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On Demand picks

February 24, 2011

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SHAFT (Comcast Movies: All Movies) John Singleton’s rejiggering of the blaxploitation classic is cooler and grittier than the original, and more explosive. Half the job is done simply by the casting of Samuel L. Jackson — the undisputed king of cool, and believably dangerous — as the new Shaft, a cop with a short fuse running a vicious racist killer to the ground. Richard Roundtree, the original Shaft, climbs aboard as Shaft’s uncle. (R; runs through April 1)

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (Comcast Movies: All Movies) You’ve got to be strong to be loved by the kind of mother Shirley MacLaine plays. Debra Winger, Hollywood’s funky darling of the ’80s, is. And Jack Nicholson makes underplaying seem devilishly virtuosic as the ex-astronaut MacLaine allows to romance her. This comedy of loving, built around a mother-daughter relationship, won the Academy Award for best picture of 1983. (PG; runs through April 1)

THE DEER HUNTER (Encore on Comcast) Michael Cimino’s flawed but riveting movie about male bonding, the Vietnam War, American capitalism, and human relations is an unforgettable epic. Hammered together by the fiery images of Pennsylvania steel mills, horrifying scenes of violence, and the penetrating performance of Robert De Niro, this controversial, gut-wrenching movie shouldn’t be missed. (R; runs through April 15)

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