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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Italian writer and director Dario Argento is famous among horror movie lovers, but his first film in ten years, Dark Glasses, is not his best, says KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz.
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The 45th Denver Film Festival opens Wednesday, Nov. 2 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 13, with a slate of 239 films, counting features and shorts. The festival has returned to an in-person/in-theaters event. Tickets are on sale and KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film at CU-Denver, has a few suggestions.
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A new documentary, called Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche looks back at a terrible event at a California ski resort. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz says the movie gives more than an account of what happened then.
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The Telluride Film Festival, which takes place each year over Labor Day weekend is unusual in several ways – its remote location, its downplaying of celebrity and its relatively short length. Film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film at CU-Denver, says Telluride gives equal respect to films of the past and the present.
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Friday marks the opening of the 49th Telluride Film Festival, a four-day celebration of the movie which began in 1974 in what was then a run-down old mining town and today is an international destination resort. But for KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film at CU-Denver, what counts is that the festival still champions some of the finest films of the present and the past.
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The new movie Spin Me Round tells a story about a young restaurant manager sent to Italy by her company, only to find something other than food education. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, the picture lies somewhere between comedy and horror, but not even the filmmakers seem to know.
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A new film called Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel chronicles some of the history of New York’s Chelsea Hotel, which became infamous in the 1960s and ‘70s for the wild behaviors of famous rock musicians and artists. Many people just thought of the Chelsea as a haven for chaos and addicts. But KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film at CU-Denver, says the movie and the place are far more complicated than that.
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In the new French comedy My Donkey, My Lover and I, a young woman takes a hike with a donkey. That may not sound promising at first, but KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, who teaches film at CU-Denver, says the picture has charm and brains – and both characters are played by fine actors.
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The Boulder Chautauqua has run a summer silent film series for years. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz — who also directs the Denver Silent Film Festival — said that while the schedule is sadly limited this year, both the films and the live musical accompaniment are terrific.
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In the mountains of northern Idaho, two young women herd cattle in a new movie called Bitterbrush for the sagebrush-like plants that cover the dry lands below the peaks. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz says Bitterbrush is a touching picture of solitude and the beauty of the natural world.