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FilmWeek: Our Reviews Of 'The Lovebirds,' 'The Trip To Greece,' 'The Painter And The Thief' And More Movies You Can Stream From Home

Issa Rae as Leilani, Kumail Nanjiana as Jibran of "The Lovebirds" from Netflix. (Skip Bolen/Netflix)

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Every week, Larry Mantle, who also hosts our newsroom's longtime public affairs show AirTalk, spends an hour talking about new films with KPCC film critics.

This week, Tim Cogshell and Angie Han join Larry to review this weekend’s new movie releases and share some of their recommendations:

“The Lovebirds”

  • Available on Netflix

Here’s Tim’s review:

"I thoroughly enjoyed this zany film. It’s a movie where everyone is talking fast and is being really sharp and witty, and you have to pay attention to it... if you’re not as sharp as they are, you’re going to miss all of the funny.”

“The Trip To Greece”

  • Available on digital & VOD (iTunes, Amazon Prime, Google Play & Vudu)

Tim said this:

“As is the case with all of these ‘Trip’ films, they’re very, very funny because [Steve Coogan & Rob Brydon] are absolutely hysterical impressionists — and really, really good dramatists too, for that matter. This one, I think, is the best... and this is why: there’s a whole lot more real in this one. These guys are playing Rob and Steve, but they’re not really playing themselves, they’re playing versions of themselves... and when I like these movies the most is when they really start to irritate each other. You start to realize, we’re no longer in a movie. He is really getting on his nerves right now.”

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“The Painter and the Thief”

Angie says:

“This is a really smart, sensitive documentary about an artist and the thief who stole two of her paintings. This starts out seeming like maybe it’s going to be a heist thing... but as you watch it, it becomes more about the unlikely friendship that develops between these two people, and then even from there it goes off in some unexpected directions. There are some really knockout moments in this movie that just really blew me away.”

“Lucky Grandma”

Angie’s review:

“This is the directorial debut for [Sasie Sealy] and what a start! This is such a stylish, sharp movie with such a strong sense of setting -- Chinatown in Manhattan -- and a strong sense of its characters. Depending on what part of the movie you’re watching, sometimes it’s very sweet, sometimes it’s a little bit sad, sometimes it’s even kind of scary... I had so much fun with this. I didn’t know what to expect going into this and I walked away feeling like I need to see more of what [Sealy] does next.”

Listen above to hear more in-depth reviews of these films and more:

ABOUT OUR CRITICS:

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