Netflix and Beyond

Fellow Movie Lovers THE SQUARE “Ah, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”, Sir Walter Scott. These words galloped through my mind for the entirety of this tightly wrought and brilliantly conceived Australian film. This is entanglement at its summit; breathtaking, frightening and shocking to the core. I have not seen that many Australian films …

Fellow Movie Lovers ROBIN HOOD If you worship at the alter of The Spectacle your prayers have been heard and answered in spades. For those who relish the spectacular, sensational epic: “ The Ten Commandments”, “Spartacus” , “ Ben Hur”, “ Cleopatra”, whose thirst for blood and gore is insatiable, Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood” delivers on all levels: gorgeously filmed, …

Fellow Movie Lovers CITY ISLAND I like Andy Garcia, I have always liked him; whether a good or bad guy; whether a good or bad movie I am always on his side. It is not just his staggering physiognomy or the timber of his voice but the depth of his characterizations; he climbs into the minds of his protagonists, inhabits …

A “BRIEF ENCOUNTER”, WITH “WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE” The English poet William Wordsworth wrote “the world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; little we see in Nature that is ours.” Having just returned from an excursion to Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa where Wordsworth’s powerful poetry written in 1807 …

Fellow Movie Lovers IRON MAN 2 Sequels or seconds rarely surpass or measure up to the original; not just in movies but in life. We have all revisited a place where the memories are so vibrant and sacred, chiseled, like granite, in the temple of our consciousness that revisiting those sites rarely ignites the same passion. Thomas Wolfe says we …

Fellow Movie Lovers PLEASE GIVE A vastly anticipated film by the talented Nicole Holofcener fell far short of expectations for this film devotee; even the title lacked credibility. There are solid but predictable performances by Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Amanda Peet. But two characters played by Rebecca Hall (“Vicky Christina Barcelona”) and Sarah Steele were worth focusing on and salvaged …

Fellow Movie Lovers For over six months you’ve been bright and avid readers, And now with some regret I am gifting you a breather! It is with great expectation and some trepidation, That I venture forth on this wild, exotic vacation. My friend and I no longer too young, Will tackle the bush and avoid the sun. With copious sightings …

Fellow Movie Lovers THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 9 PM on PBS) How many times have we read, seen and anguished over the fate of the doomed Anne? No matter how often, our nature prays for a different ending, a joyful conclusion, where the Franks and their neighbors emerge from their self- imposed imprisonment into …

Fellow Movie Lovers VINCERE (Win) Directed and written by seasoned Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio this epic film depicts the woeful tale of Ida Dalser the supposed first wife of Benito Mussolini. No physical evidence of the legitimacy of this union has ever surfaced; Mussolini never recognized Ida’s son as his progeny. This is an erratic film; there are moments of …

Fellow Movie Lovers CHLOE Not every movie experience should resonate with the profound and phenomenal; some should just look good and simply entertain at the superficial level. “Chloe” fits into the latter! Loosely based on the 2003 French film “Natalie” which seemed more plausible, and depicts the simple scenario of a gorgeous, fortyish Doctor (Julianne Moore) who suspects her equally …