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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.

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A Kinder 'Cruella'? Film Reimagines The Dalmatian Villain With Spotty Success

Is Cruella de Vil (Emma Stone) meant to come off as misguided, unhinged or genuinely unscrupulous? A new film tries to suggest a complicated mix of all three and winds up feeling mostly confused. Disney hide caption

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Disney

A Kinder 'Cruella'? Film Reimagines The Dalmatian Villain With Spotty Success

Fresh Air

Emma Stone gives her all in a tricky role as the puppycidal fashionista of Disney's Dalmatians franchise. Cruella isn't a bad movie, but it fails to make its protagonist bad enough.

A Kinder 'Cruella'? Film Reimagines The Dalmatian Villain With Spotty Success

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In 'Cruella', The De Vil's In The Details

Emma Stone in Disney's Cruella. Laurie Sparham/Disney hide caption

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Laurie Sparham/Disney

Pop Culture Happy Hour

In 'Cruella', The De Vil's In The Details

One of the biggest, baddest and certainly most stylish of Disney villains is getting an origin story. In the new film Cruella, Emma Stone plays young Estella, an orphan on the streets of London in the 1970s. She's a thief with an eye for fashion, whose life fatefully intertwines with imperious fashion designer the Baroness, played with icy hauteur by Emma Thompson.

In 'Cruella', The De Vil's In The Details

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Gripping Marital Drama 'Killing Of Two Lovers' Is Brooding But Never Dull

David (Clayne Crawford) is hoping to keep his family together in The Killing of Two Lovers. Neon hide caption

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Neon

Gripping Marital Drama 'Killing Of Two Lovers' Is Brooding But Never Dull

Fresh Air

Every era has its own great end-of-a-marriage movie. This psychologically raw film, about a small-town Utah couple who agree to a trial separation, is ours.

Gripping Marital Drama 'Killing Of Two Lovers' Is Brooding But Never Dull

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'Army of the Dead': What Happens In Vegas Decays In Vegas

Dave Bautista stars in Zack Snyder's Netflix zombie flick, Army Of The Dead. Clay Enos/Netflix hide caption

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Clay Enos/Netflix

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Army of the Dead': What Happens In Vegas Decays In Vegas

Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead is a zombie heist film that follows a team of mercenaries led by Dave Bautista. This rag-tag bunch faces wave after wave of zombies in an abandoned, cordoned-off Las Vegas as they attempt to steal millions of dollars from a casino swarming with the undead.

'Army of the Dead': What Happens In Vegas Decays In Vegas

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A Paranoid Amy Adams Is 'The Woman In The Window'

Amy Adams stars as Anna Fox in The Woman In The Window. Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix hide caption

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Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix

Pop Culture Happy Hour

A Paranoid Amy Adams Is 'The Woman In The Window'

In Netflix's adaptation of The Woman In The Window, Amy Adams plays a psychologist named Anna, who is agoraphobic and entirely confined to her house. A family moves in across the street and she meets a couple of them, but then she sees something potentially dreadful. The police are skeptical, and even Anna isn't confident of her grasp on reality. Originally scheduled to be released in 2019, the long-awaited, claustrophobic film has remnants of past female-led thrillers such as Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train.

A Paranoid Amy Adams Is 'The Woman In The Window'

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Amy Adams Is The Best Thing In An Otherwise Mechanical 'Woman In The Window'

Fresh Air

A woman with agoraphobia becomes embroiled in her neighbor's drama in a new thriller based on Dan Mallory's novel. Adams is very good — but the movie doesn't prove entirely worthy of her.

Amy Adams Is The Best Thing In An Otherwise Mechanical 'Woman In The Window'

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Only You Can Prevent Very Dramatic Fires: 'Those Who Wish Me Dead'

Angelina Jolie stars as Hannah in Those Who Wish Me Dead. Courtesy of Warner Bros. hide caption

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Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Only You Can Prevent Very Dramatic Fires: 'Those Who Wish Me Dead'

The new movie Those Who Wish Me Dead is a lot of things at once. It's the story of a smokejumper, played by Angelina Jolie, who battles terrifying forest fires. It's the story of a young kid chased by killers. And it's the story of a pregnant woman forced to defend herself. The film is directed by Taylor Sheridan, who wrote 2016's Hell Or High Water, and is now streaming on HBO Max.

Only You Can Prevent Very Dramatic Fires: 'Those Who Wish Me Dead'

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'Here Today' And 'The Water Man' Are Here Just In Time For Mother's Day

Two films loaded with family sentiment are just in time for Mother's Day. Billy Crystal's Here Today co-stars Tiffany Haddish. Daniel Oyelowo's directing debut The Water Man co-stars Rosario Dawson.

'Here Today' And 'The Water Man' Are Here Just In Time For Mother's Day

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A Family Road Trip Gets Glitchy In 'The Mitchells Vs. The Machines'

The Mitchells - Katie, Rick, Linda and Aaron - hide from the robot apocalypse behind a dumpster in Netflix's The Mitchells Vs. The Machines. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

Pop Culture Happy Hour

A Family Road Trip Gets Glitchy In 'The Mitchells Vs. The Machines'

In the new animated film The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, a family road trip turns into a wild adventure and a battle against an actual robot uprising. And while some of the themes are familiar, the inventive execution and the high energy make it one of the summer's first real crowd-pleasers.

A Family Road Trip Gets Glitchy In 'The Mitchells Vs. The Machines'

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'The Disciple' Is Triumphant, Even As It Tells A Story Of Failure

Aditya Modak plays an aspiring Hindustani classical musician in The Disciple. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

'The Disciple' Is Triumphant, Even As It Tells A Story Of Failure

Fresh Air

A young man from Mumbai aspires to be a great classical singer — but he's an erratic performer at best. The Disciple is a richly layered story of artistic struggle.

'The Disciple' Is Triumphant, Even As It Tells A Story Of Failure

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Your Guide To The 2021 TCM Film Festival, At-Home Edition

Rita Moreno in the 1961 film adaptation of West Side Story. Turner Acquired/MGM hide caption

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Turner Acquired/MGM

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Your Guide To The 2021 TCM Film Festival, At-Home Edition

The 2021 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival is taking place in your local living room. Beginning this Thursday, a special lineup of curated programming will be airing on TCM and streaming on HBO Max. Today, we highlight some of the films and extras you should be sure to check out.

Your Guide To The 2021 TCM Film Festival, At-Home Edition

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