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The most recent movie of German filmmaker Wim Wenders is Perfect Days. It is an art film much in the style of mid-20th century art films. The accent is on mood, and, in this case, a reflection on a single fictional life.
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A new Blu-ray from Flicker Alley features two feature-length documentaries by American documentary filmmaker Herbert Kline. It’s called Against the Storm: Herbert Kline in a Darkened Europe. The two films were award winners, highly praised by the mainstream press when they came out in the late 1930s. They haven’t been spotlighted in more recent decades. Both deal with the Nazi takeover of Europe. With the unending interest in movies about the Nazi era, there should be plenty of attention paid to this collection.
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The Old Oak, possibly Ken Loach’s last feature film, is playing at film festivals and on home screens across the U.S.
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It is no surprise that Anatomy of a Fall won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. This film dares to take a different tack to the old favorite murder mystery genre. In the early minutes of the film, Daniel, an eleven-year-old vision-impaired boy, discovers the bloody body of his father, Samuel, lying near their home. What am I watching? Is it a murder mystery?
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Eighty-five years ago, populist movie director made a feature that spoke to political corruption in the United States. If, indeed, it is true that 1939 is the finest year for Hollywood filmmaking, then Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is among the finest movies of that outstanding year.
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A newly-released documentary feature on the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is streaming on Prime Video.
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Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon are terrific movies, but neither is a barrel of laughs. Sometimes it’s good to spend an evening watching a comedy. For decades doctors and therapists have advised that laughing is good for the soul.
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American Fiction has a lot to say. For his screenplay, Cord Jefferson won a slew of awards, including the Oscar and BAFTA honors. When I recently saw this film, I was impressed by the story details, the structuring of the plot, the development of several unique characters, and its dominant message about the stereotyping of blacks in America.
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When Stanley Kubrick was in his early twenties, he made up his mind to become a filmmaker. With a few scant family donations and some savings of his own, he put together a small crew. He used his imagination to stretch the uses of a few pieces of equipment. For instance, he used a baby carriage for tracking. What financially strapped indie filmmaker hasn’t done that!
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Death in Paradise has had its share of eccentric Detective Inspectors. Since this series’ first episodes appeared in 2011, the crime rate on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint-Marie has remained shockingly high. Detectives who emigrated from the damp grey streets of London to this lush paradise are kept busy with one murder after another!