Hollywood

Before all the weirdness and withering into whiteness Michael Jackson was the youngest (1958-2009) of the legendary Jackson 5 founded by their father Joseph in 1964 in Gary, Indiana. He was a tyrannically brutal, controlling, ambitious patriarch of multi-talented progeny. (Coleman Domingo’s depiction borders on demonic divinity).  Recognizing the brilliant versatility of Michael but never addicted to his voluminous notoriety …

I accept defeat in my years’- long quest to eliminate the ubiquitous  bastardization of the word “like”; 2024’s “The Real Pain”, Kieran Culkin (Academy Award for Supporting Actor) and Jesse Eisenberg in competition for most “likes” in a film, that would have been twenty minutes shorter if half of them would have been eliminated. In director Kristoffer Borgli’s “The Drama” …

Shakespeare is pulsating throughout the present day in filmdom; proof in last year’s stunningly heart-wrenching movie “Hamnet” earning Jesse Buckley an academy award for playing Will’s wife. The ubiquity of Shakespeare’s enticing appeal throbs through modernity: Kenneth Branagh’s acuity gifted audiences in 1993’s  “Much Ado About Nothing” & 1996’s “Hamlet”; 1996’s “Romeo & Juliet” directed by Baz Luhrmann; a favored …

If Timothee Chalamet does not do a 2026 Docupic characterization of Thomas Edison, the 8.5 golden boy should find a worthy mantel in the home of Ryan Gosling who marvelously enchants viewers as scientist “Dr. Ryland Grace”. I loved every second of this film which could have cemented me to my seat even longer than its 156 minutes; devoid of …

“MARTY SUPREME”, was SMOKE/STACKED!!!!! Proof that “bad press” does not always lead to positive results. It was an interesting, stunningly attired evening, where the unnominated “Oscar” winner was Ozempic, succeeding in a myriad of size 2, zip ups; missed the rollie polies (pregnant exceptions). Host Conan O’Brien, blissfully starred in his sobriquets’ celebrating his Oscar fantasies; poise prevailed; not only …

Rachel Weisz’s dynamism has permeated many iconic films: “The Mummy”, “The Constant Gardner” (Oscar win), “About a Boy”, “The Favorite”, “The Bourne Legacy” and a myriad of others; her beauty, intelligence, in actuality, stun in maturity; so why would  she deign to play a fantastical, fanatical grunting, groaning middle-aged, sexually-starved, lustful teacher, salaciously thirsting after a  nubile younger, married scholar?  …

Every year, my selections, based solely on what I feel should win, not “will” win fall short of victory. 2025 was an empyrean film year, in Hollywood and Foreign; and all nominees are worthy of their respective nominations. Having seen all the films, several times, my choices are: BEST PICTURE: MARTY SUPREME BEST DIRECTOR:  PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON  “ONE BATTLE AFTER …

Stunningly styled, sensationally scripted, an air-tight plot reminiscent of films of legacy, movies like “Bullitt”, “French Connection”; actors at their peak, in absolute, believable control of their characters. A compelling film, satisfyingly perfect, based on Don Winslow’s novella directed and written by Bart Layton and Don Winslow,  performed by: Chris Hemsworth as  polished, nonviolent jewel thief  “Mike Davis”, Halle Berry, …

No longer do you have to wait! Streaming devices feature films nominated for Academy Awards; yes, at times you must pay “theatre prices” but never denies the tranquility of your favored couch. Here are a few features on Amazon Prime and Netflix. ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER: 13 Academy Award nominations; a crowd esteemed, but not mine (Sean Penn is worth …

Director Emerald Fennell’s (“Saltburn”) fecundity lies in her darkest, imaginative, iconoclastic psyche; within minutes Emily Bronte’s  (1818-1848) novel slips into obscurity, overshadowed by Fennell’s castration of  one of literature’s most turbulent, obsessive love stories written when Emily was twenty-seven; imbued with a bleak, wet landscape reminiscent of her home in the Yorkshire Moors of Northern England; dying of tuberculosis at …