Hollywood

Dustin Hoffman directs a film that vacillates between the vicissitudes, decrepitude of once- gifted musicians and their resistance or acceptance of their octogenarian state and faded fame; flirting with poignancy but never quite grasping it; the characters become comical “caricatures” of  diminished vitality, spouting maudlin repartee. Michael Cambon was  particularly annoying as the grousing director. The fine moments revolve around ... Read More »

Russell Crowe, sporting the banged “Nero” look, plays the slimy, mendacious, feckless Mayor of New York City, running for re-election; it will take years to erase Crowe’s insipid performance in  “Les Miserables” ; gone is the grit of “John Nash” in “A Beautiful Mind”, poignancy of “James Braddock” in “Cinderella Man” or the  mettle, dignity of “The Gladiator”. Disguising his ... Read More »

Vigilante brigade strives to rid Los Angles of its Jewish mobster, “Mickey Cohen”; a plastic caricature by Sean Penn. It is 1949 and a corps of terrific actors comprise the “squad”; they had to have had a riotous time making this “B” movie about lawless LA and cops gone rogue, cauterizing Cohen’s notorious cabal of amoral thugs. If you are ... Read More »

Kathryn Bigelow has scored again (“The Hurt Locker”) with this meticulous, intricate scenario of the decade long hunt and slaying of the world’s most sought after terrorist, Osama Bin Laden; she is religious in depicting the reality of the quest and CIA operative “Maya’s” intransigent dedication to finding this heinous villain. Jessica Chastain gives a quietly explosive performance as a ... Read More »