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Showing posts from May, 2017

Track This: The Jam-Down in the Tube Station at Midnight

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The Jam's "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" has been one of my favorite Jam tracks since I first purchased Greatest Hits in 1995. Long before I listened to all their records, and just when I was beginning to dip my toe, into Paul Weller's increasingly lengthy catalog, I would play the track on my beatdown boom box. Sequestered among rock posters and stacks of comic books, I marveled at Weller's detailed songwriting that told of another side of British culture different from what I got from The Clash, my favorite British band at the time. While I loved early Jam tracks like "Eton Rifles" and "The Modern World" and later got heavily into the later soulful tracks, especially "Town Called Malice" and the ballad "The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)," "Down in the Tube Station" grabbed hold of my teenage imagination and would not let go. The imagery and story-telling alone sucked me in, but the music seal...

365 Films in 2017 #149-158

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149. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), Stanley Kubrick, Columbia 150. Never Weaken (1921), Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, Pathe Exchange 151. The Kid (1921), Charlie Chaplin, First National 152. Megaforce (1982), Hal Needham, 20th Century Fox 153. Ticks aka Infested (1933), Tony Randel, Republic 154. The Tingler (1959), William Castle, Columbia 155. Boone the Bounty Hunter (2017), Robert Kirbyson, Vision 156. Chopping Mall aka Killbots (1986), Jim Wynorski, Concorde 157. If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (2011), Marshall Curry, Oscilloscope Laboratories 158. The Over-The-Hill Gang (1969), Jean Yarbrough, Thomas-Spelling

365 Films in 2017 #139-148

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139. The Corpse Grinders (1971), Ted V. Mikels, 140. Killer Cop (1975), Luciano Ercoli, Prouzioni Atlas consorziate    141. Farewell, My Lovely (1975), Dick Richards, Avco Embassy  142. The Big Combo (1955), Joseph H. Lewis, Allied Artists 143. Border Radio (1987), Allison Anders, Dean Lent, and Kurt Voss, International Film Marketing 144. The Benchwarmers (2006), Dennis Dugan, Columbia 145. Thor: The Dark World (2013), Alan Taylor, Marvel Studios 146. Brother's Keeper (1992), Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, Wellspring 147. Three Colours: Blue (1993), Krzysztof KieÅ›lowski, Miramax 148. Three Colours: White (1994), Krzysztof KieÅ›lowski, Miramax

365 Films in 2017 #129-138

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129. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Bryan Singer, 20th Century Fox 130. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Bryan Singer, 20th Century Fox 131. Suicide Squad (2016), David Ayer, Warner Bros. 132. Ant-Man (2015), Peyton Reed, Marvel Studios 133. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), Joel Coen, Gramercy 134. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Anthony and Joe Russo, Marvel Studios 135. Captain America: Civil War (2016), Anthony and Joe Russo, Marvel Studios  136. Only The Lonely (1991), Chris Columbus, 20th Century Fox  137. The Penalty (1920), Wallace Worsley, Goldwyn 138. The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Rupert Julian, Universal