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The Town

Throughout my filmgoing life, one fact has held true no matter how much else has changed: I love crime movies. From the classic 70s genre flicks to the latest and greatest (which invariably copy those classic 70s genre flicks), I’m in heaven watching cops and robbers onscreen.

The best films in the genre number among my favorite films of all time — The Godfather, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, Miller’s Crossing, Out of Sight and Miami Blues, to name a few. But even those that fall short of classic have littered my top ten lists for decades — films such as L.A. Confidential, Shaft, True Romance, The Usual Suspects, The Departed and Gone Baby Gone.

Add The Town to that second list, and add Ben Affleck to the list of directors who know how to knock this material out of the park. Affleck, long an unfairly maligned actor, has emerged as an expert director of modern film noir.

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Song of the Day #792: ‘Defying Gravity’ – Chris Colfer and Lea Michele

Top Ten ‘Glee’ Performances
#2 – ‘Defying Gravity’ – Kurt and Rachel

For me, the Glee storyline that consistently packs the greatest emotional punch is the relationship between the (very) gay Kurt Hummel and his blue collar dad.

Kurt comes out to his dad early in the season, expecting the worst. Instead, Burt Hummel responds with a shrug, saying “I know, I’ve known since you were three. All you wanted for your birthday was a pair of sensible heels.”

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Song of the Day #791: ‘Just Like a Woman (Live)’ – Bob Dylan

I promised to feature ‘Positively 4th Street’ and ‘Just Like a Woman’ for my sister, but I’m hedging a bit by posting a live version of the latter today. This track comes from the fourth volume of the Bootleg Series, Live 1966: The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert.

This concert didn’t take place at the Royal Albert Hall (as mistakenly reported at the time), but at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall. This is the show that contained the infamous shout of “Judas!” from the audience.

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Song of the Day #790: ‘Positively 4th Street’ – Bob Dylan

My sister, who has been reading this blog from the beginning and listening to me talk about movies and music for more than three decades, has been a real trouper when it comes to these Dylan Weekends. She’s not the world’s biggest Dylan fan (though she likes and appreciates him) and isn’t exactly thrilled to take the scenic route through every step of the man’s career.

Recently she e-mailed me asking that I at least throw in some of the hits, “like ‘Positively 4th Street’ or ‘Just Like a Woman.’ So this weekend is for her.

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Song of the Day #789: ‘Sweet Caroline’ – Mark Salling

Top Ten ‘Glee’ Performances
#3 – ‘Sweet Caroline’ – Puck

Today’s performance isn’t as emotional as the two that preceded it, but it’s one of my favorite clips from the whole first season of Glee.

Mostly that’s because it marked a turning point for the character of Puck, who started off as an obnoxious bully but morphed into one of the sweeter characters on the show (though still an obnoxious bully).

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