Peneflix MOVIE REVIEWS BY PENEFLIX

Years ago, a friend was astounded when I admitted to not having read nor having a smidgen of interest in  E.L. James’s  literary phenomena; a trilogy that knocked the world on its posterior. So, over a week’s time, I gorged on all three volumes, concluding that James had a staggering imagination and had done her research in the tricks of ... Read More »

Jon Stewart (“The Daily Show”) depicts a remarkable, somewhat fictionalized, tale of one man’s “red badge of courage”; in 2009 Maziar Bahari (“Then They Came for Me”) was arrested and incarcerated for filming the riots in Teheran, Iran after the election; Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal soars as “Bahari” an Iranian-born, London-based journalist working for Newsweek; Western confidence and ebullience ... Read More »

In the profoundly silent first moments of the film we watch a solitary wrestler in a balletic performance with an  anthropomorphic partner; Mark Schultz, Olympic Gold medalist, practices his quintessential wrestling techniques; Channing Tatum gives the greatest performance of his career as this lost, isolated athlete, living in the shadow of his older brother (17 months), Dave, also an Olympic ... Read More »

In the meantime here are a few previously not reviewed, but worth a watch in the theatres or On Demand: “1,000 TIMES GOOD NIGHT”, Juliette Binoche is stunning as a war photographer, torn asunder by her profession and family. FOUR STARS!!!! “JOHN WICK”, Keanu Reeves has carved the quintessential niche as the avenger, slayer of the nefarious; the body count ... Read More »

“Lou Bloom” is one creepy, amoral, conscienceless character and Jake Gyllenhaal is stratospheric in his depiction of this man of the night, chasing gory, sensational, bloody accidents, filming the scene, its victims and selling them to a Los Angeles TV station. From the moment we meet “Lou”, excessively polite, verbose with Keane-like eyes and gaunt frame we know something is ... Read More »

Ignorance would have been blissfully indulgent if only I had not willingly subjected myself to this quixotic, sophistic expose on the cons of action films and their heroes; the bane of vindictive critics; ageing actors on a downward spiral into moral turpitude, and their drug-addicted progeny. “Unexpected’ trouble bamboozled the viewer in the initial scene: “Riggan Thompson” aka “Birdman” , ... Read More »

Rarely does a film come along that is in perfect alignment: flawlessly acted, magnificently  written/ directed, rhythmically stunning, an electrifying story that clings to the conscience long after experiencing; “Whiplash” is an experience not to be missed. Miles Teller sinks his sensational skills into the role of “Andrew Neyman”; a portrait of a young man’s obscene obsession, a maniacal drive ... Read More »

Watching this fine, outstanding film one word kept galloping through my mind; every scene, each performance; pristine, prescient directing was laden with “integrity”; two hours of blatant honesty, infused with genealogical, unresolved issues; personal and professional trials, patterns of pain, anchored in years of obfuscation, segregation. The audience voyeuristically watches as the Palmer family flays the past, confronting the present,  ... Read More »

Based on the play by Israel Horovitz (also his directorial debut) is uneven in execution but stunningly acted by Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith and Kristin Scott Thomas. Penniless, “Mathias (Jim) Gold” (Kline) arrives in Paris to collect his inheritance from his deceased father; an apartment inhabited by ninety-two-year-old “Madame Girard” (Smith); discovering the incomprehensible French law of “viager” which allows ... Read More »