Recently there have been a plethora of films based on real- life, unknown characters, with the absence of fiction even mediocre movies generate positive responses: “The Railway Man” (Erik Lomax); “Walking With the Enemy” (Pincas Tibor Rosenbaum) and “Belle”, directed by Amma Asante, the remarkable story of “Dido Elizabeth Belle”  an aristocratic woman of mixed race; raised by her great …

Trouble threatened when I started rooting for the villains, their mission was clearly defined, whereas “Peter Parker” was in an indeterminate ennui, limbo; having graduated from High School (a real age stretch), debating between doing his laundry or saving the city from catastrophic electrocution; Spider Man falls into the malaise that so many contemporary juveniles experience; needing time to “find …

For those of you with a challenged attention span I am giving this salacious sludge, staring the stammering savant (Woody Allen) 1/2 star. Mr. Allen has gifted his legacy to actor/writer/director John Turturro. “Fading Gigolo” is a pathetic scenario revolving around an inventive florist “Fioravante” (Turturro), financially destitute, who allows himself to be conscripted into male prostitution by his friend …

Tom Hardy as “Ivan Locke” gives one the most remarkable,  profound performances I have ever seen; breathtakingly poignant, his mellifluous, honey-infused Welsh accent, carries the film through travesties and pain; never suffering a loss of control; his universe crumbles as he refuses to be deterred from his mission. Written and directed by Steven Knight (“Eastern Promises”), this brilliant, poetic tale …

On a recent trip to Amsterdam my friend and I spent time at the Portuguese Synagogue, Jewish History Museum and the Dutch Theatre (holding venue for thousands of Jews, before being sent to various concentration camps); painfully and powerfully connected to WWII, a shameful testimony to genocide, yet positive, because it challenges visitors to reflect and never forget the ultimate …