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Frida (2002)
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"At the center of Julie Taymor's vibrant bio-pic is the relationship (always described as "tempestuous") between the great Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina) and the talented painter Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek). After an hour or so of this Punch-and-Judy show, with its noisy drinking, hurling of kitchen items, partings, and reconciliations, you may want to knock both lovers flat with an enormous chili pepper. Yet "Frida" is much better than it has any right to be. The movie has a rambunctious spirit and a liberated sense of color-an appreciation of the raw, strong Mexican folk tradition that gave both artists their special juice. Taymor and a gaggle of screenwriters are much too shrewd to accept the sentimental feminist view that Frida was Diego Rivera's victim. Smart, willful, and perverse, this Frida is nobody's servant, and the tiny Hayek plays her with head held high." David Denby in The New Yorker
Star Wars (Original, Letterbox)
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Winner of six Academy Awards, this film is the story of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hammill) and his rebellion against the Empire controlled by Darth Vader (David Prowse:body, James Earl Jones:voice) His mentor is the Jedi warrior Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness). Skywalker is joined by Han Solo (Harrison Ford), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) who must be rescued from Darth Vader. One of the most incredible films ever made. Ebert says: "Seeing the film the first time, I was swept away, and have remained swept ever since." Han Solo is number 14 on the AFI list of Hollywood's greatest heroes and Obi-Wan Kenobi is #37.
Star Wars (Original, Letterbox)
View info
Winner of six Academy Awards, this film is the story of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hammill) and his rebellion against the Empire controlled by Darth Vader (David Prowse:body, James Earl Jones:voice) His mentor is the Jedi warrior Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness). Skywalker is joined by Han Solo (Harrison Ford), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) who must be rescued from Darth Vader. One of the most incredible films ever made. Ebert says: "Seeing the film the first time, I was swept away, and have remained swept ever since." Han Solo is number 14 on the AFI list of Hollywood's greatest heroes and Obi-Wan Kenobi is #37.
Kagemusha (Kurosawa)
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In 1572, there is a civil war in Japan, and three powerful clans, leaded by the lords Shingen Takeda (Tatsuya Nakadai), Nobunaga Oda (Daisuke Ryu) and Ieyasu Tokugawa (Masayuki Yui), dispute the conquest of Kyoto. When Shingen is mortally wounded, the Takeda clan hides the incident and uses a poor thief to be the double of the strategist Shingen and keep the respect of their enemies. Along the years, Kagemusha incorporates the spirit of the warrior of the dead warlord.
Deep Water (2007)
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This terrific documentary recounts a battle against the odds much like Touching the Void, but it ends very differently. In 1968, eight of the world's best yachtsmen set out to win the prize for the first solo, non-stop, round-the-globe circumnavigation. The ninth is an inexperienced Englishman and weekend yachtsman called Donald Crowhurst, who quickly finds himself in trouble. What follows is an incredible story of a man trapped between the deep blue sea and a series of self-made blunders.
Directors Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell quickly sketch Crowhurst's dilemma. Mortgaging his house and staking everything on this race, he's hailed as "the dark horse of the sea" by the newspapers. The public love an underdog, but Crowhurst's voyage begins ominously when the champagne bottle cracked against the hull doesn't break first (or second, or third) time. At sea, his self-designed boat falls apart, he's battered by bad weather and he succumbs to despair. Finally he decides to fake his journey, hiding out off the coast of South America for several months. Faced with the empty vastness of the ocean, madness sets in.
"A DEEPLY MOVING DOCUMENTARY"
Deep Water recreates Crowhurst's ill-fated trip using news footage, his journals, tape recordings and - a great coup - the 16mm footage that he shot on deck. The result is a deeply moving documentary, buoyed up by teary interviews with Crowhurst's family, friends and rivals. Stories celebrating heroic journeys are commonplace, but this is a sobering, anti-heroic tale of an ordinary man who set out to attempt the extraordinary... and failed through a cruel combination of bad luck and bad judgement.
New titles that deserve attention
Leonard Bernsteins Young People's Concert with the New York Philharmonic Between 1958 and 1971. There were 25 concerts broadcast on network television. All of Bernsteins intelligence and enthusiasm comes thru when watching the hour long programs. Bernstein uses the orchestra as a tool to illustrate points that he makes in his talks that can be understood by all ages. He covers topics that range from What does music mean? What is American Music? What is Classical Music? to musical atoms: a study of interval or a tribute to Sibelius. A wonderful survey from which all can learn from.
21 Up This South African series follows a group of young people from 7 to 21. By following 11 young South African's rich, poor, black, white, mixed race this documentary gives insight into recent South African history from 1992.
 Where else can you watch a movie and eat ice cream? And it's not just any ice cream-it's Bassetts, Philadelphia's premium ice cream for one hundred fifty years.
Sample new flavors such as Gadzooks, Cookies and Cream, Mango Apricot Sorbet as well as old favorites like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.
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