“If it is given me to save a life, all thanks.  But it is also within my power to take a life”. Hippocratic Oath.   Baltasar Kormakur accomplishes a remarkable feat of directing himself in this stunning thriller set in the frigid, gloriously pristine landscape of Reykjavik, Iceland; “Finnur” (Kormakur) a renown heart surgeon, has a seemingly perfect life, blessed …

Writer/Director Hallie Meyers-Shyer, daughter of Nancy Myers (“It’s Complicated”) tries, unsuccessfully to clone themes from past Myers films; which might have worked if the characters had not been shallow, paper mache replicas, ubiquitous in a myriad of B-movies: separated, forty-year-old mother, “Alice” (Reese Witherspoon’s effervescence fizzled at the halfway point) with two synthetically, precocious daughters “Isabel” and “Rosie” (Lola Flannery, …

“Dancing is the highest intelligence in the freest body” spoken by Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), an icon of innovative, communicative movement. Husband/wife directors, Angelin Preljocaj and Valerie Muller have presciently adapted Bastien Vives’s novel into a visual homage; the transformation of a spirited, precocious, classically trained ballerina into a contemporary, avant garde interpreter of movement; a translation of the soul into tangible …

This was the summer of discontent in filmic mediocrity; “The Beguiled”,”A Ghost Story”, “Landline”, a few fabulous flops, earning top grades for ennui, enervation and exhaustion. The anemic, paltry product led me to visit Patrick Hughes’s “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”, expecting explosive vapidity I was gleefully surprised to find myself laughing out loud, enjoying predictability, but primarily the comedic charms of …

The tulip is my most favorite flower; I love its capricious personality, its up and down mood swings; I love its heartiness, its whimsy, its myriad of colors; tulips shed happiness, satisfaction, warmth. Unfortunately Director Justin Chadwick’s adaptation of Deborah Moggach’s seventeenth novel lacks the pungency, redolence, joy, blooming potency of the magical tulip. Actors Alicia Vikander, Christoph Waltz, Dane …

Director Eliza Hittman, tackles with unbiased honesty, the grey befuddled, muddled area between boyhood and manhood; painful indecisiveness of one’s sexuality, conforming or railing against society’s code of acceptance; nineteen-year-old “Frankie” (British actor Harris Dickinson, overwhelms in this poignant, heartbreaking role,  coming to terms with burgeoning homosexuality, a looming frightening future; beyond handsome, he is a magnet for women and …

At “times” movie titles make absolutely no sense, no segway into the scenario; the viewer, if unaware of the synopsis, is befuddled; “Clockwork Orange”,” Reservoir Dogs”, “Cloverfield” but “Good Time” written and directed by Benny and Josh Safdin, tips the scale in nonsensical, baffling titles; they have created another gritty crime caper in the bowels of New York City’s disenfranchised, …

Predictability can be totally refreshing especially with the “dog” films of summer; watching “A Gentleman”, tumultuous reality, gritty politics and crime were suspended in favor of a raucous romp through Miami, Mumbai and Goa; gorgeously-paired Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez, destined to bond, flirt, sing and dance, creating a sugary confection of romance and intrigue, ubiquitous on the Bollywood screen. …

To preserve your sensitives and sanity, with the exception of the ending, you’d be best served watching in “mute”; the luscious Spanish landscape (even in a deluge) and delectable cuisine, suffered with the innate, stale prattle of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon on their third (hopefully final) traveling trilogy; so tiresome is the monotonous mimicking of Robert De Niro, Marlon …

By far the most terrifying film of 2017; “Annabelle” cannot touch the intrinsic terror of this film; “Ingrid” (Aubrey Plaza, dazzles) is overwhelming pathetic; her existence is defined by Instagram, Twitter, etc. highlighted by emoji’s; loneliness has plundered her reason, she suffers a psychotic fracture after destroying a wedding she wasn’t invited to; rehabilitation has honed her electronic stalking skills; …