Brick Laneby George Sax |
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The short street of the title is at the center of a community of Bangladeshi emigres, part of the England-bound South Asian diaspora from what was once the jewel in the British Empire’s crown. Brick Lane is really a somewhat isolated refuge from the London megalopolis and its diverse peoples. Except for the increasingly belligerent young nativist toughs who glower at and sometimes threaten the “Pakis” they fear and hate. |
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Tropic Thunderby M. Faust |
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It’s not that I’ve never found Ben Stiller funny. I laughed at his psychotic fitness instructor in the camp comedy Heavy Weights. But that was in 1995, and I have to say that Stiller hasn’t done much for me since. |
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Vicky Christina Barcelonaby M. Faust |
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Woody Allen admits that he made this new film in Spain simply because Spanish financiers offer to fund him. I can only guess that among those ponying up the Euros was the Spanish tourism board, because if nothing else Vicky Christina Barcelona makes you want to call up a travel agent to ask how much it would cost to rent a house in Barcelona for next summer.
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American Teenby George Sax |
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I suppose it was quite expectable that a fair sprinkling of teens were in the sparse audience for this week’s preview of Western New York native Nanette Burstein’s shrewdly assembled documentary, American Teen. They were there, presumably, to see themselves represented, and from their voluble reactions during the movie, and the snippets of comment I heard afterward, it seems probable were pretty satisfied with what they were shown. Anyway, it’s probably modestly wholesome that they were interested in any documentary movie, and this one is virtually, or intentionally, calculated to engage youngsters, and probably their elders, too. |
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Henry Poole Is Hereby M. Faust |
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Knowing nothing about this movie when I went to the screening other than that it starred Luke Wilson, I presumed it was going to be some sort of a comedy, that being the kind of film in which one is most likely to find Owen’s younger brother. What I saw instead was a drama about the role of faith in living one’s life.
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