Netflix and Beyond

“BALTAZAR”  Never have I grieved more for a fictional character than at the bleak conclusion of “Baltazar’s” third season; other protagonists have sequestered permanent residency in my memory vault: House, Foyle, Morse but none possess the illumination,  compelling endearment, concrete charm of “Raphael Balthazar”; Tomer Sisley’s Herculean portrait of the forensic pathologist is slathered in cunning, inimitable style, grace, insouciant …

Magic percolates within the carnage of director Robert Eggers (“The Lighthouse”) “The Northman;” seething with Norse mythology, witchcraft, vengeful promises; audiences are submerged in Viking lore, reminiscent of the hierarchy in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and King Arthur’s legendary sword Excalibur; a murdered King, kidnapped mother/wife and a son predestined to repeat the legacy. Alexander Skarsgard with heft and bravado depicts the …

“KGF CHAPTER 2”                 (HINDI: ENGLISH SUBTITLES)  THEATRES  Bombastically challenging is the second chapter of Robin Hood facsimile, “Rocky”, a humble boy who rises to gargantuan wealth, power and inspiration of the lower classes; Bollywood hunk, Yash, stars as the gilded gangster (generating adulation in India’s youth) and his monumental physique dominates every pungent, cacophonous moment of this action infused, bloody, …

“THE ANDY WARHOL DIARIES”     (NETFLIX)  Excellent, introspective, comprehensive study of a man who changed the medium, meaning of what constitutes “art”; Andy Warhol bulldozed the “pedestal”, “frame”, “vitrine”; rising above traditional “cross & crown”, the angst of Abstract Expressionism, focusing on contemporary, every day, and universal fascination with fame: television junkies, voyeuristic tabloids, shocking sensationalism of untimely demises, race riots, …

Gratuitous gore, guts and inhumaneness inform the premise of writer/director Goran Stolevski’s film, located in 19th century Macedonia; witches, lusting after the blood of newborns, muting infants; girls are the ultimate prey, transformed into cannibals, they mutilate with impunity, slaughtering for revenge, power; anthropophagites devouring each other, only to become the devoured; savagery stars in this baseless thriller; identity wallows …

A film with enough cacophonous hilarity, reminiscent of horror, science fiction (died & revived) frenzy and “Kill Bill” chorography, a myriad of universes; the Alphaverse, the connective tissue, observing the others; premature outcomes; if it escaped your understanding the first go-round, directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert visually bludgeon viewers repeatedly with metaphors “never trust the obvious, the brighter the …

Brash, bold, colorful couture bombarded the red carpet; I never realized that would be the highlight of the evening; an evening that suffered a low never experienced in Academy Award history; dignity destroyed on an altar of self-righteousness; no rebound, no “win” can ever erase or reward egregious behavior, witnessed worldwide. The actor should pray for paltry ratings.  As in …

Testament to the magnetic power of film, its accessibility, universal appeal, regardless of age, gender, heritage it has generated almost as many critics as imbibers; periodically you experience a critic, a devotee of the genre that soars above the flock, a person with an inimitable command of the English language; vocabulary alone paints a filmic scene, in no need of …

Two young women of extraordinary intelligence, drive, vision, whose hubris is of such magnitude that it transcends their mission, blinding them to the reality of their divergent decisions, comprising their journey to greatness, worthy of approbation. Theirs’ is a contemporary Shakespearian tragedy of overwhelming proportions.  Anna Sorokin (1991-) aka “Anna Delvey” the daughter of middle-class Russian parents, created a fictional …

Filmic whiplash has never been more exhilarating, intoxicating; once you feel surefooted, writer/director Graham Moore (“The Imitation Game”) has you spinning out of control, flying out of your seat, knowing you are experiencing the best film of 2022; viewers are incarcerated, on a snowy evening in 1956, Chicago; a tailor’s shop whose proprietor, an expat from London’s Saville Row, “Leonard” …