Howie Movshovitz
Film CriticHowie Movshovitz came to Colorado in 1966 as a VISTA Volunteer and never wanted to leave. After three years in VISTA, he went to graduate school at CU-Boulder and got a PhD in English, focusing on the literature of the Middle Ages.
In the middle of that process, though (and he still loves that literature) he got sidetracked into movies, made three shorts, started writing film criticism and wound up teaching film at the University of Colorado-Denver. He continues to teach in UCD’s College of Arts & Media.
He has been reviewing films on public radio since 1976 (first review: Robert Altman’s Buffalo Bill and the Indians). Along the way he spent nine years as the film critic of The Denver Post, and has been contributing features on film subjects to NPR since 1987.
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The new movie Lee, starring Kate Winslet, tells about the life of famed American photographer and war correspondent Lee Miller. Miller lived an astonishing life from the 1920s into the ‘70s, but KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, says the story never quite jells, although the film often looks rich and full. -
The 51st Telluride Film Festival ended on Monday evening. Compared to other famous festivals, like Cannes or Berlin, Telluride is tiny – it runs for just four days over Labor Day weekend. Telluride does not reveal its schedule in advance. The audience comes on trust – many say it’s simply the best festival in the world. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz agrees. -
Besides his many famous movies, Martin Scorsese has also made films about films – personal journeys, as he’s called them, through American and Italian movies. His new work, Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, explores the collaboration of two of the world’s greatest filmmakers, who are no longer well-known. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz says Scorsese again shows his remarkable knowledge and understanding. -
The new documentary 'Copa 71' looks at the status of women’s soccer over the past 115 years or so, with a focus on the first FIFA Women’s World Cup played in 1971. But the film is about a lot more than the game of soccer. -
Richard Linklater is not one of the superstar filmmakers, but since 1988, he’s made 35 movies. He’s one of the key independent filmmakers of the 1990s who’s still doing significant work now. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, Linklater’s unobtrusive style has never been so powerful as in his new picture Hit Man, about someone who’s not exactly what he seems — or maybe he is. -
The new movie Humane from Caitlin Cronenberg is a brave effort to create a horror film based in modern climate woes. It's compelling at the start but fails to maintain depth as the movie winds on. -
In 1975, just months before the celebration of the American bicentennial, Robert Altman released his film Nashville. At the time, it was taken as a provocative statement about this country. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz says that the reactions of his students indicate this 49-year-old movie still holds its power. -
The 28th Denver Jewish Film Festival opens on March 9 with eight days of films and events relating to Jewish life and the Jewish experience rooted in the present and the past. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz says that the festival takes on particular importance amid a time of rising anti-Semitism and conflict. -
The title of the new film by Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest, is a bland Nazi designation for the area surrounding the Auschwitz concentration and death camps during World War II. The movie comes from a novel by Martin Amis, and KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz calls the movie utterly chilling. -
The new film Ferrari imagines the larger-than-life figure of Enzo Ferrari, the one-time race driver and then head of the company that built the cars famous for speed, elegance and expense. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz says that it’s a jumbled movie of mixed tones – and that may be the point.
