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5 Things You Might Not Know About Disney's 'Tron,' Released 30 Years Ago Today

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • July 9, 2012 10:55 AM
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  • 1 Comment
Features
As has been discussed ad infinitum this year, on its 30th anniversary, the summer of 1982 holds a very special place in the hearts of geeks of a certain age; between May and August, a number of films now deemed genre classics hit theaters, proving to be a life-changing experience for many. "Conan The Barbarian," "E.T," "Blade Runner," "The Thing," "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan" -- all have only grown in reputation over time. And one of the last of that wave, Disney's "Tron," perhaps inspired one of the most fervent cults of them all.
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More: 5 Things You Might Not Know About..., On This Day In Movie History, Features, Walt Disney Pictures, Tron: Legacy

The Essentials: The 5 Best John Frankenheimer Films

  • By The Playlist Staff
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  • July 6, 2012 1:57 PM
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  • 6 Comments
Features
Few filmmakers these days name John Frankenheimer as an influence. He was never particularly trendy, never embraced by the auteurists or overtly paid homage by those who came after. In part, it's because of some of his later projects; the commercial failure of thriller "Black Sunday" in 1977 drove him to alcoholism that lasted for several years (it was only when he was reduced to drinking on the set of martial arts actioner "The Challenge" in 1981 that he checked himself into rehab), and some of his later projects, including his final film, "Reindeer Games," and the famous disaster "The Island Of Doctor Moreau" (on which the helmer replaced Richard Stanley several weeks into production) meant his critical reputation took a hit.
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More: John Frankenheimer, The Essentials, Features, On This Day In Movie History, Best Of

5 Things You May Not Know About 'Do The Right Thing'

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • July 2, 2012 8:31 AM
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  • 0 Comments
Features
On a weekend where record temperatures were being recorded in New York City, and elsewhere in the U.S., it's appropriate that two of the best films in theaters, "Magic Mike" and "Take This Waltz," both revolve around long, hot summers. And it's doubly appropriate that Saturday also marked the anniversary of perhaps the definitive heatwave movie: Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing." Of course, Lee's masterpiece isn't just a look at Brooklyn over a boiling hot summer day, it's also one of the greatest American films in the history of the medium, one whose critical reputation has only grown since Kim Basinger's protestation on stage at the Oscars the following year that it was the best film of 1989, and yet hadn't been nominated (although Danny Aiello got a nod, as did Lee's screenplay).
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More: 5 Things You Might Not Know About..., Spike Lee, On This Day In Movie History, Features, Do The Right Thing

5 Things You Might Not Know About John Carpenter's 'The Thing'

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • June 25, 2012 1:58 PM
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  • 4 Comments
Features
June 25, 1982, was a good day for genre fans. Hell, that summer saw a spate of genre classics released, including "The Road Warrior," "Poltergeist," and "E.T." But June 25th in particular saw not only the release, as we discussed earlier today, of "Blade Runner," but also another legendary sci-fi picture, which like Ridley Scott's film, wasn't well-received at the time, and flopped at the box office, but went on to be enshrined in the geek hall of fame. No, it's not Barry Bostwyck vehicle "MegaForce," it was John Carpenter's terrifying "The Thing," which despite the efforts of last year's poor retread/prequel, remains one of the greatest sci-fi/horrors ever made.
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More: 5 Things You Might Not Know About..., The Thing, John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, On This Day In Movie History

Wake Up, Time To Die: 5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Blade Runner'

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • June 25, 2012 12:02 PM
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  • 7 Comments
Features
One of the many reasons "Prometheus" was eagerly anticipated by so many was the director's track record in the sci-fi genre. Ridley Scott had only made two science fiction pictures before this year's blockbuster, and both are considered classics (and arguably his best two films). The first was 1979's "Alien," the direct inspiration for "Prometheus." And the second? 1982's "Blade Runner," the noirish mystery, and adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep," which has been one of the most talked about and influential science fiction films of all time, particularly in terms of its grim look at Los Angeles in 2019.
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More: 5 Things You Might Not Know About..., Blade Runner, On This Day In Movie History, Ridley Scott, Features, Harrison Ford, Hampton Fancher

The Essentials: The 5 Best Nicole Kidman Performances

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • June 20, 2012 2:42 PM
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  • 24 Comments
Features
Few actresses seem to make as diverse an array of choices as Nicole Kidman. The actress has spent the last decade or two as one of the few actresses who can truly call themselves A-list, but swings between incredibly bold, interesting choices with world-class filmmakers, and nearly irredeemable crap ("Bewtiched," "The Stepford Wives," "The Invasion," "Trespass"). She rarely gives a turn that's anything less than totally committed, but one always feels a little nervous settling in for a new Kidman flick.
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More: Nicole Kidman, Features, The Essentials, On This Day In Movie History

5 Things You Might Not Know About Roman Polanski's 'Chinatown'

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • June 20, 2012 12:00 PM
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  • 8 Comments
Features
Is there such a thing as a perfect film? Perhaps. You could certainly argue that personal taste plays into the question of perfection too much -- one man's triumph is another's disaster. And even so, there are so many possible things that can go wrong with a film -- one duff performance, one ill-conceived shot, one poorly-written scene -- that it's almost an impossible task. But dammit if we don't consider "Chinatown" to be as close as you can get to being perfect.
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More: 5 Things You Might Not Know About..., On This Day In Movie History, Roman Polanski, Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Robert Towne, Chinatown

20 Years After Its Release, 5 Things You Might Not Know About 'Batman Returns'

  • By Drew Taylor
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  • June 19, 2012 10:58 AM
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  • 22 Comments
Features
We’re on the eve of a brand new Batman blockbuster, next month’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” which will feature Anne Hathaway as the semi-villainous cat burglar Selina Kyle who prowls the streets at night as Catwoman. While Christopher Nolan and co. have given some real-world explanations for her eccentricities (her night vision goggles prop up on her head like cat’s ears), the hardest task in defining Catwoman for a new generation will be getting out from under the shadow of Michelle Pfeiffer, whose portrayal in Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns” remains one of the towering performances in all of comic book moviedom.
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More: 5 Things You Might Not Know About..., Features, On This Day In Movie History, Tim Burton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Christopher Walken

The Essentials: 5 Great Films By Nicholas Ray

  • By The Playlist Staff
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  • June 15, 2012 1:51 PM
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  • 6 Comments
Features
While adored by the French and the Cahiers Du Cinema coterie that went on to become the rebellious French New Wave -- which spawned the oft-quoted Jean-Luc Godard phrase "cinema is Nicholas Ray" -- the American filmmaker never really received his due outside of the one film of his that most moviegoers have seen (and even then, they’re possibly unaware that he directed it): “Rebel Without A Cause.” And while that iconic 1950s film, with its audacious, expressionistic colors, its passionate angst and anguish, its mix of quiet machismo and vulnerability, is perhaps the cornerstone of many of Nicholas Ray’s films -- vibrant melodrama on the surface, percolating emotional agony within -- it’s certainly just the tip of iceberg when it comes to the director’s career.
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More: Nicholas Ray, The Essentials, Features, On This Day In Movie History

5 Things You Might Not Know About Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • June 15, 2012 11:58 AM
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  • 4 Comments
Features
What's the greatest Alfred Hitchcock film? Every film fan will have a different answer, with "The 39 Steps," "Rebecca," "Spellbound," "Notorious," "Rear Window," "Vertigo" and "North By Northwest" all making compelling cases for being the very best. But few of his films had such an impact on cinema as "Psycho," the 1960s thriller that saw him go into darker, more shocking territory than ever before, with some of the most famous sequences in the history of the medium.
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More: 5 Things You Might Not Know About..., Alfred Hitchcock, On This Day In Movie History, Features, Psycho

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