After a long and difficult road for Martin Scorsese’s crime epic memoir, all the ingredients are present for a masterful piece of cinema. The talent includes eight Oscar winners: Director Scorsese, screenwriter Steven Zaillian, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, costume designer Sandy Powell, as well as four Oscar-winning performers — Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci…
Politicians spouting foolish and frightening rhetoric is almost run of the mill these days. As a result, recollections of simpler times are suggested by news footage of Tony Blair and George W. Bush talking about weapons of mass destruction, the invasion of Iraq and UN resolutions, times before the confusion of Brexit Britain and Trump’s…
In a phenomenal pairing, two powerhouses of the British stage join forces for a film which depicts the disastrous consequences that occur when their lives unexplainably intertwine. Ian McKellen (“All Is True”) is Roy Courtney, a man with a murky past and plenty of questionable connections. After arranging to have dinner with Betty (Helen Mirren,…
“For a long time after the war I was afraid of the sky, even of raising my head towards the sky. I was afraid of seeing plowed-up earth. But the rooks already walked calmly over it. The birds quickly forgot the war” — Svetlana Alexievich, “The Unwomanly Face of War” During World War II, the…
“And it feels like it’s so long till morning” — Kate Rusby, “Until Morning” While many holocaust survivors openly express rage and uncontrolled bitterness towards their persecutors, other survivors display only an emotional deadness and a pervasive feeling of being alone and scared. In the movie “Fateless,” Gyuri, a young man sent to Buchenwald, moves…
Stephen King’s “It” has a long history. From the original novel to the 90s mini-series, an audio book and now two motion pictures, the battle between Pennywise the Dancing Clown and the Losers Club has frightened and fascinated generations of readers, listeners and viewers. Andy Muschietti’s big screen release of “It” in 2017 was a…
Claire McCarthy’s Ophelia opens with the titular character telling, via voice-over, that she feels it is time that we hear her narrative told from her perspective. This is a promising notion. Many of Shakespeare’s supporting women warrant narratives on their own, and the veracious success that was 2016’s “Lady Macbeth” proves just how potent they…
