Ok, I made a choice this weekend to avoid cancer (as in Our Friend) and instead chose a Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf one percenter first world problems debate in Malcom and Marie. Why you ask? Sam Levinson, who produced Pieces of a Woman, wrote and directed Malcolm & Marie, that’s why. And I both… Continue reading Malcolm & Marie, Ladies Before Gentlemen
Month: January 2021
Sometimes ya gotta go back to a French classic…Purple Noon, not a typo for Rain, but there could have been a raspberry beret
I’ll take a movie recommendation from anyone who says one of his favorites is Before the Devil Knows Your Dead…SOLD. so I took in a couple of lazy stay out of the melanoma hours of sun to watch Purple Noon, directed by Rene Clement. Yes, it was in French with subtitles, but good for the… Continue reading Sometimes ya gotta go back to a French classic…Purple Noon, not a typo for Rain, but there could have been a raspberry beret
“Down Goes Frazier!” in this case “Mank”, “One Night in Miami” moves into the Top Ten
A true case of “it ain’t over till it’s over”, One Night in Miami just moved into my Top 10 of 2020. But first, this positive race relations commentary….six Caucasians (actually 4 parties, 2 separate solo single females and two couples) walked into the CineBistro Siesta Key to pay acknowledgement to not only the four… Continue reading “Down Goes Frazier!” in this case “Mank”, “One Night in Miami” moves into the Top Ten
Funyuns and Hip Hop, A great film combination!
“The 40 Year Old Version”, Rhada Blank’s amazingly creative new film of which she both wrote and directed had the freshness of ‘Clerks’ and the ‘woke-ness’ of ‘Sorry To Bother You’. The story of a woman at 40 trying to re-invent herself is as real as any midlife crisis story. Here, Rhada, a teacher by… Continue reading Funyuns and Hip Hop, A great film combination!
Some Kind of Heaven, Some Kind of Mediocrity
I fully appreciate Lance Oppenheim’s interest in humans and the choices they make, never having seen his other pieces, among one about a man who got on a cruise and stayed on cruises for twenty years. Yet, he has a ways to go in making a doc that titillates. Let me school you just a… Continue reading Some Kind of Heaven, Some Kind of Mediocrity
Making Room for Pieces of a Woman in my Top Ten
Time to shove over a few selections for the phenomenal Pieces of a Woman directed by Kornel Mundruczo and written by his fellow Hungarian collaborator Kata Weber. But first, I am glad I heard the beginning of a podcast which foretold the difficult scenes in the first 20 minutes, I’d challenge that and say 27… Continue reading Making Room for Pieces of a Woman in my Top Ten
Three Summers, Like a Tres Leches Cake, Tres Veroes
Pardon my bad Spanish analogy, but since I love Tres Leches cake, I thought I’d compare Tres Veroes, a fine movie written and directed by Sandra Kogut. First the perfect three part structure: Decembers of 2015, 2016, and 2017. 2015 begins with Mada, played brilliantly by Regina Case, as housekeeper/family caretaker to a wealthy Brazilian… Continue reading Three Summers, Like a Tres Leches Cake, Tres Veroes
Sub ‘Twisted’ for ‘Promising’ Young Woman
Emerald Fennell’s written and directed Promising Young Woman is worth seeing. Good twists, scant violence, bravo on both counts. Now let’s talk about assuming your audience is intelligent, a demographic of which I guess Emerald doesn’t care to appeal. Much like Fincher’s Gone Girl, the characters are rather 2-D, there’s bad frat boys, there’s disgraced,… Continue reading Sub ‘Twisted’ for ‘Promising’ Young Woman
The Twentieth Century, Oh Canada! Air Kiss!
The Twentieth Century is a satire that makes getting older a breeze…why you ask? Because I learn more about former my upstairs neighbor (me-Rochester, them-Canada). Who knew they had a famous prime minister (or any prime minister) named Mackenzie King who lacked charisma, but made up for that in spades in eccentricity. If you happened… Continue reading The Twentieth Century, Oh Canada! Air Kiss!