Starring: Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Carolina Bang, Manuel Tallafé, Alejandro Tejerías

The Last Circus

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In Brief: A genre-defying outburst of a movie from Spain that manages to be absurd, horrific and weirdly haunting at the same time. It's almost impossible to synopsize, but it all stems from a clown being forced to fight against Franco's soldiers in 1937, so that it's ultimately an indictment of the Franco regime and…
Starring: Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, Hugh Hurd, Anthony Ray, Dennis Sallas

Shadows

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In Brief: Regardless of how you feel about John Cassavetes' first film, Shadows (1959), this not-as-improvised-as-it-would-have-you-believe work, which loosely examines racism and beatnick culture, is important for its influence and as a fascinating document of its time.
Starring: Boguslaw Linda, Tadeusz Lomnicki, Boguslawa Pawelec, Marzena Trybala

Blind Chance

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Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Blind Chance at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 2, at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com
Starring: Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Richard Arlen, El Brendel, Gary Cooper, Roscoe Karns

Wings

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The Hendersonville Film Society will show Wings at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 4, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community (behind Epic Cinemas), 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.
Starring: John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo, Annie Golden, Dorsey Wright, Don Dacus, Cheryl Barnes

Hair

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The Asheville Film Society will screen Hair on Tuesday, March 6, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther. Hanke is the artistic director of the A.F.S.
Starring: Otto Kruger, Marguerite Churchill, Gloria Holden, Edward Van Sloan, Irving Pichel, Gilbert Emery

Dracula’s Daughter

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The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen Dracula's Daughter on Thursday, March 1, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.
Starring: Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Charles Parnell, Sahra Mellesse, Kim Wayans

Pariah

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The Story: A lesbian teenager is looking for a way to be herself with her parents and the world in general -- and for a way to find romantic love. The Lowdown: A different kind of coming-of-age and coming-out story told from a fresh perspective by a new filmmaker. Catch it.
Starring: Peyman Maadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini, Sarina Farhadi

A Separation

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The Story: When an Iranian couple separates, it sets in motion a series of events that will have far-reaching implications. The Lowdown: This year's biggest deal in foreign-language films -- and the Oscar winner -- is a solid, fascinating, sometimes quite disturbing look at characters and a society fractured by money, religion and socialization.
Starring: Tyler Perry, Thandie Newton, Gabrielle Union, Eddie Cibrian, Brian White, Jordenn Thompson

Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds

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The Story: Wealthy businessman Wesley Deeds finds his too-well-ordered life turned upside down when he meets a homeless single mother. The Lowdown: Both different and yet more of the same from Tyler Perry, but less preachy and better made than most of his films.
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Sunjata, Jennifer Carpenter, Sebastian Stan, Wes Bentley, Emily Wickersham

Gone

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The Story: A young woman -- convinced that her sister has been kidnapped by the same serial killer whose clutches she herself escaped two years ago -- takes the law into her own hands. The Lowdown: An absolutely appalling, low-wattage waste of time trying to palm itself off as a thriller.

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler Feb. 29-March 6: A Separation Lorax Pariah

It’s kind of a light week from where I sit (and I’m not sorry), since we get four movies this week and I’ve seen two of them already. We’ve got two mainstream releases and two art titles overall, though, so it may not be so light from your perspective. And with a couple of last week’s titles being given the bum’s rush, you might want to consider some mid-week trips to the movies, too.

Cranky Hanke’s Screening Room: Looking Askance at the 2012 Oscars

Sitting here Monday morning with one eye on The Gay Divorcee on the TV—winner of the Best Song for 1934, back when the category made sense — the first thing that struck me about the previous night’s Oscar show was that the whole thing just plain needs rethinking. It probably won’t happen. After all, this is something put on by people who think Billy Crystal with a suspiciously too black beaver pelt glued to his head and looking one face-lift away from Joan Rivers is pretty edgy stuff. Still, it needs rethinking all the same.

Starring: Jean-Claude Brialy, Aurora Cornu, Béatrice Romand, Laurence de Monaghan, Michèle Montel

Claire’s Knee

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Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Claire's Knee at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com
Starring: James Coco, Raquel Welch, Perry King, Tiffany Bolling, Royal Dano, David Dukes

The Wild Party

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The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Wild Party at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community (behind Epic Cinemas), 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.
Starring: Pina Bausch, Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo, Ruth Amarante

Pina

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The Story: Documentary in which the works of German choreographer Pina Bausch are committed to film. The Lowdown: An altogether engaging -- sometimes breathtaking -- look at one of the major figures of modern dance. A rare look at one artist by another that should be seen.
Starring: Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, John Sutton, Cecil Kellaway, Alan Napier

The Invisible Man Returns

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The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen The Invisible Man Returns on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of The Carolina Asheville, and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.
Starring: Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeroen Perceval, Jeanne Dandoy, Barbara Sarafian, Tibo Vandenborre

Bullhead

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The Story: Complex tale of revenge and redemption framed around a family's involvement with Belgian mobsters. The Lowdown: Powerfully compelling drama -- built around an equally powerful lead performance -- that more than justifies its Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination.
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Violante Placido, Idris Elba, Johnny Whitworth, Fergus Riordan, Christopher Lambert

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

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The Story: Johnny Blaze -- aka Ghost Rider -- gets on his flaming motorcycle to save the Son of Satan from being used by his evil dad to become a kind of demigod demon. The Lowdown: Willfully absurd and deliberately trashy -- and with Nicolas Cage in full overacting mode -- it works OK as…
Starring: George Bancroft, Betty Compson, Baclanova, Clyde Cook, Gustav von Seyffertitz

The Docks of New York

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The Asheville Film Society will screen The Docks of New York on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther. Hanke is the artistic director of the A.F.S.

Cranky Hanke’s Weekly Reeler Feb. 22-28: Gone with Tyler Perry’s Bullhead Wanderlust of Pina Valor

So this week we have no less than six new movies opening. That sounds like an embarassment of riches, doesn’t it? Well, at least two of them qualify as riches. Some of the others have all the earmarks of more likely just being embarassments—an impression not helped by the fact that not a single one of them has been screened for critics. It’s going to be pretty much what we call in technical parlance, a crap shoot.