DO NOT BE TIMID; MOST WHO WIN HAVE NOT SEEN ALL THE ENTREES! For Now…………Peneflix

Which might have been a viable alternative to director Walter Hill’s tale of cops gone rogue; shenanigans of corrupt, New Orleans officials, subculture of drugs, tattooed miscreants and at its centrifugal core, gun-for hire “Jimmy Bobo” played robotically by Sylvester Stallone; a sexagenarian, frog-voiced, terrifyingly –muscled, (possible tips from Lance Armstrong); gone are the empathetic years of “Rocky Balboa”, we …

Never having read the Richard Stark novels (pseudonym of Donald E. Westlake); a neophyte, totally ignorant of the protagonist and his exploits, it was stunningly shocking that “Parker” (stoically handsome Jason Statham) was an untoward character, a criminal with ethics, a pugnacious, tenacious, terrifying personage when doubled-crossed; hence, the fast-paced, pungently gory scenario, revolving around Parker’s revenge and his unique …

Dustin Hoffman directs a film that vacillates between the vicissitudes, decrepitude of once- gifted musicians and their resistance or acceptance of their octogenarian state and faded fame; flirting with poignancy but never quite grasping it; the characters become comical “caricatures” of  diminished vitality, spouting maudlin repartee. Michael Cambon was  particularly annoying as the grousing director. The fine moments revolve around …

Many of you asked why I did not include this category in my contest. The reason is simple, I have not see them all and I refuse to judge on instinct or “playing the odds”. Also, I was massively disappointed that “The Intouchables” was ignored; in my estimation it was one of the best films of the year. But for …

For four years, I have painstakingly tried to encourage Westerners to sample the Bollywood genre; but with films as ridiculous as “Matru……..” my efforts are bordering on the nonsensical. I ceased fruitlessly counting the films from India that I have seen, and have repeatedly recommended worthy ones (most available on Netflix); after two and a half hours of watching a …

Everyone has favorites; some never waver in their choices; most of us are a thousand percent that we are correct. As I watched the Golden Globe Awards, groaning at some of the winners, questioning the reasoning of the judges, wondering if they had seen all of the films, feeling bewildered, chagrined, massively disappointed as my favorites were felled by what …

Russell Crowe, sporting the banged “Nero” look, plays the slimy, mendacious, feckless Mayor of New York City, running for re-election; it will take years to erase Crowe’s insipid performance in  “Les Miserables” ; gone is the grit of “John Nash” in “A Beautiful Mind”, poignancy of “James Braddock” in “Cinderella Man” or the  mettle, dignity of “The Gladiator”. Disguising his …

Vigilante brigade strives to rid Los Angles of its Jewish mobster, “Mickey Cohen”; a plastic caricature by Sean Penn. It is 1949 and a corps of terrific actors comprise the “squad”; they had to have had a riotous time making this “B” movie about lawless LA and cops gone rogue, cauterizing Cohen’s notorious cabal of amoral thugs. If you are …

Kathryn Bigelow has scored again (“The Hurt Locker”) with this meticulous, intricate scenario of the decade long hunt and slaying of the world’s most sought after terrorist, Osama Bin Laden; she is religious in depicting the reality of the quest and CIA operative “Maya’s” intransigent dedication to finding this heinous villain. Jessica Chastain gives a quietly explosive performance as a …