Category Archives: Movies

Three times three can equal love

Three love stories.  Three very different kinds of love.  Each leaving an irreplaceable mark on this viewer.

I thoroughly enjoyed recently the complex relationship between the incomparable, and gone-far-too-soon Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in The Master. Traces of the story of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, were certainly evident; those references, though, weren’t the narrative, and they never overshadowed the focal point: the mystery of how and why we form relationships with the people we do.

The equally complex relationship between Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan in the deceptively simple though highly-charged love story, Fifty Shades of Grey, and the nuances that drive us into and out of another’s arms, continue to unfold long after the final credits roll.

Rounding out this engaging threesome, the endearing, quirky Israeli film, The Farewell Party, explores the indelible bonds that are created between two people who spend a lifetime together. Touching eloquently on the subject of dying with dignity, the film gently illustrates that no matter how close we are to another human, in the end, our most important love relationships are with ourselves, and with our Higher Power, however we might define that creator of all things.

“Fading Gigolo,” Fading Gracefully

Expectations

I admit, I went into this John Turturro-Woody Allen movie with a high level of anticipation based solely on the fact that Woody Allen was going to be playing a leading role.   For answers as to why this fact was central to my level of expectation, take a look at “A Woody Allen Kind of NYC.”

Expectations Met . . .

Yes, to the extent that Woody Allen was tortured with anxiety, that his face and hand movements singularly broadcast his unique discomfort, and that he invited us, the audience, to agonize with him the way only he can do, Fading Gigolo was all that I hoped it would be.

And to the extent that it not only captured scenes of my beloved Manhattan and Brooklyn, but actually placed the film’s events in believable context within those familiar spots–and didn’t just gratuitously throw the neighborhoods into the mix–it exceeded my expectations.

. . . and Unmet

And yet.  And yet, I found it as implausible that John Turturro would acquiesce to Woody Allen’s scheme, and sell himself for sex, as the idea that Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara would pay significant sums (or any sums, for that matter) for such sex.

Even more, the theme emanating from timidly beautiful Vanessa Paradis’ widowed Orthodox Jewish mother-of-many, while laying the groundwork for a movie all its own, never was able, for me, to weave itself into the central theme of John Turturro’s turn as a gigolo.

And so . . .

In the end, I left the theatre feeling as if I had received exactly what I had bargained for:  a sentimental visit to my New York story, and a nod to the man who continues to tell it–whether as actor or as director–like no one else can.

Of lunchboxes and possiblities

The Lunchbox, the movie

A few weeks ago, I not so much saw the new movie from writer and director, Ritesh Batra, The Lunchbox, as I did inhale it. It was that good.  That sumptuous.

Savoring the aroma

Amid the glorious colors and the cacopohony of steel against steel in the trainyards of Mumbai, one of the most gratifying aspects of the movie was to watch an Indian office worker, whom one might imagine would be jaded by the temptations of Indian cooking, take in the aroma of ageless spices, and close his eyes as he savored each pungent taste.

That is what I do, a world and a culture away.  I close my eyes, inhale the pungent, exotic aroma, and savor each bite of Indian food.

Take me away

Food thoughtfully-cooked, in general, transports me.  It takes me to another place–both gastronomically and geographically speaking.  For that brief instant, I am in Mumbai. I am in Cairo. I am wherever the taste I am tasting was first tasted.

A new day of new possibilities

Today, as the fiery snap of coriander punctures my taste buds and the subtle scents of curry waft through my nose, I am embodying those who’ve tasted the same taste as I am, millions of times before me. And, for that brief moment in time, I am again transported to a world of possibilities. A world of endless lunchboxes and endless possibilities.