Netflix and Beyond

A challenging, morose, metaphysical, metaphorical film by Christian Mungiu (“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”); not for those looking for fluff or fantasy. Based on an historical event in Romania (2005);  atmospherically medieval, somber (much like “The Turin Horse”); a monastery (The New Hill) devoid of electricity, plumbing; water dredged from a well, technology has not brushed the “nuns”, …

1939 still resonates as one of the most iconic year’s in film history; films that to this day are watched and relished consistently: “Gunga Din”, “Goodbye Mr. Chips”, “Stagecoach”, “Dark Victory”, “Wuthering Heights”, and my two favorites, “Gone with the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz”. So it was with massive trepidation that I went to see “Oz: The Great …

Ingenious topic!  Imposing, compelling scenario, married with Halle Berry’s consummate characterization; director Brad Anderson and writer Richard D’ Ovidio open the windows to the innermost bowels, mechanisms of the 911 Emergency “hive” in Los Angeles. The sophistication of the tracking devices;  frenetic cacophony, seconds culminating in success or failure; never having spent a modicum of mental muscle wondering about the …

It is tragic when a film has the genesis of greatness but somehow fizzles in the creation process; such is the case with “Emperor”. A fascinating slice of history, focusing on the demise of Japan’s Emperor Hirohito; immersed in the carnage of Hiroshima (August 6th, 1945) and Nagasaki ( August 9th, 1945); a landscape screaming for redemption, purification after the …

1980, East Berlin. “Barbara” a brilliant doctor is shunted to the “provinces’ because she applied for an exit visa; masterfully developed and directed, initially her reasons unknown; she is under constant surveillance, subjected to haphazard and degrading searches by the Communist German Democratic Republic, “Stasi”; Nina Hoss, as Barbara, is poetic, hypnotic; her pain, palatable, her dedication to medicine supersedes …

Recently, an erudite mentor posed a question to his twenty-year-old mentees (of mixed backgrounds), “what makes America great?” Watching this fine film about the sacking of Chile’s dictator, Augusto Pinochet in 1988; an election he felt compelled to initiate; I was pivotally reminded of our free election process; negative campaigning by all parties is simultaneously shunned and accepted; no one …

Sitting alone in a cavernous theatre, feeling a lot like the sole survivor of the apocalypse; questioning why I fervently hope to ignite the Western audience to the Bollywood genre; possibly, it is time to give up the battle that has not even brushed the pyrrhic stage. “Kai Po Che” (A reference to kite flying; a winner “cuts” the string …

Please know that I will respond to all of them on peneflix; it might take a day or so but inevitably they will be answered! Thank you.   For Now………..Peneflix

It is March first and to this point “Stoker” reigns as the worst film of 2013! How and why do beautiful, gifted actors prostitute their talents for detritus; meaningless, nonsensical scenarios? South Korean director Park Chan-Wook (“Oldboy”) fills a luscious, enchanting landscape with nothingness. Commencing at “Richard Stoker’s (luckily, a miniscule role for Dermot Mulroney) funeral, attended by his indolent, …

Highly controversial but massively intriguing is Israeli filmmaker, Dror Moreh’s documentary revolving around six former leaders of Shin Bet; Israeli Security Agency, whose motto is “unseen shield” or “Defenders that shall not be seen”. Watching and listening to the true tales of these conflicted men; men whose existence has been informed by war, strife, threatened perpetually by hatred and flaming …