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

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  

THIS MOVIE CAME CLOSE to doing something very special. It almost outdid all prior versions in this nth remake. Guillermo Del Toro (director) stylized the film to bring newness to one of the oldest classics tales and films that, like the monster itself, just can’t seem to die. He started by showing loyalty to Mary Shelly’s 1818 version where most of the movie is a backstory. Having never read the original story, I was unprepared for some aspects of the plot. I will say that I was captivated until those plot points interfered and “broke the dream” for me. I won’t say that it’s not worth watching, however – especially if you’re familiar with the original storyline. It will probably rank very high as a

I REVIEWED—and since watched all seasons of—Slow Horses, the series based on novels by Mick Herron. It turns out that he wrote the novel that this new series was born of. Herron and Emma Thompson – a star or costar – were producers. This one appears to deviate from the intelligence community theme, because Emma Thompson plays a private detective. And she gets some very saucy dialogue to work with. I’ll say already that I think she’ll get nominated for an Oscar But as the story evolves, Thompson and her costar (Ruth Wilson), are drawn into something bigger than the stuff of private investigation. Like Slow Horses, the dialogue gives complex plot designs the perfect sauce to keep you following along. I’ve always enjoyed Emma

ONCE AGAIN, I’m back into the intelligence theme – it’s been on fire in the last couple years. This one is special because it takes place in Alaska. A Federal Marshall (Jason Clarke) in a remote area of Alaska gets a cataclysm of events dropped into his lap. The plot thickens and the northernmost reaches of the United States are plunged into chaos and intrigue when a plane carrying a large number of federal prisoners – and one special one – crash-lands leaving survivors to be rescued or hunted down. Some good acting all around, and a new face popped up for me who I predict just launched her career to a new level. Haley Bennett plays a CIA agent who flies several thousand miles

  I WAITED UNTIL the rental price came down to $6 and watched it on Amazon. And I make here a confession in the form of an Epigram: It deserved to be seen/on the big screen,/but I on my phone/watched absorbed and alone. Despite the poor choice of platform, it didn’t disappoint in the slightest. Much like the “last” James Bond episode, it had a lot to do to meet expectation and met them. There were the usual incredible stunts and scenarios or settings for them. It has to be considered one of the most successful franchises in film–probably only matched by the James Bond franchise.[ Despite the challenged sensory platform, it did not disappoint.   WRH            

  This film and Dune: Part 2 were the only Oscar-nominated films for Best Picture that I watched all the way through. I never felt either was Best Picture material, though both were fine films. It goes without saying that the subject matter is very timely. The cast was excellent (excellent excellencies?). I would watch almost anything where Ralph Fiennes plays a lead role. I might remind readers that a Dan Brown novel had the Vatican as it’s setting where Evan McGregor played the camerlingo (which Fiennes plays in Conclave). It’s called Angels & Demons. I was impressed (as with Angels & Demons) at the “behind the scenes” peek into the Catholic Church with regard to the factions that arise between cardinals–and which are structures

Streaming TV Shows 1923– I watched the Yellowstone prequel 1923 starring Dame Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford. It was very compelling as a world-spanning saga and these two both did very well with their characters. Former James Bond actor Timothy Dalton plays (well) a supremely evil person (similar to situation below in Mobland). Keep an eye out for Brandon Sklanor—he plays an almost impeccable “hero” type of that era as well as Julia Schlaepfer who plays his equally bold and brave love interest.     Tracker has come through with another entertaining season of “finding missing people” where little has changed: I enjoy the theme and the episodes stand alone in different settings across the US. Even though I am forced to suspend my disbelief

IN THE EARLY DAYS of this blog seven or eight years ago, I noted the rising trend of films  about women, directed by women, and likely featuring strong women as protagonists or antagonists as the case may be. The trend has strengthened with the many new series out now.   Dune: Prophecy   IF YOU ARE PREDISPOSED to watch fantasy or Sci-Fi and already know of the Dune franchise, you should enjoy Dune: Prophecy, a prequel by ten-thousand years of the  two earlier segments. In the Dune universe of the first two, there is a powerful group of mystical robed and hooded women who have supernatural powers. These are the Bene Gesserit and while they at first  hint at  something akin to the witches of