Relationships are no better than the communication that cultivates and perhaps dooms them. There’s no grander cinematic illustration of this hypothesis than Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, which revisits American Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Frenchwoman Celine (Julie Delpy) years after they meet neat in Before Sunrise (1995) as young adults, and several years later when Jesse […]
Astrology: Fashion: ‘Frances Ha’ and the Pencil Skirt
May 15, 2013 by
The classic pencil skirt worn by Greta Gerwig’s Frances, the lovable 27-year-old gal-in-transition heroine in the new movie Frances Ha, is an aspirational one for this character. Her life is sprawling out of control, as she experiences unstable housing arrangements, a modern-dance career that’s spiraling ever out of reach, and the potential loss of her […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Frances Ha’ (2013)
May 14, 2013 by
Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha is a tribute to both the magic that happens when love and work are well integrated in a person’s life, and the chaos that ensues when either or both of these elements are out of sync. Twenty-seven-year-old Frances (Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote the script) is the poster child for anyone […]
Astrology: Television: ‘Mad Men’: Don Plays Pluto and Takes Sylvia to Hades
May 13, 2013 by
Could Don Draper’s hostage-taking of Sylvia, his mistress, have been an unconscious plan to get her to end their affair? Given his warped sexual appetite and taste for Pluto control, yes, it was. At the beginning of the episode, “Man with a Plan,” Don (Jon Hamm), in his apartment building’s elevator, has overheard Sylvia (Linda […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Stories We Tell’ (2013)
May 9, 2013 by
Citing parental and sibling resemblances is a bit of a family sport. But what happens when a child who really doesn’t look as though she’s from the same brood takes it step further to pull up what she had assumed were her roots? That’s the subject of Stories We Tell, an autobiographical documentary written and […]
Astrology: Film: ‘The Great Gatsby’ (2013)
May 9, 2013 by
The lush, lavish and raucous The Great Gatsby excels at making its point that nothing – absolutely nothing – was too deliriously large, expansive or optimistic for Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). That “J” on his business card? It’s simply a stand-in for Jupiter. Baz Luhrmann’s 3-D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel focuses on a […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Iron Man 3’ (2013)
May 3, 2013 by
Films about futuristic weaponry typically fall neatly under the archetypes of Mars and Uranus: Mars for the fighting, metal and militarism. And Uranus for the visionary punch, including robotic machinations, of what’s to come. Most blow-’em-ups manage to cover the larger-than-life gadgetry and the 100-years-from-now angles. But true “Aquarian Age” movies that deliver the entire […]
Astrology: Film: ‘The Iceman’ (2013)
May 3, 2013 by
Early in The Iceman, crime boss Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta) calls contract killer Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon) “cold as ice.” No one would argue that Kuklinski’s murderous proclivities emanate from the archetypal nether regions of Pluto, locked in the depths of the coldest element, earth. But what truly mesmerizes in director Ariel Vromen’s The Iceman […]
Astrology: Television: ‘The Americans’ Season 1 Finale: Home Sweet Home
May 2, 2013 by
That old chestnut “Fly Me to the Moon” could easily have been the Moon-suffused melody of Season 1’s “The Americans.” In its finale, the Moon’s multi-layered definition of what and where the home is – across the sea, in the heart or both – came to a heady and bloody conclusion. Set during the 1980s, […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Love Is All You Need’ (2013)
April 29, 2013 by
You won’t look at lemons the same way after seeing Love Is All You Need, the new romantic comedy from Danish director Susanne Bier. The yellow citrus, after its initial mouth-puckering sourness, transitions into a satisfying sweetness, the transformation audiences will wish for the movie’s heroine Ida (Trine Dyrholm). Ida, a hairdresser who’s just completed […]
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