Based on true events, Craig Zobel’s “Compliance” is a chilling exploration of fear, subservience to authority in the workplace and violations of personal boundary issues – three Saturnine themes that Zobel takes to a devastating conclusion. The setting is a Chickwich fast-food establishment that’s managed by Sandra (Ann Dowd). Sandra, a conscientious middle-aged supervisor, is […]
Film: ‘The Odd Life of Timothy Green’ (2012)
August 14, 2012 by
“The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” written and directed and written by Peter Hedges, gives new meaning to the expression “fresh produce direct from the garden.” Jim and Cindy Green (Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Garner) have just learned they cannot have biological children. Overwhelmed by grief, they write a wish list of the child they […]
Film: ‘The Campaign’ (2012)
August 10, 2012 by
In the political comedy “The Campaign,” the end justifies the means. This is what happens when Saturn – the planet that typically loves to play ethically and by the rules – gets turned on its head. The bad guys in this movie, directed by Jay Roach, are the Motch brothers (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow). […]
Film: ‘Hope Springs’ (2012)
August 9, 2012 by
You know that the 31-year-old marriage of Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) in “Hope Springs” has truly ossified when couples therapist Dr. Feld (Steve Carell) tells them you first need to break the nose to fix a deviated septum. Saturn rules the bones and is all about protective armor – the hardness […]
Film: ‘Searching for Sugar Man’ (2012)
July 26, 2012 by
Pluto uncovers what’s hidden. In the case of Detroit singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez, the subject of the documentary “Searching for Sugar Man,” Pluto took his time. Directed by Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul, the Sundance award-winning movie is genuinely stranger than fiction. In 1970 the artist – known simply as Rodriguez – was expected to be a […]
Movie: ‘Killer Joe’ (2012)
July 25, 2012 by
As a cop, a profession that exudes Mars-infused energy, Killer Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) uses firepower to protect the community in his redneck Texan town. As a part-time hit man – a Mars-Pluto combo – Killer Joe turns families’ murderous fantasies into reality. The Smiths are one of those twisted clans. Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch), […]
Movie: ‘The Imposter’ (2012)
July 15, 2012 by
“The Imposter,” a new true-crime documentary directed by Bart Layton about a missing and then seemingly found child, is a bulging sandwich containing layer-upon-layer of deceits. The movie is set in Texas where blond 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay disappeared in 1994, and in Spain where imposter Frédéric Bourdin turns up three years later claiming to be […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ (2012)
July 5, 2012 by
The Moon controls the tides, and the threat of water rising always looms large in The Bathtub, the name that locals who populate Benh Zeitlin’s “Beasts of the Southern Wild” affectionately call home. Six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) and Wink, her single-parent father (Dwight Henry), live in this impoverished watery community in the far reaches […]
Film: ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’: The House of Women
June 27, 2012 by
Lovingly placed within Moon-themed “Beasts of the Southern Wild” is a bit of Venus-infused magic that occurs in an unexpected setting. Rambunctious Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) is being raised by her seriously ill and often erratically tempered father Wink (Dwight Henry) in a marginalized unprotected area of southern Louisiana called The Bathtub. She often calms herself […]
Film: ‘Magic Mike’ (2012)
June 27, 2012 by
Whenever Pluto insinuates itself, something hidden typically goes on full display. Think about stripping bare. That’s the scenario in “Magic Mike,” directed by Steven Soderbergh, where more than male flesh will reveal itself. Magic Mike (Channing Tatum) is the headline act in a male dance revue that’s an ersatz choreographed depiction of raw Plutonian passion. […]
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