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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Minari has won a host of awards at film festivals around the country, and most recently it received Golden Globe nominations for its entire cast and for Best Foreign Language Film. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film and television at CU-Denver, the language of Minari is Korean, but it’s an American film. -
The new movie Supernova shows two men, together for 20 years, and one of them is failing. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, the film is gorgeous — which may not be all good.
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The new movie, The Dig, centers on a famous archaeologic site in England, just before the start of World War II. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film and television at CU Denver, the film should have dug a little deeper.
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The new movie Pieces of a Woman is about childbirth gone bad and how a young woman copes with her grief. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film and television at CU-Denver, the sight of these experiences from a woman's point of view is a revelation.
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The new movie Gunda is in black and white and tells no story. But for all its simplicity, for KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film and television at CU-Denver, Gunda is a tremendously lively film.
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The new movie Ammonite features two major stars — Saoirse Roman and Kate Winslet — and some graphic sex. But for KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film and television at CU-Denver, there's not much else going on in the film.
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The new film Hillbilly Elegy is based on the best-selling 2016 memoir by J.D. Vance, who grew up in dreadful circumstances in Appalachia and southern Ohio. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, the picture tests the meaning of the word "elegy."
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The 11-year old documentary film festival called DOC NYC is the largest all-documentary festival in America. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film and television at CU-Denver, DOC NYC offers an astonishing range of films.
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Wayne Wang has been making films since 1976. They include Chan Is Missing, Dim Sum, The Joy Luck Club and Smoke. His new film, Coming Home Again, is nervy and unsettling.
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The Denver Film Festival opens next week for the 43rd time, but, of course, in an unusual pandemic way. Some films will show at drive-ins; others will be streamed, along with filmmaker conversations and discussions. There are lots of films to watch. And KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film and television at CU-Denver, has three he’d like to recommend.
