EVERYBODY HAS A PLAN- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Viggo Mortensen stars in this thriller as twin brothers Agustín, a doctor living a comfortable but mundane life, and Pedro, who has a criminal past. When Pedro dies, Agustín adopts his identity and gets a taste of Argentina’s underworld.”
3/22/13- A good review in today’s NY Times that put more emphasis on the moods created and acting than on the story itself. TRDB.
Add comment March 22nd, 2013
LEONIE- 2013. Synopsis by Netflix. “This biopic celebrates the life of Leonie Gilmour, an accomplished editor and educator and the mother of famed sculptor Isamu Noguchi. After her affair with a renowned Japanese poet leads to pregnancy, Leonie flees New York to raise her son alone.”
3/22/13- The NY Times did not like this movie but other critics have and so have audiences. TRDB.
Add comment March 22nd, 2013
NEW WORLD- 2013. Synopsis by Netflix. “After the head of Korea’s largest crime syndicate dies, undercover cop Ja-seong, who is exhausted and conflicted by his lengthy assignment, is ordered by his potentially corrupt boss to help the number two man in the organization become its leader.”
3/22/13- An OK review in today’s NY Times and mixed reviews in general. TRDB.
Add comment March 22nd, 2013
WHITE ELEPHANT- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Two fellow priests and friends, Julian and Nicolas, join together on a project to complete construction of a hospital in the slums of Buenos Aires. The unfinished “White Elephant” challenges their efforts to do virtuous work amid social chaos.”
3/20/13- Just a few reviews so far and they are good. TRDB.
6/10/13- A very interesting and well acted movie depicting a true story about 2 priests who worked in the slums of Buenos Aires. Hard not to like even though a whole lot was crammed into an hour and three quarters. TRDB. Netflix.
Add comment March 20th, 2013
CLIP- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “In this intense and explicit indie, 16-year-old Jasna lives with her terminally ill father and depressed mother in Belgrade, where she tries to find fulfillment through partying, porn, drugs and a debilitating relationship with her abusive boyfriend.”
3/15/13- Mixed review in today’s NY Times and elsewhere with the Times calling in cheerless and voyeuristic. TRDB.
Add comment March 15th, 2013
REALITY- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “Jovial fishmonger and small-time con artist Luciano hopes to enrich his humble family by participating in the Italian version of “Big Brother,” but his obsession with appearing to be an ideal contestant soon has his family doubting his sanity.”
3/15/13- A good review in today’s NY Times and elsewhere as well. TRDB.
Add comment March 15th, 2013
MY BROTHER THE DEVIL- 2013. Synopsis by Netflix. “As a 14-year-old Arab living in London, Mo is desperate to make friends and worships his older brother, Rashid, a gregarious local gang member. But Mo eventually makes an ill-fated play to fit in that changes both brothers’ lives forever.”
3/14/13- Great reviews. TRDB.
3/22/13- A very good review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
10/6/13- An excellent depiction of the drug and gang culture, this time about the Egyptian Diaspora living in England. The movie is also about family and, in particular, brotherly love. Very good and I enjoyed it. TRDB. Netflix.
Add comment March 14th, 2013
I KILLED MY MOTHER- 2009. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Hubert Minel, a brash 17 year old, dislikes his mother intensely. He gauges her with contempt, only seeing her out-of-date sweater, her kitschy décor and the vile bread crumbs that lodge in the corners of her noisy mouth. Below the surface of these irritating traits, lie the ingrained mechanisms that his mother has always cultivated so dearly – manipulation and guilt. Hubert, confused and torn by a love-hate relationship that obsesses him more and more each day, wanders in and out of an adolescence that is both marginal and typical, combining artistic discovery, openness to friendship, ostracism, and sex. All the while, he is consumed by his all encompassing contempt for this woman he somehow once loved.”
3/13/13- A very good review in today’s NY Times. Other critics have liked it as well. TRDB.
8/29/13- Very difficult to watch the conflict between mother and son but the movie was well done and I enjoyed it. TRDB. Netflix.
Add comment March 13th, 2013
HORS SATIN- 2013. Synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes. “Angel or devil, good or evil, Christ or Satan: These are the mystical questions revolving around the nameless figure living in the coastal dunes outside of a small French town. Named one of the top ten films of the year by Cahiers du Cinema and an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, Hors Satan is a provocative parable of identity, morality, and human relationships, defying notions of genre to become a mesmerizing and haunting original.”
Mixed reviews but more positive than negative. TRDB.
Add comment March 2nd, 2013
WAR WITCH- 2012. Synopsis by Netflix. “In sub-Saharan Africa, 12-year-old Komona is kidnapped by rebel soldiers who force her to kill her parents and join their ranks. Over the next two years, Komona clings to life despite her horrific experiences and tries to pacify her parents’ ghosts.”
3/1/13- A good review in today’s NY Times. TRDB.
3/6/13- Very difficult to watch this moving drama of a girl who amazingly survives war and superstition but it should be a “must-see.” TRDB.
Add comment March 2nd, 2013