5 Star Netflix Stream of the Day

CHOP SHOP
96% Fresh on the Tomatometer

This from Ebert: "Three shots in two minutes and we know so much about this boy's toughness and resilience, the industrial gray-market conditions to which he has adapted and -- despite his confidence and self-reliance -- his inescapable dependence on the adults around him. The 12-year-old Ale (Alejandro Polanco) is an accomplished hustler, whether reselling bags of candy on the subway with a polished sales pitch or stealing hubcaps."

Sure Ebert's a Cusack-Penn idiot in real life, but when he stays inside his own fat head and just writes about what he sees on the screen he can produce the appealing middlebrow review. Read his whole piece here.

Alejandro Polanco and Isamar Gonzales. Just wanted to see those names on this page today.

Who can say enough good things about Chop Shop? By-the-by, that's two (2) (dos) muy excellente movies set in Queens I watched in the past few weeks -- both getting 5 NetFlix yellow stars in my book. The other'n, Choking Man, had the additional bonus of Kate Buddeke in the cast. I'd follow Kate to the ends of the earth. 'Course I'd show my age I were to say I how long I've known Kate, how long I've followed her from stage door to stage door. Look to your right. That's Kate in the middle over there, when she was in Carousel on Bway. That pic is from my archives out in the garage; original in the New Yorker.