A nameless man, ambushed by a gorgeous, magnificently hostile, intransigent landscape, architects his survival; his doomed airplane and fishing expeditions keep him alive; Mads Mikkelsen’s performance is miraculous, imbued with astounding strength, tenacity and goodness; he rescues a wounded woman (Maria Thelma Smaradottir) after her plane and husband have perished; his phenomenal resourcefulness gifts viewers a look at a mythical, ... Read More »
1,700 Jews survived World War II living in Berlin; “The Invisibles” is Germany’s remarkable testament, lauding the indomitable survival instincts of four who defied the odds and lived. Archival interviews with the aged survivors, interspersed with actors depicting their youthful travails, is riveting filmmaking; director Claus Rafle, without blinders, creates a masterpiece, recognizing not only the temerity of the Jewish ... Read More »
Once again February has shed prominence on the stars, movies and those behind the scenes. This year is the most difficult, challenging to date, due to the range and diversity of the films and nominees. I feel there should be separate categories for drama and comedy. I also question “Roma” being in “Best Movie” and best “Foreign Film” categories. Every ... Read More »
Once again February has shed prominence on the stars, movies and those behind the scenes. This year is the most difficult, challenging to date, due to the range and diversity of the films and nominees. I feel there should be separate categories for drama and comedy. I also question “Roma” being in “Best Movie” and best “Foreign Film” categories. Every ... Read More »
Katharine Smyth in “All the Lives We Never Lived” proposes that there is one book for every life, with “the power to reflect and illuminate that life”; Lebanese director/writer/actor, Nadine Labaki’s magnificently tragic “Capernaum” is the nascent, metaphorical film featuring misplaced, disenfranchised refugees; focusing on a twelve-year-old Syrian boy “Zain” (Syrian refugee, Zain Al Rafeea) undocumented, uneducated, malnourished, suing his ... Read More »
This year has voyeuristically regaled audiences with two remarkable films by auteurs who culled from their memories, splayed on the screen, with respectful redolence, their lineage: “Roma” (reviewed 12/9), directed by Alfonso Cuaron (b.1961) and “Cold War”, a masterpiece directed by Pawel Pawlikowski (b.1957); reverence resonates throughout both movies; filmed in black and white, uncompromised by color, seize and steadfastly ... Read More »
A microcosm in a sphere that has ignored, overlooked them; director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s (“After the Storm”) enchanting tale, beautifully scripted, has viewers rooting for the illegal success of the “shoplifters”: “Osamu” (Lily Franky) and “Shota” (Jyo Kairi) effortlessly depict a copacetic team of thieves (their wonderfully warped logic; “if it’s in a store, it belongs to no one”, satisfying the ... Read More »
A night of glitz and glamour (Lady Gaga in an award winning gown), more importantly a night of civility and class; it was as if the egregiousness of this past year was left in the wake of a new era; the presenters and winners, like the strongest steel, emerged from the flames, surviving a year of discontent, stronger, highly polished ... Read More »
Profundity prevails in this sweeping, magnificently glorious film; director/writer Alfonso Cuaron’s reminiscent tale of life in a middle class Mexican family stuns with its purity, lack of guile, genuine veracity; black and white format emphasizes the functionality of a household whose maid “Cleo” (newcomer, Yalitza Aparicio) adhesively keeps the family, and its daily mechanisms in tow; Cleo is worthy of ... Read More »
For those living in unfriendly weather environments, to those with physical challenges and the multitudes who lovingly lounge, cling on long, lazy weekends to their couches, here are some films to fill the hours: “The Kindergarten Teacher” Netflix. Maggie Gyllenhaal enthralls in a remake of 2014’s Israeli film of the same title. A frustrated, mediocre poet, discovers a poetic prodigy ... Read More »
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