The element water is associated with the Moon’s nurturing, emotion and caring. But in “The Impossible,” directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, wetness – in the form of the tsunami that hits Thailand at Christmastime in 2004 – becomes an annihilator of families. The wave announces its rapid encroachment with a rumble. It drags Maria under […]
Archives for December 2012
Astrology: Film: ‘Not Fade Away’ (2012)
December 20, 2012 by
“Not Fade Away,” directed by Sopranos’ creator David Chase in his feature film debut, is about the power that music wields on a group of male teens growing up in the New Jersey suburbs in the ‘60s. The participation of Steven Van Zandt, the movie’s music supervisor and one of its executive producers, ensures that […]
Film: ‘This Is 40’ (2012)
December 19, 2012 by
Director Judd Apatow’s “This Is 40” puts his “Knocked Up” couple Pete and Debbie under the microscope in this bright sort-of sequel. Debbie (Leslie Mann, Apatow’s real-life wife) is celebrating – or rather, not celebrating – turning 40. But as significant as that chronological milestone is for most people, Apatow bathes his movie in non-significance. […]
Film: ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (2012)
December 19, 2012 by
“Zero Dark Thirty,” which recounts the decade-long search for and killing of Osama bin Laden, opens with a black screen and the sound of panicked 9-11 voices desperately making a final verbal connection with the outside world. The set-up is pure Mercurial activity: thought, speech, communication and transportation between the real world and hell. Directed […]
Film: ‘The Guilt Trip’ (2012)
December 18, 2012 by
“The Guilt Trip” seems like an unassuming road-trip movie. On the surface, it’s about two travelers – a son whose lack of professional success is eating away at his self-esteem, and his mother whose love for her son fuels her eating. But the movie’s a lot more clever than that. Directed by Anne Fletcher, “The […]
Astrology: Television: ‘Homeland’: Carrie’s and Brody’s Planetary Neuroses
December 18, 2012 by
Falling in love has been described as each partner’s infatuation with the other’s neuroses. Nowhere is the adage more true than on “Homeland,” the Emmy award-winning drama from Showtime which just broadcast its Season 2 finale. Although viewers became increasing disenchanted with implausible and irksome character behavior this season, to say that “Homeland” fell off […]
Film: ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ (2012)
December 12, 2012 by
There’s a familiarity to Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the first installment of the movie trilogy based on the J.R.R. Tolkien book that preceded “The Lord of the Rings.” That lived-in quality has everything to do with the hero protocol which requires the protagonist’s upheaval from his geographic roots and subsequent trek to […]
Film: ‘Amour’ (2012)
December 11, 2012 by
Unlike romance, where love is enough, the marriage contract also asks for commitment. And no movie tests the longevity of that pledge better than “Amour,” a sobering look at what happens when illness severely tries a long-wed couple. Directed by Michael Haneke, “Amour” is the gut-wrenching story of Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva), […]
Film: ‘Les Misérables’ (2012)
December 7, 2012 by
Transforming one’s life is tough enough. What’s worse is the backlash from people who, out of self-interest, preferred you the old way. That’s pretty much the idea behind Tom Hooper’s “Les Misérables,” the extravagant musical film based on the theatrical musical rooted in Victor Hugo’s novel. The story, set in 18th century France during revolutionary […]
Film: ‘Hyde Park on Hudson’ (2012)
December 6, 2012 by
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the U.S., would have liked nothing better than to spend all his time at the family home at Hyde Park on Hudson which belonged to his mother, an archetypal lunar figure whose main reason for existence is to nurture. Not surprisingly, in Roger Michell’s “Hyde Park on Hudson,” […]
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