Movie Reviews

Books to lead young minds astray! “Reading Lolita in Tehran” – July 1 at the Gardena Cinema by Bondo Wyszpolski It’s an evocative title, isn’t it? A couple of days ago Randy Berler’s South Bay Film Society enjoyed watching this film, directed by Eran Riklis, and based on the memoir (published in 2003) by Azar […]

The prolific Danish writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen has directed six films and all six have starred Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas. Their latest collaboration, “The Last Viking,” is certainly one of their best.  Anker, a career criminal, has just hidden the loot from his latest heist in a locker. Knowing the police are on […]

Arriving on the scene unannounced in 1942, Albert Camus’ first novel, “L’etranger” (“The Stranger”) was the embodiment of existentialism, a philosophy first expressed by Kierkegaard then Nietzsche and fully embraced by French philosophers Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus. For most people, life has a preordained purpose, a thought process that is […]

“Fantasy Life,” written, directed and starring Matthew Shear, has moments where it shines. Shear’s own personal story, mirrored in the character of Sam, is muddled in the telling but helped by a very gifted cast.  “Fantasy Life” originally centers on the early life crisis of Sam, a lost soul who dropped out of law school […]

South Bay Film Society ventures across town Randy Berler presents “Colors of Time” at the Gardena Cinema by Bondo Wyszpolski The South Bay Film Society has been screening independent, alternative, and foreign films since 2012 at the AMC Rolling Hills 20 in Torrance, and tickets often sell out within hours of being offered online. Which […]

Sensitive souls, pain and gain “Hamnet: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack,” composed by Max Richter (Decca Records) by Bondo Wyszpolski We’re in the final hours before the winners of this year’s Academy Awards are announced, and among the Best Picture nominees is Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet.” I’ve seen the film and I’ve also been listening to the […]

“For Worse” is the utterly charming and very real story that Amy Landeker wrote and directed for herself to star in, and she’s given us a lusty meal to bite into and savor.  Lauren (Landeker) and her soon to be ex, Chase, sit and face their unctuous divorce mediator (played by a pathetically funny Simon […]

“ A Poet,” the subversively funny, sad and poignant film written and directed by Simón Mesa Soto, will gradually enmesh you until you feel a kinship with sad, lonely loser Oscar, a failed poet. Oscar gave up everything for his art—his job, his dignity and his daughter. It’s not so much that he gave anything […]

The logic of dreams Bi Gan’s “Resurrection” (film review) by Bondo Wyszpolski There are movies, which entertain, and then there are films which engage and challenge, and Bi Gan sits high on my list in the latter category. There aren’t many current or recent directors that I’m impassioned about (Wong Kar-Wai, Bela Tarr, Paolo Sorrentino, […]

Already showered with awards, “The Secret Agent,” written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, is Brazil’s submission for the upcoming Academy Awards in the category of International Feature. Those will not be its only nominations. Like so many movies this year, “The Secret Agent” has multiple parts, some meshing easily, others not so much. But […]

“Blue Eyed Girl” is a story that’s been told before but tell it well and it’s worthwhile to revisit. “Blue Eyed Girl” is told very well with a winning cast of characters, the very definition of an independent film.   Jane Messina is called home because her father, once again, has tried to take his life. […]