Netflix and Beyond

On a recent trip to Dubai, scaling the myriad of internal levels of the Burj Khalifa, (the tallest building in the world) enthralled by the videos of Tom Cruise and the film crew hanging precipitously from cables, on the exterior, from floors 123-130 (there are 163); “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (2011) was the reason I went to Dubai; Tom …

Twisted. Never have I ever been rendered paralyzed within seconds of watching a film; “Sanctuary” is twisted, debauched, depraved, defiled in a tethered knot; yet, stunningly, mesmerizingly, blazingly brilliant. Director Zachary Wigon in tandem with writer Micah Bloomberg have created a work of inconceivable flair, infused with the astounding artistry of actors Margaret Qualley (“Rebecca”) and Christopher Abbott (“Hal’); a …

Here’s a film that achieves a level of titillation, a dissection of authorship, scholarship, and an analysis of intelligence gone awry, to a satisfying, surprisingly astounding conclusion, enhanced by applaudable performances. Director Alice Troughton and writer Alex MacKeith dare viewers to define their perceptions of a writer’s acuity: “average writers attempt originality, they fail. Good writers borrow from their betters. …

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I had the privilege of visiting Lola VFX studio where I witnessed firsthand the de-aging process used in film; a “pod” a machine using algorithms to “analyze and manipulate the actor’s facial features, skin texture and other visual elements”; a remarkable, painless tool that was orchestrated to perfection in “Indiana Jones and the …

A recent visit to The Metropolitan Museum in New York City introduced me to Juan de Pareja (1606-1670) an Afro-Hispanic painter enslaved by renowned artist Diego Velazquez (1599-1660); Juan, freed in 1650, remarkably talented, was hidden in the shadows of Velazquez until his portrait by said artist was displayed in 1650. “Chevalier” is another example, manifesting “color” has no parameters …

“Gardening is a manipulation of the natural world.” Joel Edgerton gives a perfectly preened performance as “Narvel Roth”, a punctilious horticulturist in charge of dowager’s “Norma Haverhill” (pristinely aged Sigourney Weaver) elegant estate; he is her pawn, carrying out demands both in and outside the mansion. Director Paul Schrader gifts the complicated Roth a robotic intensity: meticulous biographer of floral …

Experiencing this elegiacally exquisite film knowing that no one could have written it without having lived it; religiosity reverberates throughout; “Past Lives” is a hymn, a devoted prayer to bygone loves; remembered souls whose sincerity episodically, flowed in and out of one’s life; the “if only’s” “what if’s” are ubiquitously echoed throughout “Past Lives”, stirring memories, mostly ignored, but awakened …

“One cannot count the moons that shimmer on her roofs/or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.” Saib-e-Tabrizi Two films focusing on the travails of American soldiers and their interpreters in the unchartered, explosive, terrifyingly beautiful landscape of Afghanistan. There is keen edification in both films but Guy Ritchie’s “Covenant” is a more intimate, accurate dissection of the dependency, bond …

Constantly being accused of disliking “comedy”; a subjective art form, admittedly there’s a modicum of truth in the accusation; humor to me must be rib-cracking, mascara running, bladder imperiled; guffawing uncontrollably, lusting for a repetition of the hilarious scene. Movies like Woody Allen’s “Sleeper” or Mel Brooks “The Producers” pass the “funny” test but the stellar, iconic funniest film I …

Penelope Cruz tips the scales in skill and virtuosity in Italian director Emanuele Crialese’s, “L’immensita” (immensity); shadowing his own struggle with gender identity in the 1970’s. It is a film metaphorically nuanced, reminiscent of today’s gender divisive world. “Clara” (Cruz) a dazzling housewife with three children, the oldest “Adriana/Adri” (prodigiously astounding Luana Giuliani) at twelve comfortable in his male identity, …