Betsy Sherman

Film Review: Jon Stewart’s “Rosewater” — A Film of Skill and Passion

November 14, 2014
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Rosewater is a movie for the idealists, with the implied hope that a principled and conscientious mass media can give the new breed of technologically savvy activists a louder voice.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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