Peneflix MOVIE REVIEWS BY PENEFLIX

For 50 years (the oldest competitive film festival in the United States) one man has reigned, commanded with prescience, inimitable courage and foresight at the helm; channeling its vision universally, fifty-two countries displayed their features in this year’s festival; fearlessly, a parameter-destroyer, a man whose indefatigable initiative has never waned, gifting viewers a perpetual avalanche of entertainment. Michael Kutza is ... Read More »

A strange phenomena occurs while watching three to four films a day; similarities, idiosyncrasies, poetic ploys, resonate as they would not under normal viewing circumstances: smoking informs approximately 80% of the films, regardless of the country they represent; cell phones, despite the direness of living conditions, are a major tool of contemporary filmmakers (“Timbuktu”);  child stars are a prime, compelling ... Read More »

Accidentally, I ventured into this enchanting fantasy about a disillusioned psychiatrist, confronting the monotony of his everyday, vacuous  existence; compulsively organized, his home and patients, robotically relegated into slots of predictability. Simon Pegg is marvelous as the befuddled “shrink”; he exits his formal, prestigious English domain, travels the globe on an amorphous expedition, looking for answers to the elusive, inconclusive ... Read More »

Krakow is achingly, pristinely reminiscent of a city, imbued with the majesty of “Cross & Crown”; unscathed by the military might of WWII, the former capital of Poland, oozes with tales of religiosity and the monarchy; approximately 120 Churches testify to the endurance of the Catholic faith. The Church of Saint Peter & Saint Paul, funded by King Sigismund III ... Read More »

Three years ago I saw “And Europe Will Be Stunned” at the Venice Biennale; it is a remarkable installation by Israeli artist, Yael Bartana; three utopian, idealistic videos, the most potent segment features a young leader in a vacant Warsaw stadium,  pleading, urging three million Jews to return to Poland, a metaphor for the horrific outcome of WWII;   even more ... Read More »

Sadly, cannot even flirt with the intelligent, succinct 2010 “The Trip” starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, as themselves; their refreshing, hilarious, dramatic flair for impersonations; keenly exhibiting a sensational “gift of gab” and formidable, stylized improvisational acuity. It ranked as one of the smartest films of the 2010-11 season. Here we have stale leftovers, served in the scintillating, sublimely ... Read More »

On September 16th, Lauren Bacall would have been ninety years old; almost a century of viability, lusting and loving life, protected, enhanced by her inimitable intelligence and wit she was unequivocally the captain of her soul; archetypical woman of substance who did it her way; thrust into the lionizing limelight at nineteen (“To Have and Have Not”) she perpetually reiterated ... Read More »

“The brighter the light the darker the shadow”. No one defines this prescient observation more than Robin Williams; he lit up film and television with his raucous, insightful humor, impeccable timing, fluent, gifted improvisation; lurking behind this amicable, ingratiating facade was always the omnipresent albatross of depression; a disease as insidious as the most crippling cancer; voraciously devouring one’s spirit ... Read More »

Over two thousand years ago Jesus Christ was crucified on Mount Calvary/Golgotha; more than two billion people believe he is God. He died between two thieves; crucifixion was the traditional means of capital punishment at the time. Brendan Glesson as “Father James” is miraculous; the map of mankind’s woes is etched on his weary, pained countenance; he has seen and ... Read More »

Frequently writers rely on “Webster or Oxford” to crush the roadblocks stymieing mental acuity, a cowardly crutch; but as I watched “Chinese Puzzle” laughing uproariously, surrounded by a modestly mute audience, surreptitiously looking at me, questioning my tenuous grip on reality; it struck me with tsunami velocity that “humor” is profoundly subjective.  So,  like a multitude before me, I checked ... Read More »