Category: Film Appreciation
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‘Lord of the Ants’ and ‘Strangeness’ Are Two Highlights at Lincoln Center’s Annual ‘Open Roads’ Italian Series
Every spring, Film at Lincoln Center’s “Open Roads” series brings proof that Italian cinema is alive and well. The 22nd edition, running June 1-8, presents 11 new Italian features, plus a three-film salute to director Mario Martone. The opening-night selection is Francesca Archibugi’s The Hummingbird, adapted from the decades-spanning, Strega Prize-winning novel by Sandro Veronisi and…
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Ben Affleck’s ‘Air’ Chronicles Nike’s Groundbreaking Pursuit of Michael Jordan
With the exception of his 2016 misstep Live by Night, actor and sometime tabloid target Ben Affleck has an enviable track record as a director. Gone Baby Gone, his adaptation of a Dennis Lehane crime tale, was an auspicious debut; his follow-up, The Town, was equally gritty and gripping, and Argo won the Oscar for best picture. (And let’s…
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Dino Risi’s Masterpiece ‘Una Vita Difficile’ Finally Gets Its Closeup
The best film of 2023 (so far) was made in 1961. Let me explain. Dino Risi’s Una Vita Difficile (A Difficult Life) was a critical and popular success in its native Italy, but for some unknown reason was never released in the United States until February 2023—despite the strong track record of contemporaneous Italian imports like La Dolce…
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Billy Wilder’s ‘The Apartment’ Is My Kind of Christmas Movie
I was pleased to see Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning The Apartment prominently featured in CNN’s 2022 special “Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen.” A Christmas Story is great, but this is a film I’d happily watch in a Dec. 25th marathon. To celebrate the wonders of The Apartment, here is my chapter on that masterpiece…
Kevin Lally on Film 