Based on the true story of crooked broker Jordan Belfort, Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street is a three-hour evocation of the revelry-filled Roman festival known as the Saturnalia. At some point during that ancient manic carnival, the head reveler was put to death. This mythology-as-art winds up imitating life as Belfort’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Pieces of April’ (2003)
November 28, 2013 by
Love Actually may rule the Christmas season but the cinematic queen of Thanksgiving is arguably Pieces of April, written and directed by Peter Hedges and released in 2003, a year after his About a Boy. Pieces of April, though, is about a girl. She’s April Burns (Katie Holmes), her family’s designated eldest-child screw-up – drugs, […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Mother of George’ (2013)
September 9, 2013 by
When cultural values and expectations are slavishly upheld but not adhered to, there’s a good chance, out of desperation, that deceit will worm its way into the proceedings. That’s the situation Adenike (Danai Gurira) must maneuver in Mother of George, directed by Andrew Dosunmu. Adenike, a Yoruban immigrant, has married Ayodele (Isaach De Bankolé), the […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Adore’ (2013)
September 3, 2013 by
As soon as heterosexual boys hit a certain age, erotically feminine and Venusian attributes so highly prized in girlfriends become horrifically taboo when displayed and confidently owned by their own mothers. Of course, these restriction don’t necessarily apply to other fellows’ mothers. Or, as depicted in Adore, your best friend’s mother. Adore, a sophisticated piece […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Short Term 12’ (2013)
August 23, 2013 by
When biological parents fail to nurture their teenaged offspring, unexpected hope can come in the form of young, caring adults not much older than the troubled and love-deprived victims. This reality is at the heart of Short Term 12, written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, which took the Grand Jury Award at this year’s […]
Astrology: Film: ‘We’re the Millers’ (2013)
August 6, 2013 by
What constitutes a family – nature vs. nurture – is the question at the heart of We’re the Millers, a road movie whose four-member clan is brought together as a family (Moon) by ulterior motives and Neptunian deceit. In the movie, directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, the guy who’ll become the ring-leader patriarch is Dave […]
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