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A Separation
Really Great 66 Points 2012

A Separation fascinates both as an absorbing domestic drama and a lens into contemporary Iran. That compelling combination has made it a worldwide sensation, the odds-on favorite to win Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Oscars.

It presents two families drawn together by domestic n…

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WikChip Image Bergman in Paris? No. Hatami in Teh...
Jiro Dreams of ...
OK 66 Points 2011

The legendary chef behind a Michelin Three Star sushi restaurant gets profiled in Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Indeed, Jiro Ono does dream of sushi, and has for most of his 85 years.

Unfortunately his BioDoc is too subtle for its own good, even given its zen subject. It also focuses as much on Ji…

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WikChip Image Jiro's Dreamy Sushi
The Intouchables
OK 66 Points 2011

The Intouchables clearly plays better in its native France than to we Americans. There it is a cultural sensation that bridges the divide between an immigrant underclass and wealthy patricians, the former living in bleak suburban projects, the latter in central Paris. Featuring big French sta…

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WikChip Image "You're going to buy that?!"
Russian Dolls
Very Good 66 Points 2005

Goodbye Barcelona. Russian Dolls sends the Euro dudes and dudettes from The Spanish Apartment to London, Paris and St. Petersburg, with a side trip for clubbing in Moscow. Fairly steady sexual tension and plenty of mildly amusing romantic hijinks make it an entertaining trip, one that’s set…

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WikChip Image A lesbian becomes a dude's best friend
The Spanish Apa...
Very Good 66 Points 2002

How to make a pleasant French sex comedy? Drop half a dozen attractive young singles into one apartment, ideally in a mildly exotic city. Occasionally drop in a boyfriend or girlfriend from back home and mix in a lonely wife living nearby.

Voilà! L’Auberge Espagnole, a European hit that w…

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WikChip Image A lesbian teaches a guy to seduce a girl
Marriage Italia...
Perfect 66 Points 1964

A pre-sexual revolution Italian trifle, Matrimonio All’Italiana packs a considerevole punch 50 years on.

Consider Sophia Loren – in her prime. Screen sirens come no hotter or more joyous.
Just 30 when Marriage Italian Style was made, she plays 17 stunningly and 37 powerfully.

Marcel…

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WikChip Image Sophia Loren's Filumena, fully grown
Rust and Bone
Great 66 Points 2012

The good news about Rust and Bone is that it’s not about an orca trainer’s accident. It’s about her recovery. In any case, hers is only half the story, the rest being about an oafish stud with a small child in tow. What happens to father and son is tougher to take than what happens to her – …

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WikChip Image Communing Mammals: Human and Orca
NO
Great 66 Points 2013

So big it came down to YES or NO. A national referendum on authoritarian rule, YES or NO?

NO won, a shock to Chile, many Latinos and the world. Turns out that pop was the way to nail the weasel. The weasel was General Augusto Pinochet, the strongman who had fixed the economy but crushed diss…

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WikChip Video Selling Liberation Like Toothpaste
Barbara
Great 66 Points 2012

Precious few movies about life in communist countries have made an impact in America. Barbara should be one of them. It’s a compelling drama – and a sexy one – about a glamorous doctor torn between two men and the different lives they represent. It’s also an insightful lens into the grim reali…

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WikChip Image Every Move Watched
Gainsbourg: A H...
Good 66 Points 2010

French musical sensation Serge Gainsbourg explains himself in this surreal biopic. Largely unknown here in America, Gainsbourg was a cross between Dylan, Sinatra and Leonard Cohen in France. The women he squired – including Brigitte Bardot during her superstar heyday – comprise a good part of h…

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WikChip Image Musician's Beauty: Gainsbourg & Bardot