Buffed and beautiful Salman Khan (“Jai”) with robotic precision slays the nefarious, defends the righteous, woos  newcomer Daisy Shah (young enough to be his daughter); and nauseously encourages all he encounters to “help three other people.” Controversial box office receipts has Khan taking full responsibility for “Jai Ho’s” troubles. Directed by Sohail Khan, Salman’s brother, the film is a narcissist …

Prolifically ponderous, what could have been a scintillating, titillating  love story, never leaves the “shadow”, foggy plodding scenario of a genius gone awry, a young woman bereft of options, encouraged by her mother to fall from grace, into the arms of a married man, twenty-seven years her senior. The man was Charles Dickens (1812-1870); the woman, Ellen “Nelly” Ternan (1839-1914). …

PENEFLIX  5th ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARD CONTEST It is that time of year, when once again I prove incapable of separating my mind and heart; they are so entwined that an autopsy would prove inconclusive. I vote for the film and nominees that I consider the best in their category. I do not play the odds; so many “winners” do, regardless …

Luxuriating in the quiet, comfortably dull zone between the Academy Award nominations and the unveiling of the champions (Sunday, March 2nd) lurks the placating, coddling, mindless two and three star action flicks; knowing beforehand that the hero lives, enjoying the thrill of the chase; lusting for the inevitable demise of the nefarious antagonist; herein lies “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit”. Chris …

Periodically there’s a film that resonates long after viewing; marinating in one’s memory for days, oftentimes forever. Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi’s (“A Separation”) “The Past” is such a movie; simplicity balloons to complex; ambiguities, seemingly clarified, become murky; empathy, fickly flows from one character to another as “the past’ is sporadically revealed. Bernice Bejo as “Marie” is astounding as a …

If Sunday night’s telecast of the Golden Globe Awards was sequestered in a time capsule and viewed a hundred years from now, people would be dumbfounded; these are actors?  Stuttering, shaking, stammering their inane acceptance speeches; surprised? They have known for months that they have a 20% chance of winning; hire a speech writer, be prepared NOT to make a …

Knowing the tragic, disastrous outcome of the 2005 Navy Seal team 10’s  mission in the unforgiving mountains of Afghanistan, made the film even more daunting and traumatic. Writer/director Peter Berg creates a beautifully filmed, brilliantly acted scenario based on Marcus Luttrell’s book “Lone Survivor:The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10”. Mark Walberg as …

There are times when one does not venture out of house, apartment, ranch or tent; weather, frame-of-mind, or general ennui; the lure of the couch, greasy snacks and mindless movies placate the psyche. ON DEMAND’s fare generally serves the detritus of the film world (with the exception of second-run films); movies not generally released, hibernating in the limbo of films, …

“Jep Gambardella” (Toni Servillo) is a voyeur, flaneur gliding through life, observing, perpetually longing for “the great beauty” to accost him; a muse of inspiration capable of igniting the creative transformation he yearns for. Director Paolo Sorrentino’s homage to glorious Rome, its hedonistic lifestyle, commences with “Jep’s” sixty-fifth birthday party; freakishly beautiful members of Rome’s elite, sinuously writhing, frenetically dancing …