Ed Koch

This brilliant documentary seeks to establish the hero status of Rudolf Kasztner. Kasztner successfully bargained with Adolf Eichmann to save the lives of approximately 1,600 Jews, who were transported out of Hungary to Switzerland, and an additional 19,000 Jews who were sent to work camps instead of death camps. Shortly before the end of World War II, Eichmann masterminded the killing of near 600,000 Hungarian Jews.Kasztner ends up in living in Palestine under… More »

The minus I give this children's story pains me. As I have written many times, I don't enjoy movies that can in any way be described as a cartoon/fable, which surely this film is. So I went to this movie somewhat prejudiced against it. The picture is based on a book by Maurice Sendak whom I know and admire. I once asked him to illustrate a children's book that I was writing with my sister about my brother who was a great athlete, unlike myself as I was terrible at… More »

Maybe I missed the point of this alleged parody or perhaps there is no point to it. I thought the film was simply drivel, and I found it hard to stay awake as it rolled on. Why did I choose to see it? None of the newly-released movies appealed to me. I decided to see this picture, which has been out for several weeks, after reading a description of it in the Daily News. The reviewer, who gave it 3 ½ stars, wrote: "Ricky Gervais co-wrote, co-directed and stars in… More »

On a Sunday afternoon attending a 2:30 p.m. screening at the Regal Cinemas Union Square Stadium at 13th Street and Broadway, I found a near packed house that was sold out when the lights went down. The reviews of the film were excellent, but for a sold-out performance on a Sunday afternoon, the public drums voicing the movie's praises had to be working overtime. They were right to do so. This is a lovely, delicious film with fine acting and a unique… More »

I was drawn to this movie primarily by the presence of the lead actor, Michael Sheen, who did such a wonderful job portraying Tony Blair in "The Queen,' and David Frost in "Frost/Nixon." The trailers of the film also looked interesting, so I decided it was worth seeing. When I saw the picture on opening night at the Regal Cinemas Union Square Stadium, only 20 or so other people were in the audience. I knew I had made a mistake.The script is based on a novel by… More »

While not rising to the status of first rate, this film, "Boys Are Back," is interesting and worth seeing. Sportswriter Joe Warr (Clive Owen) lives in Australia with his second wife, Katy (Laura Fraser), and their young son, Artie (Nicholas McAnulty), who is approximately eight years old. In the beginning of the film, Katy dies of cancer, and Joe and Artie are emotionally destroyed. Joe, who is a loving dad, proceeds to allow Artie to do whatever he wants. … More »

This unusual film, "A Serious Man," written, produced and directed by the Coen brothers, received mixed reviews from other critics. It opens with a long scene involving a husband, his wife, and a possible Dybbuk a century ago in Poland. A Dybbuk is a feared living spirit inhabiting the body of a dead person usually associated with evil. The characters speak Yiddish, most of which I understood, but the subtitles helped with the translation. The Dybbuk is played… More »

The film is about the two Chanel sisters - Gabrielle (Audrey Tautou) and Adrienne (Marie Gillain) who at a young age were placed in an orphanage by their father. As young women, they both became courtesans and Cabaret entertainers. One wicked song they perform about a dog resulted in Gabrielle receiving the dog's name, Coco, as her own. As courtesans, the young woman attract the attention of lovers. Adrienne meets a baron and Gabrielle a French nobleman,… More »

The film, written and directed by Cedric Klapisch, received excellent reviews. Stephen Holden concluded his analysis in The New York Times review by writing: "There are enough intersecting characters from different classes and backgrounds in Paris to evoke the city as a complex, healthy organism, whose parts are all connected. If it is too lighthearted to show the actual political and economic machinery behind it, its celebration of how well that machinery works… More »

Although not a blockbuster, "The Informant" is an interesting, diverting film. According to a crawl before the picture begins, the movie is based on a true story involving the Archer Daniels Midland Company which was indicted for price fixing activities around the world. The corporation was involved in the sale of corn and other crops. The U.S government was alerted to the company's criminal activities by an ADM employee, Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon). We learn that… More »

Summer is the name of the young woman (Zooey Deschanel) with whom Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) falls in love. The film depicts their 500-day romance. In his New York Times review, A.O. Scott wrote that the movie "finds just the right scale and tone, neither trivializing nor melodramatically overstating the delicate feelings it explores." Daily News gave the film four stars which, in my opinion, is two stars too many. It is a boring picture. The principals perform… More »

This terrorist gang, which operated in Germany in the 1970s, was very effective. It specialized in bank robberies and murder, and its successes terrified the German population and nearly brought that country, then under Chancellor Willy Brandt leading the Socialist Party, to a collapse.The gang killed their opponents, who were leading members of the government, by riding by on motorbikes and gunning them down in their cars. The leaders of the gang were two… More »

There is such a dearth of good, interesting films that I find myself grabbing on to the slightest offering. This film met my time requirement on a Friday night following my live Bloomberg radio program from 6:00-7:00 p.m., 1130 AM on the dial. Further, it was playing at one of my favorite theaters, the Quad Cinema, located in the Village a few blocks from my home. The long and short of it is that that this road-trip film is not terrible, but it is certainly… More »

My recollection of Labor Day weekends in the past is that they brought us several blockbuster films. This holiday weekend there were none. I chose this movie because it seemed the least dreary of the lot, and I thought it might have possibilities. What a mistake. "Extract" is awful. Intended as a light, soft-porno-motivated film, it turned out to be crude and with little humor. Joel (Jason Bateman), who owns a bottling plant, is denied his marital expectations by… More »

I'm a Woody Allen groupie, and even his failures amuse me. This film didn't totally work for me, but it is interesting and often funny. Boris (Larry David) is an idiosyncratic, know-it-all, genius physicist, who meets and later marries a homeless woman, Melody (Evan Rachel Wood), who is young and beautiful. Her mother, Marietta (Patricia Clarkson), shows up unexpectedly and ends up in a ménage a trios. Melody's Mississippi near-hillbilly father, John (Ed… More »

I tried getting tickets for Inglourious Basterds on a Friday night after my Bloomberg Radio Show, which airs from 6:00-7:00 pm, 1130 on the AM dial. The show had sold out by noon that day so I had to wait a few more days to see it. After reading a blurb in the New York Post on Lorna's Silence, I decided to see it. The reviewer, who gave it four stars, wrote: "From Belgium's revered Dardenne brothers, the story of a young woman who becomes involved in an… More »

I thought Inglourious Basterds was based on some historical facts. It is not. It's a spoof. If you view it as such and don't get super-sensitive thinking one should be extremely careful when engaging in a spoof that involves elements of the Holocaust, you will enjoy this film. Interestingly, Brad Pitt's performance does little to heighten the enjoyment. He portrays Lt. Aldo Raine, a Tennessee hillbilly in charge of eight Jews. The performance of Christoph Waltz,… More »

This alleged satire, which received four-star treatment from other critics, left me with a ho-hum and sorry feeling that I had wasted an evening seeing it. The humor is predicated on American and British diplomats seeking to embarrass one another. The Americans seek to plan a war against a Middle Eastern country, while the British want to stop them. More »

The former New York mayor recommends Julie & Julia--even if one scene may make you want to avert your eyes. More »

The Hurt Locker is without a doubt one of the best war pictures I have ever seen, and I have seen most of them. The film follows three American soldiers in Iraq who are responsible for defusing bombs. They often drive along dangerous roads in which bombs, intended to maim and kill American solders, have been planted by Iraqi terrorists. Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner) is assigned to the unit after his predecessor was killed disarming a bomb. … More »