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A brief Melification

A Passion of the Mel. When apprehended for drunk driving in Malibu last Friday, Mel Gibson claimed that "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." And, yeah, he said, "F--- Jews," something of a blanket statement.…

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NORAD, 9/11 and United 93

View image: Patrick St. Esprit as Major Kevin Nasypany in "United 93." Michael Bonner (an associate producer on "United 93") has an article in Vanity Fair reconstructing events of 9/11 from 30 hours of previously unreleased tapes from the Northeast…

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Opening Shots: 'Ghost World'

From Robb Hamilton, Seattle, WA: A few weeks ago I took my kids to see "Cars" at a theater off Aurora Avenue in Seattle. Aurora would be a perfect setting for a Clowes/Zwigoff picture: seedy motels, diners, people waiting for…

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Opening Shots: 'Cutter's Way'

From Robert Horton, film critic, The Herald, Everett, WA: How technical do you want to get about "opening shot"? Is the opening shot literally the very first thing that appears onscreen? Or is it the first shot proper, the thing…

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Mad Mel's mouth

Mel Gibson with a player in his upcoming film "Apocalypto," who is undoubtedly not of the Hebrew persuasion. Drunk people say the darndest things. Like Mel Gibson, who was arrested on DUI charges Friday (blood alcohol level: 0.12; legal limit:…

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'The Descent': A horror-thriller for movie freaks

Poster image for "The Descent." Neil Marshall's "The Descent" is the most exhilarating and exciting psychological horror-thriller I've seen in years. I call it a "psychological horror-thriller" because I don't know quite how to fit it into a genre. It…

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Opening Shots: 'La Femme Infidel'

View image A fairy-tale home in a wooded setting. Two women sit an an outdoor table in the shade of some tall trees. The camera glides across the lawn silently (we can't hear what they're saying, just barely audible laughter)…

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Lunch With David

Hot Blogger and Hot Button colunist David Poland has posted his third, breezy "Lunch With David" vlog over at iKlipz and I think it's the funniest one yet. This week's topic: Secrets in Hollywood -- who tells 'em and whether…