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Rescuing a Movie About Angels From the Devil Himself: Kevin Smith on “Dogma” | Interviews

For Kevin Smith, making “Dogma” was the ultimate expression of his own waning religiosity, filtered through the verbose, irreverent, and crude humor that made him one of the most revered filmmakers of the ’90s indie boom. The kernel of the script predates his microbudget hit debut “Clerks,” having begun as a script called “God” that

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Movie Reviews

Dancing With Death: Mike Flanagan on “The Life of Chuck” | Interviews

Mike Flanagan is no stranger to telling stories about death. However, his latest film is something quite different in how it dances with existential questions about the boundless beauty of life, the terrible agony of loss, and, ultimately, what it all means as our lives inevitably come to a close.  In “The Life of Chuck”

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Movie Reviews

How Ving Rhames Became the True Heart of the Mission: Impossible Franchise | Features

“Why is it the Black man always dies in the first 10 pages?”  Luther Stickell, played by Ving Rhames, was supposed to die in the first “Mission: Impossible” movie. Brian De Palma’s 1995 film did away with almost all of the TV show’s characters and radically changed the one who remained, all to leave Tom

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Movie Reviews

A Great Businessman in the Persona of a Wonderful Entertainer: Todd Purdum on Desi Arnaz | Interviews

Todd Purdum’s new book is a biography of Desi Arnaz, described in the subtitle as “The Man Who Invented Television.” Most people today associate him with the straight man for his then-wife, Lucille Ball, in the classic “I Love Lucy” sitcom, and the character he played, nightclub singer Ricky Ricardo. But Arnaz’s most enduring legacy

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Movie Reviews

59th Karlovy Vary Film Festival Announces Official Selection and Juries | Festivals & Awards

One of the oldest film festivals in the world, and the most prestigious such festival in Eastern and Central Europe, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) has announced the official selection for its upcoming 59th edition, to be held July 4-12 in the Czech Republic.  34 titles have been announced within this year’s official

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Movie Reviews

What to Watch on Netflix: June 2025 | TV/Streaming

It’s a pretty light month at the powerhouse streamer of all streamers, Netflix. Maybe they didn’t want to distract from the final season of “Squid Game”? Maybe they know more people are out and about at the start of Summer? We’ll never know. And, to be fair, there are a few interesting drops this month,

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Movie Reviews

Netflix Unpacks One of Chicago’s Most Infamous Unsolved Mysteries in “Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders” | TV/Streaming

“For relief you can trust, trust Tylenol. Hospitals do.” — From a 1981 TV commercial for Tylenol. In the second episode of the three-part Netflix true crime documentary series “Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders,” James Lewis fiddles with a box of Extra Strength Tylenol some four decades after he became the prime suspect in the

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A Railfan’s Guide to Train Attractions

The Durham Museum The former Union Station is now a museum filled with real train cars that you can walk through, an interactive model train display and exhibits about Omaha’s past. The grand Art Deco building is worth a visit all on its own. Union Pacific Railroad Museum

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Movie Reviews

FX Navigates Familiar Comic Waters with Flair in Clever “Adults” | TV/Streaming

Some readers may be old enough to remember when every network was actively trying to find the next “Friends,” hiring often random collections of unknown young performers and throwing them into comic hijinks together. The result was a wave of awful television with a few standouts (long live “Happy Endings”) and a form that quickly

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Movie Reviews

Cannes 2025: Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, Militantropos, Imago | Festivals & Awards

In past years, Cannes has often prided itself on not making overt political statements. But the wars waging in Gaza and Ukraine were felt powerfully throughout this edition—particularly given the tragic context of “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” made by Iranian director Sepideh Farsi and premiered in the independent ACID sidebar, which

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