Hollywood

Gloom, bleakness, a pensive dread hovers over the initial scenes of this vital, directorial debut by Paul Dano; a family on the brink of disintegration, newcomers to a tiny community in Montana, where fires are devouring the mountainous range; blue skies warring with encroaching, villainous smoke.  The major conflagration is silently raging in the “Brinson” household: “Jerry” (another prescient performance …

Run to see this film, worth so much more than its admission fee; run to see the enormity of Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara), the lead singer in the English band “Queen”; run to see glorious filmmaking and a musical feat of wizardry, the total reenactment of Queen’s 1985 set at “Live Aid” concert,  Wembley Stadium, London.  …

By far, one of the most intelligent films of the year. Director George Tillman Jr.’s outstanding depiction of Angie Thomas’ novel “The Hate You Give” is spellbinding; contemporary to the point of comfortable redundancy: we recognize the protagonists, we understand them, we know them, we befriend some and avoid others; characterization developed to perfection, especially “Starr Carter” a dynamic sixteen-year-old …

In the countless of films I have seen, there have been a limited number of performances that I have never forgotten: Louise Rainer, “The Great Ziegfeld”, Audrey Hepburn, “Roman Holiday”, Katharine Hepburn, “Lion in Winter”, Maggie Smith, “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, Meryl Streep, “Sophie’s Choice”, Jane Fonda, “Klute”, Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”; Melissa McCarthy’s sublimely perfect …

Addiction. Millions grasp its power: sugar, nicotine, alcohol, heroin; in “Beautiful Boy” it’s crystal meth that has wrapped its poisonous tentacles around the mind, body and will of Nic Sheff; Tomothee Chalamet’s staggeringly brilliant portrait of a boy’s lust for an aphrodisiac, so euphoric, tantalizing, delicious in its initiation, that by the time he recognized its toxicity, impotency reigned against …

In preparation for, hopefully, the final version, of forty-year-old franchise, “Halloween” I watched the original, created in 1978; at the time I thought it was the most terrifying film I had ever seen; the frightful flavor, sans some of its redolence, is still there; with hindsight, its fascination lies, in its lack of technological effects; no seat belts, no cell …

From the onset, director Damien Chazelle balances astronaut Neil Armstrong’s (1930-2012) life between the professional and the personal; initially plummeting through the atmosphere ensconced in space attire, versus his raw heartbreak, while caring for his dying daughter, Karen (1959-1962); Ryan Gosling humanizes (with the aid of Neil’s sons Eric and Mark) this remarkable, taciturn icon, whose legendary walk on the …

Historically, female authors have camouflaged their gender by electing male nom de plumes: the Bronte sisters, Charlotte (1816-1855), Emily (1818-1848), Anne (1820-1849), used the sobriquet “Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell”; Mary Anne Evans (1819-1880), “George Eliot”; Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), “A. M. Bernard”; Karen Blixen (1885-1962), “Out of Africa” and “Babette’s Feast” renown, disguising herself as “Isak Dinesen”; today’s J. …

Rising, in Phoenix tradition, the fourth, and pivotally realistic, version of a star-crossed, fatefully doomed, relationship; refreshingly compelling, due to the magnetism of its stars; Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga are daunting as “Jackson Maine” and “Ally Campana”; they flirt with the iconic greatness of 1954’s version directed by George Cukor, starring Judy Garland and James Mason, transcending the predictable …

For over eleven years and 1000 plus reviews, my sporadic filmic intermissions rejuvenate, not only my spirit, but how I view films; the escapism of movies, relief from reality, a hiatus from daily duties, is healthy, but has to be balanced with the flavor of things as they actually exist; blinders off, focusing on globalization and its effects on the …