Hollywood

When mediocrity stars in theatres, television can satiate the most discriminating, discerning viewer. Recently I watched three shows that resonated profoundly, leaving a luscious residue of memorable performances, extraordinary writing, staggering scenarios:   “The Politician’s Wife”: British miniseries (1995) starring Juliet Stevenson as a loyal but betrayed wife of Conservative Minister “Duncan Matlock” (Ian Bannen) with an “escort” (Minnie Driver). ... Read More »

French director Claire Denis shares certain affinities with fellow filmmakers Terrence Malick and Lars von Trier; disturbing, ubiquitous uncertainty, aura of apocalyptic gloom hover at the epicenter of their films; “High Life” at times, breathtaking cinematographically, shades of Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, focuses on hardened criminals surviving in a space ship, floating in an alternate galaxy; commencing ... Read More »

Periodically, it happens; almost instantly, acknowledging the worthiness of the movie, but wishing to remove oneself from the onslaught of massive, bludgeoning depression; “Diane” marvelously depicted by Mary Kay Place is a middle-aged depressive, her focus on others to the exclusion of her own issues, is devouring her sanity; she is a list maker, visiting and feeding the sick, working ... Read More »

Marvelously manipulative, pushing all the right buttons, resulting in an ultimately satisfying movie experience; Sam Rockwell and Taraji P. Henson, seasoned stars, paired perfectly as C.P. Ellis, President of the KKK in Durham, North Carolina and Ann Atwater, a fiery African American civil rights activist; it is 1971 and school integration percolates heatedly in the divisive, racist white community in ... Read More »

I do not believe in a God of Carnage; but 10 Pakistani men over November 26-29, 2008, assassinated 164 people in the name of Allah, squelching India’s way of life, as they did in the United States, September 11, 2001; director Anthony Maras, without blinders or sensationalism, reenacts and personalizes the calamitous hours of terror endured by guests and staff ... Read More »

A compelling, scintillating scenario poetically referencing a true tale; Matthias Schoenaerts depicts hardened criminal Roman Coleman, whose rehabilitation rests on the back of an unbroken mustang; both are wild, volatile and caged; filmed with insightful prescience, elucidating neophytes to the massive benefits of Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) therapy;  a myriad of animals are employed in pet therapy, aiding individuals fighting ... Read More »

Director James Kent (“Testament of Youth”) intriguingly, hauntingly tells a tale of romance, devastation, deceit between injured, irreparably altered souls; chaos, detritus, beautifully depicted in the “winter of discontent” in postwar Hamburg, Germany; actors Keira Knightley, “Rachel Morgan”, Alexander Skarsgard, “Stefan Lubert” and Jason Clarke, “Colonel Lewis Morgan” imbue their characters with heart-wrenching depth and integrity; the Morgan’s have requisitioned ... Read More »

Jesse Eisenberg brings his unique brand of freneticism to a film informed by the speed of a hummingbird’s flutter of its wings; technological wizardry based on the prescience of a fiber optic “line” running underground from Kansas to New Jersey, resulting in vast profits, in milliseconds, on the stock market; Jesse is “Vincent Zaleski” a high-frequency trader, along with his  ... Read More »

Absolutely nothing is as it appears in this “doppelganger” thriller, commencing with six-year-old “Adelaide” (mesmerizing, doe-eyed Madison Curry) wandering into a fun house at a neighborhood carnival; shivering encounter with her clone, leaves her irrevocably altered; jump to present day and adult Adelaide (outstanding, haunting depiction by Lupita Nyong’o) and her husband “Gabe” (naturally naïve, wholesome Winston Duke), daughter “Zora” ... Read More »

Instantly recognizable, is a woman, searching for an anchor, a “place in the sun”, with pulsating vulnerability, candid openness, she maneuvers the dance floor of a familiar night club; dancing flays the ordinariness of her life: unattached children, valueless job, psychotic neighbor; she possesses the capacity for incalculable love, but no one worthy of its measures; a divorcee, neither gay ... Read More »