Peter Murmann

I had seen parts of this epic film starring Brad Pitt before, but I had forgotten most of it. I’ve always been fascinated by the Dalai Lama and have long dreamed of traveling to Tibet, which is what drew me to the movie. The plot is compelling. A group of Austrian mountaineers, including Heinrich Harrer [Read More]

If you are hoping to learn a lot about Leonard Bernstein’s artistry, Maestro will disappoint you. There are two moments where one gets a sense of Bernstein’s creative power. Otherwise, the film is dedicated to chronicling his complicated love life. Bernstein is homosexual but marries and has children. Bradley Cooper (director and actor of [Read More]

I love films about music legends such as Marley, Walk the Line, and Ray because the soundtrack is guaranteed to be excellent. So I could not wait to see Elvis. It starts out strong but pretty soon it fails to create the magic of great movies that pull you in and make you believe what [Read More]

I saw the original top gun movie and was not very impressed. It lacked depth and tried to make it up with too many acrobatic jet fighter stunts. Not surprisingly, I had no plans to see the sequel. But Top Gun Maverick received raving reviews. Every review I read claimed that the sequel was [Read More]

Coda is the remake of a French movie. The American version is taking place in a small fishing town in New England. At the center of the film is a high school senior whose parents and older brother are deaf. She has been the translator for her family with the outside “hearing” world for her [Read More]

Sometimes in the 1990s I had vowed never to see another James Bond movie. In my early teens, I watched a James Bond movie every weekend. I described c my teenage love affair with James Bond that came to an end like many teenage love affairs do here: Me and Mr. Bond. But when Daniel [Read More]

I loved Slumdog Millionaire and [/i]Lion[/i]depiction of India. I was particularly moved by the scenes when Lion was lost in India. When novels work well, they depict real social problems and injustices and mobilize us to action. After seeing White Tiger I felt paralyzed rather than mobilized. Charles Dickens’ novels created in the hearts [Read More]

In die middle of February, Donald Trump made fun of this year’s best picture. I watched Trump’s campaign lines. He could not believe that a South Korean film would win an American based movie award. He called for “great American movies” like Gone with the wind to win Oscars. So I wanted to see the [Read More]