Netflix and Beyond

Enchanting, fascinating, spellbinding homage to the bygone, halcyon days of the silent film genre. This magical movie captures the aura of the waning 1920’s-early 1930’s, when times was simpler and “stars” were revered and protected by the press; always the epitome of glamour they would be incapable of envisioning the dawning of “grunge” and  “jeaned” culture pervasive in today’s celebrity …

Addiction. It manifests itself in all forms; simple substances transcend their banal purposes and become lethal entrapments: alcohol, pills, food; the act of “shopping” , “acquiring” can lead to bankruptcy; gambling destroys the gambler and all he or she holds dear. “Anonymous” organizations claim a myriad of nameless, damaged, strangled spirits, seeking salvation. “Shame”, shamelessly addresses the obsession, disease of …

Based on the novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick Martin Scorsese has created a 3-D fantasy, a tale resonating with reality, for adults. This exceptionally beautiful film is a homage to Georges Melies (1861-1938); a forgotten man, but pivotal in the archives of film. Children might be engrossed by the special effects and orphaned “Hugo”,( a bland …

Marilyn Monroe died August 5th, 1962; two months after her thirty-sixth birthday; dead almost fifty years yet her legacy is as vibrant as ever. A phenomenon that puzzles today, defies comprehension; a magnetism that exponentially gathers devotees with the passage of time. The film is based on a book by filmmaker Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne as handsome, vapid  “Colin”; who …

This wonderful movie is quintessential proof that George Clooney is not just a pretty face. As “Matt King” he portrays a man whose life has been vivisected by tragedy; an absentee father, his wife Elizabeth, lies in a coma;  he is confronted and confounded by his seventeen and ten- year- old daughters; they are aliens and he is clueless as …

My entire life I have been a “sucker” for anything revolving around Greek and Roman mythology; instead of the fairy tales, bedtime stories most children heard, my father regaled me with the exploits of the Trojan War: Helen of Troy, Paris, Ulysses, Penelope; Zeus, his brother Poseidon, rulers of the sky and the sea. I  savored  these  mythological figures, gods, …

No matter what is darkening your thoughts, clouding your innate glee, pulling you into a morass of gloom; “The Women on the 6th Floor” is a guaranteed elevator ride, scaling the tallest building, bypassing the minutia of the minute, leaving you on top of the world, flying to the moon, laughing, feeling your heart is fatter, fuller, richer for the …

Phenomenal acting graces this rich, insightful, intelligent portrait of an icon of the 20th century. Enigmatic, insular, brilliant, J. Edgar Hoover (1895- 1972). Ambition to rival “Caesar”, a tortured soul encased in designer suits, perfect appearances masking a bifurcated psyche.  Leonardo DiCaprio is “J. Edgar”; his archival, resounding portrayal from youth to old age deserves an Oscar. At 36, DiCaprio …

This year I was intimately involved with the Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema, conducting the question and answer session after the sold out performance of “Restoration” on October 29th (I had previously reviewed and gave FOUR STARS to this dark,  mesmerizing production, you may access it on peneflix.com); the insightful audience was so engaged our time was truncated because of …

To paraphrase Edmund Burke in order for evil to triumph, good men do nothing. “Le Havre”  revolves around a good man doing something. Elegant, dignified shoeshine charmer “Marcel” (beautifully and poignantly depicted by Andre Wilms) discovers an undocumented boy, “Idrissa” (Blondin Miguel) and without equivocation decides to devote his time to rescuing and sending him to London where his mother …