Can a movie about national and international typing competitions be a sly nod to Uranian equality in the workplace and female egalitarianism and independence? Mai oui! That’s the message of Populaire, a frothy and visually delicious French delight, directed by Régis Roinsard. Set in 1958, in a small French village, Rose Pamphyle (Déborah François) is […]
Astrology: Television: ‘Breaking Bad’: ‘Rabid Dog’ Adds Gasoline, Videos and Saxitoxin to Neptuneville
September 2, 2013 by
Neptune, slippery mythological god of the sea, illusion, chemistry and all things fluid, assertively controlled “Rabid Dog,” the mid-point final-season episode of “Breaking Bad.” Even the carpet was audibly squishy, a nod to the god’s – Poseidon to the Greeks – underwater kingdom. As we saw from last week’s cliffhanger, Jesse had dowsed the living […]
Television: ‘Breaking Bad’: ‘Confessions’ Marks Jesse as Scapegoat
August 26, 2013 by
In biblical times, being sorry for your sins wasn’t enough. A more conclusive way of making that point was metaphorically loading up the head of a goat – the scapegoat or patsy – with the entire village’s package of wrongdoings and sending the creature out to Belize – uh, the desert – never to be […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Closed Circuit’ (2013)
August 26, 2013 by
When catastrophe strikes, how deeply are those in charge willing to dig for the truth? That’s the issue explored in Closed Circuit, directed by John Crowley, which starts off by plunging the viewer into a large-scale, 9-11-type terrorist attack in London. The apparent culprit – Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto) – is apprehended quickly enough. To […]
Astrology: Fashion: Diane Kruger’s Jacket in ‘The Bridge’
August 23, 2013 by
In “The Bridge,” the gritty new television drama, Diane Kruger plays Sonya Cross, a detective in the El Paso police department who works closely with a Mexican law enforcement agent (Demian Bichir). Sonya is an effective professional whose conversations and comments are characterized by an astonishing directness and inquisitiveness. The cause is her Asperger’s, a […]
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: ‘The World’s End’ (2013)
August 22, 2013 by
There’s merit to finishing incomplete projects. Even when, as is the case in Edgar Wright’s The World’s End, the mission needing resolution is two decades’ old. The action centers around five adult Brit males who, when they completed studies in 1990, went on their Golden Mile pub crawl that would culminate at The World’s End, […]
Television: ‘Breaking Bad’: ‘Buried’ Too Deep to Resurrect
August 21, 2013 by
There’s a reason they call it “filthy lucre,” and in “Buried,” the most recently aired episode of “Breaking Bad,” the term is an especially apt archetypal gut punch. Derived from the Latin word lucrum, which means monetary or other wealth-related gain, “lucre” is a stand-in term for money, as is the Biblical expression “filthy lucre.” […]
Astrology: Film: ‘Drinking Buddies’ (2013)
August 20, 2013 by
Beer is not the only thing brewing in Drinking Buddies, a romcom with a serious edge written and directed by Joe Swanberg. With a Chicago craft brewery as its setting, the movie explores the notion that a taste for mates may not be so changeable as one’s palate for artisanal hops. High-spirited and quippy Kate […]
Astrology: Film: ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’ (2013)
August 20, 2013 by
In The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, New York City has been given an in-depth makeover that’s literally as deep as hell. Based on the first novel in the series by Cassandra Clare, the movie, set in modern times and directed by Harald Zwart, takes us to a Hogwarts-like realm smack in the middle of […]
Latest Tweets