Betsy Sherman

Book Review: The Humanist Cinema of Taiwanese Director Hou Hsiao-hsien — Nothing But the Essential

October 5, 2014
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An exciting complement to the new book is a traveling retrospective of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s films, a rare opportunity to see 19 of the director’s movies shown on 35mm film: at Cambridge’s Harvard Film Archive through November 2.

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Film Review: “No No: A Dockumentary” — Could Use a Touch of Madness

September 6, 2014
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No No: A Dockumentary presents a textured portrait, on and off the field, of ’70s pitching phenomenon Dock Ellis.

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Film Review: “Abuse of Weakness” — Encounter With a Monster

August 18, 2014
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Writer-director Catherine Breillat’s Abuse of Weakness is a fascinating, nicely restrained look at what in retrospect was a parasitic relationship.

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Film Review: Scarlet Roots — Jean Renoir Inspires a Fritz Lang Film Noir

July 30, 2014
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The stupendous Fritz Lang retrospective running over the course of this summer at Harvard Film Archive will soon screen two Lang remakes (in America) of films directed by Jean Renoir.

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Film Review: Selections from the 19th Annual Boston French Film Festival — “Apaches” and “Age of Panic”

July 22, 2014
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Two significant feature debuts at the MFA’s French Film Festival — Age of Panic goes where few movies have gone before, while Apaches trains a calm, dispassionate gaze on disaffected youth.

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Film Review: The 19th Annual Boston French Film Festival — “Love Is the Perfect Crime,” “Abuse of Weakness”

July 10, 2014
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This year’s Boston French Film Festival (July 10 through 27) proffers a just-about 50-50 mix of male and female directors.

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Film Review: “Teenage” — What it Was Like to be Young and Restless in the 20th Century

May 23, 2014
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Like the Jon Savage book it is based on, “Teenage” avoids gooey nostalgia; the documentary’s enjoyable to watch, and refreshingly not tongue-in-cheek.

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Movie Review: “Million Dollar Arm” — A Pleasing Baseball Movie Where Fact and Fable Meet

May 17, 2014
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Given its its male-weepy genre, the “inspirational sports movie based on a true story,” Million Dollar Arm is surprisingly enjoyable.

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Film Review: “The Double” — Solid, Knot-in-the-stomach, Dostoyevskian Fun.

May 16, 2014
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The movie intelligently reimagines the Dostoyevsky novella while retaining the emotional turmoil at its core. It’s a brilliantly executed pitch-black comedy.

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Film Review: “Fading Gigolo” — Kind of Funny, Kind of Touching

May 2, 2014
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“Fading Gigolo” isn’t about fulfillment, sexual or otherwise — it’s about the transitions in the lives of its characters.

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