Theater/Film Reviews
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Life During Wartime
"Life During Wartime," writer-director Todd Solondz's fascinating new movie, opens today and expands the James Thurber-E. B. White fables about the Everlasting War Between the Sexes to the War Between, Among, About and Throughout the Sexes. In some respects, it is a loose sequel to his 1998 film, "Happiness," but it certainly works as a
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Cairo Time
People who like to drive in heavy traffic, or walk in busy cities as cars swarm by, will have some fun at "Cairo Time," which opens here today. So will viewers who feel a tingle of romance or desire when they think of Cairo, or the Pyramids, or the Nile. Toronto-based Ruba Nedda wrote and
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Cleanflix
It's tough to battle the Establishment, whether your cause is good, bad or somewhere in the middle, and Hollywood sure showed those Mormons in "Cleanflix," a documentary about movie content in Utah which headlines the Webster University Film Series today through Sunday. There are gray philosophical, political, moral and legal areas everywhere in the
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Get Low
Robert Duvall has been making movies–a solid majority of good ones, a large handful of great ones–since the dawn of history, or so it seems. He won an Oscar in 1983 for "Tender Mercies," and may have a good shot at another for "Get Low," his latest, which opens today and again displays him as
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Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel
When we discuss people who made a difference — technical, scientific, social — in the fabric of America in the 20th century, it's hard to avoid Hugh Hefner, and a new documentary, "Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel," opening today, is an interesting, if totally favorable, look at the man who put sex front and
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Patrik 1.5
We all know about typographical errors. Newspapers are full of them. People who rely on spell-check make many. They can undoubtedly be found on this blog. But when an adoption agency secretary's inadvertent period turns "Patrik 15" into "Patrik 1.5" we have the material for a comedy. Unfortunately, "Patrik 1.5," which opens today, tries to
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The Man of La Mancha
It is a play that celebrates the human condition, and all its triumphs and tragedies, just as its original author did, and the collaboration, with score by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion, and book by Dale Wasserman, created a magical musical. Joneal Joplin, a month shy of 38 years on St. Louis stages, brings complete
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Wild Grass
Alain Resnais directed his first film in 1936. His 49th, "Wild Grass," opens here today, and at the age of 88, he still shows his command of the medium, the sort of cinematic command that dramatically marked a pair of classics, "Hiroshima, Mon Amour," (1959) and "Last Year at Marienbad" (1961). He also shows his
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That Championship Season
Jason Miller knew about locker rooms, about athletes and about coaches, and his 1972 play, "That Championship Season," is one of the best depictions of the all-male (at that time) environment which eventually destroys the ephemeral charms represented by a trophy or two and a lot of praise. A good production, but one not without
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The Aristocats
If Ernie Banks were an actor, he'd love to be part of the Stages St. Louis company. The great Cubs shortstop would walk into the clubhouse and announce, "It's a beautiful day. Let's play two." Well, that's what a number of performers, both young and older, are doing at Stages–one play in the morning, another