Netflix and Beyond

Despite some historical inaccuracies “Selma” is surpassingly worthy of audiences from the age of ten and beyond. Insightful, instinctive redolent performances, especially by David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin  Luther King, Jr.; a half century has passed, today’s society is informed by incidents revolving around the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown; sorrowful examples of history repeating itself. Director Ava …

British director, Gabriel Range’s  award-winning 2006 “Death of a President” depicts the fictional assassination of George W. Bush, the forty-third President of the United States, on October 19, 2007 in Chicago; there was some intellectual umbrage; but nothing like the draconian outrage, internet-sabotage, ruckus of what we have witnessed over the past month revolving  around Seth Rogen’s “The Interview” focusing …

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolorist and printmaker; revolutionary in melding luscious chiaroscuro; miraculously blending the hues of dazzling day and nascent night; with German contemporary, Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) stun in glorifying nature’s tempestuous transcendence over man. Both men were monumentally inspirational and forerunners of impressionism; they awe to this day. Director Mike …

If you are a fan of Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine’s 1987 musical; it is more than likely you’ll enjoy the film. To be fair,  I was never a fairy -tale devotee, especially the scary, creepy stories of the Grimm Brothers; “Into the Woods” is a compilation of “Cinderella”, “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Rapunzel”. A hefty, singing …

Never had a “keen” interest in the eerie, grotesque, haunting paintings of Walter Keane; children reminiscent of a Stephen King novel, aliens; instead of being “windows to the soul” their eyes were vacant, soulless, dead. Also, astounded at their magnetic appeal, commoditization; like the invasion of the body snatchers, escaping their pervasiveness was hopeless, they championed the art market in …

Angelina Jolie is a compassionate, committed, courageous force in the world of film; as an actor and director she shines in her professionalism and is worthy of the countless accolades she has garnished over the years. Unfortunately, in “Unbroken” her judgment was slightly askew; she became too emotionally involved with Louis Zamperini (1917-2014); an Olympic runner, a hero whose tale …

Aamir Khan is one of the most remarkable, versatile actors on the contemporary screen; from action hero to alien his chameleon attributes never cease to overwhelm; “P.K.”, comparable to “Forest Gump”, “E.T”, “Dorothy” charms, intrigues and elucidates; he is a one-of-a-kind  creature who sheds enlightenment and enchantment as he looks for his stolen “remote”, without which he can never return …

Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as the solitary, mathematical genius Alan Turing is stratospheric; his every nuance, prophetic stuttering, gleaning gesture resonate with profound empathy for a man whose intellect changed the world, saved countless lives, accomplished the “unimaginable”. Based on Turing’s book “The Enigma” the film faithfully follows his scrupulous mission at Britain’s Bletchley Park (members of MI6 and Government Code …

“Tomorrow” seemed like an eternity away, not just a day, watching this bastardized version of America’s irresistible, adorable “orphan”; sophomorically-written, plastically-performed “Annie” is the poorest adaptation of a musical to be visited upon the screen, ever. Quvenzhane Wallis (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”) is a dynamic, tremendously talented tyke, but she and her overabundance of saccharine “cuteness” cannot save this …

Cecil B. DeMille’s  1956 “The Ten Commandments” still shimmers as one of the most iconic films of all time; technological wizardry, blatantly remarkable, set the bar for future filmmakers; it is a masterpiece enjoyed yearly by millions as a Passover/Easter traditional viewing experience; Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner are memorably cemented as the eponymous embodiment of “Moses” and “Ramses”. Christian …