There’s something extraordinarily self-contained about the non-descript, scrawny-pined beach and parking lot in Alain Guiraudie’s Stranger by the Lake. The area’s caché – it’s an enclave for gay-cruising – is revealed quickly. However, this French lakeside enclosure also evokes a mythical subterranean realm with a strong Hades-Plutonic overtone. Men of all ages, shapes and sophistication […]
Astrology: Fashion: The High-Waisted Trousers in ‘Her’
January 4, 2014 by
Nothing says from-another-generation faster than trousers that climb to the height of one’s armpits. Although they don’t quite reach the torso, the trousers worn by Joaquin Phoenix’s character Theodore Twombly in Her do reveal a lot about him. Like those overly-protective Saturnine pans of his, Theodore is rather self-contained, covering up his feelings even when […]
Astrology: Film: Review: ‘Her’ (2013)
December 27, 2013 by
As mobile technological devices and their owners increasingly spend every waking minute together, they both eventually seem to exude a certain mated-for-life aura. So, exactly how far-fetched is the likelihood of genuinely falling in love with one’s companion-gadget? In the not so distant future of Spike Jonze’s Her, set in Los Angeles, the possibility is […]
Astrology: Film: Review: ‘August: Osage County’ (2013)
December 26, 2013 by
At the heart of August: Osage County, directed by John Wells, is an ugly metaphor for what ails the Weston family. We learn soon enough that Violet (Meryl Streep), the clan’s matriarch and Lunar symbol, is terminally ill with cancer of the mouth, the body part which takes in food and nourishment. In this case, […]
Astrology: Film: Review: ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ (2013)
December 26, 2013 by
For many people, daydreams are the most grandiose source of faux reality they’ll ever experience. In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring and directed by Ben Stiller, Walter has garnered considerable expertise in the art of Neptunian, zoned-out escapism which allows him to live an imagined life of derring-do in a universe of his […]
Astrology: Film: Review: ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013)
December 26, 2013 by
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: Review: ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ (2013)
December 20, 2013 by
The title Saving Mr. Banks tells us this man will be saved. The person in charge of delivering the fellow from harm is another matter entirely. Learning the identity of that individual is at the weepy core of John Lee Hancock’s movie. Mention the word “save” and, archetypally, Neptune leaps to the fore. Neptunian energy, […]
Astrology: Film: Review: ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ (2013)
December 11, 2013 by
As the Smaug of the title indicates, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug promises a confrontation with dragon flesh. The creature is worth the wait: it’s a massive, meaty and terrifying specimen (threateningly yet seductively voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) that slithers across the screen like a speeding freight train. Smaug lives within the earth in […]
Astrology: Film: Review: ‘American Hustle’ (2013)
December 10, 2013 by
David O. Russell’s American Hustle is a massive con-artist romp whose every moment bursts with its characters’ desperation, greed and lies. A period piece set in New York and New Jersey during the late 1970s, the movie is loosely based on the Abscam scandal, tied to the FBI’s attempt to take down corrupt government officials […]
Astrology: Film: Review: ‘Out of the Furnace’ (2013)
December 3, 2013 by
The testosterone-suffused Out of the Furnace, written and co-directed by Scott Cooper, is a grim take on archetypal Mars gone berserk. The red planet, which oversees the business of how one goes about getting what one wants, bleeds its crimson in every frame, symbolically if not literally. In the Rust Belt, specifically Braddock, Pennsylvania, where […]
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