The story of Danish painter Einar Wegener’s transition into Lili Elbe seems tailor-made for cinematic examination. There’s a physical aspect that can be attended to visually as Lili (Eddie Redmayne, Oscar winner for “The Theory of Everything”) comes to the external forefront when Einar begins wearing dresses and wigs. And there’s a deeply internal aspect…
I teach high school English and have a master’s degree in my content, so I’ve read quite a bit and I’ve studied many authors. I took a seminar in Jane Austen, but, to my disappointment, the only book I enjoyed was one NOT written by Austen (Evelina by Frances Burney, in case you’re curious). I’ve…
“I miss the Cassie I was. I wonder what that Cassie would think of me now — the Cassie who kills.” The introductory voiceover for The 5th Wave is certainly not typical of your run-of-the-mill PG-13 fare, but unfortunately, that’s where the non-similarities end. The first act of the film introduces Cassie Sullivan (Chloë Grace…
So, say you start a conversation, a very good conversation. How so? Why is it so good? Is it the other with whom you converse? Is it the topic? Is it the commonalities slowly weaving a lasting bond between both interlocutors? Or between speeches? What is it that makes for a good conversation? Maybe it…
Few films actually have an opportunity to affect presidential politics (the last one was probably Phillip Kaufman’s “The Right Stuff” in 1983, which featured a glowing characterization of John Glenn — played by Ed Harris — who was then running for the Democratic nomination), but 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, directed by Michael…
Dedicated to David Jones Nature is not a survivor. Nature neither lives nor dies; it is in nature where everything that lives dies, and it is in it that everything that lives fights for survival. Nature is therefore the place of survival, but it is also its witness. For this is no inert space. More…
When everything in your life is looking rosy, there is always someone who will tell you that your happiness is on shaky ground. Though most of the time these naysayers will not profit from your misfortune, such is not the case in The Big Short, Adam McKay’s (“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”) hard-hitting comedy/drama about…
