Film: ‘Hyde Park on Hudson’ (2012)

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the U.S., would have liked nothing better than to spend all his time at the family home at Hyde Park on Hudson which belonged to his mother, an archetypal lunar figure whose main reason for existence is to nurture. Not...
Film: ‘Killing Them Softly’ (2012)

Film: ‘Killing Them Softly’ (2012)

Any thriving business arguably owes a good part of its success to Saturnine measures: firm management and a strict protocol of following rules and weeding out trouble makers. Why should neighborhood mob activities be any different? In “Killing Them Softly,” Andrew...
Film: ‘Rust and Bone’ (2012)

Film: ‘Rust and Bone’ (2012)

The saying goes that we choose relationship partners who balance our weaknesses. In “Rust and Bone,” director Jacques Audiard creates a classic pairing of two people whose physical and psychological gaps need deep healing. Stéphanie (Marion Cotillard), a trainer of...
Film: ‘Life of Pi’ (2012)

Film: ‘Life of Pi’ (2012)

Seductive, elusive and vividly imaginative Neptune, with its proclivity towards unconscious exploration, blankets Ang Lee’s 3-D “Life of Pi” like a shimmering veil. The movie is as much a tribute to the watery planet as it is a revelation of Lee’s own fascination with...
Film: ‘Hitchcock’ (2012)

Film: ‘Hitchcock’ (2012)

In “Hitchcock,” which recounts the legendary director’s fascination with the subject matter that would become his movie “Psycho,” the adage “Behind every great man there’s a great woman” comes at you like that knife in the iconic shower scene. Alfred Hitchcock,...