Foreign

What could have been a magnificent story of fortitude, besting the most stringent, violent, suppression of light, spirit, evaporates, uncomfortably, into the meandering and melodramatic; loosely based on the true narrative of “Afshin Ghaffarian” (poignantly portrayed by Reece Ritchie), an Iranian dancer forced to camouflage his formation of a dance troupe, hiding from Iran’s “morality police”; it is 2009 and …

Paul Cezanne said Claude Monet was only an “eye”, but God, what an eye”; watching Wim Wenders (“Pina”) and Juliano Salgado’s documentary “The Salt of the Earth”, focusing on the forty- year career of photographer Sebastiao Salgado (Juliano’s father), I was mesmerized by the overwhelming depth of sensitivity, profound respect in which Salgado imbues his subjects; portraits of nameless, shunned, …

A distant, vastly disappointing “second”; unfathomable, dreary interpretation of characters so alive and vibrant in the first “chapter”; gone is the exciting, enticing flavor of India; this bland, silly scenario could have taken place anywhere. The same cast, marginalized by mundane writing and superfluous directing (John Madden, “Shakespeare in Love”). Dev Patel, “Sonny” the endearing proprietor of the “Marigold Hotel” …

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 …