Starring: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Méril

Deep Red

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In Brief: Dario Argento may well be something of an acquired taste, but there's no better place to start for the uninitiated than his giallo masterpiece, 1973's Deep Red (Profondo Rosso). While it may not be as surrealistically inclined as some of Argento's later work, that makes for a more accessible narrative — and it's still…
Starring: Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge, Joe Keaton, Buster Keaton Jr., Kitty Bradbury, James Duffy

Our Hospitality

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In Brief: Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality (1923) may not be one of his best-known, but that doesn't mean it isn't one of his best. Keaton's Southern satire, based on the historic feud between the Hatfields and McCoys, features some of his most memorable sight gags and remarkable stunt work. It also boasts no less than four…
Starring: Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Tom Bateman, Tom Jackson, Emmy Rossum

Cold Pursuit

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The Story: When a snowplow driver's son is murdered by a drug cartel, he takes revenge with extreme prejudice — because this time, it's personal. The Lowdown: An unapologetically ridiculous parody of revenge thrillers that revels in its gore and garrulity in equal measure — in short, the perfect panacea for those suffering from prestige fatigue.
Starring: Betsy Jones-Moreland, Antony Carbone, Robert Towne; Jason Evers, Virginia Leith, Anthony La Penna

Valentine’s Day Double Feature

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In Brief: Valentine's Day may well be a holiday manufactured by greeting card companies, but that doesn't mean the Thursday Horror Picture Show crew doesn't feel the love. We'll be celebrating this most saccharine of special occasions by presenting our own version of a love letter to horror fans with a double bill to die for.…
Starring: Dick Miller, Jack Nicholson, Charles B. Griffith, Barboura Morris, Anthony Carbone

Dick Miller Double Feature

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In Brief: The Asheville Film Society kicks off its 2019 screenings with a bang by honoring the lengthy and illustrious career of legendary character actor Dick Miller with a double bill showcasing some of the recently deceased icon's best work with schlock auteur Roger Corman. First up, we have Corman's 1960 The Little Shop of Horrors, a…
Starring: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc, Agata Kulesza, Cédric Kahn, Jeanne Balibar

Cold War (Zimna wojna)

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The Story: A musician tasked with organizing a folk music ensemble in Soviet-era Poland falls in love with a young singer, but his efforts to start a new life with her in the West are beset by problems on all sides. The Lowdown: A mesmerizing meditation on the vicissitudes of fate, juxtaposing a very human romance against utterly…
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jason Clarke, Diane Lane, Djimon Hounsou, Jeremy Strong

Serenity

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The Story: A war hero-turned-beach-bum must choose between saving his child and ex from an abusive jerk or catching a really big fish. The Lowdown: A film every bit as good as its premise would suggest — which is to say, not very good at all.
Starring: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard

Glass

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The Story: Three superhumans are set on a collision course by a mysterious psychologist with ulterior motives. The Lowdown: An unnecessary and ill-conceived effort to create a shared Shyamalaniverse that fails to live up to the prior films in a poorly planned trilogy.
Starring: Jun Ji-hyun, Cha Tae-hyun, Kim In-moon

My Sassy Girl (Yeopgijeogin geunyeo)

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In Brief: South Korean writer/director Kwak Jae-young delivers an odd amalgam of romance, comedy, melodrama and cinematic homage with 2001's My Sassy Girl, a film that works better than its bifurcated story structure would suggest. Adapted from novelist Kim Ho-sik's source work, itself based on the author's internet anecdotes of a dysfunctional real-world relationship, My Sassy…
Starring: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Aunjanue Ellis, Dave Franco

If Beale Street Could Talk

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The Story: A young black father-to-be is a accused of a crime he didn't commit, casting a pall over generations of his family. The Lowdown: A must-see film that does laudable justice to its source material even as it seems to be overshadowed by its writer/director's prior success.
Starring: Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly, Nina Arianda, Shirley Henderson, Danny Huston, Rufus Jones

Stan and Ollie

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The Story: An aging Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy face the decline of their cultural influence as they embrace the irreplaceability of their friendship. The Lowdown: A film that captures the appeal of its subject even as it elucidates the sorrows of their waning years, making a poignant statement of irreplaceable virtues put inevitably out to pasture.
Starring: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina deTavira, Nancy Garcia

Roma

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The Story: The maid of a wealthy family finds herself in a tight spot when her boyfriend abandons her and the master of the house pulls up stakes. The Lowdown: An aesthetically beautiful work with a weak script that draws too heavily on its influences and digresses too often into pretension.
Starring: Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Jack Reynor, Cailee Spaeny,Sam Waterston, Kathy Bates, Christian Mulkey

On the Basis of Sex

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The Story: A young Ruth Bader Ginsburg overcomes sexism in her personal and professional life to leave her mark on early gender discrimination legislation. The Lowdown: An overly polished and slavishly devoted biopic that contributes little to its subject's legacy that a recent documentary didn't already cover.  
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart, Nicole Kidman, Julianna Margulies, Aja Naomi King

The Upside

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The Story: A wealthy quadriplegic man hires an unqualified ex-con as his personal nurse so that he can reconnect with the outside world. The Lowdown: A tepid remake of a profitable but mediocre French film that only exists to fill a feel-good niche in the January cine schedule.
Starring: Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, Lana Turner, James Stewart, Tony MArtin, Jackie Cooper

Ziegfeld Girl

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In Brief:  Do you like musicals? Do you like Hollywood? Do you like Hollywood musicals? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then director Robert Z. Leonard's Ziegfeld Girl (1941) may well be for you — all others need not apply. Its star-studded cast, featuring the likes of Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr and…
Starring: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Tyler Labine, Deborah Ann Woll, Nik Dodani, Jay Ellis

Escape Room

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The Story: Six strangers are thrown together in a twisted take on the strip-mall staple of the escape room, only here the goal isn't team building but survival. The Lowdown: In the wake of bloated awards-season bookings, this creepy cheapie offers up a welcome dose of low-brow escapism.
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Tyler Perry, Eddie Marsan, Jesse Plemons

Vice

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The Story: Dick Cheney goes from drunken college dropout to master manipulator as he shrewdly usurps the authority of the most powerful position in the free world. The Lowdown:  A divisive film for a divided nation.
Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Rebecca Hall, Rob Brydon, Kelly Macdonald, Ralph Fiennes, Lauren Lapkus, Hugh Laurie

Holmes and Watson

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The Story: Sherlock Holmes and John Watson bungle their way through an investigation as they attempt to prevent the assassination of Queen Victoria. The Lowdown: Yes, it's insipid to the point of self-parody — but it's also not as bad as advertised.