Never has a more profoundly pessimistic movie such as “Loveless” been made in my memory. The Oscar-nominated Russian film is set in the bleak midwinter, where trees are stripped of greenness and heavy snow extinguishes all sign of life. There’s talk of the apocalypse on the radio. A thread of construction tape swings from a…

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Welcome to “Movies In Conversation,” a new Screen Beat feature at The Stanford Daily. Two writers will watch the same movie and offer differing opinions on it in open dialogue. This week, we will be focusing on “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” in which our critics Elaine Kim and Isaac Vaught explore the film’s unique (or…

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Here is a man, Reynolds Woodcock, who has treaded past his years ever so lightly, a true artiste, whose life is bespoken by his meticulous sensibilities. He treats his women like he treats his dresses: with discerning eyes, precise, brisk hands and a love so tender but not without a strain of ferocity. Only, women…

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This week, Screen beat film critics Elaine Kim and Noah Howard discuss Kenneth Branagh’s new film, “Murder on the Orient Express.”   Elaine Kim: Let’s start with the Murder on the Orient Express being a thoroughly mediocre movie. Noah Howard: It didn’t outright suck, but there was nothing to write home about. EK: I was…

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“If we place an object in the museum — for instance, if we took your bag and placed it here, would that make it art?” Christian, a mature but hip (his red-rimmed glasses, for example) curator of a respected art museum in Sweden, poses this question to a blonde American journalist with whom he will…

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Welcome to “Movies In Conversation,” a new Screen Beat feature at The Stanford Daily. Two writers will watch the same movie and offer differing opinions on it in open dialogue. This week, we’ll be focusing on Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to Blade Runner, “Blade Runner 2049,” which our critics Noah Howard and Elaine Kim believe to…

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Welcome to “Throwback Thursdays,” a new film feature at the Stanford Daily. Every Thursday (hopefully), the Arts & Life section will publish reviews highlighting older or more obscure works — sometimes both — that are currently not playing in traditional theaters. This week, we’ll be focusing on Ingmar Bergman’s final theatrical release, 1982’s “Fanny and Alexander.”…

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5. “The Lobster” Here’s a dark, cynical film that puts Tinder under the magnifying glass. The soundtrack swells with glorious cruelty and anxiety, as our main character struggles to find a partner under government-mandated incarceration in a hotel for singles. If he fails, he will be turned into an animal of his choice (a lobster).…

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“I’m not a princess. I’m the daughter of the chief!” exclaims the full-haired, cheeky Polynesian protagonist of “Moana,” who, despite her stereotype-breaking efforts, will surely appear in Disneyland’s Meet & Greet cue in no time. The beefy demigod Maui, played by ex-wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, chides her with words that hit too close to…

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Robert Zemeckis’s dull nostalgia shop “Allied” holds two brilliant actors hostage for a wartime romance, which evokes, but never lives up to the legacy of “Casablanca.” Their on-screen chemistry is immediately unleashed the moment Max Vatan (Brad Pitt), a Canadian intelligence officer stationed in North Africa, takes Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard), a French resistance fighter,…

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Director Park Chan-wook provides us with another sumptuous feast of revenge and counter-revenge with “The Handmaiden” (now playing at Palo Alto’s Aquarius Theatre for the next week). This time, he takes a fresh approach by creating a love tale between two female protagonists and dialing back his usual schtick of gratuitous bloodshed. (Looking at you, “Oldboy.”) Taking…

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It’s 2016. 3nder is a thing (look it up if you haven’t already). To sex or not: The answer is at your left/right swiping fingertips. Then there’s the visibility of queer issues — gay marriage, transgender bathroom bills, a slow toppling of the old hypermasculine order. The original “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” of course, has…

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