Starring: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond

Brief Encounter

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In Brief: Classic British wartime romance from Noël Coward and David Lean, detailing a chance encounter between a slightly bored married woman and a doctor who is more exciting than her husband -- and with who she seems to have more in common. It may not have the punch it once did, but it remains…
Starring: Mihály Vig, Putyi Horváth, László feLugossy, Éva Almássy Albert, János Derzsi

Sátántangó

In Brief: Extremely long (seven-plus hours), often highly-praised film from Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr about the lives in a rundown village, and the promise of something better from a man whose primary interest seems to be the money they've received from the government. Very much a matter of taste -- and the ability to sit…
Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, DeRay Davis, Ice Cube

21 Jump Street

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The Story: Undercover cops pose improbably as high school students to break up a drug ring. The Lowdown: Pretty funny and surprisingly agreeable spoof of the old TV show, but also raucous and raunchy.
Starring: (Voices) Lemara Meneses, Eman Xor Oña, Mario Guerra, Lenny Mandel

Chico & Rita

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The Story: Time-spanning love story of two Cuban jazz performers from 1948 onward. The Lowdown: Colorful, jazz-filled and very adult animated film that captures the 1940s and '50s jazz scene, and deserved its Oscar nomination.
Starring: Warner Oland, Keye Luke, Helen Wood, Thomas Beck

Charlie Chan at the Race Track

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In Brief: The title kind of says it all -- the famous Chinese detective Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) solves a murder at the race track. (OK, the murder actually took place on ship.) Fast-paced, clever mystery with solid production values and the inimtable pairing of Oland and Keye Luke.
Starring: Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark, David Carradine, Richard Roundtree, James Dixon

Q (The Winged Serpent)

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In Brief: A giant, winged Aztec serpent god (living in the top of the Chrysler Building) terrorizes New York -- and the only hope seems to be a bottom-rung hood who knows where the monster is lurking. Cheeky horror fun -- with the usual dose of social commentary -- from exploitation filmmaker Larry Cohen.

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler March 21-27: Chico & Rita’s Crazy Horse Thin Ice Hunger Games

If it was measured in sheer quantity, the indie and art titles would win this coming weekend hands down—at least locally. There are three of them—and something else harder to quantify—up against one mainstream film. By rights, it ought to be a blood bath. And it will be, but with that solo juggernaut that is The Hunger Games the easy victor.

Starring: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, John C. Reilly, Twink Caplan, Robert Loggia

Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie

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The Story: Two talentless bozos make a movie about two talentless bozos making a movie, losing a fortune and trying to recoup that money by reviving a rundown mall before the gangsterish producers of their movie catch up with them. The Lowdown: Quite possibly the worst movie ever made, which, I suspect, will be taken…
Starring: Kenneth Nelson, Frederick Combs, Cliff Gorman, Leonard Frey

The Boys in the Band

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In Brief: William Friedkin's landmark film version of Mart Crowley's landmark play that addressed homosexuality and the gay world in ways that had previously been considered strictly taboo. It all unfolds at a birthday party with an all-gay guest list that gets invaded by an unexpected -- presumably straight -- outsider. Yes, it's very much…
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Julia Taylor Ross

Silent House

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The Story: A young girl spends 80-odd minutes being terrorized in a dark and spooky house. The Lowdown: Incredibly dull and exceedingly murky gimmick horror picture that supposedly unfolds in real time and in one long take (neither is true). The logistics of choreographing the shots are sort of impressive.
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe, Thomas Haden Church, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds

John Carter

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The Story: A Civil War veteran is transported to Mars where he becomes embroiled in the warring factions of the planet. The Lowdown: Surprisingly good and thoughtful sci-fi action based on Edgar Rice Buroughs' century-old novel. Definitely worth a look.
Starring: Peter Sellers, Claudine Longet, Natalia Borisova, Jean Carson, Marge Champion

The Party

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In Brief: A bumbling Indian actor (Peter Sellers) -- who has just ruined a big-budget movie -- is mistakenly invited to a high-power Hollywood party, which he predictably turns into a shambles. Largely improvised from an outline, The Party is strictly a matter of taste for very broad slapstick antics.
Starring: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Katina Paxinou, Max Cartier

Rocco and His Brothers

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In Brief: Luchino Visconti's 1960 film about a poor family coming to Milan to escape the dead-end poverty they found in the south is certainly entertaining. It's also overlong, messy, and an unwieldy mix of neo-realism and the new direction that Visconti was heading towards. It hasn't held up as well as has been generally…
Starring: Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, Katherine Heigl, Nick Stabile, John Ritter, Alexis Arquette

Bride of Chucky

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In Brief: The killer doll is brought back to life once again -- this time by his murderous old girlfriend with an eye toward matrimony, something her diminutive swain is less keen on. Before you know it, we end up with two homicidal dolls, a bizarre road trip and an ever-escalating body count. A twisted,…

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler March 14-20: Lean Times

Is there some little something you’ve been putting off doing that didn’t involve going to the movies? Some project? It could be anything from organizing your DVDs to starting to slog your way through War and Peace. You know that stack of DVDs you’ve been meaning to get at? Well, this may be the weekend to undertake any of those things. To say that the pickings are lean is probably an understatement. What we have are a whopping two titles—one of which is probably not worthy of the word “title,” let alone “movie.” The other … well, that remains to be seen.

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler March 7-13: A Thousand Silent House John Carters with Kids

The fact that the American public forked over $70 million this past weekend to see Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and another $21 million to watch Project X is fairly compelling evidence that the reason Hollywood continues to traffic in the mediocre is that the public actually likes it. At the very least, the public keeps on encouraging them to deliver the not-so-good goods. Just bear that in mind when you complain about how bad movies are. And we get four new ones to choose from this week—three of the mainstream variety, and one that’s at least sort of art house.

Starring: (Voices of) Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White, Rob Riggle

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

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The Story: A young boy ventures into the barren wilderness to find out what happened to the trees. The Lowdown: A reasonably harmless, annoyingly cheerful version of the Dr. Seuss story that is, by necessity, padded to reach feature length -- which it feels a good bit of the time.
Starring: Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, John Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Megan Fox, Edward Burns

Friends with Kids

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The Story: Best friends Julie and Jason decide to go ahead and have a baby while they're both individually looking for his or her "perfect" romantic partner. The Lowdown: A pretty refreshing romantic comedy that thrives on good writing and characterizations, even while heading to the ending you knew it would have when you bought…
Starring: Margaret Sullavan, Herbert Marshall, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Eric Blore

The Good Fairy

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In Brief: A scintillating, but not frequently screened, classic comedy with a charming performance from Margaret Sullavan. Sullavan goes from resident in an orphan asylum to usherette in a Budapest movie theater to the "good fairy" of the title in bringing success to poor lawyer Herbert Marshall. Smart script from Preston Sturges smoothly directed by…
Starring: Alan Arkin, Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Duvall, Nicol Williamson, Laurence Olivier

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution

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In Brief: Though both a popular book and movie, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution -- a concept that brings Sherlock Holmes (Nicole Williasmson) together with Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin) for a mystery that's worthy of both -- has not held up well. Solidly made with an impressive cast, but tepid.