Hollywood

Slavery, a massive stain on our remarkable history, gifted the nation and world, an incredible, indigenous musical legacy, that continues to inspire to this very day; Africans were “songsters”, musicians, using home made instruments to entertain, fracture the emotional bondage, subjugation of slavery; their “field hollers”, “patting juba”, spiritual, biographical, drum-beating, rhythmic, soul-throbbing lyrics, created an ephemeral respite from reality. …

Mythology (Greek/Roman) has always enthralled, mystified me; the gods and their antics were captivating, primarily because of the mischief and mayhem they wrought upon themselves and mere mortals; there were no boundaries or an appropriate code of behavior that applied to them; Mount Olympus had to be destructively boring to inspire such “devilry” in those with divine attributes. Also, their …

It was taxing, difficult watching “A Most Wanted Man”  separating the character from the actor; a vital talent, surrendering to the epic battle being waged in his mind, demons devouring his blithe spirit from within; it is serendipitous that Philip Seymour Hoffman’s final curtain wraps him in the beleaguered  role of a German intelligence officer.  Based on John le Carre’s …

Woody Allen has an old soul, and a huge hunk of that soul resides, lusciously pampered, in the pretax days of the 1920’s; a hedonistic, halcyon “lost generation” populated by Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his mercurial wife Zelda, Ernest Hemmingway, his mountainous angst; days and evenings saturated by libations of all hues and smoke, billows and billows of …

For twelve years director Richard Linklater, focuses on the life and development of “Mason” (age 6-18) and his family; what is remarkable about “Boyhood” is the extraordinary “ordinariness” of the characters whose lives we voyeuristically watch evolve. The ebb and flow of the film is so natural, so lackadaisical, insouciantly oozing into years, we are hardly aware of the transitions; …

“Snowpiercer” is the bullet train of the post- apocalyptic era: because of a snafu in global- warming experiments, the world is shivering in the reincarnation of the ice age; eerily compelling, “Snowpiercer” is comprised of survivors, those destined to circumnavigate the globe for the remainder of their lives;  in perpetual motion, ceaselessly churning into the frozen, uninhabited, lethally beautiful landscape; …

An apocalyptic film with a twist; Director Matt Reeves within minutes cements the viewers vested interest in the ape community; run democratically by “Caesar” (Andy Serkis), keeping a watchful eye on miscreant “Koba” (Toby Kebbell), living in mist -full, luminous harmony, gracefully swinging from one limpid, luscious limb to another; extraordinary makeup and costuming make each ape easily distinguishable. Enter …

“The Exorcist” (1973) still reigns as one of the most frightening films in the history of the horror genre. It was out of desperation, in this dearth of film selection, that I gingerly crept into “Deliver Us From Evil”; eerie, compelling scenario based upon detective Ralph Sarchie’s surreal, terrifying incidents of unexplained phenomena; bouts of evil reenactments, reminiscent of a …

Gamin, Keira Knightley, dashing, Mark Ruffalo with director John Carney (“Once”) in “Begin Again” bless audiences with a delectable, fluffy, scrumptiously sweet scenario;  guileless,  warm, mesmerizing meringue of a summer flick. Simply enchanting; delicious to watch, delightful to listen to (composer Gregg Alexander);  two depressed souls, destined to meet and make musical magic. “Dan” (Ruffalo) fired from his job as …

Brilliant, profoundly, even squeamishly honest; Roger Ebert’s life (1942-2013) is splayed across the screen; redolent of a life pungently, passionately imbibed;  almost singlehandedly he elevated the art of film to the celestial; uncompromising, through vicissitudes, heartache, glory he “did it his way”. Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”) and Mr. Ebert gift audiences a documentary, that regardless of one’s attraction to movies, …