The Cinema Cafe

Serving Cinema's Tastiest Treats

Dish of the Day

Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Tomorrow on TCM:

If I was in charge of choosing a single film noir for someone only willing to see one in the entire canon, I would select Double Indemnity (1944) as its most fulfilling and accomplished representative.

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Dish of the Day

Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:

Monday, November 18, 2024

Today on TCM:


My enthusiasm for the next film may be “icier” than say Howard Hughes’, however, viewers may find enough intrigue, suspense and supportive factors to make the journey to Ice Station Zebra (1968)

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Dish of the Day (A Lost Weekend Edition)

Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:

Friday, November 15, 2024

This weekend on TCM:

This next TCM recommendation is made for its John Williams composed score more than anything else. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) has been reviewed here

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Dish of the Day

Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Today on TCM:

“How does it feel to be a decent, respectable married man?”

Dick Powell’s Everyman faces a mid-life crisis, including a far more considerable threat to his well being in the form of Raymond Burr’s jealous contractor, in Pitfall (1948), previously recommended here.

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Dish of the Day

Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:

Monday, November 11, 2024

Tomorrow on TCM:


Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951), previously reviewed here, may sound like some forgotten Douglas Sirk melodrama, but certainly has its fair share of film noir qualifications delivered with assuredness by director Felix Feist.

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Dish of the Day

Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Tomorrow on TCM:

"Why should the Falls drag me down here at 5 o'clock in the morning? To show me how big they are and how small I am? To remind me they can get along without any help? All right, so they've proved it. But why not? They've had ten thousand years to get independent. What's so wonderful about that? I suppose I could too, only it might take a little more time."

What exactly is film noir? Many enthusiasts and experts continue to debate the subject, with numerous examples of films that should, and just as many that should not, be included in the category. Some, who most likely feel that noir films rely on a certain look, dismiss any colour film as unworthy of being categorised as such. Others like myself, prone to distinguishing noir by its subject matter, are more inclined to include colour films produced during noir's classic time period that focus on crime and the psychologies of those involved. This brings me to my next TCM selection and a prior Blu-ray recommendation here, 1953's Niagara

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Dish of the Day

Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:

Monday, November 4, 2024

Tomorrow (early morning) on TCM:

I previously wrote about MGM contract actor Robert Taylor appearing in a startling number of well crafted films when writing about 1941’s Johnny Eager. He also starred alongside some of Hollywood’s hottest leading ladies including Lana Turner in the aforementioned film and Ava Gardner in The Bribe (1949)

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Dish of the Day

Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Today on TCM:

My next TCM recommendation for the month is, for many experts, the final film noir released during the classification's classic time period (1940 - 1959), Orson Welles' stylistically assertive Touch of Evil (1958).  

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Dish of the Day

Just some film musings of a more succinct, spontaneous and sometimes seditious nature:

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Today on TCM:

Next up, is a WW II film that can only be defined by its setting. There are just too many dispersed ideas regarding tone and perspective to communicate what kind of film Kelly’s Heroes (1970) is, let alone how any of its numerous genre types are successfully represented.

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"Now Listen to Me..."

Just some thoughts on this month’s happenings:

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