The best kinds of movies try to do something fresh. That was true with the special effects of 1902’s A Trip to the Moon (above), the use of deep focus in 1940’s Citizen Kane, and the 3D animation of Toy Story in 1995. In every case, the ambition works because the artistry – the story, the characters, or the ideas in play – demands it. Otherwise you’d be left with nothing but a sea of empty gimmicks.

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THE SPIRIT OF 1932: Our series continues with a gorgeous 4K restoration of Howard Hawks’ crime saga Scarface, a fictionalized variation on the Al Capone saga that captures the shocking grip of organized crime on American society in the midst of the Great Depression. More than 50 years before a crazed Al Pacino and his “little friend” took on the law in Brian De Palma’s famous remake, Paul Muni delivered an equally unhinged turn as Italian immigrant gangster Tony Camonte, whose…