Michael Groetzinger

Top notch 90 minutes worth of escapist entertainment...and what more can you ask of a film. Madds Mikkelson's character, Duncan (or The Black Kaiser as he is also known) might not say much, but he is never boring and and we are somehow quickly invested in the survival of this cold blooded assassin. I have read a lot of criticism of the violence, nudity but have never seen any credit given for the taut direction, and the smart touches in the script---like Duncan waiting for the flares to go out in the kitchen where one of his is trying to wait him out. She knows he has a scope that detects heat and in the ice cold room...she finally breathes and Duncan sees it and fires through the refrigerator behind which the lady killer is crouching.(Duncan is outside nude in the snow as he turns the tables here) A nice touch. I highly recommend this film...I've watched it twice and enjoyed it thoroughly both times.

This is as close as you'll ever get to being the proverbial "fly on the wall" of a Rolling Stones recording session. Being a fly was never so fascinating! The tone is set perfectly at the outset when MIck Jagger in a Stones press conference in 1969 answered a question about being "satisfied". Mich responded, "Financially dissatisfied, sexually satisfied, philosophically...trying." Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts all weigh in with voice overs played with shots of the group playing a short, farewell tour of England before they left for France as "Tax exiles"...plainly they did not want to leave their native England but, as George Harrison wrote in his Beatles song "TAXMAN" (1966), referring to the blood sucking taxes levied on citizens under PM WIlson (who George names in the song) "Let me tell you how it will be... There's one for you, nine-teen for me... 'cause I'm the Taxman..." Even though the Stones were making plenty of lettuce, the taxes were structured in such a way as they could never make ENOUGH to pay what they owed...a bureaucrat's dream; a never-ending carousel ride to financial ruin that was not amenable to any solution...save for fleeing. A few pop stars give brief comments on what they thought of the "Exile" including Sheryl Crow. But it was Martin Scorsese ( a HUGE Stones fan and twice their documentarian) who said, "They had to almost IMPLODE...and the sense of being exiled, the sense of 'I can't go home'---and the music (on EXILE) reflects that." CUE; The iconic opening chords of Tumbling Dice, the goosebumps rise and the ride begins. A fascinating and highly entertaining behind the curtain of how one of Rock 'n' Roll's most legendary albums came to be.

Breaking Bad had the most respect than any other show I have ever seen. This was never more evident than in the series finale "Felina". Most viewers and majority of critics have agreed it was probably the best series finale in the history of television. The writing, the acting, direction---never flagged once during the entire series run. It is one of the very few series that I can re-watch over and over, and nothing is lost in repeated viewings. In fact, just the contrary.