Netflix and Beyond

The second highest grossing film in Chinese history (US $200 million), and I found it embarrassingly bland, ridiculous , sophomoric; unworthy of the viewing time. I watched with three Chinese Americans whose chuckles were tepid and vastly sporadic. “Lost in Thailand” will be “lost” on Western audiences; will not last a week in AMC theatres which were recently  purchased by …

Steven Soderbergh gifts audiences exactly what they paid for: terrific acting, compelling script, enough twists, spins to cement one’s attention; thrilling, solid, earnest entertainment. “Side Effects” references the healthy/debilitating effects of prescription medication; medication to ward off the black void of depression, derailment of normalcy; viewers, beyond the age of reason, recognize that we inhabit a pill-popping society; stroll the …

In yesterday’s Chicago Tribune Steve Chapman wrote a column entitled “In Praise of Fat Books and Slow Reading”. What joy, recognizing that indeed “no man is an island”; there is always someone in the vast “beyond” who shares one’s weird proclivities; books over a thousand pages, weighing pounds, not ounces; Mr. Chapman spoke to my literary gene, “If you really …

Everyone has favorites; some never waver in their choices; most of us are a thousand percent that we are correct. As I watched the Golden Globe Awards, groaning at some of the winners, questioning the reasoning of the judges, wondering if they had seen all of the films, feeling bewildered, chagrined, massively disappointed as my favorites were felled by what …

DO NOT BE TIMID; MOST WHO WIN HAVE NOT SEEN ALL THE ENTREES! For Now…………Peneflix

Which might have been a viable alternative to director Walter Hill’s tale of cops gone rogue; shenanigans of corrupt, New Orleans officials, subculture of drugs, tattooed miscreants and at its centrifugal core, gun-for hire “Jimmy Bobo” played robotically by Sylvester Stallone; a sexagenarian, frog-voiced, terrifyingly –muscled, (possible tips from Lance Armstrong); gone are the empathetic years of “Rocky Balboa”, we …

Never having read the Richard Stark novels (pseudonym of Donald E. Westlake); a neophyte, totally ignorant of the protagonist and his exploits, it was stunningly shocking that “Parker” (stoically handsome Jason Statham) was an untoward character, a criminal with ethics, a pugnacious, tenacious, terrifying personage when doubled-crossed; hence, the fast-paced, pungently gory scenario, revolving around Parker’s revenge and his unique …

Dustin Hoffman directs a film that vacillates between the vicissitudes, decrepitude of once- gifted musicians and their resistance or acceptance of their octogenarian state and faded fame; flirting with poignancy but never quite grasping it; the characters become comical “caricatures” of  diminished vitality, spouting maudlin repartee. Michael Cambon was  particularly annoying as the grousing director. The fine moments revolve around …

Many of you asked why I did not include this category in my contest. The reason is simple, I have not see them all and I refuse to judge on instinct or “playing the odds”. Also, I was massively disappointed that “The Intouchables” was ignored; in my estimation it was one of the best films of the year. But for …

For four years, I have painstakingly tried to encourage Westerners to sample the Bollywood genre; but with films as ridiculous as “Matru……..” my efforts are bordering on the nonsensical. I ceased fruitlessly counting the films from India that I have seen, and have repeatedly recommended worthy ones (most available on Netflix); after two and a half hours of watching a …