William Hecht
Author Archive

William Hecht

Markets

[Note:  This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Investment decisions should be made with the help of a professional.] In my most recent “Markets” post (https://www.moviesmarketsandmore.com/the-boy-who-called-wolf-was-right-just-when-everyone-stopped-listening), I offered two different charts and trendlines as  key support levels. The second level (5-yr chart) held, and the resultant bounce from the 4100 level sparked the market’s greatest November rise in decades, driving indexes near to the old highs of a year ago (see 6-month chart below). There are at least three reasons for the “upward crash”: Many sophisticated market players had bet on the market to go down and sold short (“buy low, sell high” but first borrow stock then sell it. They then buy later—-and preferably lower–to return the borrowed shares and pocket the

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Movies

CHRISTMAS REALLY DOES come early at times: I am already into the fifth season and the third season respectively of two of the best recent series I can think of: Fargo and Slow Horses.  Fargo has gone retro and evoked the original film. At first, the Minnesota-speak was a little heavy, though as with some seasonings, you have to err in the direction of a tad too much rather than too little.  In the second episode on FX, I got a glimpse of Jon Hamm’s character and enjoyed the transformation he underwent: Fargo characters are always very nuanced and must be 99.9% original with respect to non-Cohen Brothers characters.  I might mention that Jennifer Jason Leigh creates a compelling new character in this. I reviewed Slow

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Movies

I WENT TO A THEATER to see the latest Ridley Scott “masterpiece,” Napoleon, on the big screen. I am a very big fan of Scott’s because he did Bladerunner and so many other great films. And as an enormous fan of Joaquin Phoenix who played the lead, it was hard not to have the greatest expectations going in. After two hours, I only stayed because I wanted to “see” the history and the ending. I still didn’t make it all the way. Even great directors meet their Waterloo as Napoleon did. Scott made an epic film that transported viewers more than two centuries back in time. The quality of the backdrop was excellent as expected. There were two major flaws, however, that spoiled it for

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Movies

  AS A WES ANDERSON devotee, I was going to watch this film with no regard for reviews or hubbub about it aforehand. As with The French Dispatch, his most recent full feature, this movie will require another viewing; there’s too much detail to consume and it goes by too quickly.  The cast is replete with stars and familiar faces for Anderson’s film.  Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johannson, Liev Schreiber, and Bryan Cranston are all new (I think). Jason Schwartzman and Edward Norton are among the veterans. My initial reaction was that Anderson had become too stylized and too cute. He felt the need to frame the film as a movie about a play. For me, his movies will always survive a viewing because they are

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MoviesReview

  ABOUT TWENTY YEARS ago, while living in Arizona, I read a good number of the mystery novels by Tony Hillerman.  They centered on the exploits of a Navajo detective who used his senses of harmony and balance to solve crimes on the enormous reservation that covers parts of  Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.  It includes Hopi and other tribal sections.  Robert Redford bought the rights to some of the material and co-produced this with George R. R. Martin and others. One of the benefits of the “whodunnits” here is the look into the Navajo culture. It’s matriarchal and mystical, holistic and animist; it’s beautiful, noble and vulnerable. [There’s currently a Ken Burns’ documentary on the American Bison and the effect is the same:

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Markets

[Authors Note–Please Read: This piece is for education and entertainment only. ] I am not the boy who cried “Wolf!” –Besides, one wolf does not a disaster make. Actually, I like wolves; they are beautiful, intelligent and have complex social structures. They work together hunting and caring for the pups. Many of the First Peoples’ cosmologies depict the wolf as an important fellow traveler  who has suffered a fate not unlike their own: misunderstood, removed, contained, and demonized (as exhibited by the folktale in the case of the wolf). [By the way, I am reviewing a series about the Navajo  called “Dark Winds” in the Movies section of this blog.] In this early phase of AI, this age of robo-advisors, and investment professionals who only

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    [This piece, taken from the writing collection of the same title, is re-posted as an anniversary tribute. Dad died on August 12, 2013. ]       The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder is my favorite book. It is probably also the most underrated novel of the last century. I never merely re-read it; every few years it summons me, and like a somnambulist I turn to the bookshelf and reach for my copy. A novel such as that is a conjurer’s orb: your hands surround and caress it, your eyes peer into its depths and… a voice sounds. The voice wields the kind of authority that dismisses fiction. The images, the characters—the story chronicles a series of events so rife with Truth

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[Author’s Note: Mom went to her rest on Dec. 14th 2022 at 90 years of age. I composed a tribute to her shortly after that; here’s the link: https://www.moviesmarketsandmore.com/paean-for-a-country-girl-or-faith-family-community-learning-and-little-baseball/ This piece, Mercy, is one of my favorites and Mom was the main character and the inspiration. Early this month and inspired by her example, I went to the nursery, inexpertly selected flowers,  drove to the cemetery and planted them  behind the stone for my parents’ grave. My grandmother and grandfather got some, too. At the time, her date of death was yet unmarked.  It wouldn’t bother me if it stayed as it is] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IN MY MOTHER’S kitchen, and taped to the door of a cabinet where cups and plates are kept, is a laminated

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Movies

THIS MOVIE HAS the distinction of being completely unpredictable almost from the very beginning. Because the theme is metaphysical or “multi-versal,” it draws from the infinite to introduce many zany, funny, curious or compelling alternate worlds in a two hour timeframe. There is martial arts fighting; it never seemed gratuitous, however, and at times it provided some fun. The film features a number of veteran Asian actors who now, finally, get the recognition they have deserved and been denied: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and James Hong, have acted for decades each. Hong, for example, is 94 and acted with Clark Gable. At least two members of the cast have already won awards for best actor or best supporting actor, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan.

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Movies

  THIS MOVIE is directed by Sarah Polley, produced by Frances McDormand, and featuring a cast of acclaimed and powerful actors, predominately women. It is based on the 2018 novel by Miriam Toews which was set in a Mennonite colony in Bolivia that did (does) exist. The movie, however, is in English, and there are no references to location or country–there don’t need to be. As for the temporal (and just as with Banshees of Inisherin) it could have taken place a century ago though the year is 2010.My first reaction, because the movie does focus on intense debate among a group of women trying to reach a life-changing consensus (in part regarding justice), was that the style reminded me of the female version of

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