This legendary thriller marked its sixtieth anniversary last year. Yet so many young viewers have yet to witness this masterpiece of film-making: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. This Robert Aldrich-produced film stands the test of time.
An unforgettable descent into chaotic madness is exquisitely dramatized in true Alfred Hitchcock fashion. (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane was released only two years after “Psycho”, another masterpiece of psychic horror.) Child star ‘Baby Jane’ Hansen (Bette Davis), supports her family by playing a sweet innocent...
The Last of Us–An Apocalypse?
In a fictional America presented as 2023, not in the future, The Last of Us opens with the country under siege from a pandemic caused by a deadly fungus (cordyceps.) Based on the insanely popular video game (over 20 million copies sold) by the same name, the screen adaptation takes the viewer into a toxic world with more developed characters and personalities.
Ellie (Bella Ramsey of “Game of Thrones”) is a teenage orphan who is believed to be immune to the fungal disease that has wiped out most of the planet’s population. Those who survive the fungus turn into monstrous,...
The Good Nurse–Compromising Bedside Manner
Inspired by a true story ripped from the headlines, The Good Nurse, a medical thriller, takes the viewer on a nightmare ride of the ICU unit at Parkfield Memorial Hospital, in New Jersey. The year is 2003. Charlie Cullens (the incomparable Eddie Redmayne) is hired to help Amy Loughren (the always dazzling Jessica Chastain), an overworked nurse and single mother with a life-threatening heart condition. Ironically, Amy cannot afford the medical care she desperately needs while working in a hospital.
Grateful to have a highly competent nurse to share...
Narvik–A Forgotten Battle
In Narvik, a war drama inspired by historical events, we witness Hitler’s first defeat: in a small town in Norway called Narvik. Although sparsely populated, Narvik is strategically situated as a northern Norwegian coastal port that supplies iron ore to both Germany and the Allies. In April 1940, at the start of two months of fierce winter warfare, the Germans unilaterally seize a hotel for their center of command. The Nazis rely upon Narvik for 85% of their iron ore supply. However, Narvik considers itself a neutral supplier of iron ore to...
Luther: The Fallen Sun
For fans of the BBC series, Luther (2010-2019), there is now a movie, “Luther: The Fallen Sun”, which continues the crime-solving by a London cop–John Luther (the magnetic Idris Elba) who is more troubled and morally conflicted than anyone else on the police force. Needless to say, he is also a genius in comprehending the most heinous of psychopaths in spite of his aversion to rules and legal procedures.
The movie opens where Season Five of the Netflix series left off with Luther behind bars for failing to indict suspected murders he was investigating, one of whom was a lover, Alice...
Ticket to Paradise–The Ride Isn’t Worth It!
In this fluff of a romantic comedy, two of our most popular actors (Julia Roberts and George Clooney) tussle as a divorced couple–David and Georgia– begrudgingly thrown together to attend their daughter’s wedding in Bali.
David (Clooney) and Georgia (Roberts) were married 25 years ago, but their marriage lasted only five years, due to irreconcilable differences, mostly involving long hours of professional career-building absent from the spouse. Now both privileged members of the 1%, they can move on with their lives in equally luxurious circumstances as an architect (David)...