Movies

‘Klute’ (1971) a grimy classic of Seventies noir

Director Alan J. Pakula delivered the three podium holders of dark Seventies noir, starting with “Klute” (1971) before adding the slightly more famous “The Parallax

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Hayes steps into Marple role for lively ‘Caribbean Mystery’ (1983)

When it comes to getting all the Miss Marple traits correct, Joan Hickson can’t be topped, but if someone prefers Helen Hayes, I can’t quibble

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Ricci is devastatingly raw and true in ‘Prozac Nation’ (2001)

Despite being an amazing film, “Prozac Nation” (2001) just couldn’t fit in with normal movies. It had a film festival premiere in 2001 but the

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Cuban Missile Crisis gives ‘Topaz’ (1969) real-world heft

Alfred Hitchcock often talked about how maguffins need not be defined; the audience just has to know it is important to the characters, and therefore

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Green beautifully tackles mental illness in ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ (2017, 2024)

John Green does a magnificent job of getting into the head of a teen girl with mental-health struggles in “Turtles All the Way Down” (2017,

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‘Evil Under the Sun’ (1982) is a sunny Poirot delight

Shot on the beautiful island of Majorca (now famous as the home of Rafael Nadal), featuring a stellar cast and faithfully adapting Agatha Christie’s clever

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‘A.I. Rising’ (2018) a surprisingly splendid sexbot story

Some sexbot films avoid discomfort with camp and a few laughs. Others confront the discomfort head-on and reveal the wrongfulness of sex toys – especially

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Return to Britain serves up ‘Frenzy’ (1972) of great plotting

“Frenzy” (1972) is Alfred Hitchcock’s best British film – even though it’s his only British film after he switched to Hollywood, and it’s from his

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‘MaXXXine’ wades into belly of beast to cap ‘X’ trilogy

If “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” (2019) was Quentin Tarantino’s love letter to Sixties Hollywood, “MaXXXine” is Ti West’s hate letter to Eighties

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Ricci’s ‘The Gathering’ (2003) is well-meaning, cliched church horror

As her career launched, like most actresses, Christina Ricci supplemented artistic, critic-lauded work with better-paying gigs, which likely explains her top billing in “The Gathering”

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