Hollywood

Here is a series where the refined performances transcend the subject matter: Chris Evans is spectacular as assistant district attorney “Andy Barber” fighting to clear his fourteen-year-old son “Jacob” (prodigious Jaeden Martell) of murdering his classmate; Michelle Dockery as Jacob’s mother “Laurie” is categorically impressive as she analyzes her son’s behavior from infancy to the present; Cherry Jones, as Jacob’s …

Karmically, randomly one stumbles, without intent or purpose, upon a series so deliciously, devastatingly dynamic, one questions how/why it escaped one’s filmic radar screen; writer/director Dana Fox’s ardent, innovative, interpretation of real life, nine-year-old journalist, crime solver, Hilde Lysiac is worthy binging for all ages.  “Home Before Dark” soars with the magical, mesmerizing, spellbinding Brooklynn Prince as “Hilde Lisko” solving …

Dated. Was the only word that resonated throughout the entirety of this sad and beleaguered tale of injustice in the 1960’s wildwest; archival actors Diane Lane and Kevin Costner give seasoned depictions of grandparents traveling across country to retrieve their grandson from the miscreant members of the lawless “Weboy” family (their son has died and his widow remarries into this felonious clan; reasoning behind …

Directors Gerald Bush and Christopher Renz place their directorial debut “Antebellum” in the “horror” genre; in actuality, it is simply, salaciously horrible; a film of such preposterous, ludicrous, inciteful intentions, disgust is the only legitimate reaction to this swill.  Commencing with a focus on the inhumane institution of slavery, the egregious behavior of the Southern populace, dehumanization and savagery perpetrated …

THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT  (NETFLIX): is a soaring series, devoted to the intricacies of chess, and the fragility of human nature; orphaned at the age of nine, “Beth Harmon” (Isla Johnston/Anya Taylor-Joy) discovers in the bowels of the orphanage a maintenance man (“Mr. Shaibel”, depicted brilliantly by Bill Camp) whose dedication to the game of chess, ignites a passion that steers …

Liam Neeson, softens his edges in, by far, the quirkiest love story of the current century; as the “in and out” bank bandit “Tom Cooper” he has slithered from one institution to another, undetected, accumulating millions, housed at a storage facility; an instant sighting proves fatal, he succumbs to the scintillating magnetism of “Annie” (Kate Walsh) manager of the warehouse, …

This film would not have been my choice, “New Order” or “Tomorrow, the World!” were far superior; but “Sweat”, which also took the award for Best Art Direction, spoke to the pervasive narcissism saturating social media in today’s milieu: ubiquitous sharing, from morning through evening, following gorgeous exercise guru “Sylvia Zajac” (Magdalena Kolesnik) motivating her fitness fans, walking her dog, visiting family, shaming her stalker, culminating in her …

MEMORY HOUSE (BRAZIL). Haunting in its meanness, baseness, ugliness, the purist depiction of “man’s inhumanity to man” splayed upon the screen, in recent “memory”. There is not one redeeming characterization in its entirety; evil blooms exponentially with each generation. TWO STARS!! KUBRICK BY KUBRICK (FRANCE, POLAND) ( ENGLISH, FRENCH, ITALIAN). By watching this insightful documentary, director Gregory Monro’s unveiling of …

Skipping negativity, focusing on positivity. The plusses of viewing from home: no dress code, heathy cuisine, seat is permanent, unrestricted bathroom breaks; viewer determines the genre and the time to watch.  Now in its fifth day, here is a wrap-up of movies seen: APPLES (GREECE). A simple, poignant tale of an amnesiac; beginning and ending with a bouquet of flowers; …

The treasured unknown, a plague of confusion; riveting intelligence reverberates at the core of this stunning interpretation of Henry James’s “The Turn of the Screw”; demanding a malleable, pliable intellect, “The Haunting of Bly Manor” guarantees troubling, taunted dreams, questioning the unseeable, but tangible nonetheless. For those who have experienced Déjà vu, possess a “sixth sense”, second sight, or share the attributes of Macbeth’s witches, an inexplicable clairvoyance, your receptiveness will be …