Hollywood

In recent years there has been a monumental surge of apocalyptic films, highlighting the devastation, detritus, bruised and broken monuments and sparse inhabitants roaming in lawless, “survival of the fittest” abandonment: “The Road”, “The Book of Eli”,  “Warm Bodies”, “Walking Dead”, upcoming “After Earth” ; all of these films resonate powerfully with  young audiences, a conundrum I found mystifying until …

Many remember the days of riots and ruination; 1968, the Democratic Convention in Chicago gave birth to the “Chicago 7”, “Weatherman” “Weather Underground”, “Revolutionary Youth Movement”; sad, delusional, debilitating time when young people worldwide violently protested America’s involvement in Vietnam; a war that altered America forever; creating the division between modern and post modern society; people of promise, jailed or …

Terrific acting informs this convoluted conundrum of flashbacks revolving around the theft of a Francisco Goya (1746-1828) painting (“Witches in the Air”); which is where the audience hovers between nonfiction and the twilight zone; Danny Boyle’s slick scenario, at best, is masterful manipulation but flounders when dealing with the consequences of the therapeutic process focusing on hypnosis (“trance”) and those …

Heroes. We know them. We read about them. They come in all shapes, sizes, hues, genders, ages. Ranging from the six-year-year-old who saves a classmate from a bully;  policemen preserving civility; firemen saving victims from conflagrations; a bystander chasing a perpetrator to redeem a stolen purse. There are a myriad of ways that “heroes” are made: some born, the majority …

A romantic title that spins a trilogy of stunning believability; structurally perfect, intrinsically flawed; grossly thought-provoking; fervently strong commencement, weakens as it progresses but not enough to maim the entertainment value. Ryan Gosling, staggeringly fine in his portrayal of “Luke” a circus performer, whose virtuoso on a motorcycle matches the wizardly of the tattoo masters who have referenced every artistic …

Unless you have a warped curiosity to see the First Lady (Ashley Judd) die in a car crash;  White House walls, resemble a Jackson Pollock painting; the President and  Secretary of State, (Aaron Eckhart, Melissa Leo) tied and tortured; a solitary human drone (Gerard Butler) defeating a cabal of Korean (ambiguous as to which side they represented, if any) terrorists, …

1962: Samoa granted independence from New Zealand, John Glenn is the first American to orbit earth, Jackie Kennedy gives a televised tour of the White House, Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro; “Escape from Alcatraz” a film starring Clint Eastwood based upon the U.S.-British nuclear test in Nevada; historically, the most monumental, colossal event: the Cuban Missile Crisis, the catastrophic …

Unabashedly, if it weren’t for Sarah Palin I might not have known of Tina Fey, until her recent film career; spending most of my waking hours in darkened theatres, leaves skimpy, and extremely precious moments for television; admittedly, almost shamefully, I confess to never having seen “Saturday Night Live” or “30 Rock”; at this stage it is difficult to see …

1939 still resonates as one of the most iconic year’s in film history; films that to this day are watched and relished consistently: “Gunga Din”, “Goodbye Mr. Chips”, “Stagecoach”, “Dark Victory”, “Wuthering Heights”, and my two favorites, “Gone with the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz”. So it was with massive trepidation that I went to see “Oz: The Great …

Ingenious topic!  Imposing, compelling scenario, married with Halle Berry’s consummate characterization; director Brad Anderson and writer Richard D’ Ovidio open the windows to the innermost bowels, mechanisms of the 911 Emergency “hive” in Los Angeles. The sophistication of the tracking devices;  frenetic cacophony, seconds culminating in success or failure; never having spent a modicum of mental muscle wondering about the …