Guides to the National Film Registry
America’s Film Legacy
America’s Film Legacy 2009-2010
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Guides to the National Film Registry
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Available from Continuum, Amazon, and other outlets, these two volumes offer commentaries and full credits for each of the first 550 films selected to the National Film Registry.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Jason Statham back in business as The Beekeeper
Action icon Jason Statham stars as the titular Beekeeper, an assassin retired from a top-secret, off-the-books branch of government designed to eliminate threats when all else fails. Statham keeps his bees at retired teacher Phylicia Rashad’s farm. When evil scammers … Continue reading
Posted in Action, Uncategorized
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Andy Lau stars in I Did It My Way
Andy Lau continues his remarkable resurgence in the crime thriller I Did It My Way, yet another variation on Infernal Affairs. Lau plays George Lam, lawyer for a drug ring so powerful it has evaded legal consequences for its crimes. … Continue reading
Posted in Action, Asian, Uncategorized
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Barber: Private eye blues in Dublin
Slow-paced and dignified, Barber plays by genre rules. Set in Dublin, the story follows private eye Val Barber (Aiden Gillen) as he investigates the disappearance of a young co-ed. It’s a mystery more interested in character than plot, one that … Continue reading
Posted in Drama, Uncategorized
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Palmanova and Aquileia: touring two UNESCO sites in Friuli
This year the Far East Film Festival celebrated its twenty-fifth year in Udine, Italy. A medieval town about an hour northeast of Venice, Udine offers theaters, shops, and an array of restaurants and cafés. It is the largest town in … Continue reading
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Moonage Daydream review: pieces of Bowie
How much you like David Bowie, and when you started liking him, will determine how you respond to Moonage Daydream. Written, directed, produced, and edited by Brett Morgen, the documentary provides an exhaustive account of very specific sections of Bowie’s … Continue reading
Posted in Documentary, Music, New Releases, Uncategorized
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Brahmāstra Part One: An Indian multiverse
Years in the making, Brahmāstra Part One: Shiva is the first episode in a trilogy about the “Astraverse,” an Indian take on the multiverse. Astras are superpowers that can take the form of a weapon or a person (a “divine” … Continue reading
Posted in Action, India, Uncategorized
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Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse in Benny Chan’s Raging Fire
A first-rate action thriller, Raging Fire pits dedicated cop Donnie Yen against Nicholas Tse’s gang of killers in a story of betrayal and revenge. It’s sadly the last film from director Benny Chan, who died of cancer in 2020. Raging … Continue reading
Posted in Action, Asian, Uncategorized
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HK Action throwback Undercover Punch & Gun
Action films, in particular martial arts action, used to be the bread-and-butter of Hong Kong cinema. With the industry in freefall, it’s not easy to find hard-core titles like Undercover Punch & Gun, a throwback to those Tsui Hark and … Continue reading
Pixar returns to form with Soul
After years as the industry’s best studio, Pixar suffered through hit-or-miss releases, some of the worst being poorly packaged sequels. One shining exception was 2015’s Inside Out, directed by Pete Docter. It was a movie that combined exhilarating intellectual ideas … Continue reading
Posted in Animation, Streaming, Uncategorized
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Fighting for kids in the doc My Name Is Pedro
Opening virtually after touring festivals in 2017, My Name Is Pedro is a bare-bones, unprepossessing documentary about Bronx-born educator Pedro Santana. Making her feature documentary debut, director Lillian LaSalle takes a narrowly focused story and connects it to larger themes … Continue reading
Posted in Documentary, Streaming, Uncategorized
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