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“He gave us a piece of his fire so we could help ourselves in a business that did not acknowledge us in a manner that we wish to be acknowledged,” recalled Diahann Carroll. “For those who had no voice & those who seemingly had no hope, [he] made the world a better place,” Quincy Jones…

10 NEW TO NETFLIX “American Hustle““The Bourne Identity““Holy Spider““How to Train Your Dragon““Inception““Inside Man““The Last Stand““The Mustang““Psycho”“The Raid” 10 NEW TO HBO MAX “Across the Universe““Blazing Saddles““Contact““Coraline““The Exorcist““The Goonies““Office Space““The Shining““Twister““Unforgiven“ 6 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD Note: Criterion has also just released Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” films in a box set that will be reviewed individually…

Set in the 1944 ruins dotting the Finnish landscape during World War II, the deliriously fun violence of the extravagant exploitation war flick “Sisu” is deeply nationalistic. Painted in the surprisingly reverent iconography of the prospector, the grizzled, bearded Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila)—fashioned in a simple woolen shirt and suspenders—exists out of place and time when…

Jalmari Helander toys with the war movie in gnarly fashion with “Sisu,” a Midnight-ready actioner that earns comparisons to the likes of “Inglourious Basterds,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Terminator,” and “Rambo: First Blood.” The title term is a Finnish concept of will and determination, and we see that scene after scene as one famed Finnish…

For the first time since its inception amidst the alienating days of the Covid-19 quarantine, the Cinema Femme Short Film Festival will be hosting its first in-person screenings on the evenings of Sunday, April 30th, and Wednesday, May 3rd, at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre. This is the fifth installment of the festival founded by…