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The quarter century mark is no minor milestone. But Jason Carney and the team at Phoenix Film Festival feel confident that they have put together a formidable lineup for the festival’s 25th anniversary, running March 27 through April 6 at Harkins Scottsdale 101. “Opening night is always exciting,” says Carney, the annual shindig’s longtime executive director. “This year, we have The Ballad of Wallis Island. It’s full of charm and comedy.” The film stars Carey Mulligan...

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The eephus is an extreme specimen of an off-speed pitch, very slow and very high, designed to throw off the batter’s timing. It’s a fine title for the movie Eephus. Like many elements of young Carson Lund’s disarming, deceptively unhurried baseball comedy, it seems to carry an allegorical resonance. The movie throws off our expectations; it takes its time, and it sails surprisingly high. It’s about a game played one beautiful early fall afternoon in the 1990s...