Netflix and Beyond

ALL CONTESTANTS MUST ENTER THE NUMBER OF OSCARS FOR THE BEST PICTURE! This is the time of year when many can gobble up filmatic treats of the past season; the nominees for the Academy Awards or see the modest and mundane; it is a comfortable hiatus before the next blitzkrieg of film invasions. “THE WAY BACK” Director Peter Weir directs …

With limited expectations I ventured into “The Company Men” because of the cast: Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner; male marvels appealing to all ages.  This is a very good film depicting in Shakespearian proportions a tragic tale that many in today’s society are familiar with and have suffered through. We know these people and empathize with …

Directed by Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (“21 Grams”, “Babel”).  His films are bleak, horrifically black, destructively depressive; the pain and angst of the protagonists is genuine, therein lies his genius. Oh, how I wanted this film to be a winner and for the first hour I championed its success; comparable to watching your favorite team slowly fade from greatness to mediocrity, …

The “hype” commences. 33 days before the winners are recognized and the cycle continues. Yes, there is a contest, but this year it will be tougher. Consider yourself forewarned. Simple rules: 1.) You must be 18 or older to enter. 2.) Be computer literate. 3.) Vote once (this might be difficult for those living in Chicago). 4.) Family members are …

  Directed by Richard L. Lewis; written by Michael Konyves; based on the novel by Mordecai Richler (1931-2001). Grating perpetually on my “audio” nerves or sensibilities are the colloquialisms that have invaded and tainted today’s vernacular: “like”, “you know”, “duh”, “hello ?”, “ya think ?”, and the legitimate seven letter word “awesome” (second to “amazing”).  But viewing “Barney’s Version”, one …

Those few who have opened this are shaking your heads wondering what cataclysmic trauma I have suffered to venture into this miasmic muck, a multi –million- dollar spoof of limited entertainment value, destined for the dungeons of doomed and dumb digitalization. I had never heard of the radio program written by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker in 1936, focusing …

Who is Ricky Gervais? Pleading relative ignorance of television and its massive audience appeal; my viewing hours spent primarily in the dark, velvety caverns of movie theatres,  I was stunned and sickened, finally bored by Mr. Gervais’s antagonistic, pejorative, cruel and “below the belt” undignified comments about presenters, nominees and winners at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards. Most celebrities have developed …

This remarkably real and gut-wrenching film by Mike Leigh resonates with veracity; characters oozing pain, desperation, paralyzing loneliness balanced by those whose aptitude for normalcy, human decency is magnetically ethereal. Lesley Manville is Mary an achingly functional alcoholic whose need for Gerri (a medical counselor), her coworker, and Tom (Gerri’s, engineering geologist husband) is as addictive as the white wine …

This film, from India, should appeal to a universal audience.  It is terrific. Based upon a 1999 murder in New Delhi and the campaign for justice, taking years to reach fruition, focuses on the crusaders who championed, against supreme odds, the cause, rights, of the victim;  a vivacious, determined, fearless enchantress who looses her life because she refused to serve …

To commence, I am a supreme despiser of the hand- held camera technique; sounding decidedly pejorative I still consider it amateurish, devoid of professionalism, relegated to the “wanna be a filmmaker”; a high school novice. I recognize that there have been some fascinating films resulting from this technique, “The Hurt Locker” , jumps immediately to mind. In “Blue Valentine” this …