Incredulous, that the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution has yet to be ratified, after decades of crusaders pulverized opponents, attaining notoriety on an unprecedented scale: “Mrs. America” focuses on feminine forces, both yeas and nays, in this fascinating dissection of the female arena, framework of women grabbing control of their lives, thus enabling gratification to those who …

Dimensionless days, no longer defined by obligations, just “long day’s journey into night”; director Sam Hargraves “Extraction” piqued my interest solely because of the title; the universe has been “extracted” from the known, mundane, minutia, parameters that delineate Sunday’s from Friday’s; “Extraction” takes viewers into the crime-infested world of Bangladeshi drug lords and the kidnapping of “Ovi” (Rudraksh Jaiswal) the …

No matter your interest, macro or micro, in the sport’s arena, “The Last Dance” (ESPN, & Streaming devices) is worth every viewing second; parts 1, & 2 aired Sunday, April 19th continuing through Sunday, May 17th, 2020.  “The Last Dance” three words conjuring memories of prom nights, weddings, once in a lifetime celebratory events, reverberating with profound poignancy, lending a …

Unlike the first two seasons, this third scenario is relentless in its pulsating, pulverizing intensity; each breathless episode, taut with friction, bludgeons viewers with harrowing action, massive slayings, kidnappings; friendly fire, wreaking havoc on the “unit”; regulars: Doron, Nurit, Gabi, Steve, Avichay, Eli in grubby, heightened form, intrepidly infiltrate Gaza, to retrieve two Israeli hikers, kidnapped by escapees father/son “Jihad …

Aware that a third series was on the visual horizon, I ventured to re-watch the first two seasons; an exercise that exponentially increased my admiration for the intense creativity, prodigious performances and depiction of the complexities pervasively percolating between Israelis and Palestinians. STOP NOW if you are planning to view “Fauda” (chaos); it is a FIVE STAR, thrilling series. Writer/actor …

Days have lost delineation, season’s anticipations in limbo; monotony, intimidating, threatening benign ennui, Netflix to the rescue: “TIGER KING”: surprisingly compelling, the “catfighting” saga between  “polar” forces: Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, Don Antle, all under the guise of animal protection, procreation; as an urbanite I found the intensity of the protagonists captivating; producer Rick Kirkman, fairly narrates all sides of …

“Thou shalt not kill” is the fifth of the proverbial ten commandments and Italy, the heart of the Holy See, throbs with Catholicism’s precepts; beating at the core of many Italian films and television series is a nonchalant, cavalier disregard for the “rules”; a sensual, delectable decadence pulsates redolently, enhanced by actors such as Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Bellucci, …

Eric Lawson’s newest book, “The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz”, and “The Red Lotus” a novel by Chris Bohjalian, disparate times, but astoundingly on point in today’s Dystopian reality; what London and its people withstood during traumatic WWII, in light of present realities, elicits strong comparisons; “The Red Lotus” clairvoyantly address …

Possibly living so close to the edge, their series and films soar in depicting a world the masses could not envision. At this Dystopian hiatus, here are a few enthralling, captivating slices, experienced by a nation that dauntlessly refuses to die: Watch back to back:  “SHITISEL”/ “SRUGIM”; (NETFLIX) Two versions of orthodoxy: “Shitisel” extreme Haredi Jews living in Geula, Jerusalem; …

Writer/director Eliza Hitman’s painfully insightful portrait of a teenager’s journey to terminate an unwelcome pregnancy resonates with the bleakness of director Cristian Mungiu’s 2007, “4 months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”; “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” unveils the trauma, bullying of “Autumn” (presciently depicted by first time actor Sidney Flanigan), a pregnant small town Pennsylvania high schooler and her cousin “Skyler” …