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158 - My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) - 7/10 - Omar is a young British/Pakistani man who is given a rundown laundrette to run by his uncle. He enlists the aid of his white boyfriend and they clean the place up and make a go of it, with a few side jobs along the way. There is also conflict with another family member, a shady man named Salim. This isn't a bad film, but it does seem to meander around a bit.

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159 - Inherent Vice (2014) - 7/10 - This was a long strange trip through a drug filled Los Angeles in 1970. I enjoyed visiting this world and Joaquin Phoenix was excellent as always. I also thought that Josh Brolin and much of the supporting cast was good. The movie didn't always make a lot of sense, but it was still nice to visit. I thought it went on a little bit too long, though.

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160 - The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) - 7/10 - Gary Cooper stars as Billy Mitchell, an Army officer and pilot who pushed for advances in the Air Service back in the 1920s and clashed with leaders in the Army and Navy. He was court-martialed for comments he made about the leadership. About half of the movie is a courtroom drama centered around Mitchell's trial. It's a decent movie, though I think it has aged a lot.

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161 - The Barbarian Invasions (2003) - 7.5/10 - Rémy is a college professor in his 50s who is dying from liver cancer in Montreal. He is visited in the hospital by his ex-wife and she contacts their son who flies in from London where he is a successful businessman. Family and friends start visiting with regularity to spend time with Rémy and to reminisce. The movie is a sequel of sorts to The Decline of the American Empire and while that film wasn't bad, I enjoyed this film much more.

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162 - Wing and a Prayer (1944) - 7/10 - A serviceable drama about an aircraft carrier that is given a decoy mission after Pearl Harbor to travel over the Pacific, but not engage the Japanese in order to convince them that what is left of the American Fleet is scattered all over the Pacific. Most aboard are unaware of their mission and get frustrated by the tactics used. Not great, but watchable.

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163 - American Splendor (2003) - 7.5/10 - This biopic covers the life of comic book writer and file clerk Harvey Pekar who published comic books based on his life for over 30 years. Paul Giamatti does a great job as Harvey, but having the real Harvey Pekar narrate and be mixed in throughout the film was very good, too. It's a nice movie.
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164 - Blackboard Jungle (1955) - 7/10 - Glenn Ford stars as a veteran who becomes a high school teacher at a tough New York City school with lots of delinquents (including Sidney Poitier as Miller). He has a tough time reaching them and his pregnant wife has stress as well. I had a hard time getting through the first half of the movie, perhaps due to being in the classroom for almost 30 years, but thought it got better in the second half.

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165 - The Incredible Machine (1975) - 7/10 - This documentary looks at the human body and what it is capable of. It also looks closer at the outside and inside of the body using various technologies - skin, muscles, the heart, the tongue, the lungs, blood, etc.. I thought it was interesting.
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166 - Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman (1974) - 7/10 - This documentary features interviews with groundbreaking conductor Antonia Brico and looks back at her career and the gender bias she had to overcome to become successful. She conducted the New York Philharmonic plus numerous orchestras in Europe and around the United States, but it didn't come easy, especially early on. I thought it was interesting, though since my mom was an orchestra conductor I can relate to it more than some might.

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167 - The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) - 7.5/10 - A group of six people keep trying to get together to share a meal, but something always causes their plans to go astray. There are a number of dreams mixed into the story as well. I found the movie to be amusing and I enjoyed it, though I don't see it as a masterpiece as some others do.

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168 - Objective, Burma (1945) - 7.5/10 - A decent war film about a platoon of paratroopers who are sent into Burma to destroy a hidden Japanese radar station prior to the Invasion of Burma. Their ride home has to be scrapped, forcing them to trek through the jungle in search of another way home.

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169 - Go for Broke! (1951) - 7/10 - This is a decent war film about the 442nd Infantry Regiment which was made up largely of Americans of Japanese descent. They fought in Italy and France during WWII. The movie has quite a bit of humor and a touch of overcoming racial prejudice as shown in the person of a newly minted white lieutenant. I enjoyed the film.

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170 - Wild By Law (1991) - 7.5/10 - This documentary looks at the push to preserve wild areas in the United States during the early and middle part of the 20th Century that led to the passing of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Howard Zahniser was an environmentalist who led the fight to protect wilderness areas. Aldo Leopold is also featured. It was pretty interesting.

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171 - Rome, Open City (1945) - 9/10 - During the German occupation of Rome, they are hunting for Manfredi, a member of the resistance. He looks to hide out with his friend Francesco who is about to be married to his neighbor, a widow named Pina. There is also a priest named Don PIetro who aids the resistance. Their stories intertwine in Roberto Rossellini's excellent film which was written and filmed not long after the Nazis were forced out of Rome by the Allies.
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172 - Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) - 7/10 - Lord Rawnsley announces an air race to Paris (in 1910) in an attempt to boost circulation for his newspaper. The prize money draws contestants and their planes from around the world. One contestant tries to sabotage the other contestants and use other ways to cheat in order to win. It's a decent comedy. A bit forced at times, but still fun.

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173 - Margin Call (2011) - 7.5/10 - An investment bank decides to downsize by eliminating most of the employees in their risk management division. However, one of the people being eliminated had discovered something that could destroy the firm. The film follows the next 24 hours or so as the firm scrambles to survive. It might be a bit dry and slow at times, but I still enjoyed it.

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174 - Out of Sight (1998) - 8/10 - George Clooney stars as Jack Foley, a charismatic bank robber who escapes from prison and shares a trunk with federal marshal Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez) during the escape. Foley and a partner set out for Detroit with a diamond heist in mind. Sisco pursues, but is conflicted in her feelings for Foley. There is plenty of humor and some action as well. I thought it was a fun movie.

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175 - Metropolitan (1990) - 7/10 - A group of young upper class Manhattan residents adopt a poor west sider into their group during the gala season. The film is mostly filled with dialogue and while it seems to be an imitation of (or homage to) Jane Austen novels, it came across to me as kind of fake. Still, I did end up enjoying the film.
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176 - Hamlet (1996) - 9/10 - Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in this film of Shakespeare's play. The setting has been updated to the mid 1800s and I think the setting works very well. The exterior and interiors shots are each gorgeously shot. The film does run rather long at over four hours and flags slightly near the end, but I enjoyed the film quite a bit, even more than Olivier's version from 1948. The first part before the intermission with manic Hamlet would rate 10/10 for me.

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177 - In the Loop (2009) - 6/10 - Government officials behind the scenes are involved in trying to prevent a war...or maybe starting one. This movie isn't my type of film, unfortunately. I don't like The Office (UK or US) and that style of show so that didn't help. I found some of the things in here funny, especially the part where Capaldi goes to a meeting and finds a kid who looks like he should be in high school. I found most of the movie mildly amusing at best. I can see why some viewers might really like it, but it wasn't for me.

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178 - Joe (1970) - 6/10 - When his daughter Melissa (Susan Sarandon) overdoses and ends up in the hospital, wealthy executive William Compton (Dennis Patrick) goes to her apartment to pick up some clothes for her. He gets into an altercation with her drug dealing boyfriend and this eventually sets into motion one wild night with a guy named Joe (Peter Boyle) that Compton met in a bar. It was okay.

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179 - Father Goose (1964) - 7.5/10 - Cary Grant stars as Walter, a man who lives alone in the South Seas during WWII who is 'persuaded' to stay on an uninhabited island and serve as a plane spotter for the Australian Navy. Later, he ends up sharing the island with a woman named Catherine (Leslie Caron) and seven schoolgirls who were stranded in the islands due to the fortunes of war. He really just wants to be left alone, but that proves impossible. I enjoyed the film and thought it was predictable, but fun. The best relationship was the one between Walter and Frank (Trevor Howard), the Australian commander in charge of the various plane spotters scattered throughout the area. The relationships between Walter and the other inhabitants of the island was good too.
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180 - First Contact (1982) - 8/10 - This documentary is about the first white men to venture into the highlands of New Guinea and make contact with the natives there. They were three brothers who were prospecting for gold in the early 1930s and they brought along a number of porters from the lowlands. The two surviving brothers (the third, Mick Leahy, died a few years before the documentary) are interviewed as are a number of natives from one of the villages. The natives were children or young adults at the time of first contact. Interspersed are pictures and film from the original expeditions. The natives interviewed had a pretty favorable memory of the expedition and the people. It was pretty interesting, especially the film from the 1930s and the interviews with the natives.

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181 - Love and Monsters (2020) - 8/10 - Seven years ago, the world became infested with all sorts of monsters which were mutated from existing animals. Joel Dawson is a 24 year old who has been living in an underground colony since that time, but he is basically useless in any kind of a fight so he never ventures outside. After reconnecting with his old girlfriend over the radio, he decides to make the 85 mile trip to reunite with her even though he has zero survival skills. The film follows his journey across the monster filled California landscape to the ocean. The visual effects were pretty cool and I thought that the movie was a lot of fun. It has a decent story, plenty of humor, a fair amount of action, and so on.
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182 - Tenet (2020) - 6.5/10 - Trying to save the world from a Russian oligarch with time reversing technology. I thought it was kind of boring, but not as bad (or as good) as I've heard from other...just okay. I enjoyed Inception a lot and perhaps I would have enjoyed this more had I seen it in the theater.

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183 - A Foreign Affair (1948) - 7/10 - John Lund portrays Captain John Pringle, an army office stationed in postwar Berlin. He is seeing a German nightclub singer (Marlene Dietrich) who may have ties to various Nazi officials in her past. He has to scramble when a U.S. Congresswoman from Iowa (Jean Arthur) comes to Berlin as part of a delegation and decides to investigate the singer. I thought it was a decent movie. Clearly not one of Billy Wilder's best (or Arthur's or Dietrich's for that matter), but pleasant enough.

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184 - Five Graves to Cairo (1943) - 7.5/10 - A British officer is left stranded in Egypt as the Germans advance early in WWII. He stumbles into a hotel, delirious from the heat and sun. When he regains his senses, he pretends to be a waiter at the hotel in order to stay free of the Germans who have since arrived to occupy the hotel. I thought that this was a pretty decent war film. I liked it more than A Foreign Affair, but not as much as many of Wilder's other directing efforts.

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185 - The Sky Above, The Mud Below (1961) - 4/10 - This documentary follows six Europeans and their bearers as they attempt to cross 450 miles of jungle and mountains in New Guinea. I found the narration to be very dull and the footage to be interesting at times, but usually not so much. The First Contact movie I watched recently was much more interesting.

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186 - Prince of the City (1981) - 7/10 - Treat Williams stars as Danny Ciello, a narcotics detective who (as some sort of penance) decides to cooperate with prosecutors investigation police misconduct. At first he refuses to implicate cops, especially his squad and friends. He is very cocky and wears a wire and also tells prosecutors about three times he did something wrong in his 11 years on the force. Things unravel over time as prosecutors push him to do more and start chipping away at his own conduct. They even try to pin the French Connection job on him. Danny isn't really a very likable protagonist and the film meanders on for far too long. There's some decent stuff here, but it is somewhat buried in the excess at times.
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187 - People of the Wind (1976) - 8/10 - This documentary follows the migration of the Bakhtiari people in western Iran, one of the largest nomadic people still around. Every year, they spend 6-8 weeks traveling over the mountains in the spring from their winter pastures to their summer pastures. This film followed them through the entire journey, showing the troubles they run into, the interactions between people, and so on. They reverse the trip in the fall and there was a silent documentary back in the 1920s that covered one of those. This was a very good and interesting film. It seems like a tough way of life and I've read that many of the young people these days are leaving the nomadic life to live in cities.

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188 - Lone Star (1996) - 9/10 - Chris Cooper stars as a county sheriff named Sam Deeds who was likely elected in large part because his late father is a legend in town, having been sheriff for around 30 years. When an old skeleton is found at an old firing range, circumstances lead Sam to think that his father might have been behind the killing back in the 1950s. Cooper gives a very nice understated performance as he goes around in his role as sheriff and digging up secrets from the past. Elizabeth Peña is very good as the high school teacher/former sweetheart of Sam. The flashback sequences to the 1950s are worked in seamlessly and effectively with Matthew McConaughey as (then) deputy Buddy Deeds and Kris Kristofferson as Sheriff Charlie Wade. I loved the movie quite a bit.

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189 - Pennies from Heaven (1981) - 7/10 - Steve Martin is a song salesman named Arthur during the depression who is married to shy and unassuming wife. He has a fling with a schoolteacher while on the road and changes each of their lives. I didn't really care much for the story, though there is a lot to like in the film. Bernadette Peters does a really nice job as Eileen, the schoolteacher. There are lots of dance numbers with lip syncing and those were generally pretty good. I especially liked the one in the bank which captured the feel of those early '30s numbers very well and also the number with Eileen and her students in the classroom. The 'Follow the Fleet' number, the title song from the diner, and others were good too. Steve Martin did a good job, even if his character is a creep.

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190 - Emma (2020) - 7.5/10 - I wasn't really enjoying this film during the first half hour, but in retrospect that may have had more to do with Austen's story than the acting involved. Then I started liking the film quite a bit more and think it is a pretty good film overall. The costumes and settings are excellent and there are some pretty good performances here from Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Mia Goth, and others. This is my least favorite Austen novel, though I still thought it was very good and the film does it justice.
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191 - 20th Century Women (2016) - 7.5/10 - Annette Bening stars as a single mother in 1979 Santa Barbara who is raising her 15 year old son, Jamie. in a fairly open and permissive manner. She is worried that she is not doing enough to help him become a successful man so she enlists the help of the young artist (Greta Gerwig) who rents a room in the house and her son's best friend (Elle Fanning). I thought that the performances were really good and while it seemed to lag a little at the end, it was an interesting and entertaining film.
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192 - Greyhound (2020) - 7/10 - Tom Hanks stars as the commander of a destroyer which is part of an escort for a merchant convoy crossing the Atlantic in 1942. They encounter a wolfpack of u-boats and have a harrowing 50+ hours before they are in reach of air cover again. I thought that it was a decent war movie - good, but not great. It is based on the book "The Good Shepherd" by C.S. Forester, which I enjoyed more than the film.

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193 - Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020) - 9/10 - Jasna Djuricic stars as Aida Selmanagic, a translator at the UN base outside of Srebrenica in July 1995. The Serb army is poised to invade despite a UN ultimatum. Aida does what she can to protect her husband and two sons along with others in the face of an impending massacre at the hands of the Serbs and the inability of the UN forces to protect anybody. This is a pretty powerful and tragic film set amidst the real event from the Bosnian War that some still deny. Djuricic does a great job and I think was worthy of a nomination for Best Actress, though I haven't seen the movies with those who actually got nominated to compare.

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194 - Monsieur Verdoux (1947) - 7/10 - Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed, and starred in this film about a man who supports himself along with his wife and child by marrying middle aged women and then murdering them for their money. He is successful for quite a while before the police start searching for him. He meets his match in the form of Annabella Bonheur (Martha Raye). It's a decent film, but I don't think it is in the same class as The Great Dictator and Limelight.

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195 - The Lobster (2015) - 7.5/10 - Single people in this world are taken to the Hotel where they have 45 days to find a partner that they have something in common with or else they are transformed into animals. I thought this was a strange movie, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The movie starts with David (Colin Farrell) moving into the hotel with his brother (a dog). We get to know a number of the other residents, each of whom has their own idiosyncrasies. The movie changes pace somewhat in the second half, but it is still good.

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196 - Brazil (1985) - 8/10 - Sam Lowry (jonathan Pryce) works for the government in a society that is heavily bureaucratic and totalitarian. They rely heavily on paperwork and antiquated machinery. Sam discovers an error made by the government in arresting the wrong man and looks into it while also pursuing the woman who frequents his dreams. Robert De Niro was really good in a supporting role and the rest of the cast in the strange world was also pretty good. The movie may not be for everyone and is kind of absurd and surreal (in other words typical Gilliam), but it is also entertaining.
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197 - The Cruel Sea (1953) - 8/10 - During WWII, Commander Ericson (Jack Hawkins) is in charge of the HMS Compass Rose, a convoy escort. Through the trials of war, he becomes friends with his first lieutenant (Donald Sinden). The war costs them family and friends, but they persevere and do their duty. I thought it was a very good film and while there is definitely action on occasion, it is more about the effects of war.

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198 - Another Year (2010) - 7/10 - Tom and Gerri are a happily married couple in their 60s. Tom is an engineering geologist and Gerri is a counselor. The movies shows them interacting with family and friend during the four seasons of a year. Their son, Joe, and one of Gerri's coworkers, Mary, spend the most time with them. Mary is kind of a mess, though. This is a slice of life movie and I thought it was okay, but I didn't find it really captivating. I liked the addition of Katie to the mix.

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199 - Nomadland (2020) - 8/10 - Frances McDormand plays Fern, a woman in her early 60s whose husband recently died and the place where they work is shutting down which will also be the end of the company town where they lived. She sells a lot of her belongings, stores some of it away and moves into her van, becoming a nomad. She works jobs at various places and then travels to other parts of the country, meeting other nomads and seeing the sights. It is kind of a melancholy movie, but is also pretty good.

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200 - Match Point (2005) - 7.5/10 - Chris Wilton is a former tennis pro who gives private lessons. He befriends the son and daughter of a wealthy family and becomes romantically involved with the daughter (Emily Mortimer), but also is attracted to the son's girlfriend (Scarlett Johansson). It was a good drama and fortunately Woody Allen didn't try to inject his usual brand of humor into the picture since it wouldn't have fit very well.

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201 - Hot Millions (1968) - 7.5/10 - When Marcus Pendleton (Peter Ustinov) gets paroled, he fakes credentials as a computer specialist in order to get a job at an insurance company so that he can embezzle money. His bosses either like him (Karl Malden) or are suspicious of him (Bob Newhart). Then there is his secretary (Maggie Smith)... I thought that the movie was pretty entertaining and while it wasn't usually laugh-out-loud funny, it was fun.

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202 - Paisan (1946) - 8/10 - The movie consists of six short stories about the interaction of Allied soldiers (usually Americans) with Italian citizens after the Allied invasion during WWII. While there is fighting with the Germans in three of the tales, the focus of the stories tends to more personal stories. My favorite was the fourth episode in Florence, but the others were all pretty good as well. I liked Rome, Open City more, but this is a good film.
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203 - Germany Year Zero (1948) - 8/10 - Edmund is a 13 year old boy trying to survive in the rubble of postwar Berlin where food and jobs are scarce. He is too young to work legally, but his father is elderly and sick while his older brother is afraid of being sent to a prisoner camp. Edmund is resourceful but this is a tough, tragic film, but also very well done.

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204 - Minari (2020) - 8.5/10 - In the 1980s, a Korean family moves from California to rural Arkansas. Jacob and Monica make a living sexing chickens, but Jacob's real dream is to have a successful farm where he can grow Korean produce. Monica's mother comes over from Korea to live with them and help watch the children - Anne and David. The film follows the family's successes and setbacks as they try to adjust to their new rural life. I thought it was very engaging and the acting throughout was excellent.

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205 - Lover Come Back (1961) - 7.5/10 - Doris Day stars as Carol Templeton, an advertising executive who gets upset with the tactics of a rival executive named Jerry Webster (Rock Hudson) and sets out to steal his latest client out from under him. This was a pretty funny and entertaining movie. I think Pillow Talk was probably a little bit better, but this was good. Tony Randall plays Webster's boss and Ann B. Davis plays Templeton's secretary.

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206 - The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) - 8/10 - Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) and his wife Etheline (Anjelica Huston) had three genius children when they separated in the late 70s. All three of the children were successful, but messed up in their own way. Twenty something years later, they all reunite under the same roof for a variety of reasons. Royal tries to reconcile with his children and wife, but doesn't find it an easy path. The adult versions of the kids are played by Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Luke Wilson with Owen Wilson, Danny Glover, Bill Murray, and Kumar Pallana also playing significant roles. The movie wasn't really what I expected going in and I thought it was fairly laid back overall for what it is. It grew on me as it progressed and I ended up enjoying it a lot.
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207 - The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2020) - 5/10 - I thought this movie was kind of all over the place, jumping around without much cohesiveness. It did keep returning to Billie doing drugs, singing, getting beaten or called names, etc. The U.S. government sure did seem to have it in for her. I thought Andra Day wasn't bad, but I didn't really enjoy the film.

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208 - The Organizer (1963) - 8.5/10 - Marcello Mastroianni stars as a labor organizer in Turin in the late 1800s who gives advice to a group of textile workers who are concerned about long hours, injuries on the job, and other poor working conditions. Management tries a few things to try to bust the strike. A lot of people these days seem to be anti-union, but this film shows in part why unions were important for worker health and safety among other things. I thought it was very good.
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209 - Wolfwalkers (2020) - 8.5/10 - In 1650, a hunter and his daughter Robyn move to Ireland to help the Lord Protector rid the area of wolves. However, the leader of the wolves is a girl named Mebh who can change into a wolf and she befriends Robyn. I thought it was a beautiful and entertaining film.

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210 - Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) - 7/10 - Poppy is a primary school teacher who goes through life acting excessively perky much of the time. This seemed fine mostly, though she was a jerk to the driving instructor (who was kind of tightly wound, but that's no excuse) and could be annoying when talking to strangers. The film shows slices of her life involving a student at school having problems, Poppy learning to drive, interacting with her sisters, taking dancing lessons, partying, etc. It kind of wanders around without getting to a point, but was okay for what it is.

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211 - Breaker Morant (1980) - 7.5/10 - During the Boer War, several Australian officers were court martialed on charges of murdering Boer prisoners as well as a missionary. An Australian major was assigned to defend them, though was not given a lot of time to prepare. The movie made for a pretty good courtroom drama.

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212 - The Official Story (1985) - 7.5/10 - In 1983, a high school history teacher whose husband works for the government starts to question where their five year old adopted daughter came from and whether her mother was one of the disappeared. The military dictatorship is on its last legs and protests are in the streets. The teacher investigates, but answers are hard to come by. I thought that this was a decent drama. Nothing really gets resolved, but there probably weren't very many answers or favorable resolutions for the families of the disappeared either.

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213 - The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020) - 8/10 - A Syrian refugee named Sam Ali is separated from the woman he loves. She is in Belgium and he is stuck in Lebanon. In order to gain the ability to travel to her, Sam allows his back to be tattooed by a famous artist turning Sam into a living work of art. I thought that the acting was very good and it is shot extremely well also. A lot of story gets compressed into the last 20-30 minutes, but I think it worked and I enjoyed the film.
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214 - Judas and the Black Messiah (2020) - 9/10 - The story of Fred Hampton, the Black Panthers, and Bill O'Neal in 1969 Chicago is a pretty powerful film. Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield each gave excellent performances. The movie is well worth seeing.

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215 - Houseboat (1958) - 7/10 - Cary Grant stars as a man with an important job in Washington, D.C. who is away from home a lot. He has to return home when his wife dies, though, and finds that his three young children are practically strangers and that he doesn't know how to handle them. Sophia Loren is an Italian socialite who is in town with her father. She befriends the younger son at a carnival and eventually takes a job as a maid without letting on her real social status. It was a decent romantic comedy. The kids were a bit whiny and Cary Grant's character was rather clueless at times, but I enjoyed the film.

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216 - The Quiet One (1948) - 6/10 - This supposed documentary mixed documentary footage from the Wiltwyck School for Boys with fictional footage about a troubled 10 year old boy who doesn't talk and has issues because of the neglect from his family. The movie was nominated (in separate years) for Best Documentary and for Best Writing (screenplay) by the Academy. I think that the fictional footage far outweighed the documentary footage and labeling it as a documentary is misleading. It was okay and the kid portraying the troubled youth was good, but I think the story itself was too simplistic.
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