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Witness for the...
Really Great 66 Points 1957

Starched and stilted, Witness for the Prosecution nonetheless packs one hell of a punch at the end, with glorious detail throughout and a powerhouse cast who are the complete masters of their juicy roles. Nevermind that its theatrical roots show. Agatha Christie knew how to write for max view…

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WikChip Image Wilder angle: Dietrich looks up at Power
In the Cut
Really Great 66 Points 2003

In the Cut deserves more than mere notoriety for a provocative title and Meg Ryan’s erotic performance, though the latter is monumental – No more RomComs for the RomCom Queen. – and vividly memorable.

Slow starting, moody, Jane Campion’s movie finally turns fully creepy 30 min in, not a mome…

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WikChip Video The movie's better than the trailer.
A Secret
Really Great 66 Points 2007

More a wartime romantic mystery than anything, A Secret is nonetheless as fine a Holocaust picture as you’ll find. Being French, it’s also a sensual love story, or two.

Let’s start at the beginning even though the movie starts in the middle. A supremely athletic and thoroughly assimilated …

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WikChip Image Cécile De France: lithe object of desire
Frank
Very Good 66 Points 2014

Tragically hip alt-rock crosses over into madness in the under-titled Frank, about a charismatic band leader and his devoted bandmates. Here’s the thing: Frank wears a large fake head, all the time.

Starting in Britain, Frank’s band brings on a guileless recruit before decamping for Ireland,…

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WikChip Image Frank plays guitar.
Gone Girl
Great 66 Points 2014

Gone Girl stirs the pot, no doubt about that. Premiering amidst the NFL-stoked domestic violence uproar, this sordid thriller about a wife’s murder is akin to throwing gas on a fire. But never mind all that societal stuff, is it a good movie? Yes, a great one, albeit far from perfect.

The es…

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WikChip Image Smile! Oops, maybe not.
Devil In A Blue...
Great 66 Points 1995

Devil In A Blue Dress is a twofer: a damn good neo-noir movie and an excellent 1940s L.A. period piece, from an African-American POV. Throw in a prime Denzel Washington performance and you’ve got a great movie, one that stands the test of time. Pity they never made a sequel.

Taken from Walte…

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WikChip Video Denzel on Devil In A Blue Dress
The Conversation
Good 66 Points 1974

The Conversation was one of Francis Ford Coppola’s celebrated early Seventies movies, nominated for Best Picture and winner of the Palme d’Or. Deeply accomplished, occasionally fascinating, a time capsule of San Francisco from 1973, it nonetheless disappoints all these decades later.

The min…

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WikChip Video Coppola talks 'The Conversation' in 1974
The Barefoot Co...
Great 66 Points 1954

Ava Gardner plays a moviestar inspired by Rita Hayworth and Humphrey Bogart a writer-director inspired by Joseph L. Mankiewicz in The Barefoot Contessa, Mankiewicz’s takedown of movie business amorality. A glamorous movie about showbiz mendacity, it is both brilliantly self-aware and gorgeous t…

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WikChip Video Classic Golden Age Scene
Ad Astra
Really Great 66 Points 2019

Brad Pitt has his own great astronaut movie now, as every one of today’s great moviestars must.1 Ad Astra is a stately space epic, albeit punctuated with an atomic blast and more than a few death-defying set pieces. Most impressively, James Gray’s instant classic reinforces our conception of …

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WikChip Video The opening shots aren't in the movie.
Knives Out
Very Good 66 Points 2019

What happens when a legendary detective drops in on the murder investigation of a major mystery writer? Rian Johnson’s latest complicated cinematic confection – Knives Out – is what happens. This Agatha Christy homage is loads of fun for nearly two hours. Unfortunately, it’s a 2 hour 10 minute …

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