Netflix and Beyond

Written, directed and starring George Clooney  as  “Fred Stokes” (George L. Stout), Harvard art conservationist, commissioned by the US Army in 1943 to lead “The Monuments Men”; a team of seasoned curators, architects, historians recruited to capture Nazi- looted masterpieces and return them to their rightful owners. A compelling story based on the 2009, “The Monuments Men” by Robert M. …

Two enchanting and mystical weeks of temple -trekking through ancient, sacred monuments: iconic reminders of a people’s dedication and love for their gods; the might of their of their dynasties (Chola in particular): Shiva, Vishnu and Buddha, their avatars, miracles, mysteries laid bare by the inimitable scholar, Dr. Maduvanti Ghose, Alsdorf curator of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan, Islamic art at …

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 …

My seventh excursion to India; a country and its people that refuse to relinquish its magnetic hold on my heart and spirit. AVOID “AT MIDDLETON”. It is an embarrassing, sophomoric “soap” about a love connection between two adults (Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga) who take their college -age children on an introductory tour of “Middleton”; behaving like juveniles , getting …

Laborious. Talented Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin cannot salvage this poorly written, tremendously tedious tale of star- crossed lovers, “Adele” and “Frank”, bonding over a sweltering Labor Day weekend in 1987; narrated by Adele’s  adult son “Henry” (Tobey Maguire), (child, Gattlin Griffith) approximately twelve years old, at the time. Adele, a depressed, barely functioning agoraphobic, with formidable trepidation, takes Henry …

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 …