I had never heard of this 1963 movie before Hulu added it to their movie bank, but now I'm considering it a must-see. Why? Well, first of all, it's got a hell of a pedigree. It brings together ten short stories by Hemingway, all of which involve his autobiographical character, Nick Adams. It features some great actors giving supposedly great performances, including Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, and Ricardo Montelbaum. And it merited five Golden Globe nods back in the day (including a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Newman). I read my first Hemingway book recently, and while I have my complaints, I was taken with how cinematic much of the material was. Boxing, bullfights, and babes-- what more does Hollywood need? However, be warned-- this clocks in at a hefty 2.5 hours. I didn't like it when Batman took that long to defeat the Joker, and I doubt I'll like it when it takes that long to chronicle the life adventures of a young man traveling the world.
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Another Newman addition, this one a little-known and little-liked comedy sending up some conventions of the day such as suburbia, the military, gender roles, and teenage sexuality. It involves a secret military plot to establish a missile base in a small Connecticut town, where women take the lead in trying to protect the town. Joan Collins also stars.
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Are you kidding me? Altman directed a post-apocalyptic sci fi movie starring Paul Newman, and I've never even heard of it? Color me shocked. The Hulu plot synopsis calls it "perhaps the least seen and most talked about film of Altman's career." That might be a gentle eupemism for "least seen and most hated film of Altman's career," if the critical reaction is any indication. Even if this movie is as terrible, confusing, and slow-paced as they say, I'm glad to see yet another Newman film hit the Hulu archive.
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