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Crooked Marquee

@crooked-marquee.bsky.social
2.1K followers 177 following 4.5K posts

A delightfully crooked publication about movies. @jasondashbailey.bsky.social, editor-in-chief. crookedmarquee.com

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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 1h
The big-screen debut of the iconic animated British duo Wallace & Gromit suffered from some American interference. A look back at “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” released on this day in 2005: crookedmarquee.com/aardman-vs-d...
crookedmarquee.com
Aardman vs. DreamWorks: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit at 20 — Crooked Marquee
The feature film debut of the iconic animated British duo suffered from some American interference.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 1h
“Virgil’s parades and talent shows have a Tati-esque choreographed profusion, featuring motor-mouthed auctioneers, elderly line dancers, even a cavalcade of nannies pushing strollers,” Sara Batkie writes, of the "roving curiosity" of ‘True Stories.’ buff.ly/i3X3vvO
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People Like Us: True Stories at 40 — Crooked Marquee
David Byrne's characteristically idiosyncratic vision of smalltown America now feels like a thesis statement for the solo career he would soon be embarking on.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 3h
Back on screens with a new 4K restoration, an examination of the notorious, mind-blowing and stomach-churning experimental arthouse horror masterpiece “Begotten.” buff.ly/JsG6TSP
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Birth, Death, Rebirth: Begotten — Crooked Marquee
The notorious experimental arthouse horror film returns to theaters by way of a surprising restoration.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 5h
Our mini-reviews of “Backpay,” “Dolph: Unbreakable,” “Tie Die,” and more of this week’s on-demand treasures and trash. buff.ly/nuUgPyZ
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VODepths: What to See (and Avoid) on Demand This Week — Crooked Marquee
Our mini-reviews of “Backpay,” “Dolph: Unbreakable,” “Tie Die,” and more of this week’s on-demand treasures and trash.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 6h
Alfred Hitchcock’s delight “The Lady Vanishes” was released in London on this day in 1938. It may not be one of your go-to Hitch pics, but it should be. crookedmarquee.com/classic-corn...
crookedmarquee.com
Classic Corner: The Lady Vanishes — Crooked Marquee
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1938 delight may not be one of your go-to Hitch pics, but it should be.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 6h
Before the Weinstein brothers left Miramax to start the Weinstein Company, they released “Proof,” a shoulda-been prestige project that barely made a ripple. It was released on this day in 2005: buff.ly/0RhXYva
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Harvey's Hellhole: Proof — Crooked Marquee
Twenty years ago, before the Weinstein brothers left Miramax to start the Weinstein Company, they released a shoulda-been prestige project that barely made a ripple.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 7h
Before producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson handed the James Bond reins to Amazon, only one mission was completed outside the family, and now ‘Never Say Never Again’ (released on this day in 1983) plays like prophecy. buff.ly/o9H4D3V
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Never Say Never Again.... Unless: The Streaming Age of Bond — Crooked Marquee
Before producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson handed the James Bond reins to Amazon, only one mission was completed outside the family, and now ‘Never Say Never Again’ plays like prophecy.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 8h
Jacques Rivette's 'Céline and Julie Go Boating' made its US debut at the New York Film Festival on this day in 1974. buff.ly/vxVpqqD
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Classic Corner: Céline and Julie Go Boating — Crooked Marquee
When the semi-annual conversation on female buddy movies resurfaces, there are usual suspects. Thelma and Louise. B.A.P.S. Romy and Michelle’s High School
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 8h
“True Stories,” David Byrne's characteristically idiosyncratic vision of smalltown America, now feels like a thesis statement for the solo career he would soon be embarking on. buff.ly/i3X3vvO
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https://crookedmarquee.com/people-like-us-true-stories-at-40/
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 10h
“Flanagan isn’t the first filmmaker since De Palma to take on King’s story of a bullied telekinetic teenager,” @ignalbleed.bsky.social writes. “There have been three other Carrie adaptations in the intervening years, although it’s not surprising that they’ve been mostly forgotten.” buff.ly/7iwjBuH
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Carrie After Carrie: The Misbegotten Variations on a Horror Icon — Crooked Marquee
Between Brian De Palma and Mike Flanagan, three other filmmakers made flawed but fascinating attempts to bring Stephen King’s horror classic to the screen.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 23h
“‘Begotten’ is an art film in the truest sense,” @zvasquez.bsky.social writes, and the result “looks like no film that’s come before or since.” buff.ly/JsG6TSP
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The great Carole Lombard was born on this day in 1908. @jasondashbailey.com on her particular presence: buff.ly/SotT18X
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Classic Corner: Carole Lombard Collection I — Crooked Marquee
“That twinkle in your eye,” Clark Gable marvels at Carole Lombard in No Man of Her Own. “Wrap it up for me, will you?” It’s a moment of unguarded onscreen
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
“This week’s fringe VOD releases include a documentary about a living action-movie legend, a drama about possible reincarnation, and two thrillers with the allegedly hilarious joke that a dumbass criminal’s passcode is 6969,” @signalbleed.bsky.social writes. buff.ly/nuUgPyZ
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Between Brian De Palma and Mike Flanagan, three other filmmakers made flawed but fascinating attempts to bring Stephen King’s horror classic “Carrie” to the screen. buff.ly/7iwjBuH
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Carrie After Carrie: The Misbegotten Variations on a Horror Icon — Crooked Marquee
Between Brian De Palma and Mike Flanagan, three other filmmakers made flawed but fascinating attempts to bring Stephen King’s horror classic to the screen.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The remake of the ‘70s UK crime classic “Get Carter” (released on this day in 2000) was meant to help reinvent Sylvester Stallone for the 21st century. It may have kept him stuck in time. buff.ly/xXyJXk4
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Caine and Unable: The Get Carter remake at 25 — Crooked Marquee
The 2000 remake of the ‘70s UK crime classic was meant to help reinvent Sylvester Stallone for the 21st century. It may have kept him stuck in time.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Back on screens with a new 4K restoration, an examination of the notorious, mind-blowing and stomach-churning experimental arthouse horror masterpiece “Begotten.” buff.ly/JsG6TSP
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https://crookedmarquee.com/birth-decay-rebirth-begotten/
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
'Dream Demon,' perhaps the strangest cinematic portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales, was released on this day in 1988. @billbria.bsky.social takes a look: buff.ly/jH1S96M
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Dream Demon: The Life of Princess Diana as a Horror Movie — Crooked Marquee
With Pablo Larraín’s "Spencer" in theaters, we look back at an earlier, much stranger cinematic portrait of the Princess of Wales.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Our mini-reviews of “Backpay,” “Dolph: Unbreakable,” “Tie Die,” and more of this week’s on-demand treasures and trash. buff.ly/nuUgPyZ
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https://crookedmarquee.com/vodepths-what-to-see-and-avoid-on-demand-this-week-143/
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

“The song has to sound appropriate to the era,” @mousterpiece.bsky.social writes of the title track for ‘That Thing You Do!,’ “it has to be catchy enough to be successful within the world of the film, and it has to be the right kind of catchy without being obnoxious.” buff.ly/ctmSjqK
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
“Long before the rise of found footage, a subset of horror films used the notion of a basis in ‘real events’ as a hook to lure viewers in and paper over some of the more outlandish turns they take,” @hoodedjustice.bsky.social writes of ‘The Town That Dreaded Sundown’: buff.ly/UygKAHK
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Craig J. Clark @hoodedjustice.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It's also a film that goes the extra mile by including its own premiere in the film, and intimates the Phantom himself is in attendance.
People lined up for the world premiere of THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN at the Paramount. The poster out front is the one for Charles B. Pierce's 1975 film WINTERHAWK. And yes, that is tinsel hanging from the awning. THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN was a Christmas release.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
“Starting Over” features a delightfully against-type Burt Reynolds performance, and finds Alan J. Pakula working well outside his wheelhouse as well. It was released on this day in 1979. buff.ly/W0A8FYW
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Classic Corner: Starting Over — Crooked Marquee
No more talk of “Ella McCay” — let us instead look back at James L. Brooks’s feature screenwriting debut, now streaming on the Criterion Channel.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
“Flanagan isn’t the first filmmaker since De Palma to take on King’s story of a bullied telekinetic teenager,” @ignalbleed.bsky.social writes. “There have been three other Carrie adaptations in the intervening years, although it’s not surprising that they’ve been mostly forgotten.” buff.ly/7iwjBuH
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Carrie After Carrie: The Misbegotten Variations on a Horror Icon — Crooked Marquee
Between Brian De Palma and Mike Flanagan, three other filmmakers made flawed but fascinating attempts to bring Stephen King’s horror classic to the screen.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Walt Disney and his animators wrapped up their package era with a two-short feature that's still got the capacity to terrify decades later. “The Adventures of Icabod and Mr. Toad” was released on this day in 1949: buff.ly/H29jtvU
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A Frightful Sight: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad at 75 — Crooked Marquee
In 1949, Walt Disney and his animators wrapped up their package era with a two-short feature that's still got the capacity to terrify 75 years later.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The cult favorite that marked Tom Hanks' directorial debut is best remembered for its eponymous song and beloved late songwriter, even if he missed out at winning the Oscar statuette. A look back at “That Thing You Do!,” released 30 years ago this week: buff.ly/ctmSjqK
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Made 50 years ago, Charles B. Pierce’s proto-slasher “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” straddles the line between docudrama and horror. buff.ly/UygKAHK
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The horrifying and haunting 'Seconds' was released on this day in 1966. We peer into its abyss: buff.ly/kGo47Jx
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Classic Corner: Seconds — Crooked Marquee
John Frankenheimer’s paranoid thriller, now streaming on the Criterion Channel, is a bleak snapshot of the American psyche circa 1966.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Before Robert Eggers, Werner Herzog brought his signature bleak outlook to the vampire movie with his ‘Nosferatu’ remake, released in the U.S. on this day in 1979. buff.ly/9jtKmEc
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The Existential Misery of Bloodsucking in Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre — Crooked Marquee
Before Robert Eggers, Werner Herzog brought his signature bleak outlook to the vampire movie with his ‘Nosferatu’ remake, released 45 years ago this week.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Between Brian De Palma and Mike Flanagan, three other filmmakers made flawed but fascinating attempts to bring Stephen King’s horror classic “Carrie” to the screen. buff.ly/7iwjBuH
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https://crookedmarquee.com/carrie-after-carrie-the-misbegotten-variations-on-a-horror-icon/
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
“With its varying perspectives, 'Atonement' is an intensely thoughtful, humanist drama that is somehow even more emotionally resonant than one might expect," @kimbermyers.bsky.social writes. buff.ly/DRBEYoj
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Review: Atonement — Crooked Marquee
This complex, compassionate drama features a trio of strong performances from Boyd Holbrook, Kenneth Branagh, and Hiam Abbass.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Made 50 years ago, Charles B. Pierce’s proto-slasher “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” straddles the line between docudrama and horror. buff.ly/UygKAHK
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The complex, compassionate drama “Atonement” features a trio of strong performances from Boyd Holbrook, Kenneth Branagh, and Hiam Abbass. buff.ly/DRBEYoj
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Review: Atonement — Crooked Marquee
This complex, compassionate drama features a trio of strong performances from Boyd Holbrook, Kenneth Branagh, and Hiam Abbass.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Noah Baumbach's 'Kicking and Screaming' was released on this day in 1995, capturing a very specific moment of the post-collegiate experience: buff.ly/1s57NIk
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The Post-College Ennui of Kicking and Screaming, 25 Years Later — Crooked Marquee
In Noah Baumbach’s 1995 debut feature Kicking and Screaming, everyone is having trouble leaving the comfortable nest of college. Grover (Josh Hamilton) pines,
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The cult favorite that marked Tom Hanks' directorial debut is best remembered for its eponymous song and beloved late songwriter, even if he missed out at winning the Oscar statuette. A look back at “That Thing You Do!,” released 30 years ago today: buff.ly/ctmSjqK
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The Wachowskis' neo-noir masterpiece 'Bound' was released on this day in 1996. @signalbleed.bsky.social sings its praises here: buff.ly/hLEKGQb
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In Praise of Bound, the Wachowskis' Underappreciated Noir Masterpiece — Crooked Marquee
The noir-tinged thriller hit theaters 25 years ago, and it still packs a punch.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
As the premiere of his granddaughter Zoe's Netflix limited series approaches, we look back at Elia Kazan's truncated version of Steinbeck's classic novel “East of Eden’: buff.ly/xboFxAN
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It’s Just the Good and the Bad in Elia Kazan’s East of Eden — Crooked Marquee
As the premiere of his granddaughter Zoe's Netflix limited series approaches, we look back at Elia Kazan's truncated version of Steinbeck's classic novel.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Our bi-weekly look at the best new titles on Blu-ray, 4K, and your subscription streaming services includes “The Secret Agent,” “Nouvelle Vague,” “Jacknife,” “Knock at the Cabin,” “The Phoenician Scheme,” “Days and Nights in the Forest,” “Three Films by Leos Carax,” and more: buff.ly/ZHihDmk
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The Best Movies to Buy or Stream This Week: I Love Boosters, The Secret Agent, Nouvelle Vague, and More — Crooked Marquee
Our bi-weekly look at the best new titles on Blu-ray, 4K, and your subscription streaming services.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The convicted criminal José Giovanni, later a successful crime writer and filmmaker, was the subject of a retrospective at the 2026 San Sebastián International Film Festival. buff.ly/7xgf7D3
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The Life and Crimes of José Giovanni — Crooked Marquee
The convicted criminal, later a successful crime writer and filmmaker, was the subject of the retrospective at the 2026 San Sebastián Film Festival.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Ben Stiller’s absurdist comedy “Zoolander” offered much-needed escapism for a grieving nation 25 years ago, though its timing weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks came with a variety of complications. buff.ly/Vy4alXW
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A Model Idiot?: Zoolander and the Complexities of Post-9/11 Humor — Crooked Marquee
Ben Stiller’s absurdist comedy offered much-needed escapism for a grieving nation 25 years ago, though its timing weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks came with a variety of complications.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Often viewed as his most “normal” film, David Lynch’s ‘The Elephant Man’ (released on this day in 1980) is as Lynchian as what came before and after it. buff.ly/7UKD480
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Classic Corner: The Elephant Man — Crooked Marquee
Often viewed as his most “normal” film, David Lynch’s sophomore feature is as Lynchian as what came before and after it.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Robert Altman’s kaleidoscopic Los Angeles snapshot “Short Cuts” was released on this day in 1993: buff.ly/pHoxrQg
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Snorting Coke and Talking: Short Cuts and Robert Altman’s L.A. — Crooked Marquee
In honor of his 100th birthday, we revisit a late career masterpiece from a director whose time in the dream factory could sometimes be a nightmare.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta's adaptation of the incendiary Heinrich Böll novel “The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum” premiered in the U.S. on this day in 1975, but it feels like it hasn't aged a day. buff.ly/LnCMXgz
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“This Story Will Run”: The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum at 50 — Crooked Marquee
Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta's adaptation of the incendiary Heinrich Böll novel premiered in the U.S. fifty years ago this week, but it feels like it hasn't aged a day.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“The song has to sound appropriate to the era,” @mousterpiece.bsky.social writes of the title track for ‘That Thing You Do!,’ “it has to be catchy enough to be successful within the world of the film, and it has to be the right kind of catchy without being obnoxious.” buff.ly/ctmSjqK
buff.ly
https://buff.ly/ctmSjqK
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The James Caan-fronted drama – released on this day in 1974 – offers an uncommonly insightful (and often unforgiving) peek into the mind of the compulsive gambler. buff.ly/UsIyXYY
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Classic Corner: The Gambler — Crooked Marquee
The 1974 drama offers an uncommonly insightful (and often unforgiving) peek into the mind of the compulsive gambler.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
“Long before the rise of found footage, a subset of horror films used the notion of a basis in ‘real events’ as a hook to lure viewers in and paper over some of the more outlandish turns they take,” @hoodedjustice.bsky.social writes of ‘The Town That Dreaded Sundown’: buff.ly/UygKAHK
buff.ly
https://buff.ly/UygKAHK
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The complex, compassionate drama “Atonement” features a trio of strong performances from Boyd Holbrook, Kenneth Branagh, and Hiam Abbass. buff.ly/DRBEYoj
buff.ly
Review: Atonement — Crooked Marquee
This complex, compassionate drama features a trio of strong performances from Boyd Holbrook, Kenneth Branagh, and Hiam Abbass.
020
Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The cult favorite that marked Tom Hanks' directorial debut is best remembered for its eponymous song and beloved late songwriter, even if he missed out at winning the Oscar statuette. A look back at “That Thing You Do!,” released 30 years ago this week: buff.ly/ctmSjqK
buff.ly
https://crookedmarquee.com/that-thing-you-do-at-30-a-film-defined-by-a-song-that-shouldve-won-oscar-gold/
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Reposted by Crooked Marquee
Writer of “Rape Apologists Must Die!” @alexpagliuca.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is such a weird, singular thing. I don’t know if I like it, but I do think anyone interested in what horror can be or the many iterations it’s been through, should see it. There’s a degree of “Hey! We’re making a movie!” charm to it, and it’s also has a very odd sensibility too.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This crime classic – released on this day in 1974 – is a boisterous tribute to New York City, working class competence, and Walter Matthau’s inimitable mug: buff.ly/zAozeHp
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Classic Corner: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three — Crooked Marquee
The 1974 original is a boisterous tribute to New York City, working class competence, and Walter Matthau’s inimitable mug.
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Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Made 50 years ago, Charles B. Pierce’s proto-slasher “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” straddles the line between docudrama and horror. buff.ly/UygKAHK
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https://crookedmarquee.com/classic-corner-the-town-that-dreaded-sundown/
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