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| 1. |
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11/28/11 |
Moderate |
 "...too many talking heads of little substance fill the screen... Ultimately and unfortunately, 'Khodorkovsky' winds up revealing more about the Western way of seeing than it does about a politically imprisoned oligarch." |
| 2. |
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11/09/11 |
Weak |
 "...an impotent exploration of the fight to take the Internet out of the hands of the Man..." |
| 3. |
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10/02/11 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "Even better regarded black musicians such as Branford Marsalis, who says about the band, 'The musicians get it; the other people don't,' and George Clinton, who theorizes that the members are too white for black people and too black for white people, seem in awe." |
| 4. |
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10/02/11 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...isn't content to merely capture warriors in combat.... follows an injured Sgt. Nathan Harris all the way from Afghanistan to his home in North Carolina, where his wife and high school sweetheart Ashley is helping to reconstruct their former lives.... becomes a universal soldier's story." |
| 5. |
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09/11/11 |
Very Good |
 "...a mesmerizingly layered rendering of the creation of Pieter Bruegel's iconic 'The Way to Calvary'.... an intoxicating invention, as timeless and innovative as the wooden windmill." |
| 6. |
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09/04/11 |
Moderate |
 "...equal parts heartfelt and public-television predictable." |
| 7. |
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07/24/11 |
Outstanding |
 "An inspirational and heartbreaking nail-biter... was more difficult for me to watch than any battle doc I've seen in years." |
| 8. |
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06/18/11 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...chronicles the personal tale behind political headlines.... broadens into an intriguing debate about the very definition of terrorism." |
| 9. |
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05/29/11 |
Weak |
 "Since director Lynn Hershman Leeson doesn't ask enlightening questions, but simply lets her narcissistic subjects glossily lecture about the consequences of boys'-club discrimination, it becomes difficult to sympathize with the feminist artists' plight no matter how right they may be." |
| 10. |
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04/21/11 |
Very Good |
 "...an up-close-and-personal study of the Ukrainian brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko... they may lack the murderous drama of Cain and Abel, but they certainly draw blood from their character arcs." |
| 11. |
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03/21/11 |
Moderate |
 "...full of cool talking heads pontificating rather than taking physical action. Its dry, unemotional spirit doesn't come close to capturing the passion of the years bookending the critical juncture of 1968. Nor does most of its never-before-seen footage seem exclusive." |
| 12. |
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03/17/11 |
Very Good |
 "...wondrously thought-provoking... Hot emotions trump Cold War politics every time. Which is why the charming doc's clear-eyed nostalgic approach to the dissolution of an empire works so well." |
| 13. |
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03/13/11 |
Very Good |
 "...an engagingly slow-moving, highly detailed narrative that isn't very much in vogue these days." |
| 14. |
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02/20/11 |
Good (Not Great) |
 "...the star of the film is Lebowitz's brilliant bon mots. 'This is what happens when an inside joke gets into the water supply,' she laments about the fame-obsessed society that sprang from Warhol's originally ironic invention of the superstar." |
| 15. |
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01/30/11 |
Outstanding |
 "...one of the most radical and stunning docs to screen at this past November's IDFA... a totally immersive, video game-like experience, a journey best described as 'Lord of the Rings' meets '2001: A Space Odyssey.' " |
| 16. |
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10/04/10 |
Moderate |
 "Malmberg's video imagery, captured by point-and-shoot camerawork, and livened up with big band music from time to time, can't hold a candle to outsider artist Hogancamp's work." |
| 17. |
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10/03/10 |
Weak |
 "...the biggest misstep the filmmakers made is forgoing the use of any archival footage of the SS medics themselves. Since this is all secondhand storytelling, the flesh-and-blood people being analyzed never seen or heard from, they're depersonalized and distanced from us." |
| 18. |
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09/26/10 |
Moderate |
 "...lacks any tonal cohesion. Each segment is a standalone piece, divided by Seth Gordon's clunky and inorganic interludes and only tangentially related to the larger whole." |
| 19. |
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09/19/10 |
Moderate |
 "...concept trumps story -- which makes 'Howl' feel more like a dissertation (albeit one with multiple camera angles, mixed stocks, and lots of quick cuts to liven up the dry dialogue) than an emotionally engaging film." |
| 20. |
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09/14/10 |
Very Good |
 "...a fascinating and damning glimpse inside a parallel universe that exists right in the heart of our nation's capital... a thorough, non-condescending doc intended to do what a cowardly Congress can't -- make a difference." |
