Hollywood

At “times” movie titles make absolutely no sense, no segway into the scenario; the viewer, if unaware of the synopsis, is befuddled; “Clockwork Orange”,” Reservoir Dogs”, “Cloverfield” but “Good Time” written and directed by Benny and Josh Safdin, tips the scale in nonsensical, baffling titles; they have created another gritty crime caper in the bowels of New York City’s disenfranchised, ... Read More »

By far the most terrifying film of 2017; “Annabelle” cannot touch the intrinsic terror of this film; “Ingrid” (Aubrey Plaza, dazzles) is overwhelming pathetic; her existence is defined by Instagram, Twitter, etc. highlighted by emoji’s; loneliness has plundered her reason, she suffers a psychotic fracture after destroying a wedding she wasn’t invited to; rehabilitation has honed her electronic stalking skills; ... Read More »

Steven Soderbergh’s “Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen” soared, and anchored his place in the hierarchy of the heist genre; disappointingly “Logan Lucky” does not touch his former status. Well-acted but tediously long, pushing too hard the “Robin Hood” theme, challenging viewers investment, in the all too complex sting, executed by (looks can be deceiving) not-so-bright perpetrators. Channing Tatum has doffed ... Read More »

For those who have read the book there is a bludgeoning redundancy throughout the film; pivotally performed by actors Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts, Ella Anderson; frustration stroked by horrific circumstances; four children, if not physically abused were emotionally castrated by an inebriate of “air, whimsy and alcohol”; Harrelson plays Rex Walls,  the architect of the fantastical Glass Castle, ... Read More »

This is a poetic, poignant, even painful portrait of a landscape so magnificent in its being, but ruthless in its demands; a landscape that celebrates its beauty but shuns man’s meddling; “Wind River” reveres, respects its isolation, segregation, its unwillingness to be part of the sphere; the vastness of the Wyoming, Native American reservation is the focus of Taylor Sheridan’s ... Read More »

Far from the normal “kidnap” scenario, where sobbing, hysterical parents, etc., comply with the FBI, raping their bank accounts and 401K’s, leaving cash at the orchestrated location; Halle Barry as “Karla” is tenacious as a woman who pursues rapacious kidnappers (appropriate diabolical performances by Chris McGinn and Lew Temple) of her enchanting, six-year-old son “Frankie” (Sage Correa); preposterous and exhilarating ... Read More »

Al Gore lost the Presidency but found an even greater calling; an avocation has blossomed into a vocation; he has been the prime oracle,  alerting the world to the vicissitudes of global warming; winning an Academy Award for 2006’s “An Inconvenient Truth” this sequel cements his place in climate change history; his theories, authenticated, he is eminently confident lecturing to ... Read More »

Joining the league of women action figures: “Evelyn Salt” (Angelina Jolie); “Kill Bill” (Uma Thurman); “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (Noomi Rapace/Rooney Mara) and a plethora of others, but none can touch the cool, lethal prowess of “Lorraine Broughton”, an M16 agent seeking justice for a slain cohort in Berlin, 1989, the leak and “list” that led to his murder. Charlize ... Read More »

Director/writer Gillian Robespierre  (“Obvious Child”) coming of age film in the late 1990’s is a stale rendition of a ubiquitous theme: experimental drug use, gratuitous sexual encounters, scatological humor, irksome giggling. Sisters “Dana” (Jenny Slate) and “Ali” (Abby Quinn’s performance kept me in my seat) discover their father’s “Alan” (John Turturro) affair, perplexity abounds around informing their mother, “Pat”, (Edie ... Read More »

Kathryn Bigelow’s brazen and brutal depiction of the 1967 riots in Detroit, Michigan focuses on the slaughter at the Algiers Motel on the night of July 26th, 1967. Emotionally pulverizing (many left the theater), this film was overwhelmingly difficult to sit through; a supreme case of; “man’s inhumanity to man”;  “Krauss” (egregiously evil portrayal by Will Poulter) with a Howdy ... Read More »