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![]() Judith features Gentile moviestars playing Jewish freedom fighters during Israel’s War of Independence. It’s amazing how glamorous a story centered on early kibbutz life at the end of the British Mandate can be. To that end, Judith is a fabulous Sophia Loren movie. The great Loren stars a…
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Kibbutznick Extraordinaire
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![]() Anti-denigration: The Great Debaters teaches us the root of ‘denigration’ and much more, especially how Wiley College’s debate team rose up to defend their rightful position as heirs to American greatness. Every history lesson should be this entertaining: Denzel Washington sees to that, dire… |
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![]() Essential though Patton may be – as war movie, as American history, as biopic – it’s not the epochal statement the Academy thought they were canonizing with seven Oscars in 1971, including Best Picture. Back then Frances Ford Coppola’s script seemed subversive, undermining American militarism …
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If I had my way, I'd meet Rommel F2F.
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![]() 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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Selling Liberation Like Toothpaste
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![]() A worthy sequel to Elizabeth, though perhaps suffering a bit by coming second. Nonetheless, it doesn’t get any better than this for fans of historical drama, while the performance of Cate Blanchett as the Virgin Queen remains the modern benc… |
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![]() Restoration refers to Britain’s casting off of Puritanism, a liberated time of royal hedonism and bawdy theater, from which a much lauded historical novel was derived. Add in Robert Downey Jr., Meg Ryan, Sam Neill and the stunning Polly Walker for cinematic firepower. Restoration is the resul…
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Polly Walker's stunning Royal Mistress
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![]() A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down. The sugar: a terrific love story. The medicine: the wanton cruelty and dehumanization endemic to the nascent Soviet Union. Director David Lean – King of the Epics – reunited with Omar Sharif and several essential crew members from "Lawrence of Ar…
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They don't make 'em like they used to.
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![]() Martin Scorsese does a kid’s movie, delivering a film history lesson wrapped in a Parisian postcard. Glorious visuals, affecting performances and deft filmmaking flourishes make it a treat for kids of all ages. The fable of Hugo Cabret imagines an orphan boy who lives in the walls of a stor…
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Hey, who's that photographer?
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![]() “Are you experienced?” Rock fans of a certain age recognize that bold question as cover for “Do you dig Jimi Hendrix?” Ya dig. For those of us in that cohort and for rock and blues fans of all ages, Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train a Comin’ is a 90 minute documentary well worth viewing, turned up …
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Hendrix â© Wild Thing â© Monterey Pop
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![]() Every possible plot you’d want from a western is weaved in to Tombstone, and a stellar cast makes this film a must-see on any fan of the genre’s “must see” list. Kurt Russel, Val Kilmer (who is great imho), Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton , Powers Boothe, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestley…. Need I g… |