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![]() This history of Pu Yi – the last emperor of China is quite the epic. Chinese history is not well known to most, never mind the complicated transition from Empire, to Nationalism, to Japan domination, and finally to communism. Pu Yi was born in to emperor-hood, was ousted by chiang kai shek, cozie…
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![]() The battles of 1st Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville get brought to terribly glorious life in this opening salvo of a planned Civil War trilogy. Funded by a son of the South, Gods and Generals focuses on sympathetic Confederate heroes Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. It could …
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One of the signal moments in US history.
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![]() The Station Agent can be thought of as a little movie about a little man, but should be thought of as a perceptive movie about a dignified man who rises well above his miniature stature. Peter Dinklage plays that man, all 4’ 5" of him, the movie being a study of how a dwarf makes his way in an …
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3 Lonely People, 2 of them Lost
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![]() The Civil War’s decisive battle can get extensively aired over nearly 4½ hours, and does in Gettysburg. The real battle lasted three days in July of 1863, say 36 hours actually fighting. The movie covers fully an eighth of that. Stamina is required, a long plane ride ideal. Consider it a …
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Hell saved the Exceptional Nation.
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![]() Anyone who’s dealt with an elderly parent will be charmed by Robot & Frank, a gentle and deft SciFi comedy. Perhaps the best Alzheimer’s movie yet, though the A Word is never mentioned, it carries an emotional kick that leavens it in the end, elevating it to more than just a lark. The gre…
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Teaching a robot to pick a lock
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![]() Portraying religious faith amidst tragic hardship is a lot of weight for a mainstream movie to carry. Fortunately Life of Pi features visual wonders and frequent grace notes to lighten the load, resulting in an exhausting if moving cinematic experience. The movie is taken from the celebrate…
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Boy, Tiger, Whale: Wondrous
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![]() “Gimme shelter or I’m gonna fade away.” Some of the stars of this rocking documentary got their shelter from Jagger, the superstar who sang Gimme Shelter and from countless other single-namers. Not gonna fade away now, not with 20 Feet from Stardom sporting Mick, Bruce, Stevie, Sting, Bett…
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Darlene does Baby Please Come Home
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![]() Few love stories are so exquisitely tortured as the one in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Jim Carrey’s sad sack wants to forget his quirky lover, played winningly by Kate Winslet. Turns out there is a quack who offers a mind-wash. Perfect! Except it’s not. However it does set u…
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Have we met?
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![]() Nicole Kidman goes to her estranged sister’s wedding. Jennifer Jason Leigh, said brilliant and beautiful sister, is marrying Jack Black, a buffoon who spectacularly overestimates himself. Classic Jack Black. Speaking of spectacular, Kidman’s Margot is a spectacularly successful fiction write…
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Who says you can't go home again?
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![]() Burton and O’Toole grandly declaim in Becket, a big historical drama and big hit from 1964. Two leading-men of the old school variety, with big voices, they’re more than capable of extreme declamation in a love story between two men – unrequited. The bromance ended badly after Burton’s great ma…
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King & Wingman, before it all went bad
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