mysticalmum

AMERICAN FICTION – Entertaining film providing insight into Black culture and “woke” syndrome. Jeffrey Wright portrays Monk, a frustrated writer, and Sterling K. Brown portrays his gay brother, Cliff. Both men are wonderful. Wright delivers a poignant performance and Brown exudes rebellious charm as their bond is tested and remains strong in spite of themselves.Continue reading

THE DIPLOMAT – Smart, sassy and fun! Keri Russell (The Americans) shines along with the diverse cast in this new NetFlix series. A few recognizable faces, but mostly unknown actors, turn in great performances in this fast-paced satire of political and personal angst, and the intersection of the two, with much of the story rootedContinue reading

DREAM SCENARIO – Typical Nicholas Cage film….weird, boring and stupid. Skip it. Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0;

LIZZIE – Another version of the Lizzie Borden story, and not a very good one. I have seen many documentaries and films about Lizzie, and none have portrayed Lizzie as a lesbian who is in love with her maid, her maid being sexually abused by Lizzie’s father or the maid being complicit in the murder.Continue reading

FEUD: CAPOTE & THE SWANS – Mini series chronicling Truman Capote’s peak accomplishment as the central character in the lives of New York’s high society women (his swans) and his brutal downfall when he betrays their confidences and spills all their dirty secrets in a book. He is quickly and viciously ostracized. He spent theContinue reading

McCARTNEY321 – Die-hard Beatles fans like Mike and me will probably find this six-episode documentary fascinating. We did. Paul, accompanied by music producer Rick Rubin, delves into little known facts about how certain songs came into being. Along the way he shares interesting anecdotes from the time. As Rick plays specific tracks, Paul seems transportedContinue reading

THE THREE FACES OF EVE – Old Joanne Woodward film from 1957 depicting the true story of a woman suffering with multiple personality disorder due to a traumatic childhood incident. Woodward won the Oscar for her performance. Lee J. Cobb is also quite good as her psychiatrist. Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.

DEATH AND OTHER DETAILS – Fun murder mystery on board a yacht starring Mandy Patinkin and a host of ethnically diverse characters. The use of cinematography to insert flashback scenes into current scenes allowing the overlap to play simultaneously is my favorite bit. Clever and interesting. Pacing is great, too, as we endeavor to discoverContinue reading

THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR – is indeed wonderful! This short film written and directed by Wes Anderson, based on a Roald Dahl story and starring A-list actors is truly a work of art. Told in what I call video book, the actors are actually reading you the story while portraying the characters. TheContinue reading

PRISCILLA – Priscilla Presley’s memoir about her life with Elvis brought to the screen by Sophia Coppola. A sad tale of a naive young girl trapped in a dysfunctional relationship with the King of Rock ‘n Roll. It’s perplexing why her parents, stationed in Germany, would allow their underage daughter, who was still in highContinue reading