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The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family (2021)

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by Ron Howard and Clint Howard Brothers Ron and Clint Howard recount growing up as child actors in Hollywood, navigating fame, family, and the pressures of show business while following very different paths into adulthood.  Ron Howard (l) and Clint Howard (r) The section on the filming of American Graffiti is riveting, and I was especially interested in Ron coming of age as a performer while also worrying about being drafted for Vietnam. Both brothers benefited from remarkable mentors, beginning with their father, Rance, and including people like Andy Griffith and Don Knotts. Ron’s story is one of unusual stability and steadily increasing success, while Clint follows the more familiar child-star trajectory of fading adolescent fame and serious addiction, although he eventually recovers. In different ways, both brothers eventually confront the same question: You’re not that cute kid anymore, so what are you going to do now? Rance and Jean Howard succeeded in creating a stable family...
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Tampopo (1985)

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Writer / Director: Juzo Itami Stars: Tsutomo Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Koji Yakusho, Ken Watanabe, Rikiya Yasuoka, Kinzo Sakura, Yoshi Kato, Hideji Otaki, Fukumi Kuroda A widow (Nobuko Miyamoto) struggles to change her late husband's ramen shop from a dingy hangout for local lowlifes to a top-flight eatery that will have the customers lined up around the corner.  A truck driver (Tsutomo Yamazaki) takes a break from his travels and assembles a posse of experts to help her.  Along the way, we are treated to a number of entertaining and enlightening vignettes about the various roles that food p lays in all our lives.  The satire in this film is far more gentle than it is in some of director Juzo Itami's other films, but it hits its mark unerringly.  Those who have not spent time in Japan may be puzzled by a few scenes.
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City of God (2002)

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Directors: Katia Lund, Fernando Meirelles Writers: Braulio Mantovani, from the novel by Paulo Lins Stars: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Jefechander Suplino This powerful film dramatizes the growth of organized crime in the ghettos of Brazil from the 60s to the 80s by focusing on a group of boys who grow up in the Cidade de Deus.  Fernando Meirelles’ and Kátia Lund’s film is one of the most astonishing and confident directorial debuts I can recall.  The shots are fluid and energetic and the film bursts with music.  The actors are non-professionals who were chosen to heighten authenticity.  Along with the violence, there is also a lot of humor.  Although the knowing way it portrays the cycle of violence that perpetuates a culture of crime can lead to hopelessness, the filmmakers allow a glimmer of hope in the character of Rocket, who uses a stolen camera and his acquain...
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Blue Velvet (1986)

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Writer / Director: David Lynch Stars: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange, Dean Stockwell, George Dickerson, Priscilla Pointer, Frances Bay A college student (Kyle McLachlan) discovers a severed human ear in a vacant lot and begins an investigation, uncovering a hidden world of violence, corruption, and sexual obsession concealed beneath the surface of an idyllic small town.  As he is drawn deeper into the mystery, he crosses paths with a terrifying, volatile, gas-huffing criminal (Dennis Hopper) whose brutality and unpredictability transform the investigation into a struggle for survival.  This film exemplifies why David Lynch became such an influential filmmaker.  His film is unsettling from beginning to end, but it never feels shocking just for the sake of being shocking.  Dennis Hopper’s Frank Booth is one of the greatest villains ever put on film: terrifying, unpredictable, comic, and strangely mesmerizing every time he’s ...
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