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Enchanted April (1991)
: :This lovely, 1991 adaptation of Elizabeth Von Arnim's novel has a superb cast and a tone so mellow you can feel your pulse get slower. Josie Lawrence and Miranda Richardson play a pair of unhappily married women who rent an Italian villa for a month, sharing the rent with a crusty Englishwoman (Joan Plowright) and a lonely aristocrat (Polly Walker). Sun, rest, sinking into the green grass for long naps--they all have a soulful effect on the quartet, and then on the men in their ...
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Evening Star
: :Picking up the story thread left by 1983's Terms of Endearment, this overwrought sequel is made palatable by Shirley MacLaine's charismatic performance, which in turn is nearly equaled by Marion Ross's role as her housekeeper. An unexpected surprise, Ross obviously was never allowed to display her range as Mrs. Cunningham on Happy Days. Returning as the vibrant Aurora Greenway, MacLaine far outshines the thin material involving the tangled and unhappy lives of her three grandchildren. The plot picks up 13 years after the death of ...
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Fatherland (1994)
: :This retro-futuristic adventure depicts a 1964 in which Hitler won the war and Joe Kennedy Sr. is U.S. president. Europe is known as Germania and opens its borders to American journalists, hoping to line up the U.S. as an ally against Russia. Set design and costumes very effectively create a potent and prosperous state, culled both from imagination and the history books. More downbeat and perhaps more effective than Robert Harris's chilling novel, Fatherland is brought to life by Rutger Hauer as an SS officer ...
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Merlin
: essential video:What kind of guy was the wizard Merlin, anyway? He lives a long time, raises a boy to be a king, props up a Utopian empire with his magic and wisdom, and then watches as it all crumbles under such banal forces as vengeance and betrayal. This four-hour miniseries re-tells the story of Camelot and King Arthur from the perspective of the magic man who sacrifices a great deal to guide mortals toward a better destiny. Sam Neill plays Merlin as an accessible, ...
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The Phantom of the Opera
: :Although it's not as bold as Oscar darling Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera continues the resuscitation of the movie musical with a faithful adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster stage musical. Emmy Rossum glows in a breakout role as opera ingénue Christine Daae, and if phantom Gerard Butler isn't Rossum's match vocally, he does convey menace and sensuality in such numbers as 'The Music of the Night.' The most experienced musical theater veteran in the cast, romantic lead Patrick Wilson, sings sweetly but seems ...
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Empire of the Sun
: essential video:Roundly dismissed as one of Steven Spielberg's least successful efforts, this very underrated film poignantly follows the World War II adventures of young Jim (a brilliant Christian Bale), caught in the throes of the fall of China. What if you once had everything and lost it all in an afternoon? What if you were only 12? Bale's transformation, from pampered British ruling-class child to an imprisoned, desperate, nearly feral boy, is nothing short of stunning. Also stunning are exceptional sets, cinematography, and music ...
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Snow White - The Fairest of Them All
: :Don't expect to plunk your 4-year-old in front of Hallmark's Snow White and have her come away whistling 'Heigh Ho'--it's not that kind of movie. Substitute a kingdom of woeful and broody characters (the fairest-of-them-all contenders and their king, plus a green and warty undead guy) for Sleepy, Sneezy, and company, and the picture, a bleak one, becomes clearer. Call it Snow White noir, but don't call it dull. The actors, including Miranda Richardson and Tom Irwin, suck you into their saga of lust and ...
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Kate Bush: The Line, the Cross & The Curve
: :Don't expect to plunk your 4-year-old in front of Hallmark's Snow White and have her come away whistling 'Heigh Ho'--it's not that kind of movie. Substitute a kingdom of woeful and broody characters (the fairest-of-them-all contenders and their king, plus a green and warty undead guy) for Sleepy, Sneezy, and company, and the picture, a bleak one, becomes clearer. Call it Snow White noir, but don't call it dull. The actors, including Miranda Richardson and Tom Irwin, suck you into their saga of lust and ...
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Fatherland
: :This retro-futuristic adventure depicts a 1964 in which Hitler won the war and Joe Kennedy Sr. is U.S. president. Europe is known as Germania and opens its borders to American journalists, hoping to line up the U.S. as an ally against Russia. Set design and costumes very effectively create a potent and prosperous state, culled both from imagination and the history books. More downbeat and perhaps more effective than Robert Harris's chilling novel, Fatherland is brought to life by Rutger Hauer as an SS officer ...
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Fatherland
: :This retro-futuristic adventure depicts a 1964 in which Hitler won the war and Joe Kennedy Sr. is U.S. president. Europe is known as Germania and opens its borders to American journalists, hoping to line up the U.S. as an ally against Russia. Set design and costumes very effectively create a potent and prosperous state, culled both from imagination and the history books. More downbeat and perhaps more effective than Robert Harris's chilling novel, Fatherland is brought to life by Rutger Hauer as an SS officer ...
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