Menashe Provides A Thoughtful And Charming Character Study

The tale of the titular lead character of Menashe (played by Menashe Lustig) does not begin with a bang. We do not see the tragic circumstances that led to the death of Menashe's wife, rather, we pick up a short period of time after this event has occurred and follow Menashe as he attempts to pick up the pieces of his life and raise his son, Rieven (Ruben Niborski), as best he can. Menashe, raised as a Hasidic Jewish individual, finds the traditions of this religion bumping into his plans to raise his son, as elders in his community, as well as his son's uncle Eizik (Yoel Weisshaus), believe Rieven should be raised in a more traditional household with two parents instead of having just one guardian whose barely getting by as it is.

Norman: The Moderate Rise And Tragic Fall Of A New York Fixer Fixes Up Some Well-Written Money-Motivated Mayhem

The world of politics is tricky to navigate for sure. For instance, recent American political developments seem to pain a gloomy picture in terms of the kind of leaders many people in our country want, with racist sexual predator reality TV show hosts with no political experience winning the highest seat of power in the country over a woman with decades of political experience while a man who assaults reporters is able to win a seat in Congress. Yes, the world of politics is not for the faint of heart and it's one that Nathaniel Oppenheimer, the titular character of Norman: The Moderate Rise And Tragic Fall Of A New York Fixer, finds himself very much in the middle of.

Shoah Is A Devastating Look At Past Atrocities Through Riveting Present-Day Testimonies

Sight & Sound Voyage Entry #28
Placement On Sight & Sound Top 50 Movies List: #29 (tied with Stalker)

I've been pondering how exactly to start this review, since it's difficult to figure out an introduction that would be proper for a review of the 1985 documentary Shoah. Us critics tend to label a lot of movies as "important" to the point of the word losing its original intended meaning, but Shoah truly is a motion picture more than worthy of being dubbed as an important piece of art. Here is an entire movie dedicated to chronicling video interviews with many individuals involved in some way shape or form with the Holocaust, one of the deadliest genocides to ever be committed on this planet that transpired in the early 1940's.

A Serious Man Review (Classic Write-Up)

In many of the films by The Coen Brothers, religion may play a role as one of many themes bouncing around in a certain plotline (such as in works like Hail, Caesar!, O Brother, Where Are Thou? or No Country For Old Men), but for their 2009 feature A Serious Man, religion comes forth as a primary player in the entire endeavor. Specifically, Judaism, the faith the directorial duo were raised in and the one in which our lead character, plays  a crucial role in the ballad of Larry Gopnick (Michael Stuhlbarg), who confides in the religion for answers in his time of immense personal turmoil.