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— Mike Myers, Austin Powers

MRQE Top Critic

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Pic of the Week

Each week we pick a recommended "Pic" from our archives. Below are our most recent picks.

Finding Forrester

***2000, Gus Van Sant

Guardians of the Galaxy

***1/22014, James Gunn

It seems destined to be a legendary movie of quotability and huge replay value.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a geek-magnet with enough fire power to destroy an entire bucket of popcorn (jumbo-sized).

Absolut

***2004, Romed Wyder

If Eternal Sunshine didn’t have Charlie Kaufman and a big budget, it might have looked like Absolut

Dunkirk

****Christopher Nolan

A timely look at patriotism and unity in the face of adversity.

Dunkirk is virtuoso filmmaking.

Simply on the strengths of its technical execution alone, Dunkirk is a movie that should be experienced on the largest screen possible (ideally with IMAX 70mm film projection). Indeed, Christopher Nolan has taken his experiments in filming with IMAX cameras, first ventured with select scenes in The Dark Knight (2008), to filming the majority of Dunkirk in the extra-large format.

Backseat

***2005, Bruce Van Dusen

Good acting, a clever soundtrack, sharp dialogue, and unexpected situations

Kanal

***1956, Andrzej Wajda

An engaging story of struggle and survival in the Warsaw sewers

Andrzej Wajda crafted his entire career around stories of Polish culture and history and, having made an impact on the likes of such Hollywood luminaries as Steven Spielberg, he was presented with an honorary Oscar in 2000 for his lifetime achievement in film.

The Good Lie

***2014, Philippe Falardeau

Charismatic leads and a good heart prove enough for tale of Lost Boys

Director Philippe Falardeau gained notice and won awards with Monsieur Lazhar. That film tackled a difficult issue head-on, but with plenty of heart.

The Proposition

***2006, John Hillcoat

A violent story, but it offers things to think about on the way back home

Set in the 1880s Australian outback, The Proposition is a simple story brutally told.

The Green Wave

***2011, Ali Samadi Ahadi

What happened in Iran in 2009 led the way for the Arab democracy revolt

Recent events in Tunis, Egypt, Bahrain, and now Libya threaten to overshadow the Iranian election of 2009. The Green Wave sets out to make sure we don’t forget.

Good Morning, Vietnam

***1987, Barry Levinson

Dream role allowed Williams to capitalize on his manic humor while reaching more dramatic depths

Gooood morning, Vietnam! Wake up to the victorious odors of napalm, or at least the hyperkinetic shenanigans of Robin Williams, with the new Special Edition DVD of this quasi-classic wartime comedy.

Bill Plympton’s Dog Days

***1/22009, Bill Plympton

A treat for his fans, and a good introduction to Plympton’s work for newbies

When animator Bill Plympton was growing up, he aspired to be a cartoonist for Disney. If they’d given him a job, he would have had to tone down his twisted sensibilities, and the animation world would be poorer for it.

Scrubs Season Three

***2006

The third season is as just as good as the first two

As the fifth season of NBC’s Scrubs winds down, the third season comes out on DVD.

By now I’ll assume you’re up to speed on what Scrubs is (check the sidebar for previous seasons). The third season is the one where Elliot gets a new ‘do and dates an old boyfriend, J.D. dates Dr. Cox’s sister-in-law, and Carla and Turk get ready for their wedding.

Spectre

***1/22015, Sam Mendes

Skyfall’s a tough act for Spectre to follow

Skyfall’s a tough act for Spectre to follow, but nobody could do it better than director Sam Mendes.