Netflix and Beyond

 This is NOT a film review; it was a time of rejuvenation, a time to doff, escape the norm, the perpetual titillation of movie manna; deliverance from the cacophonous mayhem of city life: cars, motorcycles, souped up vehicles, whose only purpose is the annihilation of peace; a time to “stop the world” and wallow, effortlessly in a landscape guaranteed to …

“HIT & RUN”  (ENGLISH/HEBREW) NETFLIX A scintillating collaboration between Israel and Netflix starring inimitable, aggressively masculine, swashbuckling Lior Raz (“Fauda”) as “Segev Azulai”, a benign tour guide in Tel Aviv, his lithesome wife, “Danielle”(Kaelen Ohm) a dancer, whose death, initially assumed accidental, proves anything but; bouncing from New York and Israel, the scenario quivers with layers of duplicity, no one, …

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul” and no one understood, cornered or capitalized on this more than Alvin Ailey (1931-1989); director Jamila Wignot employs her intuitive documentary acuity, splaying upon the screen, a poor boy whose feet took him to heights rarely conquered; Ailey, infused his choreography with profound spirituality (“Revelations”); jazz with its unique African-American heritage reverberates …

Meet “Bill Baker” (Matt Damon) a simple man, a recovering alcoholic, relying on a higher power to secure his sobriety; a construction worker hailing from “The Sooner State”, Oklahoma, the least likely individual to have a daughter, “Allison” (Abigail Breslin) serving prison time, for murder, in Marseille, France. “Stillwater” pulsates as a plagiarized version of the Amanda Knox (four years …

Bullies have plagued mankind since the Cain and Abel era; persecuting those whose idiosyncratic individuality is in opposition to the norm: loners, nerds, homosexuals, mavericks, nonconformists; the growth of the internet has fed the epidemic, especially among the young and disenfranchised: Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virigina Tech, Santa Fe High School, the travesty continues; director Reinaldo Marcus Green and actor/producer Mark …

The pathetic pig, source of a major food supply with a heart reminiscent of a human’s, is perpetually maligned, used derogatorily, addressed as a “pig” is never a compliment, a reference to one’s weight, behavior, slovenliness; director Michael Sarnoski’s, fabulously interesting “Pig”, paints a portrait of this mammal as a loving, gifted truffle trapper (begs comparison to 2020’s “The Truffle …

A scrutinization of a man whose bright light was perpetually plagued by the darkest of shadows; history is splattered, tainted with numerous suicides of those whose fame could not deliver them from the agonies of despair: Marilyn Monroe, Ernest Hemingway, Margot Kidder, Jean Seberg, Alexander McQueen, Robin Williams, Jersey Kosinski, Anthony Bourdain: supernovas obliterated by guns, pills, ropes; Bourdain hung …

Wearying of Marvel mania, I skipped the theatre, paying the hefty fee to view on Disney+; it has its redeeming moments but in the end, yawning, I could of passed on this familial saga; parents, “Alexei” (always perceptive David Harbour) and “Melina” (unblemished Rachel Weisz) after a twenty year hiatus connect with their super daughters “Natasha” (pinnacle role for Scarlett …

Director Heidi Ewing serves a delightful dish of sublime poignancy; a love story peppered with a quest for personal growth; “Ivan” (Armando Espitia) enters the United States illegally, from Puebla City,  Mexico, to pursue his dream of becoming a chef, leaving his lover, “Gerardo” (Christian Vazquez) behind; both men have suffered from abuse at the hands of their homophobic fathers; …

From 2001 the action defined “Fast & Furious” franchise has plummeted audiences; this, the 9th version was my first, and in all likelihood, my last; not because it wasn’t good, the thrills, death defying chases, special effects were stupendous, but have been replicated ad nauseam in filmdom: Marvel movies,  James Bond, Liam Nesson escapades, cannot neglect the Terminator series; staleness, …