The film is a remake of the noir drama of the same name made almost in 1947. Bradley Cooper stars with Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe, David Strathairn, and Cate Blanchett. All turn in strong performances.One of the selling points of the film for me was the rich setting of a traveling carnival 80 years ago.  In the bosom of that troupe of performers, outcasts and small-time hustlers, the protagonist develops a rare ability—or the pretense of it—and is drawn to new venues where he plies his trade on more discerning and concerning types. The film (based on the novel of the same name) draws its title from a dark secret of the carnival trade of that time. The “geek,” a nearly naked and wretched creature

This film brings to mind any number of films (e.g. the award-winning Roma by A. Cuaron and perhaps the newly released Licorice Pizza by P. T. Anderson) where the writer/directors looked back to  the people and places and of their upbringing and told a story in a labor of love.Though Kenneth Branagh altered some of the details, he grew up in a Protestant family living in a Catholic neighborhood in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1969 during the “Troubles.” Shot in black and white, and with the balance of focus falling more on the people than the politics, the tone of the story leans toward perseverance and tenderness rather than resentment or bitterness.There are several name actors, including an excellent Ciaran Hinds, but Judi Dench, despite

  [Note: This material is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Discuss your specific risk-tolerances, needs and strategies with an investment professional] ANY STOCK MARKET–even the over-supported and resilient US stock market–will sooner or later see to it that every successful trading or investment strategy fails miserably.  Right now, there’s a good chance that “buying the dips” and other bullish strategies will fall from fashion in the coming months.  This may also include investments in intangible or digital properties or currencies or meme stocks that became a source of easy wealth for millions of investors–most of whom aren’t aware that markets can go down or that value is not derived from a message board or chat thread. A former colleague of mine, Peter H. (R.I.P

  AT THE AGE of 22, my life path was given a shake when a roommate spontaneously recited a few poignant passages of a book he was reading. The title was The Day on Fire and the author, James Ramsey Ullman, had fictionalized the life of a great poet. Arthur Rimbaud was the enfant terrible of French Poetry; he was only 17 when he arrived in Paris, and by the time he turned 21 he had shocked the literary world.  He shocked my world, too. He wrote things powered by vision and imagination–and their impact was not overly weakened by filter of translation: As soon as the idea of the Deluge had subsided, a hare stopped in the clover amid the swaying bluebells, and said

  THE IDEA of a more romantic Bond has been building. In Casino Royale, Bond had told Vesper Lynd that she could have all that was left of him. By the end of Spectre, Bond had chosen Madeline Swann, whom he meets again in No Time to Die. That relationship gets more complex as the movie progresses. The plot is more “nanotech” than ever before. The threat to humankind is terrifying for being more deadly and more purposeful than a mere bomb. The plot was complex and, as you would expect, moved through exotic scenes and otherworldly scenarios. The acting was compelling.  Bond veteran characters had a more dramatic  script. The likes of Daniel Craig and Ray Fiennes, but also returning characters played by Lea