‘Movie Corner’ Archives
Movie Corner: Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Celluloid Dreams2022Comedy/Drama/Adventure 4/5 stars By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II Luxembourg, Luxembourg is one of the 50 plus films I saw at the 2023 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival at the St. Anthony Main Theater. It is one of those events in the city that brings out many people. This year marks the 42nd year of the largest film festival in Minnesota. The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul (MSP Film) was founded in 1962. The late Al Milgrom (died in 2020 at age 98) did the groundwork for this wonderful film festival. Like myself, he was a true cinephile but he was also a director, writer and producer of films. Celluloid Dreams Luxembourg, Luxembourg starts out with two identical twin brothers Vasya and Kolya (Ramil and Amil Nasirov) as kids playing risky pranks in the train yard to the commentary of voiceover saying such things as, “They say that when a son looks like mother, he is born happy. Even though we are twins, Vasya looks [...]
Movie Corner: Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Warner Bros.1939Black & White 3.5/5 Stars By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II Often forgotten but influential in world history, especially in America, before and during World War II, is the movement of Nazi sympathizers. To shed some light on Nazi spies here and abroad at the time, Hollywood studio moguls like Jack Warner (Warner Bros.) and Louis B. Mayer (MGM Studios) produced films to let their audiences see in theaters stories of Nazi sympathizers and Nazi opponents played by actors. However, Nazi sympathizers did live in real time and not just on screen. One of the motion pictures at the time is director Anatole Litvak’s Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) that gets entangled in who are spies, who squeals on the other (intentional or unintentional), who gets away, and who catches the culprits through artful tactics. In Litvak’s movie FBI agent Edward Renard (Edward G. Robinson) is determined to out the Nazi sympathizers in America and elsewhere, if [...]
Movie Corner: House Party
By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter 5/5 STARS New Line Cinema1990Comedy Nothing is more energetic, more fun and more entertaining than young Black people gathering at a neighbor’s house for dancing, all in all having a good time. (Unfortunately, gun violence and other altercations have greatly marred many house parties in recent decades.) To be honest, director Reginald Hudlin and producer Warrington Hudlin’s House Party (1990) appears to be incredibly dated, but the movie is a remarkably charming, funny and intelligent comedy. Kid ‘n Play (Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin) started their careers as rap artists before moving into movies. But when they moved into Hollywood, both men, in conjunction with Reginald and Warrington Hudlin, wanted to make an African American comedy to remember. The storyline in House Party starts out when Play’s parents go out of town. He has a “master” plan to host the house party of all house parties. And, of [...]
