Alexander Payne sees his perspectives in slices of life and the motivations that precipitate it. "The Holdovers", set at a prep school in Massachusetts where kids whose parents decided to leave them there over the holidays for whatever reason, are saddled with a stuck-in-his-ways professor who must adjust his perspective in ways in order to see where he is going.

The context of an artist comes in the ideas that they want to convey. The rights to Leonard Bernstein's life is one of a necessity of a musician content in the possibility of himself and the vivacity of life but sometimes unable to control the more complex portions of social reality. Writer/Director/Star Bradley Cooper has created a beautiful at times, though disjointed at others portrait of this man, flawed in many ways, angelic in others and yet elusive.

The idea of apocalypse or at least the end of days is bent within a context of what people are willing to fight for but also the ruts they tend to get into. In "The Gravity", two brothers connected by a tragedy and comeuppance in their youth grow into a strife that holds them together as a cosmic event that might or might not destroy the whole world in a matter of days hangs over their head.

The idea of art trying to imitate life comes down to motivation of the characters. Director Todd Haynes is known for being able to take difficult subject material and either progress it back and forth over the line. This aspect of human nature or sexuality is his forte. "May/December" exists in a different realm than say "Carol" or "Far From Heaven" since the motivations figure in peripherally

The context of "Napoleon" as a perspective to power is an admirable one but a film that only peripherally captures what might have been. There are certain ideas of what the French conqueror might have been or was. The new film from Ridley Scott starring Joaquin Phoenix as the monarch of sorts has some moments of beauty and sublimeness but most often seems to show the Emperor in his failings.

The context of creation and eventuality is at the core of "The Hunger Games" prequel: "The Ballad Of Songbird & Snakes". Smaller in scale in certain ways than its predecessor, its essence of its love story per se is what drives the humanity of what it shows.

"Showdown At The Grand" is an odd duck in many ways because it tries to be an ode to old time heroes and the cinema experience but the story it tells doesn't really have a sense of its own stakes despite a heartfelt performance by Terrence Howard.

The aspect of adversity is reflected in the beholder and their experience. Too often, that focuses on young people. With a film like "Nyad" which chronicled the later attempts by the Olympic swimmer Diana Nyad in her 60s to make the crossing swimming from Havana to Key West, it gives two great actresses the ability to shine in their own way with a story that blends heart, humor and drama.

The essence of class structure and immigration is a discussion that permeates a lot of society. The angle is also based in perception and perspective. The new film "At The Gates", starring Noah Wyle and Miranda Otto, positions itself as a thriller but, in more ways than one, it is about rights, tendencies and the imbalanced scale of equality that still permeates society.