Reviews
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Weekend Preview: Sarah Polley's Must-See Doc 'Stories We Tell,' Baz Luhrmann's Showy but Sagging 'Great Gatsby'
Canadian writer-director-actress Sarah Polley's brilliant documentary on her enigmatic family history, "Stories We Tell," leads the pack of a slew of top-reviewed limited releases this weekend. Ben Wheatley's "Sightseers," the follow-up to frightfest "Kill List," also hits theaters and VOD, along wi...
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Review: Andrea Riseborough, Clive Owen Shine in James Marsh's IRA Drama 'Shadow Dancer' (TRAILER)
Andrea Riseborough is a chameleon actress who makes her mark in everything she does, from Madonna's "W.E." as fashionplate Wallis Simpson and Tom Cruise's seductive housemate/overseer in "Oblivion" to terrorist in James Marsh's elegantly crafted IRA thriller "Shadow Dancer," which played the Sundanc...
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Hot Docs Wrap: Canadian International Film Festival Celebrates 20th Anniversary, Winnows World's Best Docs
Like a lot of people, the Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival (official name) is "trying to figure out who we are," according to program director Charlotte Cook: In other, trying to figure out where they’re going to go, now that the fest has hit its 20th year -- a convenient moment to reas...
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Now and Then: Olivier and the Bard
"I can smile, and murder while I smile," confides that notorious noble, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Laurence Olivier), "and frame my face to all occasions." For Olivier, pronouncing "frame" like "feign," it's an auspicious beginning. In Shakespeare's words, he finds his performer's credo.
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Review: Godard's 'Le Petit Soldat,' From Geneva, with Angst (TRAILER)
Set in 1958 and shot in 1960, "Le Petit Soldat" begins the way "Breathless" begins: with a man in a car. But there’s an immediate difference. "Breathless" is relentlessly present-tense, moment-to-moment: car to cop to gun to girl. "Le Petit Soldat," Godard’s fourth feature, doesn’t barrel ahead. ...
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Review and Trailer for Oscar-Nominated 'Kon-Tiki' - An Enjoyable, Supersized High-Seas Adventure
Norway's Oscar-nominated Foreign-Language entry, the enjoyably supersized “Kon-Tiki,” follows the real-life adventures of explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who, in 1947, embarked on an eccentric mission across the Pacific Ocean, from Peru to Polynesia, on a wooden raft. His goal was to prove that Polynesia.....
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Review: Bette Midler is Infectious in Broadway's 'I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers'
There is a moment in Broadway's "I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers," as the one-time Hollywood agent extraordinaire is perched on her upholstered throne in Beverly Hills, that you half expect to see Erich von Stroheim cross the stage with a young William Holden in tow.
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Tribeca Reviews: Moving 'Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia' and Humorless Comedy 'Adult World'
Gore Vidal would have hated “Adult World,” the Emma Roberts vehicle that premiered at Tribeca last night. “He had a great **** detector,” notes the veteran journalist Robert Sheer, in Nicholas Wrathall’s doc “Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia,” which also premiered last night at Tribeca, whic...
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Tribeca Review: Banker White's 'The Genius of Marian' a Starkly Intimate Portrait of His Mother's Battle with Alzheimer's
The Tribeca Film Festival hasn’t exactly been synonymous with documentaries, even if they opened with one the other night -- “Mistaken for Strangers,” Tom Berninger’s off-beat take on his brother’s band, The National. But a special place should be reserved for “The Genius of Marian,” which is about ...
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Seven Films to Watch at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival: Israel's 'Big Bad Wolves,' 'Six Acts,' and More
As always, the feature films at Tribeca (April 17-28) are a mixed bag, which makes it difficult to identify trends. That said, think horror and Israel, and the broader Middle East. The Israelis are back with two features (one a world premiere) that are sure to get attention. Whether they warm anyone...
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