Inspired by Leon Uris' international bestseller, this film chronicles the rebirth of a people and the establishment of a nation in human drama. Paul Newman is Ari Ben Canaan. He manages to lead 600 Jews from the detention camps of Cyprus onto a large freighter bound for Palestine. But British forces soon learn of his plan and insist that he turn back. Undaunted, Ari and his passengers refuse to give up, risking their lives for the greater cause of Israeli independence. I was taken to see this film when it first came out. My grandmother took just me. When it was over, I still remember the experience of the film and its message, and feeling something awakening inside me. As I stood there, not completely understanding everything, I was speechless. It was as if an epiphany had exploded inside me. I never forgot this moment. A little girl in Evansville, Indiana. It was as foreign from my experience imaginable and yet as close and connecting as possible. Deep inside.
45 YEARS
The winner of the Silver Bear for Best Actress (Charlotte Rampling) and Best Actor (Tom Courtenay) at the Berlin International Film Festival, Andrew Haigh’s (Weekend, Looking) film is a moving, profound and superbly performed look at a marriage and its secrets. The story opens one week prior to Kate Mercer’s (Rampling) 45th wedding anniversary and the planning for the party is going well. But then a letter arrives for her husband (Courtenay). The body of his long-lost first love has been discovered, frozen and preserved in the glaciers of the Swiss Alps. By the time the party is upon them, five days later, there may not be a marriage left to celebrate. It was slow and careful. Rampling carried the entire film. She is a marvelous actress. Had I been alone, I may have left but as is, I stayed and I was glad that I did until the very end. Fine piece of film work.
The Bigamist, 1953
Edmond O'Brien. Joan Fontaine. The dilemma of a traveling salesman with a wife in SF and another in LA.
Night and Fog, 1955
A tour of Auschwitz intercut with archival footage from WWII Nazi death camps. This film is 30 minutes long. It has a dramatic voice over which is not necessary because the footage speaks for itself. It was interesting to see Auschwitz a decade after the war and today. (2016) Today, they allow no film cameras in and it has been made into a museum. Then, nature had moved in and everything was overgrown and full of weeds. This film was the first of its kind. Very powerful.
Brooklyn, 2015
Did you see Brooklyn? Do not miss it. I saw it 4 times and each time it was a wonderful and delicious treat. I never get tired of seeing it. I never want it to end. It is so well done. I spoke with the Director of the film. There is not one false note. Not one detail that required false sentimentality or artificial circumstance. There was a raw simple truthfulness that felt genuine and heartfelt and sincere. He did not use the ploy of her getting pregnant. He did not let the great singer, sing Danny Boy. This would have been manipulative and sentimental, using false tones to pull at your emotions. He did not employ contrived excuses to move forward the plot. There was a naturalness to it. It is a quiet Masterpiece. Every detail worked exquisitely. It is the Best Picture I saw in 2015. The most memorable.
TV: Testament of Youth, 1979
Cheryl Campbell. The finest and award winning BBC adaptation that I have ever seen. This and Foyle's War have been the two finest TV shows I have watched. This interpretation is a passionate, powerful and personal record of Brittain's experiences during WWI. It serves as a moving memorial to a lost generation. Brilliant and Outstanding.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Steve Martin. Michael Caine. Fabulous. One of the best funny films that I have ever seen. Laugh out loud kind of funny.
I have seen this several times and I never tire of it. Brilliantly acted.
South Riding
BBC. Winifred Holtly, best friend of Vera Brittain, wrote this best seller in the 1930's. It is a BBC adaptation. Crunched together with too many stories and sub-plots, it needed much more time to develop. It did not propel me to want to read the book.
I have seen this several times and I never tire of it. Brilliantly acted.
South Riding
BBC. Winifred Holtly, best friend of Vera Brittain, wrote this best seller in the 1930's. It is a BBC adaptation. Crunched together with too many stories and sub-plots, it needed much more time to develop. It did not propel me to want to read the book.
13 Hours in Benghazi
A chilling reenactment of this planned terrorist murder of our Ambassador and 3 CIA agents. Obama and Hillary's fingerprints are all over the film, like God in the story of Purim, without being mentioned, but their refusal to provide and send rescue help is unconscionable. A powerful and devastating film as they lied to all of us about a manufactured video.
This alone should indict them. It was deeply gratifying to read what you wrote today. I, too, saw this powerful and devastating documentary/reenactment film. It felt to me much like the Purim story in the Megilliah. In this book of Esther, God is not mentioned even once. But you feel his Hand and His presence throughout. This is where hope lies.
In opposite, horror and darkness can be viewed in 13 Hours. You feel the constant presence of Obama and Hillary, their lack of any response and direction, their manufactured video narrative story told to the parents of our four dead heroes making it even more heartbreaking. Because they were never mentioned, these two unconscionable figures loom large. Where were they? Their silence became defining. Their lies never ending. Throughout the film, I was forced to think about them. Their lack of action, their hiding behind their position and creating their lies, to make sure they won the election and that our enemies were on the run, became as horrific to me as watching the devastating planned, seemingly never ending attack in front.
I left the theater enraged.
And their names were never mentioned.
My Life as A House, 2001
A sad and broken family and characters as they try and come together in building a house as the father is dying and as he tries to reconnect to his angry and acting out son. Kevin Kline is a marvelous actor. The one unforgettable scene is how he smashes his architectural constructions.
Room
Based on the best-selling novel by Emma Donoghue, Room is a remarkable and touching exploration of the boundless love between a mother and her child. After 5-year-old Jack (Jacob Tremblay) and his Ma (Brie Larson, The Spectacular Now, Short Term 12) escape from the enclosed surroundings that Jack has known his entire life, the boy makes a thrilling discovery: the outside world. As he experiences all the joy, excitement and fear that this new adventure brings, he holds tight to the one thing that matters most of all—his special bond with his loving and devoted Ma. Nominated for 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Actress (Larson), Director (Lenny Abrahamson) and Adapted Screenplay (Donoghue).Superb film with superb acting by the boy. Very well done. Oscar Animations
Don't miss this rare opportunity to see all five Academy Award nominees in the category of Best Animated Short and more! Program includes: “Historia de un Oso (Bear Story)” (Chile), in which an old, lonesome bear tells the story of his life through a mechanical diorama; Pixar Animation Studios' “Sanjay’s Super Team” (USA), about a young, first-generation Indian-American boy whose love for western pop-culture comes into conflict with his father’s traditions; “We Can’t Live Without Cosmos” (Russia), in which two cosmonauts who are friends try to do their best in their everyday training life to make their common dream a reality; writer/director Don Hertzfeldt’s “World of Tomorrow” (USA), in which a little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of her distant future; and “Prologue” (UK), in which a small girl bears witness as warriors battle to death during the Spartan-Athenian wars of 2,400 years ago. Additional animated shorts will also be shown. (Note: “Prologue” contains mature content and will be shown last, so that parents and caregivers can usher children out of the theater if desired. Other shorts in the program are acceptable for kids of all ages.) My favorite by far was We Can't Live without Cosmos from Russia. It shows Brotherhood at its finest and loyalty and shared dreams and values and the true nature of friendship. It choked me up.
Live Action Shorts for The Oscars
Don't miss this rare opportunity to see all five Academy Award nominees in the category of Best Live Action Short! Program includes: “Ave Maria” (Palestine/France/Germany), in which the silent routine of five Palestinian nuns living in the West Bank wilderness is disturbed when an Israeli settler family breaks down right outside the convent just as the Sabbath comes into effect; “Day One” (USA), depicting a new translator’s first day accompanying a U.S. Army unit as it searches for a local terrorist; “Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)” (Germany/Austria), about a divorced father who picks up his eight-year-old daughter Lea, as he does every second weekend, but she can‘t help feeling that something isn't right; “Shok” (Friend) (Kosovo/UK), in which the friendship of two boys is tested to its limit as they battle for survival during the Kosovo war; and “Stutterer” (UK/Ireland), the story of Greenwood, whose online girlfriend Ellie travels to London on the eve of their six-month anniversary to surprise him. This was the best collection of Shorts that I have seen in a long, long time. I loved them all. From the first, there were details that an uninformed audience would not understand. The reason that the Settlers could not use an Arab could was that it could be identified by its license plate. My favorite was Everything Will Be Okay. it kept up the suspense and tension to the very end. But, they were all superb and could all easily win for one reason or another. They all dealt with intimacy and relationship, conflict, loss and survival.
Trumbo.
Thank you so much for insisting I see it. Whether it was factual or not really did not affect the storyline or details or understanding of the time period and its impact on these brilliantly creative individuals, who gave us many of our classics. I loved the historical context. The period clothes and cars and pace. The movie was intelligent. It had excellent dialogue. The writing, like with Trumbo, moved the story along, instead of special affects which are used instead of dialogue, today. I found Trumbo difficult and relentless and brilliant and persevering and determined. He possessed that obsessive writing quality that Eugene O’Neil possessed. Putting writing over family and relationship. Writing at whatever cost. Writing because if not writing, one could not survive nor would one want to. It was that burning ambition, that understanding of why a writer is put on this earth, a writing at what ever cost, that pushed him through the fires of hell and allowed him to create the Masterpieces that he did. I found it an exceptionally well done film. I only had one small and insignificant complaint. There were four words using by his friend and himself. S—. F—. Amazing. Challenging. These words would never be used back in the day. Amazing did not mean what it means today and challenging was unheard of. The profanity of this time were not these two words. This is all contemporary. Back then it was Damn and Hell. Two words that we find rather tame but were regarded as bad as calling a black person the n word or a gay person the q word, today.
Thank you so much for insisting I see it. Whether it was factual or not really did not affect the storyline or details or understanding of the time period and its impact on these brilliantly creative individuals, who gave us many of our classics. I loved the historical context. The period clothes and cars and pace. The movie was intelligent. It had excellent dialogue. The writing, like with Trumbo, moved the story along, instead of special affects which are used instead of dialogue, today. I found Trumbo difficult and relentless and brilliant and persevering and determined. He possessed that obsessive writing quality that Eugene O’Neil possessed. Putting writing over family and relationship. Writing at whatever cost. Writing because if not writing, one could not survive nor would one want to. It was that burning ambition, that understanding of why a writer is put on this earth, a writing at what ever cost, that pushed him through the fires of hell and allowed him to create the Masterpieces that he did. I found it an exceptionally well done film. I only had one small and insignificant complaint. There were four words using by his friend and himself. S—. F—. Amazing. Challenging. These words would never be used back in the day. Amazing did not mean what it means today and challenging was unheard of. The profanity of this time were not these two words. This is all contemporary. Back then it was Damn and Hell. Two words that we find rather tame but were regarded as bad as calling a black person the n word or a gay person the q word, today.
Cary told me that one of the things that influenced him to become a lawyer was the book Fear On Trial. The book was about the McCarthy Hearings and Hollywood.
Bridge of Spies
I am glad that I saw the movie but it was long at times and then picked up in the second hour. I loved their Arts and Crafts home. Their home was a dream home for me and I could not help but get distracted by this fabulous house! Not good! I found his wife poorly cast. She was a bit unbelievable. I could not believe a woman her age had the breasts she had. It was augmented which did not exist back then, unless one had had a mastectomy and even then, it was rarely done. She was also way to goodie goodie and it got on my nerves. All that being said, I love Tom Hanks. Always have. He possesses such integrity and honesty and is a good decent chap. He is someone with whom you can trust yourself with. He will not be disloyal or unfaithful or a user or a player. He is the type of man you would want your daughter to marry. Maybe this is why I have always been a fan of his characters. To me, this is what he projects. And, he did not fail in this movie either. I enjoy how Spielberg finds these obscure historical characters and brings back to life history from a small man’s role and his interaction with history. Think of Harry Jacobson. It is the same theme. We have been at that bridge and at Check Point Charley and it still looks like that to some degree! I enjoyed the film, Spielberg did not resort to many of his gimmicky tricks which I find off putting, and instead told a clean and actually very simple story over a week that carried tension and conflict and standing on principle and doing one’s job.
Grave of the Fireflies, 1998
Grave of the Fireflies, 1998
This masterpiece by the same Director who did Only Yesterday, created one of the most extraordinary pieces of animated film that I have seen. It won Best Picture in almost all categories. The two children were orphans of the firestorm, the the wanning days in Japan at the end of the war. Basted on the Director's retelling as a survivor, he is able to catch and depict the starvation and cruelty of war, of hunger and desperation, of loss and abandonment but how the brother never lost his protection toward and his love of his little sister. Devastating and unforgettable film.
Only Yesterday
This animation was fabulous. I actually got choked up! It is Japanese and goes back into time when she was 10 years old. Maayan would LOVE this movie, as too Ariel. Even Gila. It is also for adults. Like In and Out. Do not miss it. I hope to buy it if it comes out on DVD. But look for it. It is a must see. Everything is discreet. Most of the movie takes place when she is 10. It is Japanese. Make sure you see it without the subtitles. I loved it. And, stay until the very, very end. People left thinking it was over and it was not! And, they missed the conclusion!
It's 1982, and Taeko (Daisy Ridley) is 27 years old, unmarried, and has lived her whole life in Tokyo. She decides to visit her relatives in the countryside, and as the train travels through the night, memories flood back of her younger years: the first immature stirrings of romance, the onset of puberty, and the frustrations of math and boys. At the station she is met by young farmer Toshio (Dev Patel), and the encounters with him begin to reconnect her to forgotten longings. In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Tae...more
Whisky Tango, Foxtrot
24 Days
The raw and tragic story and legacy of happy 23-year-old Ilan Halimi of France who was seduced and kidnapped and brutally tortured and maimed and left for dead for 24 days before he was found by the side of the road and ended up dying on the way to the hospital. It was a pure anti-Semitic act that was hushed up and incredibly mishandled by the police. It was the beginning of the horrors currently going on in Fance today.
A Girl in the River, 2015
The true story and documentary of an 18-year-old Pakistani girl who defies her family and refuses to marry the old man that her father had picked out for her, but instead married the boy she loved, and then who became targeted for death by her father and her uncle. They shot her in the head and threw her into the river and in a miracle she survived. You then see the court proceedings and how she has to ask for forgiveness to her father and uncle so that she can continue to live in the community.
The true story and documentary of an 18-year-old Pakistani girl who defies her family and refuses to marry the old man that her father had picked out for her, but instead married the boy she loved, and then who became targeted for death by her father and her uncle. They shot her in the head and threw her into the river and in a miracle she survived. You then see the court proceedings and how she has to ask for forgiveness to her father and uncle so that she can continue to live in the community.
The Wave, 2011
German. A popular high school teacher devises an experiment that will explain what totalitarianism is and how it works. What begins with harmless notions about discipline and community builds into a real moment: The Wave. Within days, The Wave's uniformly attired students begin ostracizing and threatening others, and violence boils just below the surface. Sensing danger, the tach decides to break off the experiment. But, it may be too late. The Wave has taken on a life of its own and is out of control. Based on a true story, The Wave chillingly shows just how easily the seeds of fascism can be sown. The movie was somewhat superficial. It was as if I had read the script and knew how everything was going to turn out. Good. But, not great.
Miracles From Heaven
Jennifer Gardner does a superb job acting as a mother of three daughters and a loving husband with a comfortable wealthy enough farm house. The youngest, 10-year-old, with whom she loves the most, suddenly gets sick. Going from doctor to doctor, with no avail, told that nothing is wrong, she perseveres relentlessly until she finally gets the diagnosis she seeks, a tragic one, but at least she gets one. The miracle is that after failing to respond to experimental treatments, that death is down the road sooner than later, Anna falls through a tree, falling 30 feet, lands on her head and it takes hours and hours for the fireman to retrieve her. Her parents pray by the tree. There is no concussion. No broken bones. No broken spine. No paralysis. Nothing. But, she is suddenly healed and speaks of the vision she experience where she stepped outside of her body and was in heaven while she was down there. Miraculously, she is all well. And, has continued to be so. It is a faith driven movie that will play in the Bible Belt very well. It held my interest. I identified with the mother and imagined what my mother must have gone through when I was so sick as a child.
I See The Light
The legendary Hank Williams was an iconic, influential country singer and songwriter of the 1940s and early 50s whose meteoric rise and fall, including his death at age 29, has become part of American folklore. Tom Hiddleston (Crimson Peak, Thor, Only Lovers Left Alive) gives a knockout performance—and sings—in this new biographical drama written and directed by Marc Abraham (Flash of Genius), based on the acclaimed book by Colin Escott. I Saw the Light examines Williams’ tormented creative genius and the turbulent domestic life that inspired him to write some of his best-known songs. By literally going back in time, you see Hank as he was, living his life on his terms, battling his demons and ultimately creating music for the ages. Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) co-stars as Williams’s feisty wife Audrey, an ambitious and passionate woman. Atmospheric cinematography provided by Dante Spinotti (L.A. Confidential). There was an undramatic quality to it, an even pace that did not measure the personal and emotional damage and demon driven Williams that he put upon other people. Why didn't he use birth control!? He was a angry, womanizer, alcoholic who was a genius at writing country western music. There was something missing in the film.
Wit, 2001
Director, Mike Nichols. Emma Thompson. Audra McDonald. Margaret Edison's Pulitzer Prize winner play about an English John Donne Professor who is dying with ovarian cancer. The acting is phenomenal. The writing sublime. The musical score majestic. I cried. This was a remarkable movie but not for everyone and one which should be seen alone and inside the privacy of your own soul.
Bessie, 2015
HBO. Queen Latifah. Bryan Greenberg. Singer Bessie Smith, 1894-1937, rises from poverty roots in Tennessee to become the Empress of the Blues and is one of the most successful recording artists of the 1920's. It is the usual litany of too much violence, drinking, bi-sexuality, dancing. The hard life to be able to sing the blues. I saw it twice.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
This is the long-awaited follow-up to the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time. Written by Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), who stars alongside the entire returning cast of favorites, the film reveals a Portokalos family secret that will bring the beloved characters back together for an even bigger and Greeker wedding. Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee, writer/director of Waking Ned Devine) directs this new chapter of the story. I found the film predictable and boring and reminded me of the Iranian families. I fell asleep. Repeats never work. The daughter was gorgeous and to me, stole the film.
And now Brooklyn!
"I finally saw Brooklyn and just loved it. The courtship and entire first half were luminous and utterly charming. The second half I found more confusing. Did you read the novel and if so, what is the back story on Rose? it seemed so odd to me that she wouldn’t have been married. She was just stunning. And had she been ill because it didn’t make sense that she would die just like that, such an avid golfer that she was. Also, up until close to the end, we get the impression our protagonist is going to stay in Ireland with the new beau after all. But then, the encounter with the narrow minded shop owner convinces her that there is no place for her in the village anymore and she longs for the freedom of the US. I couldn’t imagine leaving my mother like that without at least some attempt to convince her to come to America. I just really felt for the mom, the stoic one, disconnected from her daughter.”
Rose. Rose was very ill which she hid from her sister because she knew her sister would never leave and she knew that her sister had to get out of Ireland if she ever wanted to live her own life. She maintained a healthy appearance but she was dying inside herself. (Think Nora Ephron) This is probably why she never married. She knew she was sick. I do not think that she died just like that. I did not read the book but I imagine that it was over a period of time, but they shortened it in the movie for the sake of moving forward with the narrative of her sister’s (Ronan) life. ( can never remember the characters name!)
When Ronan returns to Ireland, she plays out the fantasy of what if, what if she stays in her village and lives the life that this new suitor offers her. They both shared the same background, family, class. She would have a comfortable and secure life. It is the road traveled. Not the road untraveled. He became she when they were together. He could not stop talking for example, like she could not stop talking when she was with her American boyfriend. It was she that he found so attractive, she had come from America and had lived already a much bigger life than he! She was a challenge and a way out of his own predictable life. He was not interested in her before she left. But when she met her old boss, she was suddenly confronted with reality and not with the fantasy, of just why she hated the village, why she longed to escape, why she knew she could not live there for the rest of her life. It was this confrontation, this smashing up against the reality with the fantasy that propelled her to return to America.
Regarding her mother. Her mother was actually the most unreal character of all to me. There was something too stoic. Maybe she wasn’t Jewish! But, you knew in the future, that she would come to visit, that once the shock of her daughter not returning sunk in, that in time, she would probably move to America. As there was nothing left for her in Ireland but sad and lonely memories. And, once the grand children, well that would move her across the ocean. But that was about the future. So this was my take on it!
An Eye in The Sky
In the tense, edge-of-your-seat thriller Eye in the Sky, Helen Mirren stars as Colonel Katherine Powell, a U.K.-based military officer in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Through remote surveillance and on-the-ground intel, Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from “capture” to “kill.” But as American pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage, a nine-year-old girl enters the kill zone, triggering an international dispute reaching the highest levels of U.S. and British government over the moral, political and personal implications of modern warfare. Also starring Alan Rickman, Barkhad Abdi, Jeremy Northam, Iain Glen and Phoebe Fox, Eye in the Sky is directed by Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition, Ender’s Game). I found the movie boring. It does not seem believable that you have the top evil people all in a house together, a suicide factory and bomber ready to go out and kill eight people, and so many are draying because there will be one child who will be collateral damage. Israel fights their wards like this and I think that it is ridiculous. Boring.
Beware, My Lovely, 1952
Ida Lupino. Robert Ryan
A widow's impulsive decision to hire a handyman's deadly results when it is discovered he is mentally unstable and extremely paranoid and soon targets his destructive behavior at her. It was not realistic that he would not have raped her or murdered her like he did the first woman where he worked and which opened the film.
The Fast and The Furious, 1954
John Ireland. Dorothy Malone. A wrongly convicted man braks out of jail and takes a young female auto racer hostage at a lonely roadside diner, and the two of them speed off in her custom race car as they try to elude the law. Boring.
Bethlehem, 2015
It was truly a remarkable film, as hopeless and impacted as it made me feel. My only suggestion is that I wished you had not brought up Omar. No one had seen the film in order to compare it and the class was about Bethlehem, not Omar. But the discussion seemed to be mostly about Omar. We became sidetracked. Every time that an Israeli got hit, hurt or shot, my heart sank. I felt it in my gut. Especially our lead man. I felt the hatred, lack of anything in the Arab lives, except killing Jews, the corrupt leaders, the gangs upon other gangs, the power for turf and monies and power, was revealed with great clarity in this film of Arab life. I wish there had been discussion regarding this portrayal. This was accurate and true. The resources, the time and energy and years developed in Israel by Israelis to combat this constant on-going, never-ending exhausting, life threatening situation takes a toll on everyone. This too was revealed by this conflict. Great film. Great choice. I am so grateful that I saw it.
Love & Friendship
Love & Friendship
Set in the 1790s, earlier than most Jane Austen tales, Love & Friendship concerns beautiful young widow Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) who has come to Churchill, the estate of her in-laws, to wait out colorful rumors about her dalliances circulating through polite society. Whilst ensconced there, she decides to secure a husband for herself and for her daughter. In doing so she attracts the simultaneous attentions of the young, handsome Reginald DeCourcy, the rich and silly Sir James Martin and the divinely handsome, but married, Lord Manwaring, complicating matters severely. After a series of dramatic turns at Churchill, Lady Susan finally risks destruction when her jealous rival, Lady Lucy Manwaring (Jenn Murray), arrives in London to make a shocking revelation, leading to the denouement of denouements. An adaptation of young Austen's comic novella Lady Susan, Love & Friendship also stars Chloë Sevigny and Stephen Fry (Wilde) and is directed and co-written by Whit Stillman (The Last Days of Disco, Metropolitan, Barcelona). Witty and clever. Full of biting humor and subterfuge, only Austen could create such dialogue or insight into human nature and fragility and foibles and manipulations and intrigue. Absolutely delightful.
Clash By Night, 1952
Barbara Stanwyck. Paul Douglas. A woman grows torn between her husband and his friend, a l;local movie projectionist. Despite entertaining thoughts of leaving her husband she is dissuaded by her knowledge of his volatile temper and loosing her baby daughter.
Born To Be Bad, 1950
Joan Fontaine Zackary Scott. Paul Ryan. A manipulative gold digger sets her sights on a wealthy man who's already engaged, ignoring the advances of a writer who loves her despite her despicable flaws. Fontaine has terrible posture and is not all that pretty. What was her allure? I notice in all these old films, there seems to be very little chemistry among the characters.
Dheepan
Dheepan is a Tamil freedom fighter, a Tiger. In Sri Lanka, the Civil War is reaching its end, and defeat is near. Dheepan decides to flee, taking with him two strangers – a woman and a little girl – hoping that they will make it easier for him to claim asylum in Europe. Arriving in Paris, the ‘family’ moves from one temporary home to another until Dheepan finds work as the caretaker of a run-down housing block in the suburbs. He works to build a new life and a real home for his ‘wife’ and his ‘daughter,’ but the daily violence he confronts quickly reopens his war wounds, and Dheepan is forced to reconnect with his warrior’s instincts to protect the people he hopes will become his true family. Why am I so bored by these predictable films that have choice in which direction the Director wants to take the film? PC beyond. These movies win the Cannes Palm D'Or. It was boring actually and I walked out.
The Marrying Kind, 1952
Judy Holiday. Aldo Ray. A middle class couple stand in divorce court, asked to review their marriage and how it went wrong. The story is told with both human and drama and sadness in the ensuing flashbacks. It was a wonderful film. Holiday had to live with an angry hot head and she made the most of it. It was a simple movie of simple people, but it carried much weight and lessons to be learned and understood.
About Mrs. Leslie, 1954
Shirley Boot. Robert Ryan. A woman recalls her back-street love affair with a famous married politician/industrialist. The whole movie was miscast because of Shirley Boot. She looked like a middle aged grandmother, with zero sex appeal or desire. Their love affair simply did not work for me. Or them!
Sunset Song
Sunset Song is Terence Davies’ intimate epic of hope, tragedy and love at the dawning of the Great War. A young woman’s endurance against the hardships of rural Scottish life is based on the novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, told with gritty poetic realism by Britain’s greatest living auteur. The film takes place during the early years of the twentieth century, with the conflicts and choices a young woman experiences reflecting the struggle between tradition and change; a struggle that continues to resonate today.
Set in a rural community, Sunset Song is driven by the young heroine Chris and her intense passion for life, for the unsettling Ewan and for the unforgiving land. The First World War reaches out from afar, bringing the modern world to bear on the community in the harshest possible way, yet in a final moment of grace, Chris endures, now a woman of remarkable strength who is able to draw from the ancient land in looking to the future. Sunset Song is at once epic in emotional scale and deeply romantic at its core, given power by Terence Davies’ unflinching poetic realism. The movie went on too long. Some of the transitions, especially in the later half, were way too disconnected and took too many leaps. I felt the main character did not look 16-18. She looked as if she was in her mid 20's! Had I known she was younger, her passivity and fear would have made more sense. The monster her husband became, also demanded a leap of faith. The transition was too stark and his PTS too severe. So there were weaknesses but over all I enjoy it immensely.
Me Before You
Sometimes you find love where you least expect it. Louisa ‘Lou’ Clark (Emilia Clarke, “Game of Thrones”) lives in a quaint town in the English countryside. With no clear direction in her life, the quirky and creative 26-year-old goes from one job to the next in order to help her tight-knit family make ends meet. Her normally cheery outlook is put to the test, however, when she faces her newest career challenge. Taking a job at the local castle, she becomes caregiver and companion to Will Traynor (Sam Claflin, The Hunger Games), a wealthy young banker who became wheelchair-bound in an accident two years prior, and whose whole world changed dramatically in the blink of an eye. No longer the adventurous soul he once was, the now cynical Will has all but given up. That is, until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living. Screenplay by Jojo Moyes, based on her critically acclaimed, bestselling novel. This was a marvelous unexpected film. The acting, especially, Sam Claflin, was superb. I was brought to tears many times throughout the film. And, I trust my tears! It was well done, without sentiment and overdone. It touched and highlighted many issues. I thought it was wonderful.
Genius
The debut feature from Tony Award-winning director Michael Grandage (former artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse) is a stirring drama about the complex friendship and transformative professional relationship between world-renowned book editor Maxwell Perkins (who discovered F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway) and larger-than-life literary giant Thomas Wolfe. Genius stars Colin Firth as Perkins, Jude Law as Wolfe, Nicole Kidman as Aline Bernstein (a costume designer sharing a tumultuous relationship with Wolfe), Laura Linney as Louise Perkins (Max's wife and a talented playwright), Guy Pearce as Fitzgerald and Dominic West as Hemingway. Based on the biography Max Perkins: Editor of Genius by A. Scott Berg. Beautifully acted and kept amazingly authentic to the characters, except for Nicole Kidman, who cannot act and was utterly miscast, everything about the film was richly done and the dialogue was wonderful to listen to. It was an old fashioned film. They did omit Wolf's family with 3 daughters that he abandoned. And Berstein was a mother figure to Wolf, over a decade older than him, obsessed by him, really opened all doors to him and was a brash, harsh, New York, typical Jewish woman. Perkins came from a stately, old family which they did not stress too much either. But over all the film was excellent.
Hunt For The Wilderpeople
In this wildly funny and endearing comedy from director/co-writer Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows, Boy), defiant city kid Ricky (Julian Dennison), raised on hip-hop and foster care, gets a fresh start in the New Zealand countryside. He quickly finds himself at home with his new foster family: the loving Aunt Bella (Rima Te Wiata), the cantankerous Uncle Hec (Sam Neill) and a dog named Tupac. When a tragedy strikes that threatens to ship Ricky to another home, both he and Hec go on the run in the bush. As a national manhunt ensues, the newly branded outlaws must face their options: go out in a blaze of glory or overcome their differences and survive as a family.
Read an Exclusive Filmmaker Letter from director/co-writer Taika Waititi
This was a wildly entertaining and poignant and marvelous acting by the young boy Ricky Baker. I absolutely loved the film. The boy was terrific and when he spoke afterwards he carried such humor and poise and articulation and entertainment. He was exceptional! The movie was warm and the scenery wonderful. I simply loved the film.
The Blue Dahlia, 1946
Veronica Lake. Alan Ladd. A returning WW2 veteran tries to prove he is innocent of murdering his cheating wife and gets help from a mysterious and alluring femme fatale who happens to be the wife of the victim's lover. It is filled with tough guys and tough gals and quite dated. I found it interesting that the living room furniture decorum was set up exactly like ours, but with a different decade.
Septembers of Shiraz
Septembers of Shiraz is the harrowing story of a secular Jewish family in Iran as they fight for their lives immediately following the 1979 revolution. Directed by Wayne Blair and featuring powerful performances by Academy Award ® winner Adrien Brody, and Academy Award ®nominees Salma Hayek-Pinault and Shohreh Aghdashloo, Septembers of Shiraz illustrates the impact of political upheaval on ordinary people and gives us an incisive examination of a troubled moment in history. Septembers of Shiraz is adapted by screenwriter Hanna Weg from Dalia Sofer's bestselling novel. I found the movie particularly disturbing because of the torture which I hate to witness. I found the wife tough and brave and though Brody found his moxie and stood up to the evil, it was not actually believable because he was in such a weakened state. The movie was dark visually and the Iranians acted no differently than the Nazi's in WW2.Captain Fantastic
Captain Fantastic is a charmingly eccentric, sweet and funny look at an unconventional family living deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, The Road) stars as Ben, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education. After the death of his absent wife, he is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, beginning a journey that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent. Winner of the Un Certain Regard award for directing at Cannes Film Festival, this heart-wrenching drama from writer/director Matt Ross also stars Frank Langella, Kathryn Hahn, Annalise Basso, George MacKay, Ann Dowd, Samantha Isler and Nicholas Hamilton. It was more complicated than what it appeared in the previews. I was afraid it was a PC film but it was not. I found Mortensen cold as a father and I felt someone else would have been better cast.
The Innocents
Warsaw, December 1945: the Second World War is finally over and Mathilde (Lou de Laâge, L’attesa), a young French Red Cross doctor, is treating the last of the French survivors of the German camps. A panicked Benedictine nun appears at the clinic one night, unwilling to speak with the Polish doctors, begging Mathilde to follow her back to the convent. What she finds there is shocking: a holy sister about to give birth and several more in advanced stages of pregnancy. A non-believer, Mathilde enters the sisters’ fiercely private world, dictated by the rituals of their order and the strict Rev. Mother (Agata Kulesza, Ida). Fearing the shame of exposure, the hostility of the new anti-Catholic Communist government, and facing an unprecedented crisis of faith, the nuns increasingly turn to Mathilde as their belief and traditions clash with harsh realities. A powerful and moving drama directed by Anne Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel, Gemma Bovery). (Fully subtitled) It was boring and I fell asleep and honestly did not care all that much about the nuns and their rapes.
Front Cover
A love story between two gay Chinese young men. What made the story interesting was the Chinese cultural angle. Otherwise, there was no way in hell I would ever go and see this gay film.
Cafe Society
Set in the 1930s, writer/director Woody Allen’s bittersweet romance follows Bronx-born Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) to Hollywood, where he falls in love, and back to New York, where he is swept up in the vibrant world of high society nightclub life. Bobby’s colorful Bronx family features his relentlessly bickering parents Rose (Jeannie Berlin) and Marty (Ken Stott); his casually amoral gangster brother Ben (Corey Stoll); his good-hearted teacher sister Evelyn (Sari Lennick); and his egghead brother-in-law Leonard (Stephen Kunken). Seeking more out of life, Bobby flees his father’s jewelry store for Hollywood, where he works for his high-powered agent uncle Phil (Steve Carell), and soon falls for Phil’s charming assistant Vonnie (Kristen Stewart). When he asks her to marry him and move to New York, she is tempted, but things do not go as smoothly as planned. With Café Society—a glittering valentine to the movie stars, socialites, playboys, debutantes, politicians and gangsters who epitomized the excitement and glamour of the age—Allen conjures up a 1930s world that has passed to tell a deeply romantic tale of dreams that never die. A poignant, bitter-sweet comedy with some wonderful one liners that only Allen can write. At 78, he is pure genius.
Gleason
This hit documentary from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival goes inside the life of Steve Gleason, the former New Orleans Saints defensive back who, at the age of 34, was diagnosed with ALS and given a life expectancy of two to five years. Weeks later, Gleason found out his wife, Michel, was expecting their first child. A video journal that began as a gift for his unborn son expands to chronicle Steve's determination to get his relationships in order, build a foundation to provide other ALS patients with purpose, and adapt to his declining physical condition—utilizing medical technologies that offer the means to live as fully as possible. Directed by Clay Tweel (Finders Keepers). It was a moving and generous film, where to me, his wife was truly the unsung hero, she was remarkable in her loyalty, her steadfastness and her passionate love for him.
Hell or High Water
Jeff Bridges. A cops and robbers type of film, of rich character development and plot driven story line. It was OK. Others seemed to like it more than me. There was a vaguest to it, a comedy element that I did like, a dialogue that was clever and sharp. But, it meandered along and I felt preoccupied.
Our Little Sister
Three sisters - Sachi, Yoshino and Chika - live together in a large house in the city of Kamakura. When their father, absent from the family home for the last 15 years, dies, they travel to the countryside for his funeral and meet their shy teenage half-sister. Bonding quickly with the orphaned Suzu, they invite her to live with them. Suzu eagerly agrees, and a new life of joyful discovery begins for the four siblings. This exquisite piece of film wok, subtle and nuanced and deeply emotionally felt, is the type of film experience one rarely has in our society. Classic Japanese, there were many innuendoes that went over my head, leaving many questions. But, I am sure understood by Japanese. It was a wonderful film and has left me thinking about days after I have seen it.
Florence Foster Jenkins
Rock The Casbah, 2015
Directed by Laila Marrakech. Omar Shariff. Morjana Alaoui. Summer in Tangiers. A family comes together for 3 days in their home following the death of the father to share their memories. and to grieve his loss, according to Muslim tradition. This moving and incredibly fine film brings in and unravels levels of secrets and culture and humor and long buried resentments and jealousies. It is an extraordinary piece of film work.
Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy, 1962
Collection of daredevil, slapstick scenes from the comedian's movies.
Sully
From Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood (American Sniper, Million Dollar Baby) comes the biographical drama Sully, starring Oscar winner Tom Hanks (Bridge of Spies, Forrest Gump) as airline pilot Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed the “Miracle on the Hudson” when Captain Sully glided his disabled plane onto the frigid waters of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 aboard. However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and his career. Sully also stars Aaron Eckhart as Sully’s co-pilot Jeff Skiles, and Laura Linney as his wife, Lorraine. I will see any film by Clint Eastwood. And, he is 84 years old! He is a Master Craftsman storyteller. There are no loose ends or false detours or distractions. He stays closely to the story. He does not fill it in with extraneous nonsense. Like interviewing passengers. Like family life, other than wife. Like unnecessary news coverage. His films are tightly women and masterfully executed. It was, as always, a fine piece of film work.
Queen of Katwe
The Dressmaker
From acclaimed filmmaker Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance, Stoker) comes a ravishing new crime drama. Park presents a gripping and sensual tale of two women—a young Japanese lady living on a secluded estate, and a Korean woman who is hired to serve as her new handmaiden, but is secretly plotting with a con man to defraud her of a large inheritance. Inspired by the novel Fingersmith by British author Sarah Waters, The Handmaiden borrows the most dynamic elements of its source material and combines it with Park’s singular vision to create an unforgettable viewing experience. (Fully subtitled) I really would not have gone to seen a lesbian film.And explicit it was. Not interested. It was slow and carefully revealed and seen but all the lesbianism was a bit off putting. I liked how you saw each chapter from a different character point-of-view.
Arrival
Jackie
Jackie is a searing and intimate portrait of one of the most important and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (Natalie Portman), set in the days immediately following her husband’s assassination. Overwhelmed by grief and trauma, Jackie struggles to orchestrate a memorable funeral (taking Lincoln’s as her model), console her young children, and attempt to preserve and elevate her husband’s legacy in history. The narrative is structured around an interview Jackie gives a week later to a journalist (Billy Crudup) summoned to Hyannis Port to publicize her version of events, flashbacks to the television tour she conducted through the White House earlier in the presidency (revealing her nerves and insecurity), and nightmarish flashbacks to the assassination itself. Academy Award-winning actress Portman (Black Swan) gives an unforgettable performance in this moving psychological profile. Also starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Hurt, Greta Gerwig and Richard E. Grant. Directed by Pablo Larraín (Neruda, No). This was an extraordinary piece of acting and Portman will be nominated and she should win, although I have not seen all the nominees film selections. I had no idea the depth of devastation and loss and bewilderment and confusion that Jackie endured as she became a public monument, devoid of expression and feeling. It was quite intense and remarkably sad.
Your Name
From director Makoto Shinkai, the innovative mind behind Voices of a Distant Star and 5 Centimeters Per Second, comes a beautiful masterpiece about time, the thread of fate, and the hearts of two young souls.
The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and more importantly, an imprint.
When a dazzling comet lights up the night’s sky, something shifts, and they seek each other out wanting something more—a chance to finally meet. But try as they might, something more daunting than distance prevents them. Is the string of fate between Mitsuha and Taki strong enough to bring them together, or will forces outside their control leave them forever separated? I found it boring and very hard to follow and I actually did not understand it all that much. It was packed with Japanese. Oversold. They were laughing and chuckling. I missed all of the nuances and meanings and symbolism. I would have walked out but I was sandwiched in the middle of a row and it was too hard to leave.
I SAW THE LIGHT
is the story of the legendary country western singer Hank Williams, who in his brief life created one of the greatest bodies of work in American music. The film chronicles his meteoric rise to fame and its ultimately tragic effect on his health and personal life. Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen star. The movie did not have the fire of other biographies of him. It was flat. And boring. Although, his life was presented with less drama and hysteria than other movie versions.
Joe's Violin
To boring and inconsequential to write about. Saw it at The Museum of Tolerance.
Warsaw, December 1945: the Second World War is finally over and Mathilde (Lou de Laâge, L’attesa), a young French Red Cross doctor, is treating the last of the French survivors of the German camps. A panicked Benedictine nun appears at the clinic one night, unwilling to speak with the Polish doctors, begging Mathilde to follow her back to the convent. What she finds there is shocking: a holy sister about to give birth and several more in advanced stages of pregnancy. A non-believer, Mathilde enters the sisters’ fiercely private world, dictated by the rituals of their order and the strict Rev. Mother (Agata Kulesza, Ida). Fearing the shame of exposure, the hostility of the new anti-Catholic Communist government, and facing an unprecedented crisis of faith, the nuns increasingly turn to Mathilde as their belief and traditions clash with harsh realities. A powerful and moving drama directed by Anne Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel, Gemma Bovery). (Fully subtitled) It was boring and I fell asleep and honestly did not care all that much about the nuns and their rapes.
Front Cover
A love story between two gay Chinese young men. What made the story interesting was the Chinese cultural angle. Otherwise, there was no way in hell I would ever go and see this gay film.
Cafe Society
Set in the 1930s, writer/director Woody Allen’s bittersweet romance follows Bronx-born Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) to Hollywood, where he falls in love, and back to New York, where he is swept up in the vibrant world of high society nightclub life. Bobby’s colorful Bronx family features his relentlessly bickering parents Rose (Jeannie Berlin) and Marty (Ken Stott); his casually amoral gangster brother Ben (Corey Stoll); his good-hearted teacher sister Evelyn (Sari Lennick); and his egghead brother-in-law Leonard (Stephen Kunken). Seeking more out of life, Bobby flees his father’s jewelry store for Hollywood, where he works for his high-powered agent uncle Phil (Steve Carell), and soon falls for Phil’s charming assistant Vonnie (Kristen Stewart). When he asks her to marry him and move to New York, she is tempted, but things do not go as smoothly as planned. With Café Society—a glittering valentine to the movie stars, socialites, playboys, debutantes, politicians and gangsters who epitomized the excitement and glamour of the age—Allen conjures up a 1930s world that has passed to tell a deeply romantic tale of dreams that never die. A poignant, bitter-sweet comedy with some wonderful one liners that only Allen can write. At 78, he is pure genius.
Gleason
This hit documentary from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival goes inside the life of Steve Gleason, the former New Orleans Saints defensive back who, at the age of 34, was diagnosed with ALS and given a life expectancy of two to five years. Weeks later, Gleason found out his wife, Michel, was expecting their first child. A video journal that began as a gift for his unborn son expands to chronicle Steve's determination to get his relationships in order, build a foundation to provide other ALS patients with purpose, and adapt to his declining physical condition—utilizing medical technologies that offer the means to live as fully as possible. Directed by Clay Tweel (Finders Keepers). It was a moving and generous film, where to me, his wife was truly the unsung hero, she was remarkable in her loyalty, her steadfastness and her passionate love for him.
Hell or High Water
Jeff Bridges. A cops and robbers type of film, of rich character development and plot driven story line. It was OK. Others seemed to like it more than me. There was a vaguest to it, a comedy element that I did like, a dialogue that was clever and sharp. But, it meandered along and I felt preoccupied.
Our Little Sister
Three sisters - Sachi, Yoshino and Chika - live together in a large house in the city of Kamakura. When their father, absent from the family home for the last 15 years, dies, they travel to the countryside for his funeral and meet their shy teenage half-sister. Bonding quickly with the orphaned Suzu, they invite her to live with them. Suzu eagerly agrees, and a new life of joyful discovery begins for the four siblings. This exquisite piece of film wok, subtle and nuanced and deeply emotionally felt, is the type of film experience one rarely has in our society. Classic Japanese, there were many innuendoes that went over my head, leaving many questions. But, I am sure understood by Japanese. It was a wonderful film and has left me thinking about days after I have seen it.
Florence Foster Jenkins
Set in 1940s New York, Florence Foster Jenkins is the true story of the legendary New York heiress and socialite (Meryl Streep) who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great singer. The voice she heard in her head was beautiful, but to everyone else it was hilariously awful. Her "husband" and manager, St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant), an aristocratic English actor, was determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth. But when Florence decided to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall, St. Clair knew he faced his greatest challenge. Directed by Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen, High Fidelity, Dangerous Liaisons). This low expectation, due to the terrible previews, turned out to be an utterly entertaining and enjoyable film of a truly eccentric woman whose illness prevented her from hearing how badly she actually sounded to the world. And, when she did, her utter humiliation and despair which drove her to her death. Wonderfully acted and thoroughly entertained.
Boynton Beach Club, 2005
A wonderful and utterly entertaining glimpse of life, presented in a comedic fashion, of life of retirees who meet up in a retirement home in Florida. They meet up at a bereavement club. The women are quite aggressive and the sex aggressive too. It was funny because it all felt so familiar! A friend of mine played the part of Mimi and she was beautiful!
Pete's Dragon
Disney produced, I took my grandson. It was a lovely sweet film with the right values and without violence and fear. I actually enjoyed it because of this. It was not overdone and over dramatized but told a lovely story of loss and abandonment and being found and redeemed.
Ben Hur
This has got to be one of the all time awful films that I have seen. The dialogue was ridiculous from Progressive to Occupation. Women were equals. How can anyone even begin to compare it to the 1957, Charleton Heston version? It was silly to think it could be done. I was bored and restless and annoyed with myself that I capitulated and saw this film.
Audrie & Daisy
Documentary. Directed by Bonni Cohen. The story of two girls who were raped by older high school students of friends of older siblings. They boys received probation so their lives would not be ruined. Meanwhile, the girls, because of the no sentencing or justice served, went on to suffer beyond what they already endured. Interestingly, the night after I saw the film, an exact repeat story was heard on FOX news. A high school student raped an under aged girl who had passed out at a party and he received 6 months probation so his life would not have sex offender put upon it for the rest of his life. Unreal regarding the lack of justice served.
Indignation
Based on Philip Roth's novel, the haunting drama Indignation takes place in 1951, as Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower), a brilliant working class Jewish boy from Newark, New Jersey, travels on scholarship to a small, conservative college in Ohio, thus exempting him from being drafted into the Korean War. But once there, Marcus's growing infatuation with his beautiful classmate Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon), and his clashes with the college's imposing Dean, Hawes Caudwell (Tracy Letts), put his and his family's best laid plans to the ultimate test. This is one of the best films I have seen in a long while. It is an intelligent film with terrific dialogue and conversation, character driven with each character perfectly cast. Plot reveals itself with unfolding intensity and tragedy. The anti-Jewish component was removed which made me comfortable. Satisfying and a highly fine and quite wonderful piece of film work. The People Vs. Franz Bauer
Germany, 1957. Attorney General Fritz Bauer receives crucial evidence on the whereabouts of SS‐Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann. The lieutenant colonel, responsible for the
mass deportation of the Jews, is allegedly hiding in Buenos Aires.
Bauer, himself Jewish, has been trying to take crimes from the Third Reich to court ever since his return from Danish exile but without success due to the fierce German determination to repress its sinister past. Because of his distrust in the German justice system, Bauer contacts the Israeli secret service, Mossad, and by doing so commits treason. Bauer is not seeking revenge for the Holocaust ‐‐ he is concerned with the German future.
Toronto International Film Festival 2015 ∙ Locarno International Film Festival 2015 ∙
London Film Festival 2015 ∙ Berlin International Film Festival 2015
Winner of 6 German Film Awards (LOLA AWARDS) including:
Best Film ∙ Best Director ∙ Best Supporting Actor (Ronald Zehrfeld) ∙ Best Screenplay
mass deportation of the Jews, is allegedly hiding in Buenos Aires.
Bauer, himself Jewish, has been trying to take crimes from the Third Reich to court ever since his return from Danish exile but without success due to the fierce German determination to repress its sinister past. Because of his distrust in the German justice system, Bauer contacts the Israeli secret service, Mossad, and by doing so commits treason. Bauer is not seeking revenge for the Holocaust ‐‐ he is concerned with the German future.
Toronto International Film Festival 2015 ∙ Locarno International Film Festival 2015 ∙
London Film Festival 2015 ∙ Berlin International Film Festival 2015
Winner of 6 German Film Awards (LOLA AWARDS) including:
Best Film ∙ Best Director ∙ Best Supporting Actor (Ronald Zehrfeld) ∙ Best Screenplay
This remarkable and true to historic facts, other than for the composite character of the young man he mentored, Franz Bauer revealed a Ben Gurion like type of character. The homosexual theme ran parallel to the Jewish obsession in capturing Eichmann. An interesting play on themes. It was truly a magnificent piece of film work.
Tales of Love & Darkness
Written, directed by and starring Natalie Portman, A Tale of Love and Darkness is based on the memories of Amos Oz, growing up in Jerusalem in the years before Israeli statehood with Arieh (Gilad Kahana), his academic father and Fania (Portman), his dreamy, imaginative mother. They were one of many Jewish families who moved to Palestine from Europe during the 1930s and '40s to escape persecution. Arieh was cautiously hopeful for the future but Fania wanted much more. The terror of the war and running from home had been followed by the tedium of everyday life, which weighed heavily on Fania’s spirit. Unhappy in her marriage and intellectually stifled, she would make up stories of adventures (like treks across the desert) to cheer herself up and entertain her 10-year-old son Amos (Amir Tessler). He became so enraptured when she read him poetry and explained about words and language, that it would become an influence on his writing for the rest of his life. But as Amos witnessed the birth of Israel, he had to come to terms with his own new beginning. (Fully subtitled)
A magnificent film of quiet elegance and lyrical beauty. It felt like a ballet in movement. The scenes from one to the next would darken and pause and then the next story would emerge as the character driven film moved forward. It stayed true to the integrity of the book. I found it an exquisite film. Rock The Casbah, 2015
Directed by Laila Marrakech. Omar Shariff. Morjana Alaoui. Summer in Tangiers. A family comes together for 3 days in their home following the death of the father to share their memories. and to grieve his loss, according to Muslim tradition. This moving and incredibly fine film brings in and unravels levels of secrets and culture and humor and long buried resentments and jealousies. It is an extraordinary piece of film work.
Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy, 1962
Collection of daredevil, slapstick scenes from the comedian's movies.
Sully
From Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood (American Sniper, Million Dollar Baby) comes the biographical drama Sully, starring Oscar winner Tom Hanks (Bridge of Spies, Forrest Gump) as airline pilot Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed the “Miracle on the Hudson” when Captain Sully glided his disabled plane onto the frigid waters of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 aboard. However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and his career. Sully also stars Aaron Eckhart as Sully’s co-pilot Jeff Skiles, and Laura Linney as his wife, Lorraine. I will see any film by Clint Eastwood. And, he is 84 years old! He is a Master Craftsman storyteller. There are no loose ends or false detours or distractions. He stays closely to the story. He does not fill it in with extraneous nonsense. Like interviewing passengers. Like family life, other than wife. Like unnecessary news coverage. His films are tightly women and masterfully executed. It was, as always, a fine piece of film work.
Queen of Katwe
Queen of Katwe is the colorful true story of a young girl selling corn on the streets of rural Uganda whose world rapidly changes when she is introduced to the game of chess. For 10-year-old Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) and her family, life in the impoverished slum of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda, is a constant struggle. Her mother Harriet (Lupita Nyong’o, Oscar winner for 12 Years a Slave) is fiercely determined to take care of her family and works tirelessly selling vegetables in the market to make sure her children are fed and have a roof over their heads. When Phiona meets Robert Katende (David Oyelowo, Selma), a soccer player turned missionary who teaches local children chess, she is captivated. Phiona is impressed by the intelligence and wit the game requires and immediately shows potential. As Katende begins to mentor her and teaches her to read and write, she quickly advances through the ranks in tournaments, but breaks away from her family to focus on her own life. Her mother eventually realizes that Phiona has a chance to excel and teams up with Katende to help her fulfill her extraordinary potential, escape a life of poverty and save her family. Queen of Katwe is directed by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake), based on the book by Tim Crothers. A lovely sweet Disney film. The coach was remarkable. The story, known. The culture so different than my own. The poverty hopeless.
Howard's End
The Dressmaker
The Dressmaker tells the story of the beautiful and talented Tilly Dunnage (Academy Award winner Kate Winslet, The Reader). After years working as a dressmaker in exclusive Parisian fashion houses, Tilly returns home to a town in the Australian outback to reconcile with her eccentric mother Molly (Judy Davis). She also falls in love with the pure-hearted Teddy (Liam Hemsworth), and armed with her sewing machine and haute couture style, Tilly transforms the women of the town, exacting sweet revenge on those who did her wrong. Based on the novel by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker is written and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse (Proof, How to Make an American Quilt). A quirky, revengeful fun and satisfying film in the outback of Australia.
American Pastoral
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Philip Roth novel, American Pastoral follows an all-American family across several decades, as their idyllic existence is shattered by social and political turmoil that will change the fabric of American culture forever. Ewan McGregor (Beginners, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) makes his directorial debut and stars as Seymour “Swede” Levov, a once legendary high school athlete who is now a successful businessman married to Dawn (Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind), a former beauty queen. But turmoil brews beneath the polished veneer of Swede’s life. When his beloved daughter Merry (Dakota Fanning) disappears after being accused of committing a violent act, Swede dedicates himself to finding her and reuniting his family. What he discovers shakes him to the core, forcing him to look beneath the surface and confront the chaos that is shaping the modern world around him: no American family will ever be the same. Also starring Uzo Aduba and David Strathairn. This remarkable film left me sobbing. The voice over was powerful and hit the mark. The story line kept one on the tip of their chair. The disintegration of his family, by the prophecy of the murdered postman's widow, proved true. His relationship with his daughter. The brokenness. The irreparable damage. The utter destruction. The over ness.
Certain Women
One of America’s foremost filmmakers, Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff), directs this refined drama with a remarkable ensemble cast led by Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern. It’s a stirring look at three women striving to forge their own paths amidst the wide-open plains of the American Northwest: a lawyer (Dern) who finds herself contending with both office sexism and a hostage situation; a wife and mother (Williams) whose determination to build her dream home puts her at odds with the men in her life; and a young law student (Stewart) who forms an ambiguous bond with a lonely ranch hand (radiant newcomer Lily Gladstone). As their stories intersect in subtle but powerful ways, a portrait emerges of flawed, but strong-willed individuals in the process of defining themselves. Also starring James Le Gros, Jared Harris and Rene Auberjonois. A superb intimate and intense portrait of 3 different women and how this lives intersect, not through knowing one another, but in moving in each other's space. It was extremely well done and acted and very real and sensitive. Not for everyone but I thought it was a fine piece of film work. And, very interesting.
The HandmaidenOne of America’s foremost filmmakers, Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff), directs this refined drama with a remarkable ensemble cast led by Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern. It’s a stirring look at three women striving to forge their own paths amidst the wide-open plains of the American Northwest: a lawyer (Dern) who finds herself contending with both office sexism and a hostage situation; a wife and mother (Williams) whose determination to build her dream home puts her at odds with the men in her life; and a young law student (Stewart) who forms an ambiguous bond with a lonely ranch hand (radiant newcomer Lily Gladstone). As their stories intersect in subtle but powerful ways, a portrait emerges of flawed, but strong-willed individuals in the process of defining themselves. Also starring James Le Gros, Jared Harris and Rene Auberjonois. A superb intimate and intense portrait of 3 different women and how this lives intersect, not through knowing one another, but in moving in each other's space. It was extremely well done and acted and very real and sensitive. Not for everyone but I thought it was a fine piece of film work. And, very interesting.
From acclaimed filmmaker Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance, Stoker) comes a ravishing new crime drama. Park presents a gripping and sensual tale of two women—a young Japanese lady living on a secluded estate, and a Korean woman who is hired to serve as her new handmaiden, but is secretly plotting with a con man to defraud her of a large inheritance. Inspired by the novel Fingersmith by British author Sarah Waters, The Handmaiden borrows the most dynamic elements of its source material and combines it with Park’s singular vision to create an unforgettable viewing experience. (Fully subtitled) I really would not have gone to seen a lesbian film.And explicit it was. Not interested. It was slow and carefully revealed and seen but all the lesbianism was a bit off putting. I liked how you saw each chapter from a different character point-of-view.
Arrival
When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team—led by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams)—is brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers—and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity. Also starring Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker and Michael Stuhlbarg, the sci-fi thriller Arrival is directed by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Prisoners, and the upcoming Blade Runner 2049). This is one of the worst films I have seen. It took itself so seriously! and it did not have the substance to back it up. It was mini-acting and lack of any genuine and real emotion. Dreadful.
Manchester By The Sea
The the story of a working-class family living in a Massachusetts fishing village for generations, is a deeply poignant, unexpectedly funny exploration of the power of familial love, community, sacrifice and hope. After the death of his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler), Boston janitor Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is shocked to learn that Joe has made him sole guardian of his nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges). Taking leave of his job, Lee reluctantly returns to Manchester-by-the-Sea to care for Patrick, a spirited 16-year-old, and is forced to deal with a past that separated him from his wife Randi (Michelle Williams) and the community where he was born and raised. Bonded by the man who held their family together, Lee and Patrick struggle to adjust to a world without him. Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count on Me) seamlessly weaves past and present together, crafting a tension-filled tale that deftly eschews sentimentality in favor of penetrating emotional insight. Anther boring and taking itself far too seriously film, overrated by critics as a Masterpiece! Really!? I thought it was awful. I kept looking at my watch. I thought the parenting was disgraceful. No one wants to be a parent. I thought the kids were liars and disrespectful and lacked any values. Why not tell his nephew that you don't cheat on your girlfriend? That you don't treat women like this? No. He thinks that it is cool. Michelle? should win the Academy Award though. She stole every single scene that she was in.
Allied
Allied is the story of intelligence officer Max Vatan (Brad Pitt, Moneyball, Inglourious Basterds, Fight Club), who in 1942 North Africa encounters French Resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose, Inception, Rust and Bone) on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Reunited in London, their relationship is threatened by the extreme pressures of the war. Also starring Jared Harris, Simon McBurney and Lizzy Caplan, Allied is directed by Robert Zemeckis (Flight, Cast Away, Forrest Gump). I found it boring and predicable and the using of sex as showing intimacy and closeness, like they used to show in the old day of the couple walking on the beach. I thought them screwing in a car in the desert, during a sandstorm, a bit ridiculous. With a stick shift, a tiny car, and two big adults, rollicking around, how in the hell did they get out of the sandstorm afterwards? The car never would have started! They would have been buried alive! The whole movie pretty much followed this showcase of Pitt and Cotillard. We also saw the new Brad Pitt film. I was bored. In the old days, to show passion and love, they showed couples walking on the beach. Now it is fornicating in every conceivable place and position. This time they did it in the middle of the desert, in a stick shift car, during a brutal sandstorm. It went on and on and on. All I could think of in these acrobatics was how in the hell are they going to start the car afterwards - they would be trapped in there for days! To me, the movie was all about parading around in beautiful period piece outfits. Oh hum
ON THE MAP
ON THE MAP tells the against-all-odds story of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 1977 win of the European Cup. Through the conduit of sports, ON THE MAP tells a much broader story of Israel and the Jewish people during the Cold War. The film recounts how the underdog Israeli team prevailed over CSKA Moscow (known in the West as “Red Army”) – a team that refused to play against Israel. Moments after this highly charged and historical win, American player Tal Brody captured the heart of the young nation when he famously said, “Israel is ON THE MAP, not just in sport, but in everything.” ON THE MAP is a documentary written and directed by Israeli Academy Award winner filmmaker, Dani Menkin and executive-produced by Roberta Grossman and Nancy Spielberg. ON THE MAP features interviews with figures such as Michael Oren, Natan Sharansky and NBA legends Bill Walton and David Stern. This was a terrific documentary of a story that I knew little. They interviewed the giants of Israeli society and the impact that this game and Tal Brody and others had on this thirty year old country. It also was placed in the historical events that were spinning around as the David/Golliah story unfolded. Because of your animated enthusiasm, regarding this documentary, Cary and I went to see it last night. It was fabulous! There was a Q&A afterwards with the Writer and Producer which was informative and interesting. I knew nothing about this event because, I think, it was overshadowed by the resignation of Rabin, which I do remember, and Sadat coming to Israel which trumped everything. But this little phenomenal story, which gripped this thirty year old nation, and Tal Brody in particular, with his extraordinary articulation at the height of winning, certainly jolted the nation with a fuze of pride and glory, if for only a moment, as historical events swirled around it.
Lion
In the heart-wrenching drama Lion, five-year-old Saroo (wonderfully played by Sunny Pawar) gets lost on a train that takes him thousands of miles away from his home and family, ending up bewildered and afraid in chaotic Kolkata (Calcutta). Somehow he survives living on the streets, before finding shelter in an orphanage that is itself not exactly a safe haven. Eventually Saroo is adopted by an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman, David Wenham), and finds love and security as he grows up in Hobart. Not wanting to hurt his adoptive parents’ feelings, Saroo (Dev Patel, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Slumdog Millionaire) suppresses his past, his emotional need for reunification and his hope of ever finding his lost mother and brother. But a chance meeting with some fellow Indians reawakens his buried yearning. With just a small store of memories, his unwavering determination, and the help of a new technology called Google Earth, Saroo embarks on one of the greatest needle-in-a-haystack quests of modern times. The true story of a life lost and found, Lion also stars Rooney Mara. This was a marvelous film, sad and tragic, and utterly unbelievable that he survived as he did and where he did and by whom. Highly recommended.
Elie
Michèle (Isabelle Huppert, Things to Come, Amour, The Piano Teacher) is a rich and powerful woman, head of her own successful video game company that specializes in violent erotic games, who brings the same ruthless attitude to her love life as to business. But she is forced to face her own powerlessness when she is attacked in her home by an unknown assailant, changing her life forever. Determined to reclaim her confident life, Michèle vows to identify and track down her assailant and wreak retribution. She suspects all around her, including friends, former lovers, neighbors and colleagues at work, and is drawn into a curious and thrilling game of cat and mouse with the mystery man—a game that may, at any moment, spiral out of control. Psychologically fascinating, Elle is perverse and provocative, yet gripping and suspenseful. Based on the novel Oh… by Philippe Djian. With Charles Berling, Laurent Lafitte and Anne Consigny. Directed by Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Black Book). (Fully subtitled) Awful and dreadful film with cold actress who is 64 trying to play someone 20 years younger. I hated it and would have walked out if I had been alone. Jackie
Jackie is a searing and intimate portrait of one of the most important and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (Natalie Portman), set in the days immediately following her husband’s assassination. Overwhelmed by grief and trauma, Jackie struggles to orchestrate a memorable funeral (taking Lincoln’s as her model), console her young children, and attempt to preserve and elevate her husband’s legacy in history. The narrative is structured around an interview Jackie gives a week later to a journalist (Billy Crudup) summoned to Hyannis Port to publicize her version of events, flashbacks to the television tour she conducted through the White House earlier in the presidency (revealing her nerves and insecurity), and nightmarish flashbacks to the assassination itself. Academy Award-winning actress Portman (Black Swan) gives an unforgettable performance in this moving psychological profile. Also starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Hurt, Greta Gerwig and Richard E. Grant. Directed by Pablo Larraín (Neruda, No). This was an extraordinary piece of acting and Portman will be nominated and she should win, although I have not seen all the nominees film selections. I had no idea the depth of devastation and loss and bewilderment and confusion that Jackie endured as she became a public monument, devoid of expression and feeling. It was quite intense and remarkably sad.
Your Name
From director Makoto Shinkai, the innovative mind behind Voices of a Distant Star and 5 Centimeters Per Second, comes a beautiful masterpiece about time, the thread of fate, and the hearts of two young souls.
The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and more importantly, an imprint.
When a dazzling comet lights up the night’s sky, something shifts, and they seek each other out wanting something more—a chance to finally meet. But try as they might, something more daunting than distance prevents them. Is the string of fate between Mitsuha and Taki strong enough to bring them together, or will forces outside their control leave them forever separated? I found it boring and very hard to follow and I actually did not understand it all that much. It was packed with Japanese. Oversold. They were laughing and chuckling. I missed all of the nuances and meanings and symbolism. I would have walked out but I was sandwiched in the middle of a row and it was too hard to leave.
I SAW THE LIGHT
is the story of the legendary country western singer Hank Williams, who in his brief life created one of the greatest bodies of work in American music. The film chronicles his meteoric rise to fame and its ultimately tragic effect on his health and personal life. Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen star. The movie did not have the fire of other biographies of him. It was flat. And boring. Although, his life was presented with less drama and hysteria than other movie versions.
Joe's Violin
To boring and inconsequential to write about. Saw it at The Museum of Tolerance.
THE EAGLE HUNTRESS
THE EAGLE HUNTRESS follows Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter, and rises to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been handed down from father to son for centuries.
Set against the breathtaking expanse of the Mongolian steppe, THE EAGLE HUNTRESS features some of the most awe-inspiring cinematography ever captured in a documentary, giving this intimate tale of a young girl’s quest the dramatic force of an epic narrative film. A lovely reenactment of the story of a brave girl who is calm and keeps her fears in check.
Julieta
Pedro Almodóvar’s newest film, which returns to the style of Volver and Talk to Her, is a strong story of a mother’s love for her estranged daughter. Julieta (Emma Suárez) is a middle-aged woman living in Madrid, still mourning her missing daughter Antía, who she has not seen or spoken to for 12 years. Julieta and her boyfriend Lorenzo (Darío Grandinetti) are about to move to Portugal, but when Julieta has a chance encounter in the street with an old friend of Antía’s she abruptly decides to move back to her old apartment in Madrid in the hope that Antía might contact her there. Alone in her old home, Julieta remembers the past, writing a journal to her daughter, trying to understand the riddle of their relationship. In flashback, the younger Julieta (Adriana Ugarte)—radiant, sexy, and a little naïve—meets handsome Galician fisherman Xoan (Daniel Grao), and they fall in love and have a child, but tragedy overtakes them. Based on three stories by Alice Munro. With Rossy de Palma. (Fully subtitled) A marvelous and powerful film that I deeply connected to.
Fences
Fences is directed by Denzel Washington from a screenplay by August Wilson, adapted from Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. The film stars Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Jovan Adepo, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, and Saniyya Sidney. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington and Todd Black. It was a theater production on screen. Phenomenal acting. Both should, and will probably win, the academy award for their performances. Two of my favorite actors. It was profoundly intense, and well done. I would recommend it for you, as it is satisfying in this - it portrayed the black community and relationships as I knew them back when I grew up, which is the time period when this film took place so I identified with it. Would I recommend it? To you, definitely. For its dialogue, intensity, development of character, relationships, rage and darkness and disappointment and frustration, and love. It was an outstanding film but not for everyone. I never once thought of or even looked at my watch. Always the litmus test for me. Go alone or only with someone who would appreciate it.
Hand in Hand, 1962
From one of my favorite books, Maayan found the film from which the book was made. I never thought it possible. A wonderful, tender and sensitive story.
Postcards from the Edge, 1990
The autobiographical story of the relationship between Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbie Reynolds. Brilliant, genius acting by Meryl Streep, especially her song at the end. Extraordinary. Far better than when I first saw it.
Sandstorm
Marvelous foreign film from Israel about the culture mores and life of women in a Beduoin village, a patriarchal society and all the impact and powerlessness that women have lived with for thousands of years.
Set against the breathtaking expanse of the Mongolian steppe, THE EAGLE HUNTRESS features some of the most awe-inspiring cinematography ever captured in a documentary, giving this intimate tale of a young girl’s quest the dramatic force of an epic narrative film. A lovely reenactment of the story of a brave girl who is calm and keeps her fears in check.
Julieta
Pedro Almodóvar’s newest film, which returns to the style of Volver and Talk to Her, is a strong story of a mother’s love for her estranged daughter. Julieta (Emma Suárez) is a middle-aged woman living in Madrid, still mourning her missing daughter Antía, who she has not seen or spoken to for 12 years. Julieta and her boyfriend Lorenzo (Darío Grandinetti) are about to move to Portugal, but when Julieta has a chance encounter in the street with an old friend of Antía’s she abruptly decides to move back to her old apartment in Madrid in the hope that Antía might contact her there. Alone in her old home, Julieta remembers the past, writing a journal to her daughter, trying to understand the riddle of their relationship. In flashback, the younger Julieta (Adriana Ugarte)—radiant, sexy, and a little naïve—meets handsome Galician fisherman Xoan (Daniel Grao), and they fall in love and have a child, but tragedy overtakes them. Based on three stories by Alice Munro. With Rossy de Palma. (Fully subtitled) A marvelous and powerful film that I deeply connected to.
Fences
Fences is directed by Denzel Washington from a screenplay by August Wilson, adapted from Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. The film stars Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Jovan Adepo, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, and Saniyya Sidney. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington and Todd Black. It was a theater production on screen. Phenomenal acting. Both should, and will probably win, the academy award for their performances. Two of my favorite actors. It was profoundly intense, and well done. I would recommend it for you, as it is satisfying in this - it portrayed the black community and relationships as I knew them back when I grew up, which is the time period when this film took place so I identified with it. Would I recommend it? To you, definitely. For its dialogue, intensity, development of character, relationships, rage and darkness and disappointment and frustration, and love. It was an outstanding film but not for everyone. I never once thought of or even looked at my watch. Always the litmus test for me. Go alone or only with someone who would appreciate it.
Hand in Hand, 1962
From one of my favorite books, Maayan found the film from which the book was made. I never thought it possible. A wonderful, tender and sensitive story.
Postcards from the Edge, 1990
The autobiographical story of the relationship between Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbie Reynolds. Brilliant, genius acting by Meryl Streep, especially her song at the end. Extraordinary. Far better than when I first saw it.
Sandstorm
Marvelous foreign film from Israel about the culture mores and life of women in a Beduoin village, a patriarchal society and all the impact and powerlessness that women have lived with for thousands of years.
