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The Thief of Bagdad

The 1924 fantasy-adventure is considered widely as actor/writer/producer Douglas Fairbanks’ tour de force. Raoul Walsh (White Heat) may serve as director of the silent Arabian Nights adaptation, but the show is Fairbanks’ and the performer knows it, traipsing with abandon through the exquisite, no-expense-spared sets. (They come courtesy the mind and body of Oscar-winning production […]

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The Outlaw Brothers

Yes, it comes from the Dragon Dynasty line — release No. 57, to be precise — but it’s sillier than the bulk of Dragon Dynasty product, which largely skips this period in favor of old-school Shaw Brothers. But Frankie Chan’s The Outlaw Brothers? It’s as of-the-times as a 1990 flick can be, right down to […]

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Texas Killing Fields

While Ami Canaan Mann’s “Texas Killing Fields” is her first, she no doubt picked up some tips from her director dad, Michael Mann, who’s made more than his fair share in “Heat,” “Thief” and “Manhunter.” That much, I’d expect. What I didn’t expect was that the daughter’s film would be better than her revered father’s […]

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Drive

From the pink, cursive typeface and pulsing, instrumental music of the opening credits, audience members will feel as if something is out of place, as if the movie is just a bit “off.” That’s because director Nicolas Winding Refn (“Bronson”) has immersed this tale in the style of Michael Mann’s “Thief,” rather than today’s “Transporter” […]

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