Foreign

Most writers will testify that the “short story” is probably the most difficult to create; within two sentences you have to ambush the readers’ attention;  sink your literary teeth into their intellectual guts; sabotage all extraneous thoughts;  rush to fruition, instantly gratifying their desire to know the conclusion/solution of the tiny tale. “Wild Tales” is comprised of six vignettes focusing …

To enter: 1)   You must be a subscriber to Peneflix. By entering the contest, you agree to share your information with Peneflix.com and will be subscribed to the Peneflix email newsletter. 2)   You may only enter once. 3)   You have to beat me; which is the easiest challenge of all. 4)   $100.00 gift card will be mailed to you to enjoy movies. …

To enter: 1)   You must be a subscriber to Peneflix. By entering the contest, you agree to share your information with Peneflix.com and will be subscribed to the Peneflix email newsletter. 2)   You may only enter once. 3)   You have to beat me; which is the easiest challenge of all. 4)   $100.00 gift card will be mailed to you to enjoy movies. …

To enter: 1)   You must be a subscriber to Peneflix. By entering the contest, you agree to share your information with Peneflix.com and will be subscribed to the Peneflix email newsletter. 2)   You may only enter once. 3)   You have to beat me; which is the easiest challenge of all. 4)   $100.00 gift card will be mailed to you to enjoy movies. …

Twenty-five year old writer/director Xavier Doland blesses the screen with a mesmerizing, complex, powerfully provocative depiction of a destructive mother/son relationship; brilliantly filmed, Doland’s screen is a triptych, one character at a time,  squashed in the center, framed by blackness on either side; the viewer is imprisoned,  breathless; claustrophobia threatens while the characters take turns ambushing one’s focus. Initially, we …

Challenging to best Russian authors when painting portraits of pain in the deepest, bleakest hues: “Anna Karenina”, “Roskolnikov”, “Prince Myshkin” doomed from conception to  lives of sublime angst; possibly the callous weather, the vast isolation of the Russian landscape, unrelenting, unforgiving tumultuous power of the Barents and Caspian Seas, Volga River; futility of life under the Czars, the diminishment of …

Marion Cotillard is a dazzling, superb Academy Award  (“La Vie En Rose”) winning actress; her every role is infused with overwhelming dignity, deep understanding, pungently powerful interpretation; she partners with  Belgium directors/ brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne in “Two Days, One Night”; “Sandra” a factory worker on sick leave is at the mercy of her co-workers; they have voted for …

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolorist and printmaker; revolutionary in melding luscious chiaroscuro; miraculously blending the hues of dazzling day and nascent night; with German contemporary, Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) stun in glorifying nature’s tempestuous transcendence over man. Both men were monumentally inspirational and forerunners of impressionism; they awe to this day. Director Mike …

In the meantime here are a few previously not reviewed, but worth a watch in the theatres or On Demand: “1,000 TIMES GOOD NIGHT”, Juliette Binoche is stunning as a war photographer, torn asunder by her profession and family. FOUR STARS!!!! “JOHN WICK”, Keanu Reeves has carved the quintessential niche as the avenger, slayer of the nefarious; the body count …

From its erotic, titillating commencement throughout its seesaw scenario the viewer voyeuristically vacillates between the past and present; the blue of the hotel room to a similar hue in the courtroom; lovers reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock genre, fatally attracted to each other, describing their relationship in “Rashomon” style. Succinctly acted and directed by Mathieu Amalric (“The Diving Bell and …