Local film lovers got a major shock on Wednesday, when various media reports surfaced that the Maple Art Theatre in Bloomfield Hills would be going dark by the month’s end. The rumor, that the Maple’s owners, the indie-flick specialist Landmark chain, had lost its lease, was confirmed with a press release: “Unfortunately, we have...
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Now in it’s fifth year of operation; the Detroit Film Critics Society, of which I and my friend Jeff Meyers are proud members, have released their nominations. It’s an intriguing list, in what was a somewhat unusual year, with fewer obvious, big budget favorites than is often the case. Many smaller films garnered acclaim;...
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Two Kids One Hall The late ‘80s and early ‘90s were boom times for TV sketch comedy, producing such classic giggle ensembles as the Ben Stiller Show, The State, and Mr. Show; but few proved as enduring and beloved as The Kids in the Hall. A tight, five-man unit forged in the boiling comedy...
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A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas Kal Penn, John Cho, Thomas Lennon, Neil Patrick Harris Rated: R Run Time: 90 min Grade B- The Harold and Kumar franchise is about as rude, outrageous and unrepentantly sacrilegious as mainstream American movies get, at least until Trey Parker and Matt Stone make another picture. Here’s...
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Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 Director: Goran Olsson Run time: 100 min Grade B- Just when you thought that we’ve explored every nook cranny and walk in closet of the chaotic, exhilarating cultural upheavals of mid-twentieth century America, there comes a fascinating scrapbook of odds and ends delivered from the unlikeliest of places; Sweden. Yes,...
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There’s a hoary old legend, famous in fanboy circles, that sometime in the spring of 1961 Martin Goodman, publisher of tiny, struggling Marvel Comics played a friendly round of golf with some of his rivals over at DC. No one remembers who won on the links, but allegedly Goodman got a chapped ass from...
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Tall as a timber and gawky as a fawn, Brian Posehn doesn’t look like your average Hollywood success story. Yet this Sacramento bred comedian has been right in the middle of some of the most groundbreaking comedy shows of the last decade, including Mr. Show, The Sarah Silverman Program and has written for and...
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Gilbert Gottfried is a nice guy. No really. The veteran comedian, slight of frame but gigantic of voice, is without question one of the filthiest, raunchiest and most consistently hysterical comedians working. On stage he’s fearless; a tiny volcano of rude, profane hilarity. On the phone, he’s polite, warm and self deprecating, and he...
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In a major blow to film lovers and to anyone who believes in the viability of the art scene in Detroit, The Burton Theatre is ceasing operations at it’s Cass Corridor location, effective immediately. Over the last two years the inventive, relentlessly plucky dudes behind the upstart cinema in the old Burton International School...
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As the battle over Governor Snyders budget proposals continues to rage and cold in the corridors of Lansing, in living rooms and diner counters state wide, one item burns red hot: the Film Incentives. After a star studded, well over capacity rally fired up the faithful and gained headlines in February , the creative...
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