Fellow Movie Lovers NORTH FACE (NORDWAND)………………………Soon to be released. Do not miss this exhilarating, enervating, “fasten the seat belt” German film! It revolves around mountain climbers and their quest to conquer the unfathomable summit of the Eiger Mountain (in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, 13.025 feet). This true saga occurs in July of 1936, three years into the diabolical reign of …

Fellow Movie Lovers EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES Over thirty years ago a close friend of mine was diagnosed with scleroderma (a debilitating connective tissue disease that involves changes in the skin, blood vessels, muscles and internal organs); she was given approximately six years to live; the younger of her two sons was six months old. As I watched this, not extraordinary, but …

Fellow Movie Lovers THE LOVELY BONES Those of you who read Alice Sebold’s 2002 novel of the same name will find this well-acted but tedious film a test of one’s concentrative powers. The genius of Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings and District 9) was on a directorial hiatus. The mundane script is rescued or resuscitated by Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) …

Fellow Movie Lovers EMMA JANE AUSTEN’S MASTERPIECE PREMIERS SUNDAY JANUARY 24TH ON PBS It was amazingly serendipitous when I arrived home from a gluttonous culture junket to New York City, where I had just seen the Jane Austen Manuscript Exhibit (Morgan Library), to find the CD of this remarkable mini series from a generous friend! I spent a delicious afternoon …

Fellow Movie Lovers Soon to be released: FISH TANK Andrea Arnold (Oscar winning creator of Wasp, 2004) delivers a knock out punch with this rough, raw and brutally honest film, attracting and repulsing, simultaneously. Mia (freshly discovered, Katie Jarvis) is fifteen, no longer in school, disenfranchised from, and hater of society; a pure misanthrope. Her only escape a pathetic imitation …

Fellow Movie Lovers THE WHITE RIBBON This sinister but compelling film by Michael Haneke is a study of the inhabitants of a small German town over a year’s time, 1913-14. A town so isolated or encapsulated that life revolves around farming, procreating and prayer; its existence rests in the hands of the powerful but just landlord, the Baron. His world …

Fellow Movie Lovers THE LOSS OF THE TEARDROP DIAMOND One could never doubt the prolific and prodigious talents of Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) and this lesser known work exemplifies the breath taking depth of his skill. He used as fodder for most of his works the dysfunctional family he was straddled with: alcoholism and madness were prime elements and he magically …

Fellow Movie Lovers SHERLOCK HOLMES This film is a sad and ridiculous example of the crucifixion of two fictional characters worthy of a better fate. And feted they have been throughout filmdom. Their have been fifty-nine actors, stage, screen and radio that have played Sherlock: John Barrymore, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Peter O’ Toole, Roger Moore. But it is Basil …

Fellow Movie Lovers ME AND ORSON WELLES This film focuses on a small episode in the life of Orson Welles. Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Robert Kaplow’s novel should be seen by all devotees of Orson Welles, one of the most remarkable minds of the twentieth century; William Shakespeare, the undisputed titian of the written word and those who willingly shed …

Fellow Movie Lovers CRAZY HEART Through the years there have been many iconic movies made about alcohol addiction and the devastation left in its wake. A few come to mind: The Lost Weekend, Ray Milland I’ll Cry Tomorrow, Susan Hayward Days of Wine & Roses, Jack Lemmon & Lee Remick Who’s Afraid of Virginia, Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor Animal …