small town Archives - The Magic Lantern

EPISODES

Episode 165 – Shadow of a Doubt

August 23, 2021

Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock, 1943) was a turning point in the career of the master of suspense. It was reportedly Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite film he ever made. It is also what I consider to be his first truly American film. Once he looked into small town America’s heart of…

EPISODES

Episode 163 – The Last Picture Show

The Magic Lantern

July 26, 2021

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The Last Picture Show (Bogdanovich, 1971) will break your heart in a million different ways, all of them Texan. As an expatriate from a town very much like this, it hits me where I live. I’ve seen those fights on Main Street between guys who were best friends and will…