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When it comes to favorite Christmas tales on the screen, there are probably two. There's no confusion about the first, because there is only one It's a Wonderful Life. In fact, Frank Capra's classic is so expertly wrought that no one has even att...

With all apologies to It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is probably the best-loved, most often retold Christmas story of them all. There's something in its message of spiritual rebirth an...

At the tender age of seven, Josh Waitzkin (Max Pomeranc) becomes fascinated by the game of chess. Without giving up little league baseball, he learns how to play, hanging out with Vinnie (Laurence Fishburne) and a group of speed chess hustlers...

To the extent that there’s a difference between “big screen cartoons” and “animated features,” The Secret Life of Pets 2 comes closer to the former than the latter on the spectrum of non-live-action motion picture entertainment. The ...

In content, setting, and cast choice, The Secret of Roan Inish is a departure for writer/director John Sayles. The creative force behind such memorable and diverse films as Matewan, City of Hope, Eight Men Out, and Passion Fish, has taken pen and ...

By wedding comedy with tragedy in intricate, realistic unions, Mike Leigh has become one of the foremost film making voices for the British working class. Yet, even though his movies bring a certain social viewpoint to the screen, this in no way l...

Going into Selena, I didn't know or care much about the life of the late Tex-Mex singer, whose death in 1995 came just as she was attempting to break into the mainstream American pop market. As far as I was aware, Selena's tragic end was just anot...

It's a curious thing that the best 1995 adaptation of a Jane Austen book happens to be of her worst novel. Sense and Sensibility was the author's first published work and, as is often the case with early writing efforts, displays an undeniable shal...

For a while, it seems like Serenity is going to a be a fairly routine neo-noir thriller. That’s not necessarily a bad prospect with a scraggly-looking Matthew McConaughey playing a down-on-his-luck free-spirit and a blond Anne Hathaway as the...

Masters of audacity, the Coen Brothers continue to amaze with their versatility and, unlike many who have achieved success, they have shown no inclination to slip into a comfortable groove. When one scans their joint resumes, it becomes apparent t...