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Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan is the film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR's Morning Edition, as well as the director of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.
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Kenneth Turan

Review

Movies

Highlights of 58th Cannes Film Festival

L.A Times critic Kenneth Turan talks about notable films at the 58th Cannes Film Festival -- including Woody Allen's first feature filmed outside New York City. But Turan notes that despite the quality of this year's offerings, no one movie is causing a stir.

Highlights of 58th Cannes Film Festival

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Review

'Star Wars' Comes Full Circle

'Revenge of the Sith': The Power of the Dark Side

Has the power of the dark side been underestimated? Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the final chapter of the Star Wars series. He says it's easily the best of the trio of Star Wars prequels.

'Revenge of the Sith': The Power of the Dark Side

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Review

Movies

'Mad Hot Ballroom' Dances into Audience's Heart

Some fourth and fifth graders in New York City are the stars of the new movie Mad Hot Ballroom. Los Angeles Times movie critic Kenneth Turan says these kids will fox trot, merengue, rumba, tango and swing their way into your heart.

'Mad Hot Ballroom' Dances into Audience's Heart

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Arts & Life

'Heaven' Stars Scott's Gift for the Visual

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews Kingdom of Heaven. Gladiator director Ridley Scott's take on the Crusades features actor Orlando Bloom as a young blacksmith who saves the people of Jerusalem.

'Heaven' Stars Scott's Gift for the Visual

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Review

Arts & Life

An Inside Look at Enron

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews Alex Gibney's award-winning documentary, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Gibney adapted a book that chronicles the fantastic rise and demise of the company that was engulfed in scandal when its outrageous accounting practices were exposed.

An Inside Look at Enron

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Review

Movies

'The Interpreter': Intelligent but Too Ambitious

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews director Sydney Pollack's The Interpreter. The complex political thriller, which stars Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, is the first movie the United Nations has ever allowed to film at its headquarters in New York.

'The Interpreter': Intelligent but Too Ambitious

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Arts & Life

Re-release of 'Major Dundee' Closer to Peckinpah's Vision

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews the re-release of Major Dundee. The 40-year-old Western has been re-edited to more closely reflect director Sam Peckinpah's vision.

Re-release of 'Major Dundee' Closer to Peckinpah's Vision

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Arts & Life

French Film Is Well Worth a 'Look'

Los Angeles Times movie critic Kenneth Turan reviews the new French film Look at Me, directed by director Agnes Jaoui from a screenplay written by her husband. They are both actors who got so frustrated with the roles offered to them, they decided to make their own movies.

French Film Is Well Worth a 'Look'

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Arts & Life

Enigmatic Dad, Precocious Daughter: 'Jack and Rose'

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan says director Rebecca Miller's life with her famous father, the late playwright Arthur Miller, has given her a deft hand for the story she tells in her latest film. The Ballad of Jack and Rose centers on an enigmatic father, a precocious daughter and an island retreat.

Enigmatic Dad, Precocious Daughter: 'Jack and Rose'

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Arts & Life

'Best of Youth' Was Worth the Wait

Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan first saw Best of Youth, which was originally made for Italian television, two years ago at Cannes. He's been waiting to review the movie -- which intertwines one family's story with 40 years of post-war Italian history -- ever since. It was, he says, worth the wait.

'Best of Youth' Was Worth the Wait

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Arts & Life

Israeli Film 'Walk on Water' Tackles Social Issues

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews the new Israeli movie Walk on Water. He says the film takes on too many social topics but still manages to hold the viewer's attention.

Israeli Film 'Walk on Water' Tackles Social Issues

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Arts & Life

Film Documents Wild Parrots in San Francisco

On the breezy hills of San Francisco's Telegraph Hill, a homeless musician named Mark Bittner finds a place with a flock of wild parrots. Their friendship is documented in the film, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan says it's definitely a far cry from Hitchcock's The Birds.

Film Documents Wild Parrots in San Francisco

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Arts & Life

German Film 'Downfall' Mulls Hitler's Last Days

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews the German film Downfall, a retelling of Hitler's final hours with an emphasis on the human being at the center of an unspeakable wave of evil. It was a controversial hit in Germany, and has been nominated for a best foreign film Oscar.

German Film 'Downfall' Mulls Hitler's Last Days

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Review

Arts & Life

'Lost Embrace' Explores Argentinean Jewish Quarter

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan says Lost Embrace, an Argentinean film that is just now debuting in the States, is a charming and original story about ordinary life set in a Jewish neighborhood in Buenos Aires.

'Lost Embrace' Explores Argentinean Jewish Quarter

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