In the beginning of Roberto Benigni's "Life is Beautiful," a narrator announces: "This is a simple story, but not an easy one to tell." This brief statement encapsulates "Life is Beautiful" better than any other.
Much has been written about this film - a lot of people calling this movie a comedy about the Holocaust. It is not. "Life is Beautiful" is funny, but never makes light of the horror of 13 million dead human beings.
Film delves into tragic beauty
Nearby, the mysterious metropolis that introduced the world to techno music awaits its renaissance. Late tomorrow night, five of the men pivotal in the conception of techno music a decade ago will come together in Detroit for a very special performance.
'Fluid' techno flows into Detroit
For many families, watching Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" has become a Christmas tradition, earning it a place as this century's most frequently performed ballet.
Now, for the third year in a row, the University Musical Society is bringing a new version of this classic ballet to Michigan for the holiday season. "The Harlem Nutcracker" will be performed in a larger venue this year - the Detroit Opera House - rather than in Ann Arbor, making the performance open to more people.
Tradition dances to Detroit
I imagine that Peter Berg has bumper stickers plastered all over his office, and one of them says, "Friends help you move. Real friends help you movie bodies." That pithy little maxim could easily have been the inspiration for Berg's off-the-wall, off-the-charts writing and directorial debut, "Very Bad Things" - inspiration and then some.Very great film succeeds
Murky plot halts epic tale: Into the Wilderness
Welcome to the melodrama forest. Like many works of historical fiction, "Into the Wilderness," by Sara
Donati, struggles to find its way through the woods of overused plots and character types prevalent in
historical fiction. Its main characters, Elizabeth and Nathaniel, though charming in their own right, could
have just as easily starred in "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman."
11-25-98
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