THIS GEM just showed up on Netflix. Ray Fiennes and Carey Mulligan star in a story based on real events. Set in 1939 Sussex, England at the very onset of World War II, Carey Mulligan plays a landed widow who has what appear to be burial mounds on her land. She learns of a private  “excavator” (played by Fiennes) and engages him about digging into one or more of these mounds to see what lies below. Fiennes transforms himself into this rustic character whose wonderful accent renders him almost unintelligible to the  American ear  (subtitles not a bad idea if they’re available). Mulligan‘s character is less dynamic, though she sees it through with due credibility.  Unless I miss my guess, you will “dig” it as much

  Blue Moon was a special movie experience in that it was set entirely in a restaurant bar with most of the lines coming from the main character (Lorenz Hart played by Ethan Hawke). The award-winning My Dinner with Andre’ was similar in those respects. So this film about the end of a famous composer/lyricist duo relied upon the real or imagined words of a famous lyricist on the night his former partner opened “Oklahoma” with his new partner, Oscar Hammerstein. The night also included a lovely young woman (played by Margaret Qualley) whom Hart had romantic feelings for. But if you’re going to let a character fill a movie with a besotted rant, they had better have something special to say. Hart, it seemed,

WITH THE DISCLAIMER that I haven’t seen nearly enough of the nominated films to offer a fair assessment, from what I’ve read and from what I have, in fact, watched, I have a few opinions about the Golden Globes: Jesse Buckley (whom I have raved about in the past) will win for “Best actress in a Drama” for her role as Agnes (Ann) Shakespeare in Hamnet. She will go on to be her generation’s Meryl Streep. Best picture (comedy or musical). This category has only two likely winners, One Battle after Another, and Marty Supreme. OBAA already has awards momentum, broader box office appeal, and perhaps an edge among the GG voters for its political message. I don’t think Marty Supreme should (or will) win

  THIS MOVIE COULD FIT under either the science fiction or the conspiracy theory labels. Jesse Plemons does some of his best work here. Emma Stone doesn’t amaze, though she gets the job done forthrightly when you consider the tepid character she must work with and the effect she had to produce. It’s a dark comedy, and as I suggested, holds your attention—not unlike a game of Texas Hold ‘em: bet and call, raise and reraise, etc., ‘til the last card is dealt and the facedown cards are turned faceup and the questions are answered.  I have no idea what Bugonia means. In the end, it meant entertainment for me, but for the bulk of the film, the title offered no hint regarding what I

  THIS MOVIE follows the documentary that was done in 2008 about a Milwaukee, WI couple who reinvented themselves as “Lightning, and Thunder,” a Neil Diamond cover band that called themselves his “interpreters rather than “impressionists.” When you consider that I grew up half an hour from Milwaukee and that I heard Neil Diamond songs on the radio for about 20 years, it’s not hard to imagine that I would venture out to see such a film with an impressive cast. The result was pleasant, and I was surprised to have learned about them when I had never heard of them before Despite his massive talent, Hugh Jackman was upstaged by his costar, Kate Hudson, who is nominated for a Golden Globe for her work

IT WAS HARD TO TELL from the title what this movie might be about, though as more was revealed, the title derived from one character’s description of the fight against tyranny and aptly so. The movie is satirical, and more impactful for it. Like any film I enjoy, the acting rises to Art. In this case, although it’s understood to be a quantum amount tongue-in-cheek, everyone plays it straight and well. The cast is A-list stuff. Paul Thomas Anderson (director and nominated for a Golden Globe) doesn’t make bad movies. Leonardo was good, and occasionally comically so. I was impressed with Perfidia, played by Tayana Taylor (nominated for a Golden Globe), and also by Sean Penn (also nominated for a Golden Globe), who was stellar

UNFORTUNATELY, I went to this movie because of all the hype, and because I’ve enjoyed Timothée Chalamet‘s work in past films. After about 15 minutes, the popcorn didn’t taste good anymore because the protagonist was so distasteful to me. I asked myself a simple question: am I curious enough about what happens next to watch this jerk for another 90 minutes? It wasn’t the actor’s fault that he was able to make this person believable, I just wonder why anyone would accept such a role in the first place. Anyone who wants to learn about the antics of people with no ethics beyond what’s in it for them has plenty of stories in the daily headlines to choose from. I shouldn’t go on but I

  THE US STOCK MARKET is still expensive. The valuations today exceed those of all except the most exuberant conditions in the last quarter century. While we’ve seen what appear to be corrections in specific stocks or specific market sectors, money is generally not leaving the market yet. In a more professional parlance, the market is undergoing “rotation.” Money comes out of tech and goes into blue chips, or it flows out of blue chips, and into small caps. In less professional parlance, the money is “barhopping.” Despite the improved labor picture from Friday– which lessens the chances of more than one or two small rate cuts this year— the market pundits provide new narratives to justify paying the higher multiples for stocks. “Productivity is

  A Token of the Holly King By William Hecht Weekday afternoons at two o’clock, he began to look for her. Each time the little bell sounded to announce that the door to Ye Olde Coffee and Tea Shop had been opened, he would turn his head. As three o’clock grew near and brought with it the possibility that she wouldn’t arrive that day, he began to resent the other customers who instead appeared in the door at the sound of the bell. He imagined that she must have begun working at one of the neighborhood shops in mid-November, and that she probably arrived at work in late morning and took a break in the afternoons. Though it was nearly Christmas and she visited most

THIS DOCUMENTARY might be your most important film experience in decades; I haven’t even seen it. This site holds at least one post about George Orwell written years ago. (https://www.moviesmarketsandmore.com/orwells-1984-is-the-book-of-our-time-a-canticle-for-eric-blair/). His novel “1984” posited a future world he projected to arrive about forty years earlier, but history seldom happens on time. Disclaimer:  From what I understand, this is bold and provocative piece. I will include a review in the next couple weeks after I view it and then I review a number of new films.   WRH