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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

Friday

Double Feature: Refugees In 'Limbo,' And Spies And Subterfuge In 'Cliff Walkers'

Liu Haocun as Zhang Lan in Cliff Walkers, a spy thriller from Chinese director Zhang Yimou. CMC Pictures hide caption

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CMC Pictures

Double Feature: Refugees In 'Limbo,' And Spies And Subterfuge In 'Cliff Walkers'

Chinese director Zhang Yimou tells an epic tale of subterfuge and spies in Cliff Walkers. And in the Scottish dramedy Limbo, a young musician is stranded in a starkly beautiful no-man's-land.

Double Feature: Refugees In 'Limbo,' And Spies And Subterfuge In 'Cliff Walkers'

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Bittersweet Film 'About Endlessness' Highlights Life's Humor And Despair

About Endlessness opens with the visual of a couple (Jan-Eje Ferling and Tatiana Delaunay) floating through gray, cloudy skies. Magnolia Pictures hide caption

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Magnolia Pictures

Bittersweet Film 'About Endlessness' Highlights Life's Humor And Despair

Fresh Air

A priest loses his faith. A woman breaks the heel of her shoe. A couple visits their child's grave. Life unfolds as a series of stylized, bone-dry comic sketches in Roy Andersson's sublime new film.

Bittersweet Film 'About Endlessness' Highlights Life's Humor And Despair

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'Without Remorse': Michael B. Jordan, But Make It Clancy

Jodie Turner-Smith and Michael B. Jordan star in Tom Clancy's Without Remorse. Nadja Klier/Amazon Studios hide caption

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Nadja Klier/Amazon Studios

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Without Remorse': Michael B. Jordan, But Make It Clancy

Michael B. Jordan has played a range of characters, from sympathetic figures like Wallace on The Wire, to an underdog in Creed and a swaggering antagonist in Black Panther. But Without Remorse marks a new era for Jordan as an action star. Based on Tom Clancy's best-selling 1993 novel of the same name, Without Remorse serves as the origin story for John Clark, an ex-Navy SEAL turned CIA operative.

'Without Remorse': Michael B. Jordan, But Make It Clancy

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Thursday

Collection Showcases 20 Years Of Louis Armstrong's Studio Work

Fresh Air

A CD set from Mosaic, full of singles and albums made between '46 and '66, confirms the variety of Armstrong's studio sides — and shows how much work went into making them sound casual.

Collection Showcases 20 Years Of Louis Armstrong's Studio Work

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Bad Review Ruins 'Citizen Kane' Perfect Status On Rotten Tomatoes

Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece had a perfect score until the discovery of an 80-year-old review that panned it. It now has a lower rating on Rotten Tomatoes than several films including Paddington 2.

Bad Review Ruins 'Citizen Kane' Perfect Status On Rotten Tomatoes

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Wednesday

'Stowaway': Morals Are Tested in Outer Space

Shamier Anderson, Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim and Toni Collette stars in Netflix's Stowaway. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Stowaway': Morals Are Tested in Outer Space

Netflix's Stowaway stars Toni Collette, Daniel Dae Kim and Anna Kendrick as a three-person crew on a mission to Mars. When they discover a fourth person aboard, played by Shamier Anderson, his unexpected presence places them all in jeopardy. Absent of sinister aliens, there's plenty of calculus (both mathematical and moral) as the crew tries to puzzle their way out of their rapidly worsening situation.

'Stowaway': Morals Are Tested in Outer Space

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Tuesday

'Mortal Kombat': A Less-Than-Flawless Victory

In Mortal Kombat, Lewis Tan plays struggling MMA fighter Cole Young. Mark Rogers/Warner Bros. Entertainment hide caption

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Mark Rogers/Warner Bros. Entertainment

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'Mortal Kombat': A Less-Than-Flawless Victory

The Mortal Kombat franchise began in 1992 with an arcade fighting game featuring grisly pixelated deaths. It spawned many sequels and spinoffs, comics, television shows and films. The latest entry, a film called Mortal Kombat, introduces Cole Young, played by Lewis Tan, who is tapped to save the Earthrealm with classic character like Liu Kang, Sonya Blade and Jax.

'Mortal Kombat': A Less-Than-Flawless Victory

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Friday

A Gay White Teen Struggles To Exist In Apartheid South Africa In 'Moffie'

Fresh Air

The brutal and mesmerizing new film takes place in South Africa in 1981, where 16-year-old Nicholas is coming to grips with his homosexuality in an environment that couldn't be more hostile to it.

A Gay White Teen Struggles To Exist In Apartheid South Africa In 'Moffie'

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2021 Oscars Preview: Who Will Win And Who Should Win

Oscar statuettes on display backstage at the 90th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on March 4, 2018. Matt Sayles/A.M.P.A.S./Getty Images hide caption

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Matt Sayles/A.M.P.A.S./Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

2021 Oscars Preview: Who Will Win And Who Should Win

There are always two big questions as we approach the Oscars: Who will win, and who should win. We're diving into both, so you can win your Oscar pool and see some fine movies at the same time.

2021 Oscars Preview: Who Will Win And Who Should Win

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Wednesday

2021 Oscars Guide: Animated Features

Mebh Óg MacTíre and Robyn Goodfellowe (voiced by Eva Whittaker and Honor Kneafsey) embark on a journey in the Oscar-nominated Wolfwalkers. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

Pop Culture Happy Hour

2021 Oscars Guide: Animated Features

Wolves, aliens and the afterlife all show up in this year's Oscar-nominated animated features. From stop-motion to hand-drawn art, these five films exhibit and celebrate different styles of animation and storytelling. Disney and Pixar appear, but the category also showcases films a little farther off the beaten path, proving that animated features are a lot more than cute cartoons.

2021 Oscars Guide: Animated Features

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Tuesday

2021 Oscars Guide: Documentary Features

Garrett Bradley's documentary Time follows Fox Rich as she raises her six sons and fights for her husband's release from prison. Amazon Studios hide caption

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Amazon Studios

Pop Culture Happy Hour

2021 Oscars Guide: Documentary Features

Corruption, loneliness, family, activism, and the adventures that take place in the ocean. The Oscar-nominated documentary features are about all these things, but not just these things. These films are shot in black and white and vivid underwater colors. Some trace long histories and some closely examine particular inflection points in time. And you can stream all the films on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon.

2021 Oscars Guide: Documentary Features

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Monday

2021 Oscars Guide: International Features

In Another Round, Martin (Mads Mikkelsen) is a bored and boring teacher who decides that life would be better with more alcohol. Henrik Ohsten/Courtesy of TIFF hide caption

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Henrik Ohsten/Courtesy of TIFF

Pop Culture Happy Hour

2021 Oscars Guide: International Features

This year's Oscar nominees for best international feature film tackle a variety of issues, from school bullying to mass slaughter, from government corruption to alcohol abuse — one nominee even grapples with the nature and purpose of art itself. But even though these films reveal some darker truths about the human condition, they each manage to do so with a vivid sense of style and a deep sense of empathy that's as enlivening as it is enlightening.

2021 Oscars Guide: International Features

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Friday

'Legally Blonde' 20 Years Later

Reese Witherspoon stars as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Tracy Bennett/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. hide caption

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Tracy Bennett/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Legally Blonde' 20 Years Later

Twenty years ago, Legally Blonde opened in theaters, and now it's available on Netflix. Reese Witherspoon plays a first-year law student named Elle Woods. She heads to Harvard Law School to win back Warner, who broke up with her for not being serious enough. But she learned that she was cut out for the courtroom, and she changed what it means to be a "serious" woman.

'Legally Blonde' 20 Years Later

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Monday

Viola Davis' Essential Performances

Viola Davis wins best supporting actress at the 89th Annual Academy Awards in 2017. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images hide caption

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

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Viola Davis' Essential Performances

Viola Davis' name is rarely far from awards season chatter, and this year is no different — the highly decorated performer received her fourth Oscar nomination for her role in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and could become the first Black woman to nab two acting Oscars. As awards season kicks off, Pop Culture Happy Hour revisits great performers and a few of their essential performances. Today, we're spotlighting Viola Davis, from her first Oscar-nominated role in Doubt to her standing as a powerful force of nature in Hollywood.

Viola Davis' Essential Performances

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