Netflix and Beyond

Special kudos to Artistic Director Mimi Plauche and Managing Director Vivian Teng for the most innovative and well- run Festival in years. After viewing close to thirty films (not my personal best) here are a few filmic treasures: DOCUMENTARIES:  ALL THE BEAUTY AND BLOODSHED Directed by Laura Poitras tells photographer Nan Goldin’s journey from addiction to a formidable force in slaying the reputation of …

THE GREAT SILENCE             (DENMARK)  Director Katrine Brocks, gifts attendees of the Festival one of the most intrinsically intimate portraits of pain, both physical and psychological, on the screen; filmed within the confines of a convent, interspersed with flashbacks; “Sister Alma”, about to take her final vows, must confront the hubris seething between she and …

The contemporary themes striding stunningly through the Festival have captivated me throughout; some beg comparisons: MONICA (ITALY) & PALOMA (BRAZIL & PORTUGAL) Years ago, after reading Jeffrey Eugenides’s overpowering, deep-rooted “Middlesex”, gaining an understanding and insight into those whose bodies were unmatched with their respective genders. Education, respect and sensitivity are required in compassionate acceptance of what does not fall …

Midway through this stunning, scintillating, elucidating filmic journey, saturated with individuals, the “other” struggling with the “norm”, fighting for an identity within their personal parameters, despite cultural intransigence. Commencing with director Steve James’ documentary:  A COMPASSIONATE SPY Theodore Hall (1925-1999), prodigious, who at eighteen and a senior at Harvard was recruited by the government to help develop the atomic bomb …

Cate Blanchett gives an indisputable, brilliant characterization of conductor “Lydia Tar”, a woman of magnitude, inimitable accomplishments, unfathomable that she could fall from grace; yet she does in writer/director Todd Field’s epic, Shakespearean, contemporary scenario. The first thirty minutes of the film are spellbinding; critic Adam Gopnik (playing himself) insouciantly reverent, interviews Tar, skimming past achievements, highlighting her newest book …

With trepidation I watched, what initially was a prime example of pure madness, but morphed into a “coming of age” tale never before actualized, nor “ever” will be repeated.  Who, even in an inebriated state, would decide to bring his buddies, serving in the Vietnam War (approximately 1965-1975) a beer, (Pabst Blue Ribbon)? Well, John “Chickie” Donohue (1941-) had the …

Imagine, as a renown chef, you’ve conjured up the quintessential recipe, one that will cement your reputation eternally; flawless ingredients, meticulous preparation and painstaking skill factor into the concoction; with breathless anticipation you await, as the oven times the birth of your masterpiece, but alas, instead of a repast for the ages, it is a colossal bomb; a dud of monumental proportions, …

THE GOOD HOUSE &  VIKRAM VEDHA In “The Good House” Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline prove they are still at the pinnacle of their acting acuity and save the film from benign mediocrity.  Weaver depicts a successful real estate agent (Hildy “Good”), divorced from her gay husband, “Scott” (pungently depicted by David Rasche), mother of two daughters and an alcoholic, …

Tragically titillating expose on the minimal life of Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Mortenson, (1926-1962) directed by Andrew Dominik based on Joyce Carol Oats 2000 fictionalized version of her doomed ephemerality. Unfortunately, there are no surprising insights, just predictable salaciousness: a menage trois (Edward G. Robinson Jr. (Evan Williams) and Charlie Chaplin, Jr. (Xavier Samuel); an abusive thug, Jo DiMaggio (Bobby …

THE WOMAN KING This film screams with integrity, majesty and feminine mettle; a tour de force for Viola Davis, a marvelous warrior “Nanisca”, who does not suffer fools, is the focus of a film that should be visited by all. Referencing the forgotten history of Amazon Warrior Women, immortalized in Homer’s “The Iliad” they starred in their own battles and …