Cynthia Citron

Cynthia Citron

Cynthia Citron is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.

Her published books, available on Amazon, include:

Another mob thriller from Scorsese

It’s time for Martin Scorsese to reprise one of his greatest films, Goodfellas. This new version is called The Irishman and, like Goodfellas, it stars Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci and includes
some of the same actors in both films: Samuel L .Jackson, Paul Sorvino, Chuck Low, Jim Norton,
Mike Starr. The Irishman is fleshed out with Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa, Ray Romano as Bill Bufalino, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Harvey Keitel, Steven Van Zandt, and a cast of nearly 40 other players. [Cynthia Citron]

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

A thoughtful plot from Korea

Parasite is a social satire written and directed by a man named Bong Joon-ho, and stars a brilliant cast of actors whose names you probably don’t recognize. They portray a wealthy family, the Parks, who live in a spectacular home created by a prominent Korean architect, and an indigent family, the Kims, who live a ragtag existence in the poorer part of town. Their connection begins when a friend who is about to leave for college persuades Kim Ki-woo, the son of the Kim family, to take over his job as an English teacher for Park Da-hye, the daughter of the Park family. [Cynthia Citron]

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Awaiting the end of Elijah

Imagine, if you will, six strong personalities stranded in a Thank God It’s Friday pub while a hurricane rages outside. The accompanying rain has flooded the streets, and all the highways in this small Texas town have been closed. So begins a play called Elijah, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the Biblical figure.  Elijah is the name given to the hurricane that threatens this small town. [Cynthia Citron]

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

‘Frankie’ an engrossing work of art

It is set in Portugal, where a large group of friends and family have come to enjoy a brief summer vacation in a wildly beautiful area of the turquoise sea, surrounded by the greenery of a densely packed forest. The woman who has apparently gotten them all together is Frankie, an international film star whose first and second husbands are part of the entourage, plus her adult son, plus her hairdresser and her hair-dresser’s boyfriend, plus people from the neighborhood who show up periodically with opinions and problems of their own. [Cynthia Citron]

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Play draws parallels between U.S. and Nazi Germany

For those old enough to remember the horrifying brutality and tragedy of the Second World War, Wendy Kout’s new play Never Is Now, the past is prologue” is almost too unbearable to sit through. Yes, it’s yet another Holocaust story, compiled from the testimony of ten Jewish survivors and presented by six actors, three men and three women, who change their personas as they switch from one character to another. (To read more, please click headline.)

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

It’s Siberia, Not Walden

Where they live there is no horizon. There is only the dazzling white snow that stretches all around them as far as the eye can see. And then it transforms seamlessly into a sky that is exactly the same color. The white world encloses them like goldfish in a glass bowl.

The film is called Aga, and it was written and directed by Milko Lazarov. It is Bulgaria’s entry into the 2019 Academy Awards competition as Best International Feature Film and it has already won four major awards at European film festivals

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Documentary skewers Roy Cohn, Donald Trump

His political education was heightened when Roger Stone (he of the eternal Trump scandals) took over as his mentor. And then Cohn passed on Stone’s teachings to Donald Trump. As Trump’s advisor he instructed him on manipulating the press. If the press reports it, “the public will actually quote whatever you say,” Cohn reportedly told him. When accused of racial biases, attack, Cohn said. Create phony issues; never admit you’re wrong; never apologize; rat out other people, but never put anything in writing. And to keep law enforcement off your back, apply “situational ethics.”

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

‘After the Wedding:’ A tale of love and grace

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — It is virtually impossible to review the beautiful new film After the Wedding because to reveal any of the plot would inevitably unravel all the rest of it. It’s a convoluted story, filled with twists and turns, secrets and surprises, impeccably presented by three extraordinary actors: Julianne Moore, Michelle

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Cynthia Citron, Theatre, Film & Broadcast