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Movie Reviews Reviews of new movies, classic and art films, foreign films, and popular movies. Featuring Bob Mondello, Kenneth Turan, David Edelstein, and Mark Jenkins.

Movie Reviews

An Action-Packed Doc About Local Government? It's All In Wiseman's 'City Hall'

City Hall tags along as Boston mayor Marty Walsh attends various appointments and public appearances — including this meeting about violent crime. Courtesy of Zipporah Films hide caption

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Courtesy of Zipporah Films

An Action-Packed Doc About Local Government? It's All In Wiseman's 'City Hall'

Fresh Air

Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, now 90, has a gift for making riveting cinema from the minutiae of the everyday. His latest is a four-and-a-half hour documentary starring Boston City Hall, pre-COVID-19.

An Action-Packed Doc About Local Government? It's All In Wiseman's 'City Hall'

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'Borat 2': Giuliani Made Headlines, But Is The Film Any Good?

Borat returns in the pithily titled sequel, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Amazon Studios hide caption

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Amazon Studios

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Borat 2': Giuliani Made Headlines, But Is The Film Any Good?

In 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen's movie Borat was an unlikely blockbuster. It starred Cohen as a fictional reporter from Kazakhstan who journeys across the U.S. and interacts with Americans who don't know they're part of a comedy. Borat made hundreds of millions of dollars. It spawned catchphrases, and became a pop-culture phenomenon. Now, 14 years later, that unlikely blockbuster has an equally unlikely sequel. The new movie Borat Subsequent Moviefilm grabbed headlines last week because of a controversial scene involving President Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. But is the film itself any good?

'Borat 2': Giuliani Made Headlines, But Is The Film Any Good?

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'The Witches': Anne Hathaway Hams It Up In Campy Dahl Remake

Anne Hathaway plays the Grand High Witch in the new adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches. Daniel Smith/Warner / HBO hide caption

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Daniel Smith/Warner / HBO

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The Witches': Anne Hathaway Hams It Up In Campy Dahl Remake

The Witches, starring Octavia Spencer and Anne Hathaway, is streaming on HBO Max. It's an adaptation of the 1983 Roald Dahl book about a kid and his grandmother who get caught up in the dastardly plans of a group of child-hating witches at a seaside hotel. The book's action takes place in Britain, but director and co-writer Robert Zemekis has changed the setting to 1960s Alabama, and made the kid and his grandmother Black.

'The Witches': Anne Hathaway Hams It Up In Campy Dahl Remake

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3 Great Horror Movies For Scaredy Cats

Peter Lorre stars in the 1931 film M, which is a great horror entry point for scaredy cats. Herbert Dorfman/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption

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Herbert Dorfman/Corbis via Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

3 Great Horror Movies For Scaredy Cats

We are deep into the Halloween season, and many of us are cooped up at home with our streaming services, scrolling through movie after movie full of monsters, murderers, jump scares, and rivers of blood. But what about those of us who are scaredy cats? Maybe we're into the idea of horror movies, but aren't looking to be grossed out by gore or freaked out by jump scares? Well, this is the discussion for you.

3 Great Horror Movies For Scaredy Cats

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Film Version Offers A New Look At Jack London's 'Martin Eden'

The new film Martin Eden is an epic retelling of Jack London's 1909 novel set in Italy in the midst of a socialist revolution. It may well be a metaphor for the "Don't tread on me" America of today.

Film Version Offers A New Look At Jack London's 'Martin Eden'

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'Bad Hair': A Smart Workplace Comedy Gets Tangled Up In Metaphors

Bad Hair stars Elle Lorraine as Anna, an ambitious young woman who gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. Tobin Yellan/Hulu hide caption

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Tobin Yellan/Hulu

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Bad Hair': A Smart Workplace Comedy Gets Tangled Up In Metaphors

In the horror satire Bad Hair, a meek young woman named Anna becomes emboldened after getting her very first weave. At first, the new 'do brings her professional and personal success, but soon enough, it begins to take on a mysterious life of its own. Written and directed by Dear White People creator Justin Simien, Bad Hair is heavy on social commentary and cheeky pastiche, served with a star-studded cast that includes Vanessa Williams, Lena Waithe and more.

'Bad Hair': A Smart Workplace Comedy Gets Tangled Up In Metaphors

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Unimaginative 'Witches' Retread Lacks The Magic Of Roald Dahl's Classic

Anne Hathaway is the Grand High Witch in the film adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches. Daniel Smith/Warner Bros. hide caption

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Daniel Smith/Warner Bros.

Unimaginative 'Witches' Retread Lacks The Magic Of Roald Dahl's Classic

Fresh Air

Though Anne Hathaway throws herself into the role of the Grand High Witch with obvious relish, she often seems to be straining for effect — which leaves The Witches feeling flat.

Unimaginative 'Witches' Retread Lacks The Magic Of Roald Dahl's Classic

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Does Netflix's 'Rebecca' Live Up To Its Predecessors?

Lily James plays Mrs. de Winter, and Armie Hammer plays Maxim de Winter in the new Netflix version of Rebecca. Kerry Brown/Netflix hide caption

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Kerry Brown/Netflix

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Does Netflix's 'Rebecca' Live Up To Its Predecessors?

You may know Rebecca as a 1938 novel by Daphne du Maurier. You might know it as a 1940 adaptation directed by Alfred Hitchcock that won Best Picture. But if you've always wanted a version with Armie Hammer playing the role once occupied by Laurence Olivier, Netflix is on it. The new Rebecca stars Lily James as a woman who becomes the second wife of Maxim de Winter, played by Hammer. When she gets to his massive estate, she finds it occupied by his housekeeper, played here by Kristin Scott Thomas. It's also haunted by the memory of his first wife. Her name was Rebecca.

Does Netflix's 'Rebecca' Live Up To Its Predecessors?

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Sacha Baron Cohen's 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' Reviewed

Sacha Baron Cohen's outrageous character from Kazakhstan, Borat, is back in a film that's making political headlines. Amazon Prime is set to stream the Borat sequel starting Friday.

Sacha Baron Cohen's 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' Reviewed

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This Sumptuous Retelling Of 'Martin Eden' Stays True To Jack London's Novel

After he meets Elena (Jessica Cressy), Martin Eden (Luca Marinelli) becomes determined to rise above his lowly circumstances and prove himself worthy of her love. Francesca Errichiello/Kino Lorber hide caption

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Francesca Errichiello/Kino Lorber

This Sumptuous Retelling Of 'Martin Eden' Stays True To Jack London's Novel

Fresh Air

An uneducated sailor falls in love and finds fame as a writer — only to become disillusioned by his own success. It's an intensely political work, which London wrote as a rejection of individualism.

This Sumptuous Retelling Of 'Martin Eden' Stays True To Jack London's Novel

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HBO To Present Adaptation Of Broadway Hit 'David Byrne's American Utopia'

HBO will premiere on Saturday David Byrne's American Utopia, Spike Lee's adaptation of the hit Broadway show. It might be one of the best concert movies since Stop Making Sense more than 30 years ago.

HBO To Present Adaptation Of Broadway Hit 'David Byrne's American Utopia'

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Aaron Sorkin Goes Back To The Courtroom In 'The Trial Of The Chicago 7'

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Ben Shenkman, Mark Rylance, Eddie Redmayne and Alex Sharp in The Trial Of The Chicago 7. Nico Tavernise/Netflix hide caption

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Nico Tavernise/Netflix

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Aaron Sorkin Goes Back To The Courtroom In 'The Trial Of The Chicago 7'

Writer-director Aaron Sorkin knows his way around a courtroom drama: He wrote the screenplay for A Few Good Men nearly 30 years ago. Now, he's written and directed The Trial of the Chicago 7. The new movie dramatizes the trial of a far-flung group of anti-Vietnam War activists, including Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden and Bobby Seale, who were each charged with inciting violence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Aaron Sorkin Goes Back To The Courtroom In 'The Trial Of The Chicago 7'

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'S***house': A Sweet And Happy Collegiate Rom-Com With A Provocative Name

The film that won the top prize at this year's South by Southwest Film Festival is by all accounts a sweet and sunny college romance. NPR discusses the meaning behinds its quite explicit name.

'S***house': A Sweet And Happy Collegiate Rom-Com With A Provocative Name

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'The Trial Of The Chicago 7' Is Passionate, Political — And Uncannily Pertinent

Fresh Air

Based on a trial from 1969, Aaron Sorkin's new Netflix film draws from actual transcripts — as well as a series of flashbacks to political unrest that took place in Chicago in the summer of 1968.

'The Trial Of The Chicago 7' Is Passionate, Political — And Uncannily Pertinent

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