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Touché, Dupree!

Owen Wilson has released a statement responding to the claim by members of Steely Dan that "You, Me and Dupree" was a rip-off of their song "Cousin Dupree.": "I have never heard the song 'Cousin Dupree' and I don't even…

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All apologies (and new reviews)

I haven't been able to post as much as I'd like recently (and I've got some real juicy Opening Shots waiting) because I've been so busy doing reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times and RogerEbert.com, to help pick up some of…

Roger Ebert

The Mann and his movies

Michael Mann is one of those select American directors who has become a brand name -- not by marketing himself, but by making movies so distinctive and with such visual fluency that they are immediately identifiable as Michael Mann films.…

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Are YOU Kevin Smith's friend?

View image: From The Onion New York Magazine reports on "How Kevin Smith Reinvented Movie Marketing." By manufacturing a dust-up with a TV movie critic just before the opening of his film and getting lots of free publicity? Sure. But…

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Tex Avery: Escape from Alka-Fizz

"Boo." Dennis at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule has posted his favorite Tex Avery cartoon, "Rock-a-Bye Bear," in response to posts by Peet Gelderblom and That Little Round-Headed Boy, who remarked that this exchange has turned into a…

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Me & Mr. Colbert

Mr. C & me. Hooray, for America! On Monday's "The Colbert Report," M. Night Shyamalan made #2 on the "ThreatDown," thanks to my diligent review of "Lady in the Water." I wrote: The key to deciphering M. Night Shyamalan's fractured…

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Chasing the image: Barred

View image: "Vertigo": The bar View image: "Vertigo": The hand. View image: "Munich": The bar(s). View image: "Munich": The hand. Both movies begin with a close-up of metal barrier at night. A hand grabs it, and a man pulls himself…

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Opening Shots: 'The Rapture'

From Nathaniel Soltesz, Pittsburgh, PA: One of my favorite opening shots is from Michael Tolkin's "The Rapture." First, a black screen, menacing ambient music, vague noises of typing, people speaking. The camera rises and we realize we're looking at the…

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Opening Shots: 'Yojimbo'

In the spirit of "Rashomon," two views of the opening shot of another Akira Kurosawa picture: From Or Shkolnik, Israel: We see a beautiful mountain landscape, a dramatic music starts playing while the name of the movie appears in big…