Hollywood

To be eighteen and graduating from high school in 2019; “The Year of the Pig” an astrological sign of generosity, diligence and tenacity; this astute graduating class has it all, especially “Amy” (Kaitlyn Dever) and “Molly” (Beanie Feldstein); brilliant students (Molly is Valedictorian, off to Yale College; Amy, to Botswana, enabling challenged women); both girls have shunned their fellow classmates, …

An enigmatic, voyeuristic, painfully plodding slice of intimacy, addiction in 1980’s London; “Julia”, (Honor Swinton Byrne) twenty-four, an entitled film student, succumbs to the slithering charms of “Anthony” (Tom Burke) whose garbled, pseudo-intellectualism, fed by his cocaine dependency, woos with vapid, arrogant, sickening poppycock;  Julia’s naivety refuses to recognize his villainy, depravity, as he plummets wantonly into moral turpitude; she …

It wasn’t a petit mal seizure that propelled me to venture into this “war zone” of peppered parabellum (semi automatic machine gun) it was the realization on Monday morning that, of the countless films I visit, rarely have I reviewed or seen more than three of the top ten weekend draws; this week, nada; agonizing over the finality of Game …

Honesty compels me to confess that I never sunk my literary molars into the realm of J.R.R.Tolkien’s (1892-1973) “The Hobbit” (1937) nor “The Lord of the Rings” (1954-55) but wallowed in mesmerizing captivation throughout Peter Jackson’s trilogy of these fantastical characters and places that sprung from the imaginative fecundity of one man; oh, to stroll clandestinely through the closets, corridors …

Director Jonathan Levine, writers Liz Hannah, Dan Sterling, but pivotally, stars Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen are grounds for visiting “Long Shot”; an unlikely duo, a stupefying example of “opposites bonding”; initially incomprehensible, with progression, systematically comprehensible; Secretary of State, “Charlotte Field” (Theron) anticipating a run for the Presidency hires “Fred Flarsky” (Rogen) a freelance writer, to pepper her speeches …

  Director/actor Ralph Fiennes, with intelligence and empathy, brings to fruition Julie Kavanagh’s biography “Rudolf Nureyev: The Life”; Fiennes studies Russian, adding legitimacy to his role as Pushkin, Nureyev’s ballet instructor, and neophyte Oleg Ivenko is vastly credible as iconic Rudi, a twenty-three-year-old, imbibing in the “garden of earthly delights” in Paris, 1961. The conundrum lies in Rudolf Nureyev’s inimitable, …

“Marveldom” scholarship is not required to appreciate the marvelous, metaphorical message pulsating at the epicenter of this stunningly fine and beautifully filmed morality movie. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo, excavate the core of Biblical, Talmudic, Vedic and Qur’anic texts, battles between righteousness and infamy; sacrificing one’s life for a greater good; passionately needing icons to venerate: those immune to the …

Regardless of your creed, or lack thereof, there are documented incidents, where science bows out, shrugs its shoulders and kneels to a higher power; “Breakthrough” based on the book “The Impossible” by Joyce Smith is such an event;  John (imposing performance by Marcel Ruiz) the fourteen-year-old, adopted son, of Joyce and Brian Smith (Josh Lucas) falls into a frozen lake …

When mediocrity stars in theatres, television can satiate the most discriminating, discerning viewer. Recently I watched three shows that resonated profoundly, leaving a luscious residue of memorable performances, extraordinary writing, staggering scenarios:   “The Politician’s Wife”: British miniseries (1995) starring Juliet Stevenson as a loyal but betrayed wife of Conservative Minister “Duncan Matlock” (Ian Bannen) with an “escort” (Minnie Driver). …

French director Claire Denis shares certain affinities with fellow filmmakers Terrence Malick and Lars von Trier; disturbing, ubiquitous uncertainty, aura of apocalyptic gloom hover at the epicenter of their films; “High Life” at times, breathtaking cinematographically, shades of Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, focuses on hardened criminals surviving in a space ship, floating in an alternate galaxy; commencing …