Category: Movies

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The Strongest Man in Recorded History: A Documentary on the Life of Paul Anderson

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After watching a biography on the father of strongman showmanship last week in Louis Cyr, I had a more modern meat mastodon in Paul Anderson up next. Powerlifting USA put this documentary on the Georgia native. It was most definitely low-budget and about as 90s as you can get, but some of the footage they have of Anderson was just amazing. While Cyr’s story was all that, stories, Anderson came along in the sweet spot of still being old school in nature but during an era with film, rising to fame in the 1950s. Anderson was an Olympic Gold medalist, … Continue reading The Strongest Man in Recorded History: A Documentary on the Life of Paul Anderson

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Book Nook: The Devil All The Time

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I often say “If I don’t know a guy, I know a guy who knows a guy.” Well, when it comes to gothic rural noir and most things disparate and desperate, my guy is Jeff Reno. Reno use to send me books to read, knowing my own deranged taste waded in similar waters to him. So, when he mentioned The Devil All The Time recently, I was surprised it was not already in a stack on my shelf. With a Netflix film set to come out in a few weeks, I decided it was time to crank through this one, … Continue reading Book Nook: The Devil All The Time

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Let’s Get Reel: Blinded By The Light

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I’m a card-carrying Sports Writer (TM), even if just on a part-time basis these days. Somethings you just are. As a Sports Writer (TM), I’m of course required by law to worship two people outside of the Sports Writer world: Bruce Springsteen and the modern-day version, Jason Isbell. Some people consider the pledged devotion part of the membership dues, but, neigh, I consider it one of the membership perks. We may all get in Twitter battles discussing Nebraska vs. Darkness vs. Born, etc., but at the end of the day, we all go home acknowledging our music God. One thing … Continue reading Let’s Get Reel: Blinded By The Light

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Let’s Get Reel: Rocketeer

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I keep a Watch List in my to-do app. I can’t remember how Rocketeer wound up in it, but it rolled around to the top of the list today. So, I fired up Disney+ and watched this 1991 “superhero” film for the first time. I had somehow missed this when it came out. I was 12 at the time. Forgive me. I had entered my anti-Disney phase by then. See kids, in 1991, we did not have a plethora of superhero movies. This was long before Marvel figured anything, and just a couple years after the first decent Batman movie. … Continue reading Let’s Get Reel: Rocketeer

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Let’s Get Reel: The Rise Of Skywalker, and the End of a Saga.

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Star Wars Episode IV came out the year before I was born. That awful, infamous holiday special was released four days after I was born. Return of the Jedi was one of the first movies I was old enough to see in a theater. I still remember the day I discovered my mom sold my still-in-the-shrink wrap Millenium Falcon at a rummage sale. STILLINTHESHRINKWRAPMOM! All of this is to say, I’ve never lived in a non Star Wars world. So…the Saga came to an end this weekend, with the release of Episode IX. And yeah, I went opening night for … Continue reading Let’s Get Reel: The Rise Of Skywalker, and the End of a Saga.

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Let’s Get Reel: The Irishman

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I have a Thanksgiving tradition. Every year, I rewatch The Last Waltz, Martin Scorsese’s look at the final concert of The Band, Thanksgiving 1978. It is my favorite concert of all time. Well, I broke tradition this year, partly out of necessity and partly out of “oh look, something new and shiny”. I digitized my DVD collection a couple years ago, and don’t even have a DVD connected in my house any more. And my Macbook is still down, so I don’t have access to my movie library, because it is on a Mac-formatted external drive. Luckily, Scorcese has something … Continue reading Let’s Get Reel: The Irishman

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Joker Is No Joke: A Disturbing Look At Mental Illness

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The Joker character works extremely well as a comic book character. He works pretty well as a side piece to a larger story as the villain, but because he was such a bizarre character, it worked best in doses, without examination of the back story. Well, Joker, out now in theaters, is that intense, dark look at the back story. Joaquin Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck, the man behind the drawn-on smile. Fleck is a mentally ill man lost in a broken system who routinely gets kicked when he is down, literally on occasion, figuratively always. Going in, I expected there … Continue reading Joker Is No Joke: A Disturbing Look At Mental Illness

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Sturgill Simpson’s Fire & Fury: A New Way To Consume Art, And I’m On Board

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Billed as a visual album, country rocker Sturgill Simpson released last week what I hope becomes an actual thing going forward. Part anime, part new album, all kickass, Sound & Fury is just a fun, new way to do things. That Sturgill took the leap is not a surprise at all. The dude gives zero shits what most of us mere mortals think. And I love him for that. Pigeon-hole this man at your own peril. The film follows an inscrutable samurai driver on a path to a showdown with the big bads of a post-apocalyptic world. With a skater … Continue reading Sturgill Simpson’s Fire & Fury: A New Way To Consume Art, And I’m On Board