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Movies

Sunday

Casting Call: Hollywood Needs More Women

The Heat, a female buddy-cop movie starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, made $40 million in its opening weekend, but is one of the few movies in recent history with female leads. Gemma La Mana/Twentieth Century Fox via AP hide caption

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Gemma La Mana/Twentieth Century Fox via AP

Casting Call: Hollywood Needs More Women

Women make up half of movie viewers, and yet they are underrepresented on the big screen. Many more films are made by, for and star men, according to surveys by the Annenberg School. So as Hollywood changes and evolves, can this disparity be fixed?

Casting Call: Hollywood Needs More Women

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For Hannibal & Co., A Horrifying New Stage

Exorcistic, a rock parody inspired by a certain 1971 novel and the William Friedkin film made from it, showcases Merlin as a rapping priest inspired by Max von Sydow's Father Merrin. Above, the show poster for the musical's Los Angeles fringe production. David Haverty/Hollywood Fringe hide caption

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David Haverty/Hollywood Fringe

Theater

For Hannibal & Co., A Horrifying New Stage

One Los Angeles performer has played Dr. Hill in Re-Animator, Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, and now Father Merrin in The Exorcist. Did we mention he sings opera, too?

For Hannibal & Co., A Horrifying New Stage

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Saturday

Rescued, Hitchcock's Silent Films Flicker Anew

Carl Brisson stars as sideshow boxer "One Round Jack" in Alfred Hitchcock's 1927 film The Ring. That and eight more of the master's early silent features have restored by the British Film Institute. Rialto Pictures/BFI hide caption

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Rialto Pictures/BFI

Opinion

Rescued, Hitchcock's Silent Films Flicker Anew

Alfred Hitchcock is best known for suspense films like Psycho and Vertigo, but the British director actually began his filmmaking career during the silent era. The Hitchcock 9 is a collection of his silent films, and the only way to see them is the old way — going to the theater.

Rescued, Hitchcock's Silent Films Flicker Anew

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The Movie Paul Feig Has 'Seen A Million Times'

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale. Anonymous/AP hide caption

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Anonymous/AP

Movies I've Seen A Million Times

The Movie Paul Feig Has 'Seen A Million Times'

Writer-director Paul Feig could watch the James Bond film Casino Royale a million times. "Daniel Craig really embodies Ian Fleming's James Bond," he says.

The Movie Paul Feig Has 'Seen A Million Times'

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Friday

Bullock And McCarthy, Packing 'Heat' (And Laughs) In Boston

'Heat' Stroke: The genius of this buddy-cop comedy is in its pairing of Sandra Bullock (left, as a by-the-book process nerd of an FBI suit) with Melissa McCarthy, who plays a sloppy Boston detective with no patience for procedure. Gemma La Mana/Fox hide caption

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Gemma La Mana/Fox

Review

Culture

Bullock And McCarthy, Packing 'Heat' (And Laughs) In Boston

Director Paul Feig and writer Katie Dippold have found a perfect pair of leads for their cop comedy. Critic Bob Mondello says Oscar winner Sandra Bullock and Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy turn out to have enviable comic chemistry.

Bullock And McCarthy, Packing 'Heat' (And Laughs) In Boston

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Review

Movie Reviews

'White House Down' Is Packed With Continuous Action

The new movie White House Down is about terrorists trying to take down the White House. The idea is so completely ridiculous, says critic Kenneth Turan, that it's actually entertaining.

'White House Down' Is Packed With Continuous Action

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Thursday

'The Heat': Broads In Blue, Kicking Buddy-Cop Behind

Sandra Bullock (left) plays an FBI special agent whose usual composure gets ruffled when she's paired with a Boston cop (Melissa McCarthy) with little patience for procedure. Gemma La Mana/Fox hide caption

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Gemma La Mana/Fox

Review

Movie Reviews

'The Heat': Broads In Blue, Kicking Buddy-Cop Behind

The Heat is more than just a buddy-cop movie; it sneaks in an emotional core in between its butt-whoopings. Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, two wildly different funny ladies, prove to be a match made in action-comedy heaven. (Recommended)

Into Womanhood, With A Girlfriend Hand In Hand

As the title character (Melvil Poupaud) begins a new life as a woman, Laurence Anyways tracks the ups and downs of a relationship that will face more than one test. Breaking Glass Pictures hide caption

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Breaking Glass Pictures

Review

Movie Reviews

Into Womanhood, With A Girlfriend Hand In Hand

Director Xavier Dolan marries thematic urgency and stylistic idiosyncrasy in a sophisticated, emotionally honest story about a man becoming a woman — and the girlfriend who does her best to make the journey too. (Recommended)

In Vienna, A Gallery Of Hours That Add Up To Art

Bobby Sommer is Johann, an "invisible" Vienna museum guard who becomes profoundly connected to a frequent visitor after she starts to take notice of him. Cinema Guild hide caption

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Cinema Guild

Review

Movie Reviews

In Vienna, A Gallery Of Hours That Add Up To Art

Filmmaker Jem Cohen goes looking for art in the everyday in Museum Hours, which takes a Vienna art museum and its Breughels as its primary backdrop. Critic Mark Jenkins says the film is leisurely in its pacing — but gently witty and warmly humane.

Blood Will Tell: In 'Byzantium,' A Gothic Vampire Diary

Clara (Gemma Arterton) is the elder — but not necessarily the most responsible — of a mother-daughter pair of "sucreants," or blood-drinking immortals some call vampires, in Neil Jordan's Byzantium. Christopher Raphael/IFC Films hide caption

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Christopher Raphael/IFC Films

Review

Movie Reviews

Blood Will Tell: In 'Byzantium,' A Gothic Vampire Diary

Neil Jordan's latest stab at a vampire story revels in the gothic-horror aesthetic that gave us the genre in the first place — though a Victorian chill dominates more of the proceedings than might be ideal.

Almodovar, Extending An Invite To The Mile High Club

When their aircraft develops mechanical trouble, three flight attendants — Fajas (Carlos Areces), Ulloa (Raul Arevalo) and Joserra (Javier Camara) — set out to put passengers at ease ... using some unorthodox methods. Sony Classics hide caption

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Sony Classics

Review

Movie Reviews

Almodovar, Extending An Invite To The Mile High Club

Fans of Almodovar's lighter classics, like Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! may like the vibrant energy of I'm So Excited! — but critic Ella Taylor says some will miss the soul of his more complicated love letters to Hollywood's maternal melodramas.

Two Master Moviemakers, Two Singularly Fine Films

Saoirse Ronan plays Eleanor, an ancient (and uncharacteristically ethical) vampire in Neil Jordan's Byzantium. IFC Films hide caption

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IFC Films

Review

Movie Reviews

Two Master Moviemakers, Two Singularly Fine Films

Fresh Air

Pedro Almodovar's ensemble comedy I'm So Excited is set on an airplane with mechanical problems; Neil Jordan's Byzantium centers on a pair of itinerant English vampires. The two films couldn't be more different, but the two filmmakers are very much in command of their craft.

Two Master Moviemakers, Two Singularly Fine Films

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Dictators, Punk Rock And Sex: A Conversation With Pedro Almodovar

Director Pedro Almodovar. Jerod Harris/Getty hide caption

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Jerod Harris/Getty

Opinion

Alt.Latino

Dictators, Punk Rock And Sex: A Conversation With Pedro Almodovar

The Spanish filmmaker visits Alt.Latino for a conversation about art, life and music that moves him.

Dictators, Punk Rock And Sex: A Conversation With Pedro Almodovar

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