Netflix and Beyond

Despite the political hubris, here are two films, whose attributes render the purist forms of entertainment: magically, magnificently filmed, landscapes proving a higher power, extraordinary metaphors universally resonating in this pandemic period; in spite of the controversy bubbling around the mythical “Mulan” or the veracity of the non-fictional “The Eight Hundred” directors Niki Caro’s (“Mulan”) and Guan Hu’s (“The Eight …

Korean filmmakers are “kings of creep” and the horror genre topples the titillation scale with their imaginative creativity; a genre that seems to have exponentially grown with the pandemic; things can degenerate and viewing these films confirms the worst case scenario.  Director Yeon Sang-ho scores with an allegorical tale of zombies versus humans, on a train to “Busan”; a “virus” …

Periodically one experiences a film, a television series so remarkably outstanding, that words to describe its potency have yet to be conjured; director Lee Eung-bok’s “Mr. Sunshine” is one of a few to populate this category; it seizes the celestial in every domain: commencing in 1871 a nine-year-old boy “Eugene Choi” flees Joseon after his parents are slain, they are …

I live in a magnificent, powerful, strong metropolis; a lake enhances its beauty, even its pandemic infections did not cauterize its optimism. Now “is the summer of our discontent” egregious factions are cannibalizing our streets, bulldozing commercial property, destroying at whim our civility, our neighborhoods; orchestrated destruction erasing confidence, hope, faith in a future of cohesiveness, tranquility, where factions are …

Based upon J.M. Coetzee’s 1980 novel of the same title is a giant metaphor for imperialism in any form and the country it infects; Great Britain, the crowning imperialist, gobbled chunks of: 13 American colonies, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand and Africa; we do not have to wait for the “barbarians”, they arrive instantaneously in the guise of “Colonel Joll” …

2020, destined to be immortalized as the era of Covid-19; traumatic, terrorizing, a year of cauterization, of vulnerability, unlike anything visited upon mankind since 1918, when fifty million people worldwide perished as the influenza pandemic spread its toxic tentacles. Searching for an antibiotic, a tonic to relieve the frustrations, the monotony of confinement in a structured, known environment; television is …

The Franco brothers (James, Tom and Dave) continue to impress with their prodigious capabilities; conquering a myriad of disciplines: acting, painting, art collectors, screenwriters, producers, directors; intelligence informs their ambitions and they are unafraid of unchartered frontiers. Dave Franco’s directorial debut, “The Rental”, had promise, commencing with brothers “Charlie” (Dan Stevens, “The Guest”) and “Josh” (Jeremy Allen White), renting with …

Jerzy Kosinski’s 1965 novel of the same name, translates into a horrific, bestial, brilliant visual experience; not for the squeamish or feint sensitivities; there are scenes seared permanently in my memory; moral turpitude on an unimaginable scale; cruelty practiced by a religious populace. Crimes perpetrated upon a young boy seeking safety, sanity in Eastern Europe, during WWII. He is Jewish, …

Of the countless films, programming, entertaining options viewed over the last five Covid months, “Greyhound” suffered pivotally from the pandemic; reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s 2017’s “Dunkirk”, its magnificence needed the vastness of a cinematographic experience, instead of the confinement (regardless of the screen size) of an in-house exploitation; Tom Hanks exponentially, through the years, has matured as an actor and …

Most of us have had it with homeland incarceration; abiding by authoritative regulations, our relationship with the outside world, revolve around our television/computer. Here are a few to view or shun: “GRANDCHESTER”: a British detective series  (PBS, AMAZON PRIME) in its fifth season, surviving the loss of magnetic James Norton (does an about face, from saint to sinner in “Happy …