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The first <i>Harry Potter</i> movie preserved everything in the book… except its magic

The first Harry Potter movie preserved everything in the book… except its magic

There was always going to be a Harry Potter movie franchise. As soon as the first J.K. Rowling novel ascended the New…

Tom Breihan

12/11/20 12:00AM

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You’re an abomination of an adaptation, Mr. Grinch

For most of his life, Theodor Geisel, the children’s author who used the name Dr. Seuss, wouldn’t license his books…

Tom Breihan

11/27/20 12:00AM

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The 20th century ended with the creative whimper and box-office bang of The Phantom Menace

People applauded a logo. I’d never seen that before. When the word “Lucasfilm” shimmered across the screen, my…

Tom Breihan

11/13/20 12:00AM

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<i>Saving Private Ryan </i>brought some gravitas to a summer of loud, dumb Hollywood spectacles

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Saving Private Ryan brought some gravitas to a summer of loud, dumb Hollywood spectacles

In November 1997, Tom Hanks and Ben Affleck were in The New York Times Magazine together. On the cover, the two of…

Tom Breihan

10/30/20 6:00AM

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At the height of the cynical ’90s, <i>Titanic</i>’<em></em>s heartfelt spectacle became king of the world

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At the height of the cynical ’90s, Titanic’s heartfelt spectacle became king of the world

It’s the string quartet that really gets me. The passengers are running around, screaming, doing everything they can…

Tom Breihan

10/16/20 12:00AM

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For better or worse, Independence Day supersized the blockbuster spectacle

Every city has the place where the punks go, that anodyne strip of sidewalk where the sneery disaffected kids…

Tom Breihan

10/02/20 12:00AM

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Tom Hanks<i> </i>helped mythologize a whole generation in the boomer blockbuster <i>Forrest Gump</i>

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Tom Hanks helped mythologize a whole generation in the boomer blockbuster Forrest Gump

When my wife was a teenager, she had to wear a name tag that read “Gump.” At her place of work, everyone did. She…

Tom Breihan

9/04/20 12:00AM

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<i>Jurassic Park</i> gave the whole world the Spielberg Face

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Jurassic Park gave the whole world the Spielberg Face

About 20 minutes into Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg captures perhaps the greatest Spielberg Face ever put on film.…

Tom Breihan

8/21/20 12:00AM

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Loaded with Robin Williams riffs and killer songs, <i>Aladdin</i> was a whole new world for animated movies

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Loaded with Robin Williams riffs and killer songs, Aladdin was a whole new world for animated movies

Imagine being the person who has to dig through hours upon hours of tape of Robin Williams riffing. Someone had to:…

Tom Breihan

8/07/20 12:00AM

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Schwarzenegger hit his apex as a movie star and an actor in the record-breaking Terminator 2

For someone who’s been in movies for the past 50 years, Arnold Schwarzenegger has never really been an actor.…

Tom Breihan

7/24/20 6:00AM

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<i>Home Alone</i> made a generation of kids cheer—and probably scarred them for life

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Home Alone made a generation of kids cheer—and probably scarred them for life

Imagine it’s 1990 and you’re Joe Pesci. You’ve had a solid career as a character actor for a decade. You have one…

Tom Breihan

7/10/20 8:00AM

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<i>Rain Man</i>’s movie-star chemistry holds up better than its depiction of autism

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Rain Man’s movie-star chemistry holds up better than its depiction of autism

Somebody should’ve been chasing Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. They should’ve accidentally stolen a shipment of…

Tom Breihan

6/12/20 6:00AM

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Somehow, bogus big-screen sitcom <i>Three Men And A Baby</i> became the biggest hit of 1987

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Somehow, bogus big-screen sitcom Three Men And A Baby became the biggest hit of 1987

The best Star Trek movie is a comedy. In 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the crew of the USS Enterprise…

Tom Breihan

5/29/20 6:00AM

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<i>Top Gun</i> is the sleekest, horniest recruitment ad of the 1980s

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Top Gun is the sleekest, horniest recruitment ad of the 1980s

Midway through Top Gun, the highest-grossing movie of 1986, there’s a scene where the film briefly abandons all…

Tom Breihan

5/15/20 6:00AM

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Though set in two bygone eras, <i>Back To The Future</i> is timeless blockbuster fun

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Though set in two bygone eras, Back To The Future is timeless blockbuster fun

“Sir, do we get to win this time?” That’s John Rambo, talking to his old mentor Colonel Trautman, at the beginning…

Tom Breihan

5/01/20 6:00AM

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Eddie Murphy crashed through a glass ceiling of Hollywood stardom with <i>Beverly Hills Cop</i>

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Eddie Murphy crashed through a glass ceiling of Hollywood stardom with Beverly Hills Cop

There’s a brief moment early in Beverly Hills Cop where Axel Foley, a resourceful and gleefully disrespectful young…

Tom Breihan

4/17/20 6:00AM

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The ’80s blockbuster era really began with Return Of The Jedi and the millions of toys it sold

Eight years after the official end of the Vietnam War, George Lucas turned the Viet Cong into adorable teddy bears…

Tom Breihan

4/03/20 6:00AM

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With <i>E.T.</i>, Steven Spielberg channeled his own pain into a soulful all-time smash

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With E.T., Steven Spielberg channeled his own pain into a soulful all-time smash

“The basic ecology of Hollywood is, I’m very much afraid, radically changing.” This was William Goldman,…

Tom Breihan

3/20/20 6:00AM

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Indiana Jones made his Nazi-punching debut in the ultimate Disneyland ride of a movie

The plane has just exploded. Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood have killed about a dozen Nazi soldiers and escaped.…

Tom Breihan

3/06/20 6:00AM

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Sequels got deeper and more ambitious with <i>The Empire Strikes Back</i>

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Sequels got deeper and more ambitious with The Empire Strikes Back

George Lucas did not invent franchise filmmaking. The first movie sequel, The Fall Of A Nation, came out way back in…

Tom Breihan

2/21/20 6:00AM

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