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10 memorable movie mothers
“The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world,” wrote William Ross Wallace in a poem that extolled the greatness of moms. Like most things involving moms, however, that sentiment feels a little loaded. Our relationship with mothers is … complicated. We love them, but fear them, too––particularly when they use…
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The 10 best bathroom scenes in film
Bathrooms: We all use ‘em, but it took a curiously long time for Hollywood to challenge the Production Code’s ban on showing them on screen. Once that changed, however (we have Sir Alfred Hitchcock to thank for that, by the way), bathrooms have gotten their close-up. And why not? It’s where we’re most private and…
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The 25 best love stories on film
This just in: Moviegoers love romance. From the very start––beginning with The Kiss in 1896––cinema has excavated emotional gold from affairs of the heart. Big-screen love stories are so pervasive, in fact, that most of us know the tropes by heart (pun intended), from the meet-cute to that inevitable conclusion in which someone, usually male,…
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The 10 best movies about time travel
Time travel movies aren’t really about time. Yes, the idea of moving through time is fantastical, but such stories are conduits to explore themes as diverse as nostalgia, regret, fate and free will. These are my picks for the 10 best movies about time travel. 10. My Old Ass (2024, dir: Megan Park) “If I…
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The 15 best coming-of-age movies
From Pip to Holden Caulfield and everything in between (as well as before and after, for that matter), the coming-of-age story has been indispensable. There are a multitude of variations, of course: a first love or heartbreak, that first encounter with mortality, learning a momentous truth about a parent or friend, discovering right and wrong.…
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The 15 best school-centric films
For good or ill––or, more accurately, for good and ill––school is where we learn our socialization skills (or lack thereof). Oh, it’s also where we just plain learn, of course: reading, writing, arithmetic and whatnot. But there are also crucial lessons to be had out of the classroom, whether that be in the cafeteria, the…
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The 10 best movie dystopias
It can always be worse. At least, that’s what moviegoers have long told themselves, and so there is a weird comfort that comes from losing yourself in big-screen dystopias. Fritz Lang likely jumpstarted the genre in 1927 with Metropolis’ tale of haves and have-nots, but speculative pessimism quickly caught on in cinema. Like the best…
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The 10 best journalism movies
Long before the profession of journalism fell prey to culture wars, movies about reporters tended to depict them as the-people-have-a-right-to-know crusaders or, more often, as doughy guys in ill-fitting suits who chainsmoke, drink from flasks hidden in their desks, and crack wise to each other. Speaking as someone who has worked in the news media…
Cutting to the Chase with Phil Bacharach
Let’s talk about movies.
Cutting to the Chase with Phil Bacharach 