Hollywood

With trepidation I watched, what initially was a prime example of pure madness, but morphed into a “coming of age” tale never before actualized, nor “ever” will be repeated.  Who, even in an inebriated state, would decide to bring his buddies, serving in the Vietnam War (approximately 1965-1975) a beer, (Pabst Blue Ribbon)? Well, John “Chickie” Donohue (1941-) had the …

Imagine, as a renown chef, you’ve conjured up the quintessential recipe, one that will cement your reputation eternally; flawless ingredients, meticulous preparation and painstaking skill factor into the concoction; with breathless anticipation you await, as the oven times the birth of your masterpiece, but alas, instead of a repast for the ages, it is a colossal bomb; a dud of monumental proportions, …

THE GOOD HOUSE &  VIKRAM VEDHA In “The Good House” Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline prove they are still at the pinnacle of their acting acuity and save the film from benign mediocrity.  Weaver depicts a successful real estate agent (Hildy “Good”), divorced from her gay husband, “Scott” (pungently depicted by David Rasche), mother of two daughters and an alcoholic, …

THE WOMAN KING This film screams with integrity, majesty and feminine mettle; a tour de force for Viola Davis, a marvelous warrior “Nanisca”, who does not suffer fools, is the focus of a film that should be visited by all. Referencing the forgotten history of Amazon Warrior Women, immortalized in Homer’s “The Iliad” they starred in their own battles and …

THE PATIENT (Hulu) Abashedly, a friend and I walked out of 2005’s “40-Year-Old Virgin” with no regrets, never revisited it; also ignored “The Office”; it wasn’t until “Foxcatcher” (2014) followed by “The Big Short” (2015) and “Beautiful Boy” (2018) that I awakened to the stimulating fact that Steve Carell was so much more than a funny man; incubating beneath a …

“BULLET TRAIN” (in theatres) It has been a rather thin, squishy summer of film; a myriad of mediocrity unworthy of brain waves, exceptions: “Top Gun”, “Official Competition”, “Hallelujah”, “Vengeance” and the recently reviewed “The Good Boss”. To shun ennui, I visited “Bullet Train” (Brad Pitt the primary draw); superciliousness on steroids but for some inexplainable rationale I found myself enjoying, …

Enchantment. Having been nurtured, commencing at birth, with an inbred love of mythology; demigods of supernatural, powerful, pungent positivity or daredevil, iconoclastic, detrimental negativity; there is no placid, imperturbable middle ground; weened on the hopes of a fairy tale, realized. Oh, and who has not wished for the magical “Genie in a Bottle”, granting three wishes? The fantastical appeals to all ages, demographics. Director …

“ORPHAN: FIRST KILL” (streaming & in theatres) Isabelle Fuhrman gives a sensationally eerie depiction of a serial killer afflicted with Highlander Syndrome (hypopituitarism, stunted physical growth); she looks twelve but is thirty-one; an orphan from Estonia who poses as an American child, abducted years ago; Julia Stiles, “Tricia” the despondent mother, is equal to the challenge of a newfound daughter. …

James A. Michner’s “Texas” is an edifying novel about the vast state of Texas; it is mammoth, it could fit ten European countries, with room to spare, at approximately 270, 000 square miles (170,902,080 acres) and close to 30 million people; yet it is rare to meet someone who willingly leaves the state; Michner clarifies the anomaly. Because of its …

Last Sunday’s New York Times’s extensive article on writer/director Michael Mann, concentrating on his upcoming movie “Heat 2”, piqued my interest in a film I had never seen; a film of exceptional power, staggering achievement, mesmerizingly dazzling; “Heat” should be seen by anyone who wallows willingly in film’s “absolute beauty, visual joy and dreamlike sensibility”. “Heat” is a crime tale …