Netflix and Beyond

With the exception of director, Ana Piterbarg. Obscure, obtuse, buried in boredom: Viggo Mortensen characterizes twin brothers (“Agustin”/”Pedro”) plainly, diminished in the womb, they flounder in their professional and personal lives; empty vessels, blessed with substantial female companions. The film is set in Buenos Aires,  plus a depressed island in the Delta; Agustin cloaks himself in the guise of his …

It is a rarity when something or someone does not need a minimal amount of tweaking or tucking with the pillage of time; gusting technology slaughtering privacy, gluttonous craving for the “new”, voracious quest to conquer the vicissitudes of age, instead of celebrating them. “Cinema Paradiso” is an anomaly, because its perfection is as fine today, with the addition of …

A recent Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s remarkable production of “Julius Caesar” imbues, without altering a word, a contemporary interpretation; hawkers selling “Caesar” T-shirts, hotdogs and huge signs encouraging voters to go to www.juliuscaesar.com to register; proving Shakespeare’s power to habitually defy the archaic, lending ubiquitous credence to his  massive appeal throughout the ages. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, brothers whose efficacious, formidable …

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 …

A challenging, morose, metaphysical, metaphorical film by Christian Mungiu (“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”); not for those looking for fluff or fantasy. Based on an historical event in Romania (2005);  atmospherically medieval, somber (much like “The Turin Horse”); a monastery (The New Hill) devoid of electricity, plumbing; water dredged from a well, technology has not brushed the “nuns”, …

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 …

It is tragic when a film has the genesis of greatness but somehow fizzles in the creation process; such is the case with “Emperor”. A fascinating slice of history, focusing on the demise of Japan’s Emperor Hirohito; immersed in the carnage of Hiroshima (August 6th, 1945) and Nagasaki ( August 9th, 1945); a landscape screaming for redemption, purification after the …