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His Girl Friday

  • Title: His Girl Friday
  • IMDb: link

85 years after its release director Howard Hawks‘ classic screwball comedy is still something to behold. It’s rapid dialogue and wit were in part achieved by the director pushing his actors to be spontaneous on the fly leading to rampant improvisation and the film to go over time and over budget. That, along with sound mixing to further speed up the dialogue, resulted in stars Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell spitting barbs at each other non-stop for near the entire length of the film.

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Orwell: 2+2=5

  • Title: Orwell: 2+2=5
  • IMDb: link

Making use of George Orwell‘s personal journals, narrated by Damian Lewis, alongside news footage and clips from various films (including those adapted from Orwell’s work), director Raoul Peck examines the thoughts and feelings of Orwell on the subject of totalitarianism and authoritarianism during the period on which he wrote his final novel 1984. The documentary takes time to examine the author’s life, including his time as a member of the Indian Imperial Police in Burma which helped form his opinions and social criticism in its non-linear structure of examining the author’s legacy and his foresight into the modern world.

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The Smashing Machine

  • Title: The Smashing Machine
  • IMDb: link

The Smashing Machine showcases the life and career of former MMA fighter Mark Kerr (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) who was one of the biggest names in the sport during the late 1990s. More notable for The Rock’s performance than any details of Kerr’s life, in or out of the ring, the film showcases the fighter overcoming substance abuse, the precipitous fall following his first loss, and the contentious relationship with his girlfriend (Emily Blunt).

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The Running Man

  • Title: The Running Man (1987)
  • IMDb: link

Set in the distant future of 6 years ago, 1987’s The Running Man starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Ben Richards, an escaped convict and disgraced former police officer who was arrested for refusing to open fire on an unarmed mob in a totalitarian police state run by lies, propaganda, and brutal force that looks more and more prescient every day. Framed for the murders he refused to commit, Richard is tapped by Damon Killian (Richard Dawson), the host of the world’s most popular reality-TV game show, and forced into competing on The Running Man.

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