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Doc Talk: An incurable optimist, a fleeing fugitive, and an undaunted soul

A roundup of documentaries screening or streaming in Greater Boston.

Death becomes him

"Dick Johnson Is Dead" is filmmaker Kirsten Johnson’s wildly imaginative meditation on her father’s mortality.

The Danish documentary ‘Flee’ is the latest reminder that animation doesn’t have to be just for children

On the Oscar short-list for both international film and documentary feature, “Flee” uses animation to tell the story of Amin, an Afghan refugee, and uses it very effectively. In terms of content, this is most definitely not animation as child’s play.

‘Flee’ goes from Afghanistan to Denmark, with a lifetime in between

What makes this Danish documentary distinctive is that most of it is animated. What makes it memorable is the story it tells of a refugee’s struggle.

MOVIE REVIEW | ★★½
In ‘Munich — The Edge of War,’ peace is hard to come by
George MacKay and Jeremy Irons star in this Netflix adaptation of Robert Harris’s best-selling historical thriller.

MOVIES
‘I think acting is an impossibly difficult thing’: Talking with Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, director of ‘Drive My Car’
Reached recently by Zoom alongside a translator, Hamaguchi discussed his collaborative process of working with actors, finding eroticism in the everyday, and reworking Haruki Murakami's short story into an intimate epic.

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MOVIES
Martin Luther King Jr. giving his "I Have a Dream" speech. From "MLK/FBI.'

Two films to observe Martin Luther King Day

To commemorate Martin Luther King Day on January 17, a pair of documentaries will focus on two of the most important relationships in the civil rights champion’s life: that with his wife, Coretta Scott King; and with his nemesis J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI.

MOVIES
From "The School Garden."

Doc Talk: garden-fresh ideas; portraits from the artist; prison diary

A roundup of documentaries screening or streaming in Greater Boston.

MOVIE REVIEW | ★★★½
Hidetoshi Nishijima, left, and Tōko Miura in "Drive My Car."

‘Drive My Car’ has already won best picture awards from Boston to LA. Next up: Oscars?

Based on the short story by Haruki Murakami, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Japanese drama has already won critics’ best picture awards in cities across the country. Is it the finest movie of 2021?

MOVIE REVIEW | ★★★½
Milena Smit (left) and Penelope Cruz (right) in "Parallel Mothers."

In ‘Parallel Mothers,’ the past is very much present

Pedro Almodóvar’s seventh film starring Penélope Cruz is a classic woman’s picture — except that it’s not.

APPRECIATION
Sidney Poitier poses for a portrait in Beverly Hills, Calif., on June 2, 2008.

The power of Sidney Poitier’s stardom

Sidney Poitier was a living, breathing assertion that America might someday live up to its ideals.

Ben Affleck, left, in "The Tender Bar."

Ben Affleck talks about ‘The Tender Bar,’ sobriety, and what it’s like being ‘the guy from Boston’

With “The Tender Bar” starting to stream on Amazon Prime Jan. 7 — it opened in theaters last month — we asked the Cambridge native if he had a few minutes to chat. He said sure.

MOVIES
Getting that oceanic feeling in "Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness."

Looking for intimations of immortality

Two new documentaries ponder some eternal questions about eternity.

MOVIE REVIEW | ★★★½
Amir Jadidi in "A Hero."

‘A Hero’: when the arc of a fable takes on the weight of a tragedy

Asghar Farhadi’s drama is on the shortlist for the Oscar for best international feature.