn’t play out as monumentally cinematic yet nearly natural. Kind of a crime caper involving b…

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WikChip Image Leading men, now & then: Matthew & Tye
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Man of Steel
Really Great 90 Points 2013

Man of Steel isn’t lite or frivolous, making it a disappointment to those expecting snark or bubblegum. Christopher Nolan takes heavyweight DC superheroes seriously, first producing, writing and directing The Dark Knight trilogy, an…

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WikChip Image A superior Jor-El begets a super Kal-El
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The Bicycle Thief
Really Great 71 Points 1948

Reverential movie, thy name is The Bicycle Thief. Long considered one of the greatest movies of all time, it still qualifies. Real people play the parts, none more affecting than seven year-old Enzo Staiola’s Bruno.

The kid’s now my favorite boy in all of movie history.

Bruno’s Dad hock…

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WikChip Image "They don't pay for repairs!" Love t...
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A River Runs Th...
Really Great 83 Points 1992

Male bonding, tragic beauty and fly fishing merge into one – and exceptional writing runs through it. With apologies to Norman Maclean, that takeoff from his lauded autobiographical novella describes this treasured movie of the same name. Beautifully constructed by director and narrator Robert …

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WikChip Video Even the trailer brings a lump to the...
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Dawn of the Pla...
Really Great 83 Points 2014

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a superior successor to 2011’s Great Ape Movie, the terrific Planet of the Apes reboot. An upgraded human cast rectifies the origin movie’s one significant flaw, while the ape acting – previously Bogart quality – has become downright Brando-esque. *#DawnOfA…

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WikChip Image Hail Caesar! The Great Ape Autocrat
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When the Game S...
Really Great 83 Points 2014

When the Game Stands Tall pegs several meters: football movies – coach movies – Bay Area movies. Arguably the greatest Football Movie ever, it is surely the first great Bay Area Football Movie. It profiles an all-time great football coach: Coach Bob Ladouceur of Concord’s legendary De La Salle…

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WikChip Video Jim Caviezel talks about Coach Lad