Netflix and Beyond

“Inebriate of air am I, and debauchee of dew”, aphrodisiac choices of Emily Dickinson; I favor movies, popcorn and hot dogs; satiated, spent and ready for a “program”, although in my case, could never be “anonymous”  For two weeks I have indulged at the gluttonous level my insatiable lust for film; thirty films, and five pounds later I am comforted ... Read More »

DEKH INDIAN CIRCUS; India, THREE & 1/2 STARS!!! How refreshing to sit through a film where everyone remains fully clothed for its entirety; a family film, dealing with issues that all can empathize with. Warm, charming, compelling story of a mother taking her two children to a circus, an initiation into the practical world, fraught with pain, glory and gripping ... Read More »

IF NOT US, WHO; Germany, FOUR STARS!!!! Incredible investigation into the creation of a revolutionary. Based upon the RAF (Red Army Faction, Germany 1960-70’s). This quasi -documentary concentrates on the lives of Bernward Vesper, Gudrun Ensslin, and Andreas Baader; intelligent writers whose idealism morphs into violence, and to their  ultimate demise. Original footage of the devastation, protests, politics of the ... Read More »

THE MOLE; Poland, FOUR STARS!!!! Loyalty, love, disillusionment, intrigue are the ingredients that comprise this succinct, finely- wrought, luminously performed film revolving around the birth of solidarity in Poland.   BONSAI; Chile/France, TWO STARS!! Stunning beginning, never attains supernova status, but fizzles with the same intensity. Proust is howling in his sarcophagus at this pathetic rendition of “Remembrance of Things ... Read More »

WOMAN IN THE FIFTH; United Kingdom, ONE &1/2 STARS! Murky, meandering miasma of failed, faulty filmmaking. Ethan Hawke earns a star for his passable accomplishments in the French language. Kristin Scott Thomas’s talents are wasted in this dreary, foggy psychological thriller.   RETURN TICKET; China/Taiwan, 2 & 1/2 STARS!! Quiet, sweet, contemplative, sporadically humorous tale of migrant workers in Shanghai ... Read More »

L. A. RAEVEN: BEYOND THE IMAGE; Netherlands, 2 &1/2 STARS!! Interesting but at times problematic documentary about twin sisters, both artists (Lisbeth & Angelique Raeven) living, working,  eating, thinking in tandem. A unique premise, but unfortunately an unsatisfying, disquieting conclusion. PATANG (THE KITE); India, FOUR & 1/2 STARS!!!! A superior film by Chicago director, Prashat Bhargava, highlighting a two day ... Read More »

TICKET TO PARADISE, Cuba; THREE STARS!!! Well acted slice of incredible, but true conditions of young people facing insurmountable odds; devoid of options. Depressing but pivotally realistic.   HIS MOTHER’S EYES, France; FOUR STARS!!!! Even with its flaws, I loved this film of beautiful people, with not-so-beautiful souls. Catherine Deneuve is a French icon.   BOL; Pakistan; FOUR STARS!!!! Here ... Read More »

To this point, after 6 films, 6 boxes of popcorn, 6 hot dogs and barely 6 hours of sleep (in 2 days) I have decided to give simple “sees” and “skips”; will review in depth when my life does not belong to AMC 21! GANDU, (India); 0 STARS! I was one of the few who stayed for the entire painful, ... Read More »

Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar”: Act 1, scene 2: Caesar: Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue shriller than all the music cry “Caesar”.              Speak, Caesar is turn’d to hear. Soothsayer: Beware the Ides of March. Caesar: What man is that? Brutus: a soothsayer bids you beware the Ides of march.   “Governor Mike ... Read More »

One does not choose whom to love; the heart is without doors and to a certain extent always bleeding, pulsating, uncontrollable with a “mind” and an emotional language unique unto itself. “My Afternoons with Margueritte”  is an enchanting, compelling tale of two disparate souls, lonely, meeting on a park bench in a small French village. “Germain” depicted by a massively ... Read More »