Foreign

Emotionally pulverizing, even after the third viewing, “Son of Saul” Hungary’s nominee in the Best Foreign Film Category, is my selection for the Academy Award; thirty-eight-year-old Director Laszlo Nemes, shooting on 35 millimeter film, drags viewers through the stench-filled, suffocating, filthy, claustrophobic corridors of dehumanization… Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Listening to the sounds of savagery, wreckage,  howls of the innocent, wracks …

“The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1969) is a lifetime favorite, its themes, as universal and compelling today, as almost a half century ago; Maggie Smith brought impeccable royalty to the role of an avant- garde art and music teacher in a private girls’ school; “Miss Brodie” was a free thinker, fearless, flawed but tangibly prescient in her logic; “give …

To enter: 1)   You must be a subscriber to Peneflix.com 2)   You may only enter once. 3)   ALL  ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED BY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH, MIDNIGHT. $150.00 TO THE WINNER. HAVE TO ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY. Best Supporting Actress: PENEFLIX PICK: ROONEY MARA “CAROL” Best Supporting Actor: PENEFLIX PICK: TOM HARDY “THE REVENANT” Best Actress: PENEFLIX PICK: BRIE …

Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay give subtle,  profound performances as a retired couple on the verge of their forty-fifth wedding anniversary. Directed by Andrew Haigh, based on a 10-page story by David Constantine, this quietly brilliant psychological scenario will haunt one long after its initial viewing. After two screenings I am still unsettled, pondering, contemplating the conclusion. “Geoff” (Courtenay) receives …

Watching this remarkable, perfect film by Director/Co-Writer Deniz Gamze Erguven, Richard Lovelace’s “stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage” pungently informed my viewing experience; five ebullient sisters, running to the beach (Northern Turkey) with some of their male classmates, uniformed, they plunge fully-clothed into the water and engage in joyous, fun-loving, innocent high jinks; it …

In life (if one lives long enough)  negative epiphanies must be dealt with; “never again” to suffer the indignities and remorse of over-eating, smoking, drinking or in this case enduring 180 minutes of inane and foolish repartee by supposedly talented individuals. From commencement to conclusion beer-swilling host, Ricky Gervais, did not disappoint with his iconoclastic slurs, humorless barbs, toothy guffaws; …

Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay give subtle,  profound performances as a retired couple on the verge of their forty-fifth wedding anniversary. Directed by Andrew Haigh, based on a 10-page story by David Constantine, this quietly brilliant psychological scenario will haunt one long after its initial viewing. After two screenings I am still unsettled, pondering, contemplating the conclusion. “Geoff” (Courtenay) receives …

“Youth”. Director Paolo Sorrentino’s  (“The Great Beauty”, 2014, Academy Award for Best Foreign Film) stunning, poignant film is enhanced by the sterling talents of Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Paul Dano. Tackling life’s waning issues on a myriad of levels. A dazzling Swiss landscape and sublime music adds insouciant charm and “beauty” to “Youth”. “Macbeth”. A mesmerizing portrayal of the tortured, …

“Girls Lost” (Sweden) was a jewel in the crown of the 51st Chicago International Film Festival; focusing on three pubescent girls in yxtreme emotional havoc, warring with their obvious facades and internal identities; unfathomable, unimaginable pain for those unfortunate to be imprisoned in a limbo of sexual ambiguity. Eddie Redmayne soars in the role of transgender “Lily Elbe” (1882-1931)/ landscape …

Tom Hardy is the Sir Lawrence Olivier of the twenty-first century; he is a masterful chameleon, from super hero (“Mad Max: Fury Road”), villain (“The Dark Knight Rises”) to the common man (“Locke”) he stuns with his inimitable ability to methodically transform himself into a myriad of diverse characters. His remarkable reserves expand exponentially as he sinks his flawless aptitudes …