Movies, Documentary
Imagine one day you run into someone who looks just like you, whose voice sounds like yours, and whose behavior seems to be a carbon copy of you. If you live in the greater New York area and are between 60 and 70, this is a real possibility, as we learn in the intriguing documentary Three identical strangers. Around 1960, an experiment was made to separate twins given up for adoption. The experimenters did not tell the adopting parents or the children about the existence of the other twins.Three Identical Strangers
Movies, Drama
I loved Slumdog Millionaire and Liondepiction of India. I was particularly moved by the scenes when Lion was lost in India. When novels work well, they depict real social problems and injustices and mobilize us to action. After seeing White Tiger I felt paralyzed rather than mobilized. Charles Dickens’ novels created in the hearts of many people the desire to change the awful working conditions in 19th century Britain. I was disgusted by the murder that the protagonist committed, making me more outraged about the poor storytelling than about social conditions in India. This was not how the writer and filmmaker intended it. I felt that they exaggerated so strongly and came across as so assured that their viewpoint is the correct one that I was turned off. I also did not learn anything new about India or became more sympathetic to the challenges for this gigantic country. Two thumbs down. White Tiger
Movies, Drama
In die middle of February, Donald Trump made fun of this year’s best picture. I watched Trump’s campaign lines. He could not believe that a South Korean film would win an American based movie award. He called for “great American movies” like Gone with the wind to win Oscars. So I wanted to see the South Korean film and see why and how it convinced the majority of the voters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to do something that it has never done before: To give the best movie award to a foreign film.Parasite
Movies, Drama, Music, The Rest
The premature death of Chadwick Boseman due to colon cancer led to an international outpouring of grief. I had never seen a film with Boseman but I remembered how sad I was when Heath Ledger died much too young. People who knew Boseman gave eulogies that I would have given about Ledger, whose talent I admired deeply. So I wanted to see a film with Boseman. I chose the film about the musician James Brown.Get on Up
Diary, Must Know, Movies, Drama
When I think about the Joker I always see the painted face of Heath Ledger who gave an amazing performance in the Batman movie Dark Knight that unfortunately became his last chance to act.
I decided to watch the film with the Joker now simply called Joker because Joaquin Phoenix won the Oscar for his performance. Make no mistake, his acting is an amazing feat. His portrayal of a mentally deranged person scarily convincing. But my heart was tied to Heath Ledger and I always thought about him while seeing the painted face of the new joker. There is a sense of violence at the center of the film that left me deeply unsettled, especially now that in many parts of the Western world right-wing nationalists seem to be ready to embrace violence to attack democratic institutions.Joker