Netflix and Beyond

Christopher Plummer at 87, is at the pinnacle of his career; his performance as deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II is smashing; closeted in a mansion in the Netherlands, he longs to be reinstated in Hitler’s warped government; it is 1940 and Germany has pirated Holland. Plummer’s superior depiction of a man stripped of his birthright, wasting his days feeding swans, giving …

Directed by Gabriella Cowperthwaite (“Blackfish”) the unusual scenario focuses on Marine Corporal Megan Leavey and her K-9 bomb detecting canine, Sergeant Rex; their relationship fills a haunting void echoing in both.  Megan, at the nadir of her life, is aimless, depressed  (her best friend is dead), she enlists solely to avoid the bleakness, nothingness looming in her future. Kate Mara’s …

“Wonder Woman”, officially banned in Lebanon, the lead is played by Israeli actor, Gal Gadot. Lebanon, a country whose religious groups are comprised of 54% Muslim, 40% Christian: Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox; Druze and approximately 200 Jews. It’s banning is the prime reason I saw the film; a plethora of surprises: physical, psychological and intellectual piqued, prodded and sealed my …

My paygrade does not include the insipid escapism served in today’s theatres; I have vowed to shun any film with the word “Alien”, “Guardian”, “Pirates”,  and at the risk of anaphylactic shock “Captain Underpants”; Netflix offers a lifeline to those seeking entertainment that enlightens, educates; serving a myriad of genres, demographically designed to quench the cravings of all film buffs. …

If you had never heard of the brilliant statesman Winston Churchill (1874-1965) you’d be hard pressed to reason why this lugubrious film was ever conceived or created; director Jonathan Teplitzky’s biopic is a dull, plodding scenario focusing on the darkest hours of Britain’s Prime Minister, at the conclusion of WWII  (aka D-Day); Brian Cox depicts Churchill as a bilious, cigar …

India’s rich cricket history has been depicted in a myriad of films, both fictional and factual: “Lagaan” (2001), “Iqbal” (2005), “Chak De India” (2007), “M.S. Dhoni” (2016) are a few that have resonated with me.  Admittedly, as a Westerner, the intricacies of the sport, will forever elude my comprehension, but the astounding prowess of the players, the electrifying energy and …

A titillating, scintillating scenario reminiscent of 2007’s “Sleuth” starring Michael Caine and Jude Law. Writers Marc Frydman and Justin Stanley partnering with director Brian Goodman and starring Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Rhys Myers serve a concoction of nerve twisting thrills; impenetrable nuances, hypnotic narrative sabotage one’s attention for its entirety. “Paul” (Banderas) an alcoholic, washed-up writer, lives outside a mountainous …

Wildly witty, charmingly creative, “Michal” (sensational Noa Kooler) is thirty-two, an Orthodox Jew, dumped by her fiancé, she decides to go ahead with the wedding despite being “groomless”; she feels that God will prevail and in thirty days, on the eighth day of Hanukkah she will wed. What transgress is captivatingly unpredictable; Michal, a proprietor of a mobile zoo, is …

81 year-old Eleanor Coppola’s divine confection of a romantic jaunt from Cannes to Paris will titillate gourmands, oenophiles and those just loving a saffron, honey-infused excursion through idyllic France. Diane Lane is positively blissful as “Anne”, a woman of vast equanimity, flowing gracefully through life, defined by her high-powered, movie producer husband “Michael” (minimal role but well cast, Alec Baldwin); …

Disturbing, problematic but pragmatically real, dynamic scenario about war. Director Doug Liman, without sensationalism, paints a cerebral portrait of a wounded soldier, trapped by a sniper, behind a crumbling brick wall in post war Iraq, 2007. “Sargent Isaac” (intensely riveting performance by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and fellow combatant, “Sargent Matthews” (John Cena) after days of observing the aftermath of a killing …