Cillian Murphy steps as far as possible away from his Academy Award winning performance as prodigious J. Robert Oppenheimer; he is a struggling Catholic coalman, father of four daughters, caught in a righteous dilemma revolving around his local convent, led by “Sister Mary” (Emily Watson is a worthy, threatening adversary). Based on the novel by Claire Keegan, directed by Tim Mielants, …

Peneflix through the years has periodically concentrated on the horror genre; to be taken seriously there are certain rules that must be adhered to,  to qualify as terrifying, number one is its feasibility; the probability that it could happen, surreal sacrificed for reality as in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” or Australian “Wolf Creek”; but leaving “Heretic” this afternoon, I recognized …

Clint Eastwood, truly a legendary human being, at ninety-four, has produced and directed a film worthy of approbation, applause, and a first class score; it is a mind-twister, a panegyric thriller so engrossing it tips the scales in titillation, confounding confusion and the ultimate challenge of what would you do in a similar situation?; supremely intelligent, the scenario weaves its …

Director Sean Baker (“The Florida Project”) won this year’s Palme d’or at the Cannes Film Festival; it is nothing short of riveting and actor Mikey Madison (Russian-American) as the quintessential sex worker is astounding. Commencing with synchronized, grinding, pulverizing sexuality she takes prisoner her clients and requites their every fantasy, control, her ultimate asset. That control is tested when she …

Based on the 2016 novel by prodigious author Robert Harris, this gutsy, fictionalized peek at the secretive election of a new Pope is a rarefied and plausible take on the politics of the Catholic Church and those lobbying for its highest office. Director Edward Berger’s film resonates with political tricks and shenanigans we’ve been redolently bombarded with the past few …

“THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG” (IRAN, FRANCE, GERMANY) DIRECTOR, MOHAMMAD RASOULOF “Never trust the obvious” resonates continuously from the supposed “guilty” to the obvious “innocent”; soaked in the restricted city, Tehran, hounded by paranoid rules, a family flounders in this positively frightening political drama, that dares to challenge viewers sensitivities until the spell-binding conclusion and the discovery of the …

“MY FAVORITE CAKE”  (IRAN, FRANCE, SWEDEN & GERMANY) DIRECTORS, MARYAM MOGHADDAM, BEHTASH SANAEEHA Time does not dictate “affairs of the heart” and you do not choose the subject of desire; it just happens and “My Favorite Cake” is a refreshing, joyous connection between a chance meeting of two individuals “forever young”. FOUR STARS!!!! “GHOST TRAIL” (FRANCE, GERMANY, BELGIUM) DIRECTOR, JONATHAN …

“THE PIANO LESSON” (US) The Washington brothers (Malcolm, director, John David, actor) give immediate license to August Wilson’s 1987 play of the same title.  And an iconic, macabre exorcism, that will satisfy those lusting for the “horror” tremors. FOUR STARS!!!! “THE ART OF JOY” (ITALY/UK)  DIRECTOR, VALERIA GOLINO) For devotees of “length” this over five-hour film should satisfy your lusty, …

We have been doused/soused with a plethora of movies dealing with the vicissitudes of alcoholic women: “Days of Wine and Roses”: “Woman Under the Influence”, “When a Man Loves a Woman”, “28 Days”, “To Leslie” but we’ve never come across “Rona” a blue-haired, twenty-nine-year-old harridan, whose demonic side is birthed in every inebriated phase; Saorise Ronan, also a producer tackles …

For decades multitudes of books, documentaries and movies have focused on the ugliness of the undreamed, unmitigated crimes perpetrated by the German architects of horror. “White Bird: A Wonder Story” by R. J. Palacio is a mystifying tale of the ordinary, rising above the monstrous, securing residency in the celestial; a wonderous movie that should be seen by all; especially …