Netflix and Beyond

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, …

The term “coming of age” has become tiresome, an overused cliché depicting those indecisive teens yearning for an illusory, still to be defined, purpose of being. Director Michael Caton-Jones’s “Our Ladies” takes place in a small Scottish town in the mid 1990’s, as five rambunctious choir girls hanker for boozy, sexual encounters, on a field trip to Edinburgh. Secure in the parameters of blossoming adulthood these jejune “ladies”, with levity, and at times hilarity, toil towards their mission. “Orla” (poignant, …

A sensitive, sweet, slice of life, an episode fated to be a preserved, sacred memory: a May/December relationship ignited by two disparate individuals brought together by chance: a NYT’s travel writer “Michael” (John Benjamin Hickey) sublet’s an apartment in Tel Aviv, for five days, from “Tomer” (Niv Nissim); Michael, represents the past, living as a gay man through the embryonic, …

Lin-Manuel Miranda serves a banquet of sumptuous joy; a feast for the pandemic-starved, melancholic, woebegone viewer; from its marvelous commencement to its spectacular conclusion, its edifying, glorious, musically magnificent score, innovative, ingenious choreography, stupendous cinematography, culturally iconic scenario, miraculously refashioned an audience steeped in a despondent, yearlong fug, into an exuberant mass, kvelling, knowing this is the stuff of happiness. I loved this movie, there are not enough adjectives to …

A lifelong Stephen King devotee, my fantasy has been to wander the dark, blighted, possessed corridors of his fecund imagination, just for a palpable hour, touching, feeling, experiencing the wizardry pulsating beneath his unorthodox artistry; “Lisey’s Story” might not share the hierarchy of “The Stand”, “The Shining”, “Misery” or one of my favorites “Thinner” but is hefty, semi-autobiographical and sensationally …