I’m on a roll with Henry James stories that have been made into films, but I’m beginning to think Mr. James is a vampire. He places his deep and penetrating insight into rooms high and low, then watches the pulsing carotid artery of his various prey beating. They are living human morsels and he is […]

I had never seen this film, but was reading Henry Miller story, upon which it is based and then stumbled upon the DVD. A cyclone of gossip erupted around Peter Bogdanovich, the Director and Cybill Shepherd, his lead: Daisy. Yet, she is perfect casting. The picture was snubbed at the time, just like Daisy Miller […]

There are two films that should be seen back to back as examples of the Wise Fool. One is THE NASTY GIRL, the other; EUROPA (ZENTROPA, English title).  Both take on collusion by the german people during and after World War II. Both are Miramax, Weinstein brothers films. THE NASTY GIRL is based on a true story. […]

A new kind of film, sleek, uber-modern, innocent, using an old form; Magical Realism. It delights you. It begins with our two characters going to a French hotel. He’s a business executive on the verge of changing his whole life, she’s a maid cleaning up his and everyone else’s mess. Both feel devalued in their […]

What is the purpose of testosterone? That courageous question is the dangerous epicenter of this dramatic film. Jackie, a grown man, who lost his ability to create this hormone as a boy, (in one of the most unbelievable scenes ever recorded on film) struggles his whole life to answer that question. His answer, when it […]

This film is a Chinese box. Reality inside fiction. Fiction inside fantasy. Fantasy inside wish. A story nested inside many others, all “In the House”. A boy writes for his frustrated teacher about his real life… supposedly. The teacher makes the boy a protege, but critiques his story, which is the boy’s real life… maybe. […]

We owe Daniel Auteuil a great debt for Adapting, Directing and Acting in this little gem of a film. The story is simple. Two kids come of age in a fishing village in France, they play at love and marriage, mistaking it for a game. Then the boy leaves to follow his dream of adventure […]