Movie Reviews

Another Year

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The Story A year in the lives of an aging, but devoted, middle class British couple and their circle of friends. The Lowdown: Penetrating character study on the nature of happiness, marked by fine performances and a deep sense of compassion and humanity.

Biutiful

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The Story Grim study of a dying man in search of redemption -- and a secure future for the children he's going to leave behind. The Lowdown: Part realistic grit, part mystical wondering, and all unrelentingly downbeat, yet it's hard to ignore the quality of the filmmaking and impossible to ignore the power of Javier…

The Rite

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The Story A young seminary student gets a lesson in faith from a stint in exorcism school. The Lowdown: A good cast can't save a tepid exorcist yarn and a weak leading man from being possessed by a case of humdrummery.

High and Low

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Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present High and Low at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28, (at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District, upstairs in the Railroad Library). Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com

Unfaithfully Yours

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The Asheville Film Society will screen Unfaithfully Yours Tuesday, Feb. 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.http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/unfaithfully_yours1

The Way Back

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The Story: Survival tale of a group of men who escape from a Soviet labor camp in Siberia during the early years of WWII and attempt to make their way to freedom -- 4,000 miles away. The Lowdown: Easily the best film to hit town since the big Christmas releases and a return to something…

No Strings Attached

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The Story: Two platonic friends who have arranged to use each other solely for sex begin to complicate things as they start developing feelings for one another. The Lowdown: An occasionally funny (and surprisingly so, considering its pedigree) and sort-of-sweet romcom that never quite works due to its predictability and too-long running time.

Blue Valentine

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The Story: A look at the ending -- and the beginning -- of a young couple's marriage. The Lowdown: I wouldn't call it anything like the masterpiece that's it's been claimed, but this is a worthwhile, albeit flawed, attempt at observing the workings of a relationship.

Nowhere in Africa

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I haven’t seen Nowhere in Africa (2003) since I reviewed it at the time of its release. And since no screener was available to me for this screening of the Oscar-winning drama, I must rely on my original review, in which I wrote: “Link’s film, based on the partly autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig, details […]

Starring: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Richard Fiske, Anne Revere, Nina Foch, Miles Mander, Matt Willis

The Devil Commands / Return of the Vampire

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The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen The Devil Commands and Return of the Vampire Thursday, January 20, 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.

The Dilemma

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The Story: A man catches his best friend's wife cheating on him, but must figure out a way to tell his buddy. The Lowdown: A comedy -- built around Vince Vaughn's obnoxious screen persona -- with bits of drama thrown in, but never in a way that's effective.

The Green Hornet

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The Story: A spoiled rich kid and his late father's mechanic decide to become vigilante heroes posing as criminals. The Lowdown: Better than you might expect, with more evidence of director Michel Gondry than seemed likely, but the film only sporadically rings the gong.