16 July 2021. By Neptune THE MAURITANIAN (Désigné Coupable)  *** There have been too many lost lives hanging in limbo in the shameful, secretive prison of Guantanamo. It is a modern day stain on anything considered human. Yet it is legitimate in the eyes of a great power. And continuing. This film by director Kevin […]

9 July 2021. By Neptune THE CLOCK As I have been away in sunny, summery Italy, I have missed quite a few press previews, so I cannot judge this week’s releases of SEIZE PRINTEMPS, BLACK WIDOW, and the musical ANNETTE, with Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver, which opened up this year’s ambitious Cannes film fest. […]

2 July 2021. By Neptune THE UNITED STATES vs BILLIE HOLIDAY  ***  Billie Holiday, the jazz legend who struggled through an abusive childhood which led to drug and alcohol addiction that ended her turbulent life at age 44. “Strange Fruit”, the achingly painful song about the lynching of blacks in the American South that she […]

25 June 2021. By Neptune IN THE HEIGHTS (D’OÙ L’ON VIENT) ***1/2 Do you want to see a rollicking musical with lots of Latino Salsa thrown in? And all about the aspirations of good people ‘coming to Amerika’ for a better life? This is the film for you, based on the second musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, […]

18 June 2021. By Neptune PETER RABBIT 2 – The Runaway  ** Doesn’t everyone love Peter Rabbit? We certainly did when the first one in this franchise was released in the spring of 2018, in those carefree pre-Covid years. I gave it ***1/2 then, and wrote this in the intro: “All is right with the […]

4 June 2021. By Neptune LOS LOBOS **** (Spanish/English) There are films that are so simple and human that they ignite an immediate connection in us. This tale of a Mexican mother and her two little boys who have come to America to find a better life takes us right into the squalid world of […]

28 May 2021. By Neptune THE FATHER  **** In this exceptional film, Anthony Hopkins embodies a seemingly fit father who is gradually falling towards dementia. He lives alone in a tastefully decorated London apartment which has been his home for years. He feels completely capable and does not want any nurse to live with him.  […]

14 May 2021. By Neptune This week we have 3 troubling films that are nevertheless worthy of your time, and good for a discussion of their whys and wherefores… Is this a sign of our era – dark and polemic?  Oh, for those lively, wonderful Italian Comedies of old, that are still continuing at the […]

7 May 2021. By Neptune I tell you, the films are coming at us like a backlog avalanche! Such a pleasure to be seated in the dark again in a real movie theater, in front of a BIG screen. And our art house cinemas – the Scalas, the Nord-Sud, the Bio, the Cinelux – have […]