Month: March 2015

“Citizenfour”—Big Brother’s Doppelganger

Written by diana on March 24, 2015. Posted in movie reviews. 3 Comments on “Citizenfour”—Big Brother’s Doppelganger

Citizenfour This Academy-Award-winning documentary for 2015 opens with a request by Edward Snowden for an encrypted line to ensure his e-mail will not be intercepted and be a target of government surveillance. Calling himself “citizenfour”, only the director Laura Poitras (who also received a Pulitzer) understands the importance of this request and can implement the encryption code easily. Then begins the spellbinding story of Snowden, our decade’s most famous whistleblower, in a Hong Kong hotel room in June 2013. Citizenfour. “Just walk me through it,” Glenn Greenwald , journalist for...

“House of Cards” –On the verge of collapse

Written by diana on March 16, 2015. Posted in movie reviews. 2 Comments on “House of Cards” –On the verge of collapse

In Season 3 of Netflix’s award-winning series, “House of Cards”, the Beltway game is passing Francis Underwood (Kevin Spacey) by and only he seems not to know it. This season is wife Claire Underwood’s story. Whatever the subplots and character arcs, this series continues to hinge upon the tortuous dynamics between Frank and Claire Underwood. They’ve been combustible before, but never quite like this. And now it is Claire’s turn to get center stage. All thirteen episodes again are ready for binge-viewing and, are made for devouring before catching your breath and dissecting...

“Life Itself”—A Beautiful Mind

Written by diana on March 9, 2015. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on “Life Itself”—A Beautiful Mind

Roger Ebert 2013 Based upon the memoir by the same name, “Life Itself” is the autobiography of movie critic extraordinaire, Roger Ebert. This documentary is as much about courage and loyalty as it is about the life of the most famous and brilliant movie critic we have known. Tremendously life-affirming and soul-stirring, “Life Itself” is a portrayal of a man so comfortable with himself that he is always in the present moment, in the face of tremendous challenges towards the end of his life. That Roger Ebert is described by one friend as “nice, but not that nice” says it all: a personality who...

“Wild Tales”—Nothing Tame About This

Written by diana on March 2, 2015. Posted in movie reviews. No Comments on “Wild Tales”—Nothing Tame About This

Wild Tales Nominated for the 2015 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film (unfortunately losing to “Ida”), “Wild Tales” is like no other film I have seen in recent years. This dark series of six vignettes channeling “Twilight Zone” and “Black Mirror” is the surreal creation of Argentine writer-director Damián Szifrón and produced by Pedro Almodóvar (of “Volver” and “All About My Mother” fame). Grudges, minor insults, infidelity, and heinous crimes all lead to mayhem, revenge, and murder on a cataclysmic, sometimes savage scale. While the first tale is my favorite, all six have scathing, psychological...

Month: March 2015

“Citizenfour”—Big Brother’s Doppelganger

“House of Cards” –On the verge of collapse

“Life Itself”—A Beautiful Mind

“Wild Tales”—Nothing Tame About This

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