3 things about Leo McCarey’s MY SON JOHN

My Son John [1952]

1. Bops him on the head with her Bible.
2. Helen Hayes and the look on her face when she says to him, “You take over whenever you want to.”
3. A shaft of light illuminates the empty podium, a twisted inversion of the finale of The Great Dictator.

This is nauseating and fascinating in equal proportion.

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3 things about Roy Andersson’s ABOUT ENDLESSNESS

About Endlessness [2019]

1. We end on a road to nowhere.
2. They firmly push the man out of the office.
3. “I would rather be a tomato.”

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3 things about Quentin Tarantino’s PULP FICTION

Pulp Fiction [1994]

1. Steve Buscemi as Buddy Holly.
2. “Lots of cream and lots of sugar.”
3. Square.

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3 things about Bill Forsyth’s LOCAL HERO

Local Hero [1983]

1. Pressing a few buttons, he transforms his office into a planetarium.
2. They’re enjoying the casserole until …
3. An enormous snifter filled with matchbooks.

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3 things about Pawel Pawlikowski’s COLD WAR

Cold War [2018]

1. Gracefully floating down the river.
2. On an impulse, she starts dancing on top of the bar.
3. “Let’s go to the other side, The view’s better.”

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3 things about Elem Klimov’s COME AND SEE

Come and See [1985]

1. A single backwards glance at the back of the barn.
2. Scrubbing out the cauldron with pine branches.
3. Sign on a corpse: I INSULTED A GERMAN OFFICER THIS MORNING.

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3 things about Burt Reynolds’ SHARKY’S MACHINE

Sharky’s Machine [1981]

1. The rare 80s film where the focus is on white characters doing drugs.
2. “How does it feel?”
“It feels like you’re a lump of shit.”
3. “Love Theme from Sharky’s Machine“: Sarah Vaughan does Shirley Bassey.

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3 things about Edward Dmytryk’s THE ‘HUMAN’ FACTOR

The ‘Human’ Factor [1975]

1. The rare film where “It picks up when Barry Sullivan shows up” is accurate.
2.  Hacking an Air India computer.
3. A terrified shopper takes a machine gun into her own hands. A little girl cowers next to her.

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3 things about Robert Wise’s STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE

Star Trek: The Motion Picture [1979]

1. Weird helmets worn by the ensigns.
2. The way he says, “I want this.”
3. Throat-light.

3 other things.

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3 things about Blake Edwards’ THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN

The Pink Panther Strikes Again [1976]

1. Treadmill in the dark.
2. Mashing his nose back into place.
3. “The Resistance is over.”

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