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The Lion King 1 1/2
: :The Lion King 1½ is an ingenious sequel that retells the original film's story from the perspective of best pals Timon the meerkat (voiced by Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa the warthog (Ernie Sabella). Anyone who has wondered how this odd couple met will find out here, beginning with Timon's flight from home following disgrace and his chance encounter with the sweet but lonely Pumbaa. With the arrival of young Simba (Shaun Flemming), The Lion King's familiar tale is reborn via a fresh angle, fleshed out by returning characters Rafiki the wise monkey (Robert ...
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Hairspray
: essential video:John Waters made his bid for PG respectability with this enjoyably trashy comedy about the racial integration of a teen dance show on Baltimore television in the early '60s. Waters, as always, makes a virtue of junk culture and the powerful emotional forces it can represent as kids vie to get on the show. Meanwhile, a parade of former stars (Pia Zadora, Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono) and pseudostars (Divine, Ricki Lake) cross the screen, playing freakish characters absorbed by thoughts of fame. (Waters himself turns up as a weirdo psychiatrist.) This ...
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Sweet 15
: essential video:John Waters made his bid for PG respectability with this enjoyably trashy comedy about the racial integration of a teen dance show on Baltimore television in the early '60s. Waters, as always, makes a virtue of junk culture and the powerful emotional forces it can represent as kids vie to get on the show. Meanwhile, a parade of former stars (Pia Zadora, Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono) and pseudostars (Divine, Ricki Lake) cross the screen, playing freakish characters absorbed by thoughts of fame. (Waters himself turns up as a weirdo psychiatrist.) This ...
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On the Line
: :Befitting its boy-band sensibility, On the Line is an amiable vehicle for 'N Sync's Lance Bass, who makes his star-producer debut with this bright-eyed romantic comedy. Bass plays a Chicago adman who meets the girl of his dreams (newcomer Emmanuelle Chriqui) on the 'L' train but fails to get her name and phone number. His roommates (including 'N Sync bandmate Joey Fatone) devise a scheme to find the elusive 'L-train girl,' and like the similarly plotted Serendipity, this love-struck scenario plays out with standard-issue subplots and supporting characters, propelled by a pleasant pop ...
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Seize the Day
: :This 1986 film--a dead-serious performance by Robin Williams, minus the overlay of schmaltz that informed his acting in the late 1990s--sat on the shelf and had no theatrical release, for obvious reasons: the film has the downbeat spiral of a 1970s film, relentless in its depiction of human frailty at the breaking point. That doesn't mean it's a bad film; to the contrary, it's actually quite a good film. But it is in no way audience-friendly in its vision of a human being who has reached the end of his tether. Directed by ...
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A Memory of Two Mondays (Broadway Theatre Archive)
:Description:Dramatizing a compacted group of memories passing over several years, Arthur Miller's vivid comedy-drama portrays the nature of life during America's Great Depression. The emphasis is on mood and characterization as Miller draws on his own personal experience to evoke what the 1930s were like for workers to whom a job--any job--was everything. '...a beautiful play superbly performed.' --The New York Daily News. With Jack Warden, Harvey Keitel, Dick Van Patten, Estelle Parsons, and Jerry Stiller.
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The Ritz (1976)
: :Terrence McNally adapted his Broadway farce for this wild, headlong comedy set in one of the gay bathhouses that were once a staple of New York culture. Jack Weston plays a guy who makes the mistake of crossing his gangster brother-in-law. Fearing for his life, he hides in the gay baths and the door-slamming chaos begins. Directed by Richard Lester, the comedy is adept and well handled, with Weston watching his back while trying to pass as a regular customer. It's hard to tell which is funnier: Treat Williams as an undercover cop ...
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A Rat's Tale
: :Terrence McNally adapted his Broadway farce for this wild, headlong comedy set in one of the gay bathhouses that were once a staple of New York culture. Jack Weston plays a guy who makes the mistake of crossing his gangster brother-in-law. Fearing for his life, he hides in the gay baths and the door-slamming chaos begins. Directed by Richard Lester, the comedy is adept and well handled, with Weston watching his back while trying to pass as a regular customer. It's hard to tell which is funnier: Treat Williams as an undercover cop ...
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Hairspray
: essential video:John Waters made his bid for PG respectability with this enjoyably trashy comedy about the racial integration of a teen dance show on Baltimore television in the early '60s. Waters, as always, makes a virtue of junk culture and the powerful emotional forces it can represent as kids vie to get on the show. Meanwhile, a parade of former stars (Pia Zadora, Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono) and pseudostars (Divine, Ricki Lake) cross the screen, playing freakish characters absorbed by thoughts of fame. (Waters himself turns up as a weirdo psychiatrist.) This ...
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Nadine
: essential video:John Waters made his bid for PG respectability with this enjoyably trashy comedy about the racial integration of a teen dance show on Baltimore television in the early '60s. Waters, as always, makes a virtue of junk culture and the powerful emotional forces it can represent as kids vie to get on the show. Meanwhile, a parade of former stars (Pia Zadora, Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono) and pseudostars (Divine, Ricki Lake) cross the screen, playing freakish characters absorbed by thoughts of fame. (Waters himself turns up as a weirdo psychiatrist.) This ...
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