Netflix and Beyond

In the first minutes of this delectable dish of cultural- cuisine -clashes “Hassan’s” mother tells him food is about “ghosts”; redolent with pungent memories of cherished, deceased ancestors; proper preparation, flavoring, scents,  like a séance, keep archaic recipes and their creators vibrantly, pungently alive.  Director Lasse Hallstrom (“Chocolat”) with producers Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey pair two icons of the …

Growing up in a comic book-less home, these Marvel mavens of wonder slither into the subterraneous mass of my imagination; immobilize in a half nelson, reluctantly relinquishing their grip at the fascinating finale; never venture into these hallucinogenic fantasies until the crowds have subsided and my cluelessness can be masked by feigned comprehension. I blissfully admit to complete, vacuous ignorance …

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 …

Another formulaic Bollywood extravaganza, starring ageing heartthrob Salman Khan, who indubitably is starting to scarily resemble a Jeff Koons inflatable sculpture; he’s “Devi/Devil”  a  buffed boy, with idiot savant skills but crippled with a huge affliction of ADD, leaping from one escapade to another, searching for a thrill, “kick” to perpetually inject Masala into his life; karma intervenes in the …

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; …

A lighter, gauzier version of 1995’s “Diwale Dulhania le Jayenge” starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Why the title, so informed by irrevocable breakage, is a mystery; “Humpty” is an indestructible entity when it comes to his choice of a “bride”. Here is delightful romantic comedy blessed by two of Bollywood’s youthful, dynamic film forces. Alia Bhatt is formidable as …