Netflix and Beyond

Based upon the book by Benjamin Mee, “We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, A Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals that Changed Their Lives Forever”. Succinctly stated and accomplished. The actual Zoo is in England; the movie takes place in California. Matt Damon, whose seasoning as an actor keeps pungently improving, is …

This spectacular version of the dazzling play does not disappoint; once again I was ambushed emotionally and shed copious tears as I did in Lincoln Center. Steven Spielberg’s genius translates beautifully from stage to screen, one of the most original stories of the century; based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo. “War Horse” is a visual extravaganza and no one …

Rollicking, roller-coaster, ceaselessly entertaining 2 hours and thirteen minutes of Tom Cruise as “Ethan Hunt” is the best and the fourth “Mission Impossible”. Cruise pours his money, heart and body into this non-stop, galvanizing, at times implausible, but always fun flick. I admire Tom Cruise (regardless of his religious convictions); he is fearless and embraces the challenges of his roles …

The good news: it is an excellent film; the not so good news: it is redundantly predictable.  For those who did not devour the trilogy written by Stieg Larsson( “The Girl Who Played with Fire”, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest”) or see the Swedish movie versions or are returning from an alternate universe; entertainment, mystery, engrossment are yours …

There are a myriad varieties of pain: physical, anything from an ingrown toenail to a bullet wound; psychological, the mind can be just as fractured as a bone; broken heart, a bloodless, agonizing gash that can be fatal. “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” corners the market on the blindly, excruciating, bludgeoning pain of BOREDOM! This film is a travesty …

Let’s state the obvious and move on. Charlize Theron is a gifted actor and has an Oscar to prove it (“Monster”).  She has physical attributes that most can only fantasize or dream about. So why take the role of “Mavis Gary”? Who is “Mavis” ? She is a washed- up mediocre writer of young adult fiction; she is a dissipated …

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Carl Jung (1875-1961).  Dissertations have been written on the similarities and disparities between these iconic founders of psychoanalysis. David Croenberg (“A History of Violence”) spins an accurate version of the relationship between these men whose tools revolved around “discussion”, “talking” to unearth the screeching pain of dreams, hysteria, psychosis; the time is pre -WW1. Carl Jung is …

  This outrageous, outlandish, horrific yakuza (Japan’s crime syndicate) film written, directed and starring Takeshi Kitano; he earns the blame and deserves no fame for this travesty of mutilation and obnoxious display of severed body parts. This gory scenario forsakes and destroys all boundaries accepted, expected in most organized crime films (“The Godfather”). Everyone dies, creatively; guns, knives, even banal …

Enchanting, fascinating, spellbinding homage to the bygone, halcyon days of the silent film genre. This magical movie captures the aura of the waning 1920’s-early 1930’s, when times was simpler and “stars” were revered and protected by the press; always the epitome of glamour they would be incapable of envisioning the dawning of “grunge” and  “jeaned” culture pervasive in today’s celebrity …

Addiction. It manifests itself in all forms; simple substances transcend their banal purposes and become lethal entrapments: alcohol, pills, food; the act of “shopping” , “acquiring” can lead to bankruptcy; gambling destroys the gambler and all he or she holds dear. “Anonymous” organizations claim a myriad of nameless, damaged, strangled spirits, seeking salvation. “Shame”, shamelessly addresses the obsession, disease of …