ArtySri

PLEASE ADJUST

Effective persuasion is passive-aggressive.   “Please adjust” is India’s infallible persuasion mantra. In a country of over a billion people, scarcity is a way of life, and you must give and take to keep things on an even keel. Please adjust is a polite request to someone to make some space; wait a little longer or […]

PLEASE ADJUST Read More »

KISS AND TELL

Please kiss but don’t tell. Mary Oliver’s blisteringly beautiful poem, “Someone I know,” ticked me off. Please read the poem before I explain why.     I know someone who kisses the way a flower opens but more rapidly. Flowers are sweet. They have short, beatific lives. They offer much pleasure. There is nothing in the world

KISS AND TELL Read More »

EMILY (2023)

One-line review: Wuthering Heights emerged from Emily Brontë’s lows. How did the three corseted Brontë sisters, mostly homeschooled and isolated, each write a masterpiece? It cannot just be genes because their brother Branwell didn’t make it despite being ambitious and having all the opportunities. The movie is a mostly fictional account of how and why

EMILY (2023) Read More »

BANANAS (1971)

One-line review: Woody Allen’s bloodless coup with laughter. When I rewatched Bananas, I was surprised at how good Woody Allen is with physical comedy, an underutilized part of his acting prowess. Bananas is one of those rare films (Sleeper is another) where we see Allen at his peak with verbal and physical comedy. It may

BANANAS (1971) Read More »

BROKER (2022)

One-line review: An abandoned baby rescues many adults. The film has you at hello; I am referring to Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-ada’s charming greeting before the movie begins thanking the audience and the actors. Broker is his first South Korean movie (he also wrote it). After his acclaimed “Shoplifters,” Kore-ada revisits the theme of families

BROKER (2022) Read More »

UNDERCUTTING THOUGHTFULNESS

Stop thoughtlessly undercutting thoughtfulness. At a recent Thanksgiving, my thoughtful friend, who always hosts dinner, outdid herself. There were almost twenty-five guests, including several kids. Not only did she organize games for the kids, but she also gifted them personalized mugs with their names stenciled on them. Then, to ensure they could use their mugs

UNDERCUTTING THOUGHTFULNESS Read More »

THE FABELMANS (2022)

One-line review: Your heart is the only compass you need to navigate through life.  The audience broke into spontaneous applause both times I watched The Fabelmans. And they couldn’t have been more different each time; senior citizens the first time and young New Yorkers the second time. That’s the beauty of Steven Speilberg’s autobiographical film,

THE FABELMANS (2022) Read More »