A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD In 1963, when I moved from the University of Michigan to the Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of Illinois, I met one of the last giants of Psychology, Ernest A. Haggard, who held a professorship there and a prestigious career investigator’s award from the National Institute of Mental […]
The holiday season is upon us, and I began thinking about a Christmas film. A few years ago, I reviewed several versions of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for the December issue of Psychology Times, and on another occasion It’s a Wonderful Life. It came to my attention that there is a third Christmas classic—one that […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD I need to begin this review with a disclaimer: this film is disturbing, both because stirs up the deep prejudice about the body dysmorphia we call obesity and because of its plot complexities. It is troubling in a third way as well. It combines acting so convincing that […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD In the early 1940’s while I was jerking sodas in Canar’s, a skid row drugstore in Omaha, one of my ancillary responsibilities was serving as guardian of the rack displaying comic books. I was to prevent the teenagers who frequented the store from reading the magazines on display […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD This is a frankly feel-good movie, one that promises that dreams can come true. It is based on a novel, one of a series by Paul Gallico, featuring the protagonist, Mrs. Harris, a cleaning woman in London in the late nineteen forties. Its theme seems an odd one […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD Spring break at the University of Texas at Austin has become the occasion for a conglomeration of presentations of interactive media, music and films called South by Southwest. Five films were featured at the 2022 festival. One, Everything Everywhere All At Once, dominated the awards, winning Best Picture, […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD As a youngster, going to a movie was a special experience for me. Omaha could swelter in the summer heat and in the nineteen thirties and forties the marquees of the theatres promised twenty degrees cooler inside” which added to the attraction of the exotic decor and the […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD The heroic comedy Cyrano de Bergerac, written by Edmond Rostand in 1897, has had a remarkable impact. Coquelin starred in the original 1897 stage version at Theatre de la Port Saint-Martin in Paris. His performance was a triumph; the audience applauded for over an hour after the final […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD From Ida Tarbell’s exposé of Standard Oil, to Upton Sinclair’s critical exploration of the plight of packing house workers, to Ralph Naders’ blistering attack on automakers, America has a rich tradition of what has become called “muckraking.” Some will see Andrea Arnold’s documentary debut, the 2021 movie Cow […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD This self-described Rom Com surprises with its wit, and its depth. The frothy wit with which it abounds is contrasted by flashes of tragic despair. German written and acted, with subtitles, directed by Maria Schrader, it more than merits its many awards. The female lead, Maria Egert, won […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD This very recent Netflix documentary’s popularity exploded during the first week of its release, drawing my attention to a genre that has not previously interested me: true crime accounts. The Tinder Swindler turned out to be interesting, and, to make a pun, even arresting, in unexpected ways. It […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD The Power of the Dog is a remarkable movie, dense, complex, and twisted, like the rawhide lariat one of its protagonists works to prepare as a gift. Filmed in New Zealand, the story is set in 1920’s Montana. The cinematography captures the sweep of plains, the towering mountains, […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD Aristotle, in The Poetics, defined tragedy as a medium that arouses pity and fear in the audience, a kind of catharsis. Florian Zeller, in his debut as a film director, adapts his play, Le Pere, to the screen in a remarkable reminder of a fate that is soul-shaking […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein Five years in the making, Charlène Favier’s debut 2020 film, Slalom, reflects contemporary “Me, Too” concerns. Brought into higher relief by the recent Senate testimony of several Olympic women gymnasts, and the concern about the uncertain fate of Chinese tennis champion, Peng Shuai, the movie is unsettlingly relevant. Watching […]
A Review by Alvin G. Burstein, PhD This 2007 film begins in pre-World War II Britain. It has two foci of action. One is Briony Tallis, who bookends the film, appearing first as a thirteen-year-old, precociously involved in writing a play, and again, three or four decades later, as an established writer. She is being […]