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For anyone who was alive and watching American television between 1950 and 1980, it’s a sure bet that at least one episode of I Love Lucy was consumed. The most popular TV show during four of its six seasons, the first Desilu production went on ...

Being There, Hal Ashby’s 1979 adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’s novel, is a delightfully dark comedy that, despite a cynical bent, offers viewers a good time. At the heart of Being There’s popularity is a recognition that even the most simp...

Beirut is, without a doubt, an imperfect thriller. The narrative is at times too dense, some aspects of the ending are too pat, and there are some internal inconsistencies the movie never explains. But, damn, is it good to watch a movie that e...

When one speaks of cultural relevance, some movies capture it in the moment (oftentimes dating the production in the process). Others grasp it as if looking in a rearview mirror. But there’s a small group, either through clairvoyance or happenst...

Beloved, Jonathan Demme's much-anticipated adaptation of Toni Morrison's novel, is a powerful and disturbing motion picture that is likely to leave many movie-goers unsettled as they file out of the theater. Although the movie probably runs a litt...

One of the criteria I often use to determine whether a documentary biography is “good” (as opposed to “mediocre”) is whether it provides something beyond what I could find by perusing the Wikipedia article about the subject. In the cas...

Ben is Back is one-half of an awards-worthy exploration of the impacts of addiction on the victim and his family and one-half of a muddled quasi-thriller that undercuts the power of the rest of the movie. This review will contain some limited ...

Ben-Hur, arguably the most famous Bible-informed epic not to be made by Cecil B. DeMille, is a testimonial to how poorly many spectacles stand the test of time. In its day, Ben-Hur was seen as the ultimate in motion picture entertainment – a...

If one thing is certain, it’s that director Timur Bekmambetov’s remake of Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur isn’t going to make anyone forget the 1959 Charlton Heston classic. An amateurish effort that boasts direct-to-video characteristi...

A wedding. Cross-cultural clashes. A young woman getting a makeover and finding herself. But there's no Windex and this isn't My Big Fat Greek Wedding. In fact, it's not My Big Fat Indian Wedding, either. However, it is a feel-good comedy that...