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‘Tis the season, for many things, and among them are movies that mark the holiday season. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz wants to mention two films made during World War II that celebrate the holidays, but are also touching and exceptional entertainments.

The 47th Denver Film Festival opens today with a lineup of 188 films total, 115 of them feature-length documentaries or dramatic films. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz said he’s seen some of the movies in the festival and has a few suggestions.

The new movie Lee, starring Kate Winslet, tells about the life of famed American photographer and war correspondent Lee Miller. Miller lived an astonishing life from the 1920s into the ‘70s, but KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, says the story never quite jells, although the film often looks rich and full.

Besides his many famous movies, Martin Scorsese has also made films about films – personal journeys, as he’s called them, through American and Italian movies. His new work, Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, explores the collaboration of two of the world’s greatest filmmakers, who are no longer well-known. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz says Scorsese again shows his remarkable knowledge and understanding.

The new documentary 'Copa 71' looks at the status of women’s soccer over the past 115 years or so, with a focus on the first FIFA Women’s World Cup played in 1971. But the film is about a lot more than the game of soccer.

Richard Linklater is not one of the superstar filmmakers, but since 1988, he’s made 35 movies. He’s one of the key independent filmmakers of the 1990s who’s still doing significant work now. For KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz, Linklater’s unobtrusive style has never been so powerful as in his new picture Hit Man, about someone who’s not exactly what he seems — or maybe he is.

The new movie Humane from Caitlin Cronenberg is a brave effort to create a horror film based in modern climate woes. It's compelling at the start but fails to maintain depth as the movie winds on.

In 1975, just months before the celebration of the American bicentennial, Robert Altman released his film Nashville. At the time, it was taken as a provocative statement about this country. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz says that the reactions of his students indicate this 49-year-old movie still holds its power.

The 28th Denver Jewish Film Festival opens on March 9 with eight days of films and events relating to Jewish life and the Jewish experience rooted in the present and the past. KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz says that the festival takes on particular importance amid a time of rising anti-Semitism and conflict.

The title of the new film by Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest, is a bland Nazi designation for the area surrounding the Auschwitz concentration and death camps during World War II. The movie comes from a novel by Martin Amis, and KUNC film critic Howie Movshovitz calls the movie utterly chilling.