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jameseabawden
Reviews
The Last Movie (2012)
The Last Movie Is A Mesmerizing Experience
Dispirited at the current state of Canadian cinema, veteran Toronto director Bruce Pittman simply made one of his own. Titled the Last Movie it is a top rated film noir filled with suspense and some laughs courtesy of our flagging film industry, And the wonder is Pittman shot it mainly in his Riverdale home using nonunion crew and players. The effect is mesmerizing, a triumph of cinematography and scripting, beautifully photographed and edited so very precisely. It is compulsively watchable and is playing this week at Toronto's Royal cinema along College Street. This is what film making is all about. I give it **** 1/2 stars and I'm deeply grateful for the experience. It shows me Canadian films are not dead and buried but alive and vibrant.
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars: No Second Helping (1957)
A delightful episode of Scxhlitz Playhouse with Myrna Loy in top form
A delightful episode, it was written originally as the TV debut of William Powell who was to be reunited with his old Thin Man co-star Myrna Loy. Powell eventually bowed out pleading ill health and slipped into permanent retirement. Loy continued as the understanding middle aged wife of Tom Helmore who almost has a fling with the young and delightful Jill St. John. Loy was never as warm and wonderful as here. Miss Loy has written in her autobiography that she initially was displeased with the drop dead gorgeous St. John but eventually appreciated her qualities as a comedienne. Helmore was starring in TV episodes at this time while making movies in which he had small roles. In Vertiogo he excelled as Jimmy Stewart's college pal and in Advise And Consent he was the British ambassador.