Dallas Buyers Club
Jared Leto as Rayon
The true-life story of Texas AIDS pioneer, Ron Woodroof, set in 1985 Dallas, depicts his battle to fight for his life after being diagnosed as HIV-positive. His search for life-supporting experimental drugs via Mexico to help fellow HIV-positive people is the heart of “Dallas Buyers...
“Year of the Horse” — A New Year Gallops On
The Chinese New Year doesn’t start until Jan. 31, 2014. but many people start thinking of the animal sign on the first of the New Year. The spirit of the horse is recognized in the Chinese zodiac as energetic, elegant, warm-hearted, intelligent and able, but also capricious with a skittish and anxious nature as well.
The year of the...
“American Hustle”:—Everyone Hustles To Survive
With its ensemble cast, this film has received almost unanimous accolades for the universally stunning performances, under the direction of David O. Russell. Still at the top of his game (after “I Heart Huckabees”, “The Fighter”, and “Silver Linings Playbook”). All of Russell’s movies, intentionally or not, are the embodiment of a certain...
The Hunger Games Revisited: Part 2– “Catching Fire”
In what has to be the biggest blockbuster franchise since Twilight and Harry Potter, in this sequel to the first Hunger Games film (see my April 8, 2012 review–“The Hunger Games”–Our “Harry Potter”), the post-apocalyptic Panem is still a hell on earth. Former victors are forced to participate in a Quarter...
Inuit Art: Fusion of the Arctic and the Pacific
Inuit art has always had a profound impact on my aesthetics, almost as much as Japanese art. The humor, minimalism, and abstraction in form combine in an original way. On a recent visit to the Musée des Beaux Arts in Montreal, I had the memorable experience of viewing perhaps the best collection of Inuit art in the world.
What is not well...
“Mud”– Channeling “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
With its meandering pace, Mud embodies a Southern culture known for doing things slowly, drifting along the bayou languorously like “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” John Nichols, the director and an Arkansas native, grounds his film in authenticity through superb casting (including local teenagers), location, and a script centered on...
