Based upon J.M. Coetzee’s 1980 novel of the same title is a giant metaphor for imperialism in any form and the country it infects; Great Britain, the crowning imperialist, gobbled chunks of: 13 American colonies, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand and Africa; we do not have to wait for the “barbarians”, they arrive instantaneously in the guise of “Colonel Joll” ... Read More »
2020, destined to be immortalized as the era of Covid-19; traumatic, terrorizing, a year of cauterization, of vulnerability, unlike anything visited upon mankind since 1918, when fifty million people worldwide perished as the influenza pandemic spread its toxic tentacles. Searching for an antibiotic, a tonic to relieve the frustrations, the monotony of confinement in a structured, known environment; television is ... Read More »
The Franco brothers (James, Tom and Dave) continue to impress with their prodigious capabilities; conquering a myriad of disciplines: acting, painting, art collectors, screenwriters, producers, directors; intelligence informs their ambitions and they are unafraid of unchartered frontiers. Dave Franco’s directorial debut, “The Rental”, had promise, commencing with brothers “Charlie” (Dan Stevens, “The Guest”) and “Josh” (Jeremy Allen White), renting with ... Read More »
Jerzy Kosinski’s 1965 novel of the same name, translates into a horrific, bestial, brilliant visual experience; not for the squeamish or feint sensitivities; there are scenes seared permanently in my memory; moral turpitude on an unimaginable scale; cruelty practiced by a religious populace. Crimes perpetrated upon a young boy seeking safety, sanity in Eastern Europe, during WWII. He is Jewish, ... Read More »
Of the countless films, programming, entertaining options viewed over the last five Covid months, “Greyhound” suffered pivotally from the pandemic; reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s 2017’s “Dunkirk”, its magnificence needed the vastness of a cinematographic experience, instead of the confinement (regardless of the screen size) of an in-house exploitation; Tom Hanks exponentially, through the years, has matured as an actor and ... Read More »
Most of us have had it with homeland incarceration; abiding by authoritative regulations, our relationship with the outside world, revolve around our television/computer. Here are a few to view or shun: “GRANDCHESTER”: a British detective series (PBS, AMAZON PRIME) in its fifth season, surviving the loss of magnetic James Norton (does an about face, from saint to sinner in “Happy ... Read More »
This, my third foray, into the legendary arena of the American Revolution (1775-1783), starring Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) was scintillatingly positive; first exposure was the play in New York City, at an obnoxious ticket price (my fault, no one held a pistol to my head) that actually had a negative effect on my entertainment scale; fortunately, I was one of the ... Read More »
Unerringly poignant, sublimely sensitive, an exquisite story within a story directed by Hirokazu Koreeda (“The Shoplifters”); actors Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche, imposingly comfortable in their craft are commanding as a mother/daughter team, with unresolved issues; Deneuve, “Fabienne” at the nadir of her career as a scion of the film industry, struggling with memory deficiency, has written a fabricated autobiography; Binoche, is her daughter, “Lumir”, ... Read More »
This fine Australian film, won prizes at many 2019 film festivals; without sensationalism it splays to the core a family’s horrifying pain of watching their teenage daughter’s loosing battle with intransigent cancer. Director Shannon Murphy (screenplay: Rita Kalnejais) in tandem with an extraordinary cast emotionally sear viewers with a revelatory, insightful vision of coping with the unimaginable. Eliza Scanlen’s, “Milla” ... Read More »
Shamefully, I have taken too long of a hiatus from my Bollywood Buddies; here are two series guaranteed to keep you in comfortable confinement; performances are creatively captivating (superior casting); detectives of both genders, imbue their roles with intelligence, ingenuity, intuitive integrity. “Paatal Lok” features a long ignored, unpromoted police inspector, “Hathiram Chaudhary” (stellar, Jaideep Ahlawat) who serendipitously gets a life-altering case when four people ... Read More »
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