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What with having to eat, sleep and work on a reasonably
regular basis, it's almost impossible to stay on top
of all the juiciest news and tidbits oozing out from
the nooks and crannies where films are planned and
sometimes made. That's why a magazine like Movieline
is so great. They dig the dirt for you so you don't
have to get your hands all messy. Heres a few scoops
from their most recent issue.
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The Butterfly.
Jose Luis Cuerda's
affecting film focuses on a young boy influenced
by a kindly schoolteacher who champions the
anti-fascist cause during the Spanish Civil
War. The story does meander a bit, however the
lovely pastoral settings and finely tuned performances
by Fernando Fernan Gomez and Manuel Lozano help
make up for this. The final closeup of young
Lozano's face, which conveys all the torment
of a country in conflict with itself, is absolutely
indelible.
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The Five Senses
The
Five Senses, starring Mary-Louise
Parker, is the epitome of an art-house movie, interweaving
several stories of anomie and romantic yearning. The
pacing is fearfully slow, though there are moments
of humor, sensuality and even poignancy that would
have had greater impact in a more dynamically directed
movie.
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The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
The
Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
is an unusually rewarding documentary from director
Aviva Kempner. While drawing a telling portrait
of the Detroit Tigers slugger who came close
to toppling Babe Ruth's homerun record back
in 1938, the film also contains a subtle but
damning expose of anti-Semitism in America.
Through well-chosen archival clips and interviews,
Kempner illuminates an era when a star Jewish
athlete turned a lot of stereotypes on their
heads.
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The Opportunists
The
Opportunists
tells a story we've seen many times before, about
a former criminal who desperately wants to go straight
but is lured back for one final caper. Yet Christopher
Walker gives such an understated, winning performance
as the reluctant safecracker that we're completely
captivated by this unpretentious genre movie. Writer/director
Myles Connell builds the tale cunningly and etches
the milieu with loving care.
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