THE END OF LOVE- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “After the mother of his 2-year-old son dies, a struggling actor must grow up as he grapples with his new responsibilities — and meeting a young mother forces him to face up to the things he’s been avoiding.”
3/1/13- Today’s NY Times gave this movie a weak review. TRDB.
6/27/13- Mostly good reviews but a few poor ones. TRDB.
Add comment March 2nd, 2013
THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Stripping away the headlines and hype, this documentary spotlights the people who surrounded serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer during and after his arrest. Comments by neighbors and police create a portrait of Dahmer that’s disturbingly normal.”
2/15/13– A fairly good review for this documentary in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment February 17th, 2013
HAVA NAGILA (THE MOVIE)- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Morphing from Hasidic prayer to party staple, “Hava Nagila” carries with it more than a century of Jewish culture — all of it captured here. Everyone from Harry Belafonte to Leonard Nimoy weighs in on the song as the filmmakers chart its evolution.”
3/1/13- Good review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
3/26/13- An interesting documentary with numerous famous talking heads most of whom are not Jewish. Cleverly presented as well with enough humor to keep things light. TRDB.
Add comment February 14th, 2013
LORE- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “After her Nazi parents are imprisoned, Lore leads her younger siblings across a war-torn Germany in 1945. Amid the chaos, she encounters a mysterious refugee named Thomas, who shatters her fragile reality with hatred and desire.”
2/8/13- Very good reviews in general with just a few critics saying that the film was a bit slow. The NY Times liked it as well. TRDB.
3/16/13- Yet another extremely powerful movie related to the Holocaust. Well done and should be a must see! TRDB.
Add comment January 27th, 2013
KOCH- 2012. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Former Mayor Ed Koch is the quintessential New Yorker. Still ferocious, charismatic, and hilariously blunt, the now 87-year-old Koch ruled New York from 1978 to 1989-a down-and-dirty decade of grit, graffiti, near-bankruptcy and rampant crime. First-time filmmaker (and former Wall Street Journal reporter) Neil Barsky has crafted an intimate and revealing portrait of this intensely private man, his legacy as a political titan, and the town he helped transform.”
2/1/13- An OK review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment January 22nd, 2013
THE GATEKEEPERS- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Meet six leaders of Israel’s secret service, the Shin Bet, which has dealt with conflict amid the quest for peace for nearly 50 years. For the first time, these men discuss the challenging truths and consequences of their counterterrorism mission.”
Excellent reviews all around. TRDB.
3/10/13- I liked this movie very much but it did seem unusual to me that each of the men seemed to distance himself from Israeli tactics. Were there any heads of Shin Bet that agreed with the policies even if they don’t appear to have worked in retrospect? TRDB. At the Theater.
Add comment January 22nd, 2013
STOLEN SEAS- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Utilizing exclusive interviews and unparalleled access to real pirates, hostages, ship-owners, pirate negotiators and experts on piracy, Stolen Seas presents a chilling exploration of the Somali pirate phenomenon. Stolen Seas is an eye opening refutation of preconceived ideas on how or why piracy has become the world’s most frightening multi-million dollar growth industry.”
1/18/13- This movie was one of the “best of the fest” at the Palm Springs International Film Festival this year and was praised in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
11/11/14- An excellent documentary that tries to change your concept of ship hijacking by showing the customs and life of the Somali pirates, the ship companies AND the governments involved. TRDB. Netflix Streaming.
Add comment January 18th, 2013
HAPPY PEOPLE: A YEAR IN THE TAIGA- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Venerated documentarian Werner Herzog teams with director Dmitry Vasyukov for this observant look at life along the River Yenisei in northern Russia, where the industrious inhabitants of a rural village truly live off the land.”
1/25/13- A few mixed reviews so far and from today’s NY Times as well. TRDB.
Add comment January 17th, 2013
ZERO DARK THIRTY- 2012. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. Zero Dark Thirty reunites the Oscar winning team of director-producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer-producer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) for the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man.”
Great early reviews. TRDB.
1/29/13- I enjoyed the last 45 min. during the raid on Bin Laden’s compound because of its historical significance and suspense despite knowing the outcome. The first hour and a half was for me well summed up by a reviewer when he said– “A silly film that never remotely deserved an Oscar nomination.” TRDB.
Add comment January 2nd, 2013
TABU- 2012. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Acclaimed director Miguel Gomes returns with a sumptuous, eccentric two-part tale centered on Aurora, shown first as an impulsive, cantankerous elderly woman in present-day Lisbon. When Aurora is hospitalized, she sends her neighbor, Pilar, to pass word of her grave condition to Gian Luca, a man of which no one has ever heard her speak. Pilar’s quest to fulfill her friend’s wish transports us to Africa fifty years earlier, before the start of the Portuguese Colonial War.”
12/26/12- Excellent reviews in general but a mixed review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
Add comment December 26th, 2012