The movie “The Infiltrator” finds actor Bryan Cranston in a milieu he knows, namely the illegal drug trade. Where this film departs from the Breaking Bad series that made his career is that he is one of the good guys, and the setting is earlier: the 1970s Era when Columbia was the center of the War on Drugs. The difference in this undercover role is that rather than follow the trail of drug-dealers to the kingpin, the agent chooses to “follow the money.” Infiltrator kept my attention, and because it was based on a true story, my interest. Yet some elements of the story cross paths with other stories that need to be told, namely the Iran Contra affair and the CIA involvement in money

I’ve been reading books by John le Carre’ for at least thirty years, and every six or seven years, I reread most of them. So when they make a movie of one of his books, I will be there to watch. But because Lecarre’ is notorious for slower, more dramatic and complex plots, the movie adaptations aren’t for everyone. His themes, however, are relevant and universal.  Our Kind of Traitor, the most recent film, stars Evan MacGregor, Stellan Sarsgaard, and Naomi Harris. And once again, he pits the individual against a much larger and more powerful system. In this case, a hipster British couple are drawn into the “Vor,” the Russian brotherhood of thieves: the ones whose very stark and illicit histories are recounted on

In a terrific independent film playing at the Downer Theater in Milwaukee, I got to watch Collin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Guy Pearce in a story about a golden age for publishing in the United States. The movie is called “Genius”and it focuses on Max Perkins, editor at Scribner & Sons who represented Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and for the purposes of this film Thomas Wolfe, author of”Look Homeward Angel.” Superbly acted and set splendidly amid the clothes, cars, and romance of the early 20th century, the plot centers around the discovery of Thomas Wolfe by Perkins. Wolfe (Jude Law) is a passionate and hyper-prolific writer, and Perkins (Colin Firth) is drawn to him personally and professionally despite the tragic and destructive nature he sees

Most people want to talk about Brexit as a rogue event—like the appearance of a comet or a solar eclipse. It should be viewed, though, as an important point on a continuum that marks a transition point in a decades-long global swing toward economic and political integration. Since Reagan and Thatcher and the collapse of communism, we have seen nearly thirty years of increasingly free-market policies with regard to trade, regulation and taxes—this on a global scale. The effects have been to promote economic integration and the financialization of the world.  The financialization is important in that it promotes debt-fueled feudalism—again, on an individual and a national level: the Greeks are an example of how debt leaves a country in servitude to the paymasters; the

The Lobster I had to drive some distance to see this film. It is very much a pity that the more rewarding film experiences are often the least accessible. While I admit that more “artistic” content has shifted toward home-viewing now—I insist that the ritual and experience of a theatre venue is more valid than the domestic one. The film was a surprise—even a shock—and it was worth the drive [pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]If you choose to see this film, be prepared to talk about it after the credits roll. Consider yourself warned: everything is metaphor.[/pullquote] Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz (among other name players) made for a strong cast, but in this film, their acting talents were put to use in