2003-01-29 | 10:30 p.m.

corduroy licorice knew how to make the fur fly. he'd boxed up mink coats and ship them via air mail.

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sometimes i catch the 11:30 reruns of king of the hill. in one of this week's episodes, peggy and hank decide to go to mexico. hank exclaims, "buenos dias, mexico!" to which substitute teacher peggy giggles in reply: "oh, hank. you just said 'good god, mexico!' ohoho!"

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another good foreign film tip for those of you who don't mind "reading" movies: city of god. it's a brazilian film set in the crime-ridden, drug-pushing streets of a present day slum. the pitch line is: guy ritchie meets south america.

director fernando meirelles does a compelling job of weaving several young boys' stories together over the span of about 10 years starting in the '60s. his camera tricks rack up the "wow" points, although ritchie's influence is recognizable throughout. the casting is terrific with amazingly natural performances from kids recruited from the very slums they're acting in and around. the violence is rampant, but unfortunately true to the real-life tale. some criticize it for being more hustle than muscle, but it meets one of my biggest measures of a good film, which is to show me a place and people i might otherwise never have encountered. si, la pelicula es muy bueno.

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