A paragon of fortitude, courage, selflessness; Harriet Tubman (1820?-1913) depicted with monumental, staggering, dignity by actor Cynthia Ervio; Tubman, whose visage is worthy of any currency, stamp, postcard; canonization should be hers. Director Kasi Lemmons, without empiricism, gifts Harriet Tubman the lionization she earned, won, by standing against and treading upon evil: “people were not meant to own other people.” …

From the first scene I was ambushed, happily held captive; reminiscent of archaic Humphrey Bogart movies; Edward Norton gives viewers a character of comprehensive uniqueness; afflicted with Tourette’s syndrome, in tandem with a photographic memory, private detective “Lionel Essrog” (Motherless Brooklyn) relentlessly pursues his boss and closest friend’s killer; Bruce Willis as “Frank Minna” owns this minimal but gutsy role; …

Earlier this year I attended a lecture concentrating on the contributions, competitions, inventions of: Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), George Westinghouse (1846-1941), Nikola Tesla (1856-1943); the professor’s initial question was “who was the greater genius?”; the vast majority of upraised hands were for “Tesla”; over two hours of fascinating edification left me longing for the film, directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (“American …

Massively heralded by film festivals worldwide, I found director/actor Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit”  decidedly disturbing commencement, laden with solipsist sensationalism; nearing the end of WWII, German ten-year-old “Jojo” (extraordinary, mesmerizing Roman Griffin) and his imaginary friend Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi) taut the sardonic blessings of being a paragon of Nazism: blue-eyed, virulent, anti-Semitic Aryans; Jojo, armed and prepared to defend …