Ernst Lubitsch’s 1940 film The Shop Around the Corner is a familiar story for many reasons—one being that it is a textbook romantic comedy. The film is “textbook” not because it is a repetition of what came before, but because…

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My Life as a Zucchini, a French stop-motion animation film based on a novel by Gilles Paris, is one of the best animated films from last year. It was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and scads other…

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Woah. I’m no stranger to director Alfred Hitchcock’s work, and I have seen Spellbound a few times before this (though it’s been a while), but this movie blew my mind. Not only does it use surrealist ideas and imagery to…

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When I was watching Disney’s new Beauty and the Beast, one word kept springing to mind: spectacle. The scale of a Broadway musical meets the sheer wonder of the most lavish of Disney spectacles. The sense of magic and wonderment…

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Charles Dickens’ story A Christmas Carol is well nigh inescapable during this time of year. Even without reading the book or watching any of the dozens of film and stage adaptations, we still encounter it. The word “scrooge” is part…

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Seven Samurai, directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa, is a masterwork of filmmaking. Set in late-16th century feudal Japan, the backdrop for the story is one of upheaval and unrest. A poor farming village is under continual threat from pillaging…

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The Little Prince: a story of love, friendship, and the art of remaining a child while growing up “I took their advice, and I grew up. I forgot all about being a child…” Any attempt to bring a beloved classic…

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I was in college when a dear friend said, “You have to watch this crazy French movie. It’s weird, but you’ll like it.” When I dubiously sat down with her to watch Umbrellas of Cherbourg, little did I know that…

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In order to understand a review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, it might behoove readers and moviegoers to first understand the world in which the characters live. For that reason, I have included the following: A Young Lady’s Guide…

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9/9