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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
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Hurt Locker, The
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Goodbye Solo
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Tulpan
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Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
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83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
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74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
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63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
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62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
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56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
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55
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54
Is Anybody There?
54
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54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Ushpizin
Picturehouse Entertainment LLC
MPAA RATING: PG for mild thematic elements
Starring
Shuli Rand,
Michal Bat-Sheva Rand,
Shaul Mizrahi,
Ilan Ganani,
Avraham Abutboul,
and
Daniel Dayan
Director Gidi Dar's film, Ushpizin (roughly translated as "holy guests"), is a revelatory and humorous look at the daily lives of ultra-orthodox Jews learning, living and loving in modern-day Israel. (Picturehouse)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
Foreign
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Shuli Rand
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Giddi Dar
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: April 4, 2006
Theatrical: October 19, 2005
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
90 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Israel |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Hebrew / Yiddish (with English subtitles) |
Original title "Ha'Ushpizin"; Best Actor (Rand), 2004 Awards of the Israeli Film Academy

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
Does what the best movies can do: take viewers to what might be unfamiliar places, into a culture with unique customs and traditions, and show, through drama and comedy, how the fundamental truths of the human experience need no translation.

83
Portland Oregonian
Marc Mohan
In addition to providing a fascinating, agenda-free look at an unseen way of life, the film presents a lesson that should be welcome among people of any faith or none at all.

83
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
The unusual intimacy and authenticity can't be faked: The cast is peppered with nonprofessionals, most notably Michal Bat Sheva Rand.

83
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
Jew or Gentile, a good story well told is a thing to be cherished.

78
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
The Israeli comedy Ushpizin begins something like Guy Ritchie's "Snatch" and ends like the Coen brothers' "Raising Arizona" – in between it's a wholly original movie.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Walter Addiego
You need not be a believer to appreciate its humor and humanity.

75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Ushpizin takes us to a fascinating place, and hands out the sort of brochure that tourists always need but seldom get -- the charming kind, fun to ponder and rewarding to browse.

75
Miami Herald
Marta Barber
Ushpizin may not turn out to be as popular as Miracle on 34th Street, but if you believe that miracles can happen, it is a perfect outing during the holidays.

75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
The new Israeli movie Ushpizin, a film about man's clumsiness and God's grace, is a touching and amusing tale that expands our horizon and also should open our hearts.

75
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
On paper, Ushpizin (Aramaic for "holy guests") looks like a hard sell. It works, however, thanks to a witty script and believable performances from real-life husband and wife.

75
TV Guide
Ken Fox
There's little difference between this joyful holiday film and the standard-issue yuletide-miracle movie, except that the holiday isn't Christmas.

75
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
Gentle and affecting, it offers an introduction to a mostly unfamiliar world while touching on issues recognizable to all.

70
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
Stylistically Ushpizin belongs to a classic tradition of raucous Yiddish comedy that is easy to enjoy if taken lightly. At the same time, it sustains a double vision of ultra-Orthodox life.

70
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
As directed by Gidi Dar, Ushpizin has a disarming folk quality.

70
The Hollywood Reporter
Sheri Linden
In the charming comedy-parable Ushpizin, religious orthodoxy inspires not unbending dogma but humble, sometimes baffled spiritual striving by its embraceable, flawed characters.

70
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
A warm, conciliatory entertainment.

70
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
A gently humorous fable about the power of faith and the possibility of change, Ushpizin not only takes place in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, it was filmed with that media-shy group's cooperation and followed religious law at all times.

70
Chicago Reader
Andrea Gronvall
The ability of faith to reintegrate a damaged personality is one theme here, although the film doesn't strive for psychological realism; in its heartfelt embrace of religion as ethical path, it owes more to the bygone Yiddish drama than to psychodrama.

70
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
A charming comedy with a philosophical undercurrent that provides a fascinating glimpse of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Jews, who live in a realm almost literally sealed off from outsiders. But the most remarkable thing about the film is that it exists at all.

70
The New Republic
Stanley Kauffmann
The picture has enough good feeling and chuckle to take it out of the parochial.

70
Dallas Observer
Luke Y. Thompson
A good-hearted movie aimed at Orthodox Jews who don't normally go to the movies.

60
Variety
Jay Weissberg
An enjoyable seriocomic tale of a poor couple whose holiday-time miracle becomes a test of faith.

60
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Most revelatory here is Malli, who defies the stereotype of submission and subservience and emerges as a woman of self-possession and substance. (The earthily beautiful Bat-Sheva Rand infuses the character with a generous dollop of her own zaftig sensuality.)

60
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
Ushpizin's effortlessly authentic depiction of Jewish orthodoxy--and the palpable, almost ecstatic sense of joy its characters take in it--ultimately tips the film's hand.

60
Empire
David Hughes
A flawed but fascinating (and frequently funny) insight into a culture seldom explored on film from an insider's point of view.


The average user rating for this movie is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
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