An incendiary title that is anything but; director/writer Sameh Zoabi (a Palestinian raised in Israel) with fellow writer Dan Kleinman create a silly, “soapish” scenario that deliciously delights with its blend of the pungent political milieu hibernating at the core of Israeli-Palestinian tensions preceding the 1967 war; a flimsy plot focusing on a Palestinian spy “Tala” (quirky, enigmatic Lubna Azabel) ... Read More »
Jamie Bell is convincingly compelling as Neo-Nazi, Byron Widner; he is a totem, poster boy for every racist, anti-Semitic, white supremacist, mendacious nitwit poisoning the disenfranchised, marginalized, those terrified of anyone who is not colorless, of pure Aryan stock; ironically, their corps is tattooed, unshaven, filthy icons of hate. Widner is a real life paradigm of miraculous upheaval; his catalyst ... Read More »
“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” Argentina. 1975. A home is stripped of its accessories, by disparate individuals; a metaphor for the ultimate disappearance of Argentines with left wing political ideals, leading to the “Dirty War” (1976-1983) a United States-backed military coup d’état, (overthrew Isabel Peron) clandestinely supporting state terrorism; a murky blot ... Read More »
Quentin Tarantino’s mellowest, most nostalgic, tempered film to date; bludgeoning bloodshed of “Inglorious Basterds”, “Django Unchained”, “The Hateful Eight”, replaced by an homage to 1969 Hollywood; filmed in 35-millimeter celluloid, focusing on the waning stardom of “Rick Dalton” a nascent cowboy and his stunt man “Cliff Booth”; Leonardo DiCaprio as “Rick” and Brad Pitt, “Cliff”, are at their classic, professional ... Read More »
Rarely does a film generate benevolent happiness, sweetness, witnessing a family’s love and concern for a precious matriarch; Zaho Shuhzen is dazzling as “Nai Nai” (grandmother), unaware of her fatal stage 4 lung cancer, she devours life and living with staggering, stunning greed; she is an extraordinary tonic, a canyon of care; her granddaughter, “Billi” (Awkwafina, “Crazy Rich Asians”) an ... Read More »
Do not give this film short shrift because of its Bollywood genre. Here is a movie for whoever has been electrified, inspired, challenged, encouraged by an instructor, educator; a teacher whose magnetism moves mountains, drives one to excel, explore unknown, untethered avenues, resulting in lifelong quests in fertile fields, perpetually nourishing the brain, beyond boundaries, beyond one’s own expectations; its ... Read More »
At times, achingly tragic, pervasively poignant, Marianne Ihlen (1935-2016) and Leonard Cohen’s (1934-2016) love saga is enchantingly directed by Nick Broomfield; it sears to the soul a destined pairing, even when shattered, but never severed, resonating forever in the lyrics of “So Long, Marianne”. Historically the “muse” is the dynamite, explosive, freeing the artist’s vision, blasting blocks, blinding the core ... Read More »
Yearly, we watch Oscar winners waving the 8.5 pound statuette, extolling the platitudinous “follow your dreams”, “actualize your potential”, “if I can do it, so can you”, aphorisms. “Maiden” directed by Alex Holmes tips the scales as an exhilarating, galvanizing documentary; its ingenuity, Draconian ambition, heart-arresting filmmaking, stuns with the story of Tracy Edwards, who realized her dream in 1989, ... Read More »
“Hamlet” is William Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) longest play and possibly, most well known; pungent with murder, madness, deceit, witchcraft and doomed romance, it has mastered time’s vanquishing test with inimitable longevity. Director Claire McCarthy and writer Semi Chellas have given the vastly ignored, drowned “Ophelia” a contemporary “Me-too” spin with a Cliff Note scenario, she is the only one of tangible ... Read More »
A documentary, that even if her novels escaped your literary library, must be seen and applauded. Poignantly, and with refined grace, director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, gifts viewers a portrait of eminence, defying conventions, stereotypes, “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” is saturated with a presence so dazzling, compelling, that if she hadn’t written a word, her personality alone would captivate your ... Read More »
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