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Movies
A Compelling, if Flawed, Western
Despite the sporadic, often misguided efforts by Hollywood to revitalize the Western genre, the Western has all but disappeared from multiplexes over the last fifteen years. From the sixties onwards, fewer and fewer westerns were made and those that fit squarely into the "revisionist" mold, were increasingly violent, skeptical and cynical about the nation’s foundational myths. More
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Thought-Provoking, Wrenching Drama
An insightful drama set in the waning days of the communist Ceausescu regime of Romania and centered on the efforts of a university student to obtain an illegal abortion, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (“4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile”), won the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to imagine a film as unflinchingly raw and honest as 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days being made in the United States where abortion remains an incredibly divisive, seemingly irresolvable issue. More
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Movies
So many films, so little time...
Spring is here and so is the 47th Annual San Francisco International Film Festival. As the cherry blossom trees flourish with pink buds, the screens of movie theaters all over the Bay Area- the Kabuki, the Castro, the Pacific Film Archive, Brava Theater Center, and Century Cinema- will be lit with films from all over the world in an extravaganza of domestic and world cinema. More
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Movies
Dude, Where's My Short Term Memory
There's a point in the new Sandler-Barrymore joint 50 First Dates in which a psychiatrist (played by Dan Ackroyd -- ouch Dan, ouch) tells us that Barrymore's character's mental condition "could be worse". He might as well be talking about the movie. It's bad, but it could be worse More
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Movies
Over the last couple of years, independent film has taken a leap into the public spotlight. The box office success of films like My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Bend It Like Beckham firmly established the economic viability of independent film, forcing studios to scour the festival circuit in search of the next surprise hit. These days, paying exorbitant sums of money for the distribution rights of movies such as Pieces of April ($4 million) and Garden State ($5 million), unheard of a decade ago, has become quite routine. More
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Movies
The Eminem Show
Every Friday down at The Shelter, the Detroit hip-hop dungeon in Curtis Hanson's (L.A. Confidential; The River Wild) latest directorial effort, the local talent gets together to battle one another. It's a contest of verbal dominance with the mike as the gun and rhymes like bullets. You have to be smart and tough and fast to win. More
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Movies
The Longest 88 Minutes You’ll Ever Experience
In 88 Minutes, Al Pacino plays egomaniacal university professor and sometimes FBI forensic psychiatrist, Jack Gramm. A man Gramm helped put on death row, Jon Forster (Neal McDonough) accuses Jack of manipulating the jury in his case. As his execution nears, bodies start to pile up. The modus operandi used to snuff out these folks (one of whom is a woman Gramm had a fling with) bears a striking resemblance to the method Forster used. Did Gramm help nail the wrong guy? Is there a copycat killer? Is Gramm actually involved in some of these murders? More
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Movies
Leading the Charge Against Technology
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
There is no denying the technical wizardry of 9, Shane Acker’s feature-length reimagining of his own Oscar-nominated short from 2005. Backed by producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted), the young director has assembled a superior voice cast, led by the wonderfully expressive Christopher Plummer, to breathe life into a familiar post-apocalyptic fable distinguished by its exquisite artistry. More
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Movies
A Cacophonous, Carnal Catastrophe
9 Songs opens with Matt (Kieran O'Brien) waxing nostalgic about his recently ended passionate love affair with Lisa (Margo Stilley) as he glides over the omnipresent whiteness of the South Pole. This is but one of a few gorgeous shots of this quiet, barren landscape and these shots are unfortunately the only real reason to sit through 9 Songs. More
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Movies
Captured in Motion
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Surprisingly, Robert Zemeckis is able to channel the spirit of Charles Dickens’ original in this graphics-conscious update. More
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