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The Madness of ...
Perfect 66 Points 1994

Fascinating history lessons are rarely tremendously entertaining, yet The Madness of King George is both. Frequently funny, often charming, it’s nevertheless chockablock with important historical insights about the British government, crown and class system, and the ignorant barbarity of pre-mo…

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WikChip Image Dissolute Prince behind dignified King
Judith
Great 66 Points 1966

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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WikChip Image Kibbutznick Extraordinaire
Restoration
Great 66 Points 1995

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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WikChip Image Polly Walker's stunning Royal Mistress
Frost/Nixon
Great 66 Points 2008

Funny and sad in equal measures, this brilliant movie brings to life the media event that put a postscript on one of the saddest chapters in American history.

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WikChip Video "I'd a done it" sounds like OJ
Made in Dagenham
Good 66 Points 2010

Message-movies that dramatize real world events start with two strikes against them. The message they promote likely doesn’t resonate with everyone. And they have to hew to an often humdrum storyline.

Thus Made in Dagenham is a pleasant surprise, quirky instead of humdrum, not heavy-handed…

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The Borgias
Good 66 Points 2011

Now that The Tudors has run its course, Showtime gives us another series about a lecherous royal family. The Borgias bills itself as “The Original Crime Family.” Vatican Sopranos as it were. You see, Rodrigo Borgia bribed his way into the Papacy, where he became “the worst of all Popes,” a…

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Too Big to Fail
Barely OK 66 Points 2011

The NY Times’ take on the banking crisis endgame gets reenacted in this made-for-HBO docudrama. Notwithstanding the Big Lie told in the middle, the movie otherwise seems to competently essay the mechanics of the fall of Lehman Brothers, AIG and the imposition of TARP.

The Big Lie comes when t…

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WikChip Image Tim Geithner: Mr. Too-Big-To-Fail him...
The Iron Lady
Barely OK 66 Points 2011

The Iron Lady? More like the Rusty Lady. Meryl Streep’s uncanny performance as Margaret Thatcher doesn’t redeem this disjointed, disrespectful and disappointing biopic.

The Iron Lady focuses on Baroness Thatcher’s dotage, complete with dementia induced hallucinations. It achieves some pow…

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WikChip Video Watch this and skip the movie.
The Kennedys
Great 66 Points 2011

The Kennedys no longer occupy the white-hot center of American consciousness, as they did in the Sixties. The Kennedys, a high quality docudrama, reminds us why they held that position nearly thru the Nineties. Ultimate 1%ers, they looked, acted and misbehaved like royalty, yet became beloved…

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WikChip Image Katie's Jackie mourning JFK or her ma...
King of the Hill
Really Great 66 Points 1993

King of the Hill is a real life Little Rascals, what with pipsqueak brothers living alone during the Great Depression. Amazingly, it’s the truthy autobiography of A.E. Hotchner, Paul Newman’s pal and business partner. Even if fictional, it would still charm and enlighten, as it’s a perfect fi…

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WikChip Video Charming and Enlightening