Milestone for the Apollo – 75 Years

Everyone played the Apollo. I remember leaving school early on Wednesdays and standing on line to get in to see James Brown, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry or the Moonglows. In those days you could sit through and catch a second show which we did often. A lot of our neighborhood friends performed at the Apollo....

DVD Corner: “The Insider”

I sometimes forget how good some actors are until I see them again in a well done film. Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, and Christopher Plummer are excellent in – “The Insider”, 1999. (Not to be confused with Spike Lee’s “The Inside Man”, which I also enjoyed) Based on a 1996 Vanity Fair magazine...

La Battaglia di Algeri

Could it be because this movie is French that it is ignored by politicians? Or at least very few seem to mention it.  That is about as far as I am willing to go in a political debate. “The Battle of Algiers” is a powerful film, made not long after independence was achieved. It’s grainy...

It’s not Sentimental–Slumdog Wins

Sometimes people want to see a film that is entertaining, joyous and uplifting. My regrets to the New York Times and The New Yorker. “Slumdog Millionaire” and its director, Danny Boyle, with their modern-day fairy tale about hope and hard times in the slums of Mumbai, pushed aside big-studio contenders...

Guggenheim Museum – Current Exhibits

Since it is featured in an exciting shoot ’em up/shoot out scene in the new Clive Owen film, “The International”, it might be good to just remember what the fabulous Guggenheim is really up to: “Thannhauser Collection” * The vast art collection of Justin Thannhauser, son of an art dealer, was...