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FAR FROM THE MADDENING CROWD

Thomas Hardy’s 1874 novel is lusciously endowed with sweeping, undulating landscapes, “Turneresque” sunsets and actors, imbuing their characters with all the scintillating romance and passionate drama Hardy intended; Carey Mulligan as “Bathsheba Everdene” is as tempestuous, and as alluring as her biblical namesake (Bathsheba, married King David, after he eliminated her husband, Uriah;  impregnated her with the future King of ... Read More »

CHILD 44

There is something powerfully enigmatic, hypnotic about the deftness of Tom Hardy’s artistry; he is a chameleon, from demon to divine his every role is a revelation:  beleaguered soldier in “Band of Brothers”; evil incarnate as “Bane” in “The Dark Knight Rises”; smoldering, darkly romantic  “Heathcliff” in Wuthering Heights”; skewered savant in “The Drop”; he soared in the minutely seen ... Read More »

TANGERINES (GEORGIAN-ESTONIAN: ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

This award-winning film focuses on the civil war in Abkhazia (Georgia, 1992-93); a war that drove most Estonians, who had settled in the area, commencing in the mid-nineteenth century, back to their roots; they had overcome language, economic, political, religious barriers; slaughtered on the altar of Chechen/Georgian inbred animosity. Two farmers elected to stay and harvest their crop of tangerines; ... Read More »

DIOR AND I

How’s does one define the fascination of documentaries/films focusing on the fashion industry?  Hidden, silently simmering from one to the next: “Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston”, “Valentino: The Last Emperor”, “The September Issue”, “The Devil Wears Prada” , “Coco Before Chanel”, is a lustful fantasy for the extravagantly magisterial wardrobe; created for the favored few; the “Cinderella Syndrome” , a ... Read More »

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

Writer/director Olivier Assayas, aided by gifted actors depicts and ode to “ageing”, a commentary on contemporary interpretations of past and present “characterizations”; how time changes one’s outlook;  it is a play within a play and as much as I yearned to like it found the protagonists tiring, familiar and uninteresting. “Maria” (flawless Juliette Binoche) is asked to star in a ... Read More »

DESERT DANCER

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 ... Read More »

THE SALT OF THE EARTH (FRENCH/ PORTUGUESE: ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

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, ... Read More »

THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

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” ... Read More »

WILD TALES (SPANISH: ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

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 ... Read More »

Last Chance To Enter Peneflix’s Academy Awards Contest: Must Enter by Midnight

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. ... Read More »

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