Netflix and Beyond

On a likeable scale from one to ten (ten being the most positive) where do bicycle messengers rank? They don’t! Without exception, as a group they are detested, cursed, sometimes killed but never pitied, admired or respected. They are universally iconoclastic: a plague, on urban society;  “rules of the road” do not apply to them, stop lights anathema, pedestrians annoyances, …

This awful flick is more a curse than “ legacy”;  disjointed, disengaging, disenfranchised from previous “Bourne” sagas starring Matt Damen; unfathomable crime using “ Bourne”  nomenclature to lure advocates of the now deceased Bourne genre, to this facile, sophomoric, anemic replacement. “The Bourne Legacy” pathetically edited, is a compilation of “running” sequences; Jeremy Renner (a fine actor, wasted in this …

Superb, stunning performances cement the viewer’s attention for the entirety of this quasi-nonfictional portrait of three, talented African American sisters, striving for notoriety in the late 1960’s, Detroit, Michigan. Loosely based upon “The Supremes” . With the formation of “Motown Records” in 1959, African Americans initiated their financial destiny;  Barry Gordy, Jr. founder,  is pivotal in paving the yellow-brick- path …

ALL COMMENTS MADE ON PENEFLIX WILL BE ANSWERED ON THE SITE. THANK YOU AND KEEP THEM COMING. This is a classic scenario of “having your cake and eating it too”; “Celeste” and “Jesse” have loved, been in love, their entire lives; they interpret each others thoughts, mimic foreign accents with perfect pitch; are the closest of comrades,  play blissfully together;  …

Do anything to avoid this desultory, despondent, dreary, dreadful, demeaning portrait of a French family visiting their daughter/sister living in New York. There is not an ounce of chemistry between Julie Delpy and Chris Rock. Shamed that I did not exit after fifteen minutes of this dull, dumb, dismal, despicable drivel. NO STARS. For Now……..Peneflix

Even as a child I did not care for animation, but with a few recent films my conversion has been accelerating: “Wall -E” is one of my favorite movies of all time; and earlier this summer “Brave” struck and ignited my imagination: I decided with little trepidation to see “ParaNorman”. “Norman” , reminiscent of “The Sixth Sense” sees dead people; …

The major conundrum is why this film was made. Are there childless couples who conjure their flawless progeny; write all desired attributes, place them in a box, and bury it in the back yard?  Possibly, being a city- dweller, complacent in my concrete cocoon; (it was challenging finding a soft slice of earth to bury my daughter’s deceased hamster, “Chipper”), …

This remarkable, magical documentary featuring a musician/composer who unbeknownst to him nurtured a revolution. Sixto Rodriguez, son of Mexican immigrants; masked by sunglasses and long black hair, playing guitar, singing in drab, dingy bars in dark and depressed corners of Detroit, Michigan; his lyrics redolent of the late 60’s and early 70’s, scintillate with the ache of the common man, …

At times, a poignantly realistic portrait of a marriage that  lost its carbonation at the twenty-fifth anniversary bench mark; two individuals, strangers, who have built fortresses around their inadequacies, insecurities, sleeping in separate bedrooms, barely acknowledging each other’s existence. “Kay” (another fine performance by Meryl Streep) recognizes the size of the crater separating her from the man she married and …

The first half- hour is thrilling, especially if you have never seen or cannot “recall” the original 1990 version with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone. Not for lack of supreme effort Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel were unable to generate enough interest to illicit a modicum of empathy from the audience. Possibly, it was the condensed script (at …