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Christian the Lion
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The Competition
: :When you are in the mood for a pleasant little romance, this should fit the bill. Amy Irving and Richard Dreyfuss are young pianists vying for the same prize. Surprise, surprise, they fall in love. We then must wait, with (nearly) breathless anticipation, to see if she will throw the contest to ensure his love. It is all a bit starry-eyed, but not overly gooey. The concert footage is handled with class, and there are some fine supporting performances from Sam Wanamaker and Lee Remick. ...
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Laurel & Hardy: Way Out West
: :One of Laurel and Hardy's greatest efforts in the full-length form. They play a pair of unlikely prospectors whose best pal has died, leaving the deed to a rich gold mine. It's up to them to deliver the deed to his daughter. She, however, is a scullery maid in the saloon of unsavory Jimmy Finlayson, who tries to pass off his own wife as the grieving heiress. This film includes several classic moments, including a delightful song-and-dance by L&H and a struggle over the deed ...
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Aniv Clam)
: :This remastered, pan-and-scan 30th-anniversary edition of that kiddie-car caper is flawed but solid family fare. It retains a quaint charm while some of the songs--including the title tune--are quite hummable. A huge plus is Dick Van Dyke, who is extremely appealing as an eccentric inventor around the turn of the century. With nimble fingers and a unique way of looking at the world, he invents for his children a magic car that floats and flies. Or does he? The special effects are tame by today's ...
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A Child Is Waiting
: :This 1963 film, directed by John Cassavetes, features Judy Garland's last dramatic performance. She plays a teacher at an institution for the retarded who ultimately can't contain her own urge to help, to the detriment of her young charges. Burt Lancaster gives a strong performance as the head of the institution, trying to balance fiscal responsibility and administrative duties with a caring nature. But it's a constant struggle between the urge to do the right thing and the politics of an uncaring state. One of ...
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The Hunger
: :Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie are rich, beautiful, and oh-so chic as denizens of the night. Dressed in sleek outfits and stylish sunglasses, they haunt rock & roll clubs on the prowl for young blood, whom they bring home to their impossibly luxurious mansion for a late-night snack. Being a vampire never looked more sexy, but there's a price: Bowie starts to age so fast he wrinkles up in the waiting room of a doctor's (Susan Sarandon) office. The agelessly elegant Deneuve, evoking Delphine Seyrig's ...
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Fly Away Home (Slip)
: :There are some filmmaking teams that invariably bring out the best in each other, and that's definitely the case with director Carroll Ballard and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. They previously collaborated on The Black Stallion and Never Cry Wolf, and Fly Away Home is their third family film that deserves to be called a classic. Inspired by Bill Lishman's autobiography, the movie tells the story of a 13-year-old girl (Anna Paquin) who goes to live with her estranged, eccentric father (Jeff Daniels) following the death of ...
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The Mill on the Floss
: :Emily Watson is luminous and heartbreaking as the brilliant, stifled Maggie in the 1997 TV production of The Mill on the Floss. All her life, young Maggie has heard 'You're far too clever for a woman,' with her deep intellectual curiosity and thirst for knowledge. But in 19th century England, the options for clever women were few--and many believe this story, by George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans), was a thinly disguised autobiography of Eliot/Evans herself. 'I want there to be great things, beautiful things, in ...
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Tom Sawyer
: :The 1973 version of Tom Sawyer features Mark Twain's young hero in a rousing musical adventure. Much to the exasperation of his Aunt Polly (Celeste Holm), Tom (Johnny Whitaker) likes nothing better than going fishing with Huck Finn (Jeff East, who reprised the role a year later in Huckleberry Finn), spinning a tall tale, or convincing the other boys to whitewash a fence for him. But life gets complicated when a pretty girl moves in to town (a 10-year-old Jodie Foster), and then a friend ...
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Wolf
: :Sophisticated to a point, this well-executed wolf-man tale works due to its clever setting and enormous star power. We all know Jack Nicholson can go nuts, but the script makes his character aware of his changes, sometimes for the better, early on. The setting, a publishing house in the middle of a takeover, gives the characters dramatic life before the horror elements kicks in. A senior editor about to get the boot, Nicholson's character becomes a new man after being bitten by a wolf. He ...
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