Casablanca (1942)::rating::5::rating::5::rating::5

T ake a poll of the most iconic movie scenes in history, and a lot of the same answers will pop up: Dorothy Gale singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" would make the list. So would Don Vito Corleone, stroking a stray cat and making offers nobody could refuse. And then there's Casablanca. Even people who've…

ByTodd WoffordApril 26, 20230Comments

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Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)::rating::2

T he first Shazam! flick was a refreshing blast that proved the DCEU could go an entire movie without sticking its proverbial wiener in the mashed potatoes. Too bad, then, that Fury of the Gods spends 130 insufferable minutes plunging right back into the butter and chives. This is the worst kind of superhero sequel--bigger and louder,…

ByTodd WoffordApril 24, 20230Comments

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The Warriors (1979)::rating::3.5

N ew York City has been a supporting character in many films, but it’s never been so villainous as in The Warriors. For 92 bleak and bleary-eyed minutes, a group of surly young gang members must navigate the length of a city that wants to destroy them. Every inch of that journey is a grimy, post-apocalyptic…

ByTodd WoffordApril 19, 20230Comments

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A Man Called Otto (2022)::rating::3.5

I n my years working retail, I once met a man very much like Otto Anderson. He was sour and belligerent, often muttering hideous and hateful diatribes under his breath. Restaurant servers and grocery clerks scattered at the sight of him, like frightened Tokyoites from a raging Godzilla. He was almost universally despised, but I…

ByTodd WoffordApril 14, 20230Comments

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Platoon (1986)::rating::4.5

P latoon isn't so much about the loss of innocence as the wholesale devastation of it. The opening scene depicts something familiar in war epics: A transport of clean-shaven, clueless teenagers debark into a jungle hellscape they could never imagine: Black soot-smoke blocks out the sun. The very ground mixes into a muck of mud…

ByTodd WoffordApril 12, 20230Comments

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80 for Brady (2023)::rating::2.5

I did not enjoy 80 for Brady. Believe me, I wanted to. After all, the film centers on the pure devotion of four true sports fans. I'm a diehard follower of the Oklahoma City Thunder. One year, the team was in the midst of a deep playoff run, and I hosted regular watch parties.…

ByTodd WoffordApril 10, 20230Comments

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Blow (2001)::rating::3

B low isn't so much a cousin to Goodfellas and Boogie Nights as it is a shameless little brother who insists on copying their every move. Like those classic films, Blow shows us a bleary-eyed protagonist, done-in by a lifetime of bad decisions. George Jung (Johnny Depp) built and squandered a drug empire, pissed away any meaningful relationships,…

ByTodd WoffordApril 5, 20230Comments

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Creed III (2023)::rating::3.5

A re the Creed films every bit as formulaic as the Rocky sequels that spawned them? You betcha. By now, these stories might as well be paint-by-numbers for the audience, with only the James Bond franchise surpassing them for sheer predictability. Weird thing is, they still work really well. The performances are always top-notch, the fight scenes are…

ByTodd WoffordApril 3, 20230Comments

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Duck Soup (1933)::rating::5

D raw a line from anything in any movie that's ever made you laugh, and you'll eventually connect to the Marx Brothers. Within Duck Soup, their goofy, shambling masterpiece, there are glimpses of what will be funny for the Pythons, the Goons, Dr. Strangelove, and Blazing Saddles. Its frantic wackiness is a strange cuvée of ingenious and idiotic,…

ByTodd WoffordMarch 29, 20230Comments

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Babylon (2022)::rating::2.5

B abylon begins as the cinematic equivalent of a hot, steaming bath, showcasing the unhinged hedonism of Hollywood in the Roaring Twenties. Over the grueling span of 190 withering minutes, the water gradually goes cold, rendering the audience into a pruny, shivering heap. Writer-director Damien Chazelle delivers enough movie for two full movies, but only one…

ByTodd WoffordMarch 23, 20230Comments