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REEL 13 BLOG

Viewer Guide: Eight Men Out and The Homesman

April 7, 2021 | Richard Peña

REEL 13 CLASSIC | EIGHT MEN OUT This week’s classic is Eight Men Out, the 1988 historical baseball drama written and directed by John Sayles. Adapted from Eliot Asinof’s 1963 nonfiction book, Eight Men Out dramatizes the Chicago White Sox scandal of 1919, when eight players were charged with participating in a game-fixing ...

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Viewer Guide: Michael Collins and The Lucky Ones

March 24, 2021 | Richard Peña

REEL 13 CLASSIC | MICHAEL COLLINS This week’s classic is Michael Collins, the 1996 biopic written and directed by Neil Jordan. Chronicling the pivotal years in the centuries-long saga of Ireland’s fight for independence from England, Michael Collins stars Liam Neeson in the title role as the legendary central figure in the fierce ...

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Viewer Guide: The Pianist and Rabbit Hole

March 19, 2021 | Richard Peña

REEL 13 CLASSIC | THE PIANIST This week’s classic is The Pianist, the 2002 World War 2 biographical drama directed by Roman Polanski. Adapted by Ronald Harwood from Wladyslaw Szpilman’s autobiographical account of his incredible Holocaust survival story, The Pianist stars Adrien Brody in a career-making and Oscar-winning performance as Szpilman, an acclaimed ...

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Viewer Guide: North Country and Stronger

March 12, 2021 | Richard Peña

REEL 13 CLASSIC | NORTH COUNTRY This week’s classic is North Country, a 2005 drama directed by Niki Caro. Based on a true story and set in 1989, North Country stars Charlize Theron as Josey Aimes, a Minnesota woman whose abusive marriage has finally reached its inevitable end. With nowhere else to go, ...

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Viewer Guide: Best in Show and Beatriz at Dinner

February 26, 2021 | Richard Peña

REEL 13 CLASSIC | BEST IN SHOW  This week’s classic is Best in Show, the tongue-in-cheek “mockumentary” comedy from 2000, directed by Christopher Guest. Best in Show remains one of the most memorable examples of the “mockumentary” genre, providing an unflinchingly faux cinema verité look into the ruthless, high stakes world of ...

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Viewer Guide: Avalon and Brothers

February 19, 2021 | Richard Peña

REEL 13 CLASSIC | AVALON  This week’s classic is Avalon, the 1990 family drama written and directed by Barry Levinson. A Jewish-American immigration saga that is both epic and intimate, Avalon is the third entry of an autobiographically inspired four-film cycle, chronicling the history of writer-director Barry Levinson’s extended family in Baltimore. ...

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Viewer Guide: Arthur and A Most Wanted Man

February 12, 2021 | Richard Peña

REEL 13 CLASSIC | ARTHUR Tonight’s classic is Arthur, the 1981 romantic comedy written and directed by Steve Gordon. In the defining role of his movie career, Dudley Moore stars as Arthur Bach, the heir to an enormous family fortune who spends his empty days in besotted bliss, roving around New York ...

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Viewer Guide: Yours, Mine and Ours and Philomena

January 29, 2021 | Richard Peña

REEL 13 CLASSIC | YOURS, MINE AND OURS This week’s classic is Yours, Mine and Ours, the 1968 family comedy directed by Melville Shavelson. Based on Helen Beardsley’s 1965 autobiographical book Who Gets the Drumstick?, Yours, Mine and Ours stars Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda as the cinematic embodiment of Helen and ...

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Viewer Guide: The Apartment and The Ghost Writer

January 22, 2021 | Richard Peña

REEL 13 CLASSIC | THE APARTMENT This week’s classic is The Apartment, the 1960 romantic comedy-drama directed by Billy Wilder. Co-written by Wilder and his longtime collaborator I.A.L. Diamond, The Apartment stars Jack Lemmon in one of the great defining roles of his early career. Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, mostly known as ...

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