"peneflix" reviews

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2010-09-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

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FLAVORABLE FOREIGN

2010-09-15T12:59:00.001-07:00

ANIMAL KINGDON

One of the toughest, grittiest, crime films in recent years. For almost two hours you will be breathless, clutching your seat, shutting your eyes; the tension, supreme anxiety and tightly wrought writing and directing will stay with you long after you have exited the theatre. This Australian movie written and directed by David Michod won the world cinema jury prize at Sundance; not a false or insincere moment, the reality so brutal it invades and scares the psyche.

The story is told from the perspective of Joshua, “J.” (James Frencheville), a 17-year-old whose mother has just died of a drug overdose. He is taken by his grandmother into a ‘den of iniquity”, living with hardened criminals, his uncles. This coming of age film suffers no illusions as to the outcome of this teenager.

At times the dialogue is challenging but you will be introduced to one the most creative and complex characters in the archives of film history. Jacki Weaver, as J.’s grandmother, Janice, combines the cunning of Lady Macbeth, cruelty of Mommie Dearest; she is as dark as Satan on the inside but outside exudes the syrupy sweetness of a saint, converting all she encounters to her cult. Her role and how she possesses and portrays it is the quintessential example of the intrinsic essence of acting.

THREE &1/2 STARS!!!

MESRINE: KILLER INSTINCT (PART 1)

PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1 (PART 2)

If you love French films RUN to view four hours of the most satisfying action and acting, based on the autobiography of French gangster, Jacques Mesrine, seen since “Scarface” or “Bonnie & Clyde”. It is violent but not sensational, it does not embellish the carnage, just records it.

Vincent Cassel, as Jacques, is riveting, mesmerizing, hypnotic and captivating as the “bad guy” who is impossible to resist. His dark, lethal, smoldering gaze leaves no female heart unscathed. Jacques capitalizes on his criminality; craves the television notoritity, focusing especially on his Houdini-like jailbreaks, outrageous bank robberies, and an audacious kidnapping.

The polished and brilliant directing by Jean-Francois Ricket eliminates the supercilious, concentrates almost entirely on the “close up”; every emotion flows from the actors faces to the viewer. The audience is totally engaged and sucked into the escalating pace of the story; feeling the exhilaration of the chase, escapes; titillation of the passion, pain; satisfaction and pleasure in reveling in a true tale, well told, beautifully portrayed and casted.

FOUR STARS!!!!

SOUL KITCHEN

In today’s vernacular many are referred to as “foodies”; questing after the newest restaurants (have friends who flew to Madrid, Spain for a night just to savor the the delicacies of the hottest restaurant); celebrity chefs have mega status and world wide fans.

As much as eating and the anticipation of swallowing gastronomical sensations, it is the preparation of cuisine that sings to my soul: oh, the bliss of giving birth to the perfect soufflé, brioche, reduction; the scent of a turkey, brisket or even stuffed cabbage adds character, ethnicity, and personality to a home: sterility screams with the scent of Lysol or Pine- Sol!

One of my least favorite words is “moderation”: mundane, boring, bland, implying restraint. Whereas, “indulge”, giving in, luxuriating, wallowing, satiating, gratifying, implying endless pleasures; here is a word that resonates possibilities! Indulging and placating the desires of the taste buds is one of my ten commandments! Also I crave any film revolving around food and its preparation ranging from junk food (“Diner”) to the ultimate in haute cuisine (“Babette’s Feast”) !

“Soul Kitchen” a film made by Fatih Akin’s a German born Turkish filmmaker is a ridiculous, hilarious, romp of a farce that spills upon the audience 99 minutes of joyous laughter and escape from tedium; you do not have to think, just feel. Soul Kitchen, owned by Zinos, ( devastatingly portrayed by Adam Bousdoukos) specializes in fare a notch above a diner, food that the locals adore, basic and comforting; but like all the characters goes through a monumental metamorphosis. The audience, a willing ingredient in the recipe.

The plot jumps from one scenario to another, the successful transitions extremely appetizing. Akin’s creates a roux that entwines family relationships, love and its disenchantments, music and food, at times secondary to life’s lessons, but the “soul” of the movie.

“Soul Kitchen” rests comfortably with my favorite food films: “Mostly Martha”, “Julie & Julia”, “Chocolat”, “Big Night”, “Ratatouille”, “Dinner Rush”, “Tortilla Soup”, “Like Water for Chocolate”, “Eat Drink Man Woman”. Off to the “kitchen”…….but in my wake leave….

FOUR SCRUMPTIOUS STARS !!!!

WE ARE FAMILY

A Hindi/Bollywood remake of “Stepmom” , the 1998 Hollywood film starring Susan Sarandon, Julia Roberts and Ed Harris. This is a better version starring Kajol (Maya) “the flawless mother”; Kareena Kapoor as Shreya, the somewhat imperfect, talented, gorgeous girlfriend; and my favorite Bollywood male star, Arjun Rampal, Aman, the beleaguered ex -husband torn between two extremes, family and present amorous obligations.

The plot is redundant and needs no explanation. All the actors are superb in their depictions of love, frustrations, pyrrhic battles, with no lauded victor.

It is a lovely, tearful romantic comedy, very predictable but worth watching three stars at the pinnacle of their performing prowess. And three young actors (the children) at the commencement of their careers.

The platinum scene in the film is a song and dance number; Elvis Presley’s, “Jailhouse Rock”; Elvis, the King, could never have envisioned the enchantment, levitating emotion and motion, giddiness his music could still inspire so many years after his death. Magic.

THREE STARS!!!

For Now……………Peneflix

BOLLYWOOD: A JOURNEY YEARS IN THE MAKING

2010-09-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

In October of 2004 I took my first of five excursions to India. Finally on this my fifth trip, I was granted THE Bollywood experience I had fervently wished for.

There is a vast difference between Hollywood and Bollywood and not just the production process. Hollywood is a destination; the gargantuan 45-foot-high, 350-feet-long sign nesting in the Santa Monica Mountains, (near Los Angeles, California,) trumpets the film world (actually is referencing Hollywood Hills,Ca.) a Universal studio tour, etc. Bollywood, based out of Mumbai is amorphous and ubiquitous; it is everywhere and nowhere; its illusiveness is difficult to categorize or contain.

Approximately six months of planning went into this “production”; working with Beyond Bombay, my tour guide and countless Indian American friends, I was able to interview the best Directors that Bollywood has to offer; the Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Nancy Myers of the India film industry. A plethora of writers, editors and technicians graciously consented to my probing and inquisitive questions. (I think they thought I was Barbara Walters)!

It has taken six years , approximately 200 films and a myriad of books to grasp the Bollywood aesthetic; with this knowledge, my love India and its film making prowess has increased a thousand fold.

My first interview was with Indu Mirani, the senior film critic for the Mumbai Mirror; also in the process of launching her own company! She not only had the ‘scoop” on who was doing what to whom in the star circuit but was a brilliant satirist who captivated my imagination and ignited my sense of humor! She took me to the set of the upcoming Madhur Bhandarker (“Page 3”, “Chandi Bar”) flick. Madhur, young, handsome, intelligent, with enough charm to fill the new airport in Delhi gives his female protagonists a level of depth that is revolutionary in Bollywood. An added bonus was being introduced to the dark, sensual and extremely “hot’ Ajay Devgan whose latest “Once Upon a Time in Mumbai” is a box office sensation; his wife Kajol whose flame is still intense can be seen in “We Are Family”, now on India and and world wide screens, (will review eventually)!

Later that day I spent a fascinating and edifying hour with one of Bollywood’s sensational and sought after film editors, Kuldeep Mehan. Editing can make or destroy a movie; Kuldeep for 22 years has worked with the scintillating, demanding and most precocious directors; his creation process takes place in a tiny 5X5 room. Hours lived in front of a average size computer; proving genius does not need space to thrive.

Make up! An entertaining light-hearted visit with Virginia Holmes, an English woman whose quest to make it in India, as an outsider, excluded from the main stream, is gaining notoriety and acceptance along with her partner Natasha Nischol. If you can magically make an actor look better on screen than off, your destiny is carved in granite . Her 10 years of diligence has been worth the fray, both as a woman, and artist.

My interview with Aditya Sorap, a sound engineer was certainly educational; never giving much thought to “sound” except for decibel, his lesson in the dubbing process was enlightening. Also was reminded of the expression, “behind every great man, there is a greater woman”; his mother (Rajani) is his manager and at his side at all times!

Aarti Bagdi, a 32 year old female director with Rajshri Films shared her challenges in the industry; she was half way through a film being made in Japan (she learned the language) when it was shelved. Lessons learned early in one’s career are invaluable. Her star is just commencing its ascent.

Another young, beguiling director and writer Mahesh Nair spent time over a leisurely breakfast explaining the difficulties of getting an interview with recognized and established producers and the ultimate problem that all in the business face, the financial backing, the millions of rupees needed for the conception and birth of a film. Also, unlike Hollywood, Bollywood needs the star, not the story to generate a monetary interest in the project.

The major state of the art film studio, Whistling Woods International; a teaching studio studded with ambitious neophytes and stratospheric technology was massively impressive; Sudeep Menor our guide whose encyclopedic knowledge astounded us; wanted to record his every sentence. It was here that I met and interviewed the iconic screenplay writer Sachin Bhowmick (affectionally called Dada) whose career has spanned fifty years with films “Lajwanti "(1958), “Love in Tokoyo” “An Evening in Paris”; he regaled us with tales of times and stars of the past. He is an institution and has richly earned the approbation and idolatry heaped upon him.

Subhash Ghai (“Taal, “Yaadein”) and Ravi Gupta also part of the Whistling Woods conglomerate, shared their perceptions on the viewing and attendance tactics of the Indian American audience; they hypothesized that this group prefers to see films in the privacy of their homes, with family and friends, a social event. I disagreed feeling that there is nothing that can replace the cocoon like quality that a darkened theatre sheds upon the viewer; the exclusion of reality, cast aside; replaced temporarily, by the delectable, delusional domain of fantasy! But the size of the theatre attendees is shrinking, their hypothesis could be correct and tragic.

Rakeysh Mehra. The reclusive genius, the award winning director of “Rang De Basanti”; one of the most catastrophically successful films of all time starring heartthrob, Aamir Khan ; the second viewing more powerfully potent than the initial screening. Rakeysh is a unique, mystical man, an archaic esthetic in a contemporary milieu. He is a visionary who views the world with the wisdom of the past and the prescience of the future; his philosophy so pristine, so applicable it borders on the sublime. For two hours he shared his life, his dreams of a universe devoid of strife and pestilence; of all he held dear. I left knowing that I had been in the presence of not only greatness, but goodness.

Mahesh Bhatt. (“Saaranch”) The quintessential showman; an award winning director, writer, actor. He has directed 50 films, written 24, produced 13 and acted in 5. I encouraged him to increase the number in the last category; for 45 minutes he was a whirling dervish, speaking, gesticulating, expounding with passion and fervor on a myriad of topics. He is brilliant, iconoclastic, shocking and delivers his one liners with perfect pitch. His influences range from the ordinary soul to the extraordinary heart. He feels that film makers are in essence prostitutes, selling their wares at accessible rates; movies are a cure for the “cancer” that eats society, an antibiotic that can have positive short term results. At 62 he is in his prime and turns to gold all that he touches.

Soni Razdan. Actress. Director (“Nazar”). Soni is beautiful, charismatic, graciously delightful; she invited my guide and me for tea in her stunning home. She is a woman of substance, insight, and exudes confidence and professionalism in all she endeavors. She has succeeded in a male dominated arena but still struggles with acceptance and financial support for her future projects. Her talent and energy, channeled for success, inevitably will prevail. Soni is the wife and muse of Mahesh Bhatt. He dedicated his book “A Taste of Life” to Soni, “who helped me put into words those feelings that only the heart can hear.”

My taste of Bollywood, gleaned and flavored by the kindness of these spirited and gifted individuals, will linger forever on the taste buds of my mind, heart, soul and pen. My lasting gratitude to all of you bewitching, enthralling, spellbinding people, and to those who placed them in my sphere.

Penelope Steiner

CAIRO TIME; SWITCH: THE CONCERT

2010-09-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

In the theatres also On Demand!

Sweet, lovely film involving two decent, good and interesting people accidently thrown together in the exotic, confines of Cairo, Egypt. Patricia Clarkson, with her magnetic charm plays Juliette, the stranded wife of a U.N. official. She is escorted and introduced to the mysteries and religious practices of Cairo by Tareq (Alexander Siddig, who smolders in the role).

This is a film about temptation and how one reacts to it. Are we destined for all our needs to be satiated or satisfied by one or several individuals? Are there different kinds of love and do we have a choice in whom we love?

This movie addresses those choices and succeeds in leaving the audience in a retrospective mood; not judging but questioning.

TWO & 1/2 STARS!!

SWITCH

Normally, I would have skipped this soft, cuddly movie but was persuaded to attend, by a not-so-soft but cuddly nonetheless, individual; I smiled, laughed and was vastly entertained throughout this entire joyful film. Jennifer Aniston (if only she would change her hairstyle, or part it on the side) plays the 40 year old Kassie whose biological alarm has sounded and she shares with her best friend Wally (played by the ever so adorable Jason Bateman) that she plans on having a child; the “donor” Roland ( the dynamically disarming if somewhat annoying, Patrick Wilson).

The obvious scenario, hilariously depicted, captures the audience and we embrace our captivity.

The movie sparkles with the introduction of Sebastian, played by the irresistible, beguiling, captivating, Thomas Robinson; a precocious, introspective 6 year old; the movie loses its luster with his absence. An older Sebastian is played by Bryce Robinson, the real life older sibling of Thomas!

Cameo performances by Jeff Goldblum and Juliette Lewis give substantial substance and richness to this light hearted comedy.

“Switch” off all your cares and woes, feel the highs, forget the lows;

Exit knowing you’ve experienced a THREE STAR!!! SHOW!

THE CONCERT

Go for the love of music, especially Tchaikovsky

For the love of a unique story: Russian/French connection

For the love of beauty, ethereal Melanie Laurent (“Inglorious Basterds”)

For the love of film; Radu Mihaileanu, has directed a pristinely polished gem

For the love, and the healing powers of escape

For the love of a movie deserving and receiving…….

FOUR STARS!!!!

For Now………..Peneflix

THE AMERICAN

2010-09-05T08:13:00.001-07:00

In the last few years whenever someone asks me if I have seen the latest Julia Roberts or in this instance George Clooney film, my negative kites take flight. Last night I saw “The American” and my kites are now another ring around Saturn. It is vying along with “Sex and the City 2” for first place as one of the worst films of 2010; on second thought, it ranks second; nothing could be worse than “Sex and the City 2”!

It is silent, senseless, at times sensuous but ultimately sinks into septic of sludge!

“The American” does win first prize as my briefest review; my worthy intention to save all of you!

ONE STAR! (The cinematography is luscious.)

For Now……………Peneflix

MAO'S LAST DANCER & STEP UP 3D

2010-09-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

MAO’S LAST DANCER

Based on a true story, this film sheds light on Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution; a revolution that eliminated personal identity and creativity; if possible the differences in male and female would have been expunged, procreation relegated to a Petri dish.

Out of this morass of sameness rises Li Cunxin (portrayed proactively and sensuously by first timer, Chi Cao); taken as a boy by the Party to be trained as a ballet dancer; a tool, a foil to be used as propaganda; one of the most painful scenes, but telling, is the bastardazation of the true meaning of the ballet into a charade and show of force representing the warped and brain- washed Chinese culture of 1966-76. A video tape of Baryshnikov’s gravity- defying feats, banned and relegated to the status of contraband.

The dance scenes are exhilarating; Chi Cao (a principal with the Birmingham Royal Ballet) flies off the screen; his portrayal as a loyal party member, ripped from the conformity of Communist China and placed as an exchange student in the Huston Ballet is joyously believable and entertaining. The ultimate display of his amazing agility is his performance in Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” (Graeme Murphy’s stunning choreography); the glittering gem in a crown of gorgeous ballet sequences.

Secondary roles, especially Bruce Greenwood as Ben Stevenson, the director of the Houston Ballet and Kyle MacLachlan, playing Charles Foster, an immigration attorney are solid and rich performances by confident and seasoned actors.

For the love of classical dance and the triumph of an individual over a totalitarian society this film garnishes……

THREE & 1/2 STARS!!!

STEP UP 3D

From the classical to the contemporary, this movie with its street dancers is fun, fabulous, dazzling, and like a magnet pulls, surrounds and smothers the audience with its ebullience, and aerobic triumphs. The three dimensional technology is captivating and enhances the effects of dancing, literally with the stars, over the rooftops, through the streets, alleys and parks of New York City. 2010’s version of “Singing in the Rain”.
The plot is predictable and trite but it hardly matters. For two hours suspend belief, “go with the flow” let your ageless spirit join the corps and dance, fly, forego reality and bask in the Peter Pan magic of knowing that the competition and prize are yours!

THREE STARS!!!

For Now………….Peneflix

GET LOW

2010-08-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

GET LOW

This wondrous, magical platinum finished film, with its ingenuity, elegant simplicity, creatively crafted cinematography, but primarily the wisdom and purity of its message,
spoke volumes in a whisper.

Loosely based upon a rough, tough, recluse with a linen-lined face and a laser sharp tongue, just barely existing in 1938; Felix “Bush” Breazeale residing with his constant companion, a beloved mule in rural Tennessee decides to be present at his own funeral gala; his curiosity lusting for the sermon his preacher will deliver over his decaying corpse! The idea is titillating and hilarious; everyone at times wants to know how they are spoken of when not present. Over twelve thousand showed up, greedily hoping to win the lottery; ultimately inheriting Bush’s property upon his actual death.

Aaron Schneider (2004, Academy Award for his short film “Two Soldiers”) at 40, has given birth to a masterpiece, five years in the gestation process, worth every minute of massive effort. This film does not have a false second, a moment of artifice; its’ intricately woven plot addresses the deepest, darkest, finest emotions a person can have; there is a well of passion, pain, purgatory and finally a redemption; the championing of a soul in the final round of life. Seared into memory is a man called Felix.

Felix, hypnotically played by Robert Duvall (at this point my choice for the Best Actor Award) is tortured to the point of oblivion; his pristine but sacred prison is a monument to his beloved secret; testimony to the brilliance of his performance, we do not pity his situation but have indomitable respect for his decision. Robert Duvall, with a lifetime of iconic roles has achieved a depth of such magnitude in this film, that it will be years before another “Felix” can test his or anyone else’s dramatic proficiencies.

Bill Murray, as the undertaker Frank Quinn, sinks his creative teeth into this unconventional, slyly alcoholic, wise but disillusioned man and imbues him with insurmountable dignity. Gone is the slap stick humor Mr. Murray is known for, replaced with an intellect and a quarry of knowledge that obviously years of desire and drilling went into its formation. An award winning display of his multitudinous talents.

Sissy Spacek as Maddie Darrow, is beautiful, insightful, kind and seasoned; she softens the harshness of the males, but her story is the cement that binds and holds the truth of Felix’s enforced confinement. Ms. Spacek is gifted and has always shown great discretion and astuteness in her role selections.

Lucas Black, as Buddy Robinson, Frank Quinn’s assistant is wonderful. He the perfect foil, conscience to Quinn’s acerbity and harsh realism; his youth, freshness, naivety and eventual growth added a touch of warmth, joy and humor to the evolving story.

This quiet, potent and vibrantly alive film left the audience knowing the truth and validity of the words, ‘you can’t help who you love”.

I could not help but love this film.

FOUR & 1/2 STARS!!!!

For Now…………Peneflix

EAT PRAY LOVE

2010-08-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

EAT PRAY LOVE

(Enervating Painful Lifeless)

Being a firm advocate of capitalism I applauded the success of Elizabeth Gilbert’s novel, Eat Pray Love, a dull, narcissistic, rambling journey through the splendors of Rome, India and Bali; a quest for emotional enlightenment; a healing after a doomed marriage. This film reduces the viewer to paralyzing ennui; packed with useless drivel, thirty year old jokes, stale clichés, the ultimate boring display of “finding oneself”. Even the glories of the locations could not salvage the movie.
Julia Roberts, talented and beautiful, has reached the point where her persona is obfuscating and transcending her characters.
Special mention in the credits should be given to her dentist!

Only the male roles kept me from succumbing to jet lag and the tantalizing tug of the exit sign.
Billy Crudup, Stephen, the dumped husband; has an enchanting dance sequence, sadly far too brief.
James Franco, David, the gorgeous young actor, striving to tame the glum Liz.
Hadi Subiyanto, Ketut, a guru who could convert the most blackened spirits and obstinate souls.
Richard Jenkins (“The Visitor”) Richard, with tough love, is the catalyst for Liz’s spiritual catharsis.
Javier Bardem, Felipe, with insouciant charm, breaks the vitrine encapsulating her heart.

The performances of these men are the sole reason to bequeath this film……..

TWO STARS!!

For Now…………Peneflix

A TOWN CALLED LEH: THE AFTERMATH OF THE APACALYPSE

2010-08-24T15:15:00.000-07:00

A TOWN CALLED LEH: THE AFTERMATH OF THE APOCALYPSE

Imprisoned in the glorious splendor of the Himalayan Mountains, rests Leh, the capital of Ladakh, India. Its astounding beauty and tradition traces it roots to the third century BC; a hub of Buddhism and eventually a commercial Mecca of the Silk Route.

On Thursday, the 5th of August my guide and I arrived in what can only be described as awe inspiring; this ancient, historical and magnificent paradise, a symbol of the archaic and present; ubiquitous chortens (memorials) to the past Kings and Queens of Ladakh dotting the landscape, ranging from the sophistication and skill of master craftsmen to the modest talents of the unschooled; bazaars with sinuous, dark, scented corridors, snake for blocks through a labyrinth of wares: jewelry stores joined with butcher shops, spice venues married to shoemakers, working with tools long abandoned, replaced by modern technology, but proficient in attaining its goals. Those questing for the foreign, will be divinely saturated.

In the small hours of Friday, August 6th , disaster with Olympian magnitude struck this unsuspecting town; in seconds Zeus claimed the lives of hundreds, snuffed from existence, never to have another thought, never again to feel the ferocity of the summer’s sun, the frigidity of a winter’s moon, sentenced to oblivion, beyond knowing, beyond pain, beyond platitudes.

Homes, constructed of mud washed from their mountainous foundations, not a trace of their prior life left visible; claimed by the Indus River, destined to a watery grave; gone forever, praying not to be forgotten.

I believe that there is a karmic power, a reason why one is placed, at a determined moment in time in a preordained situation. My guide, Muneer Suri, rose to the challenge of the catastrophe and helped his friend Odpal George, save the bewildered and shocked survivors; mending bridges and gifted moral support so sorely craved.

My experience with the devastation of nature’s power over mankind has been softened by the media; the tsunami, Katrina, even the BP oil debacle, viewed in the protective custody and privacy of my home, rendered the horrors palatable; I could switch off the television, close the newspaper, turn a deaf ear to the radio and tackle the day as intended; never having to adjust my routine. In Leh, a cloud burst, altered my life; I left the confines of my electricity and internet deprived hotel and walked through the aftermath of the nightmare, without blinders I witnessed what the gods, especially Thor could accomplish at whim: homes topped with ruined cars, buses crushed to a fraction of their original size, bodies being pulled from dilapidated and unrecognizable structures. People with staggering dignity, scavenging through the detritus, for anything worthy of salvation. Wading knee deep in mud to photograph a child clutching a withered toy; that toy, more precious than any gemstone; a symbol of hope and life, the image crystallized in my consciousness, until the day I cease to be.

In conclusion, I shed tears over the myriad of shoes, all sizes, never a pair, but sculptural in their poignancy; these lovely, lonely shoes, reminiscent of the unknown feet, lost souls of their prior owners. There was a sacredness in their survival and I knew that as long as my feet tread the cosmos I had witnessed, with unprotected vision a profound and monumental tragedy, which added a depth of wisdom lacking, but now emblazoned, frozen in my heart and spirit, resting on a pedestal, never to be toppled from my mind; an ever present reminder to avoid shunning but perpetually grasp the enigmatic lessons of fate.

Penelope Steiner

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in High Definition

2010-07-31T12:13:00.000-07:00

The Metropolitan Opera: Live in High Definition

Years ago as a student in Rome, Italy on a whim I decided to go to the Opera; a challenge, being totally uneducated and underexposed; but every taxi driver in Italy sang arias, so why shouldn’t I give it a try; although hearing people would pay me to sing “over the hill and far away”. I went, and at nineteen my life was altered; the affect of my first opera, Giacomo Puccini’s (1858-1924) La Boheme, was profound, intoxicating, mesmerizing and overwhelming. There was no English text, just the most unequivocally beautiful music I had ever experienced; each sung note toyed with my heart and tear ducts: the tears would not cease and I exulted in surrendering all control; I had never felt so perfectly vulnerable, a tool, a vacuum, a receptacle for this musical miracle. I was ambushed emotionally and have been imprisoned in divine captivity for decades; an unknown void; filled to capacity. How could this happen? Love at first sound and a happiness so tangible, it galloped from my pores.
Who was this composer? A mere mortal who in the solitude and privacy of his gifted mind could fathom such magnificence; could hear and visualize this monumental creation that would capture audiences for eternity; my faith in a god, reinforced.

The Metropolitan Opera in New York City has given the twenty-first century its greatest and most culturally artistic innovation. Anyone can now go to the Opera in a movie theatre. You can view it live, all over the world or go to a taped encore performance at a later publicized date. Erased from the elitism attached to this art form, the intimidation,
expensive ticket prices. You can attend, attired as you like in a seat you prefer, eat popcorn and expose yourself to the extraordinary magical skills of composers past and present. You may exit without embarrassment, although the final act is usually the most traumatic and scintillating.

Through the years I have concluded that there are those with an inherited Opera gene; it is part of their DNA; others can cultivate and become scholars but never have the visceral, powerful, gut-wrenching sensation when the first chords are struck. In the movie “Pretty Woman” (1990) Edward (Richard Gere) takes Vivian (Julia Roberts, the paid professional) to a performance of Verdi’s La Travita; her reaction was one of amazing joy, understanding and empathy; she was hooked, acknowledging that enchantment had struck , bowed at her feet, and grasped with musical tentacles her emancipated spirit.

Tickets go on sale the beginning of September. If you are a neophyte commence with Puccini, Verdi, Bizet, Mozart, Rossini, Massenet; save Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Wagner for the second season. Regardless of age, take a bite and quite possibly an appetizing addiction will develop.

For Now………..Peneflix

I will be on hiatus for almost a month; but working on my quest to satisfy my craving for Bollywood films; a week in Mumbai should serve as an entrée to this dedicated mission.

Please do not hesitate to keep me informed of movies (good, bad or ugly) that I should view and review upon my return! Thank you!

SALT

2010-07-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

SALT

When I think of summers past it is not picnics, beaches or lemonade stands that come to mind; it is the theme parks with tilt-a-whirls, parachute plunges, but primarily the roller coaster with its palpating ascent and paralyzing descent that remains a frozen memory; sitting alone (my cowardly friends watching in horror) in the front seat, the world vanished, my heart and stomach switched places, leaving only the purest sensation of losing control, flirting with fate; my destiny determined by mechanics. That fearless person has vanished and now is a pillar of seasoned, if at times flawed, discretion. But as I watched “Salt” the titillating sensation of joy and recklessness played heavenly havoc with my mind and remembrance.

“Salt” is everything a summer movie should be: mindlessly entertaining, fascinating and constantly challenging your perceptions, breathtaking to watch and gorgeously filmed.
Every second was thrilling; with its conclusion came a touch of remorse.

Angelina Jolie is Evelyn Salt; she along with the Bollywood diva, Aishwarya Rai, rank as two of the most miraculously, divinely, bewitching women in the world; at times their beauty transcends their characterizations and can be disturbingly distracting. It is testimony to their talent that they sink their perfect incisors into the psyche of the roles they inhabit and leave not a quivering doubt in the viewer’s eye that what you see lacks all artifice and is real to the core.

Evelyn Salt is a force and employed by the CIA; her agility is aerobic, acrobatic, aerial and a lethal weapon; she is Clark Kent (Superman) in female form. Tom Cruise was considered for the role (Edward Salt?) but the movie works exceptionally well with a woman proficient in skills dominated by males; oh, the exhilaration as Evelyn takes flight.

The ultimate movie fantasy would be a pairing of Evelyn Salt and Lisbeth Salander (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”); two heroines, combining attributes and with unmitigated strength liquidate the dark, nefarious, empire of evil; Rambo and The Terminator replaced by the feminine mystique, with brawn.

THREE & 1/2 STARS!!!

For Now…………Peneflix

AGORA

2010-07-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

AGORA (A Place of Assembly)

On a recent trip to Spain I succumbed to my craving, my ambrosial addiction, and went to a movie. How pleased was I that Alejandro Amenabar’s (“The Sea Inside”, a classic favorite ) “Agora” with the enchanting Rachel Weisz had just premiered in Madrid.
Sadly, the movie fell far short of my expectations. I admired the courage and fortitude of Amenabar and Weisz in tackling one of antiquities most inimitable women, Hypatia, the beautiful and brilliant mathematician and astronomer teaching in Alexandria, Egypt in 400 A.D.

Her father Theon, a famed mathematician, supported and encouraged her intellectual precociousness. She became head of the Neo-Platonist school of philosophy in Alexandria. Her eruditeness in the field of science was feared and considered pagan by the early Christians with their intransigent mentality; she refuses to convert and thus seals her destiny.

Lusting after the spectacle; the more plagues, chariot races, sea-partings, destructions of evil empires, the more satiated my cravings. Unfortunately, contemporary technology raises its technological head and destroys the illusion, digitalization screams in all scenes except the sacking of the Alexandria library; the citadel of knowledge dies a realistic and horrific death. Crucified by the ignorant.

Religious quests and conquests: pagans murdering Christians, Christians retaliating but adding Jews to the conflagration; grew tiresome, only Hypatia’s life was riveting. She taught the keenest male minds of the period, but shunned their advances; her energies focused on the celestial and its relationship to the earth.

History and mythology have not neglected but recognized the wisdom and vision of many iconic women. The artist Anselm Kiefer in his book “Women of Antiquity” ranks Hypatia, with Lilith, Pandora and Queen Zenobia, as a prime member of this sorority.

Praise for a valiant effort but “Agora” does not ignite or inspire one’s passions for Hypatia, a woman not just of antiquity but for all ages.

TWO 1/2 STARS!!

For Now…………….Peneflix

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE & INCEPTION

2010-07-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

It is surprisingly good. As a major advocate of Stieg Larsson’s trilogy I counted the days before I saw “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, my expectations were met and exceeded by the film. “The Girl Who Played with Fire” is the weakest of the trilogy, so I went with limited anticipations. What a delicious surprise; like looking at something unappetizing and with the first bite realizing you are swallowing a taste of heaven.

“The Girl Who Played with Fire” is better than the novel; it is pared down, the supercilious erased, the action mesmerizing, the actors flawless in their characterizations; even the villains exude enticing evil.

The glue, cement, the major component of the plot is the concrete performance of Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander; feel Larsson had her image in mind when he created the character. Her strength of body and mind; her uncompromised principles; the intensity of her desires and the single-mindedness in which she executes her missions equal a heroine of unusual and undaunted proportions. A feared inexorable force.

Michael Nyqvist as the journalist Mikael Blomkvist (loosely based on the dead novelist, Larsson) garnishes accolades for his shy and sensitive demeanor, his agility, wisdom in climbing into the psyche of Lisbeth and uncovering her location; their relationship and its vicissitudes, the yin and yang add a tremendous seductive allure to the story.

Be prepared for two and one half hours of immense entertainment.

THREE &1/2 STARS!!!

INCEPTION

The gluttonous hype of Christopher Nolan’s (“Dark Knight”) had thousands line up at theatres around the country for the 12:01 AM showing on Friday, July 16th! This critic waited for the noon viewing, a sensible and pragmatic decision.
My normal agenda is to wait a few days before putting my thoughts into print; the films and my insights manifest a defined clarity after the marinating process. In this case I had a lightening bolt epiphany. “Inception” is a movie for the video game generation; Half Life lovers will be salivating through every convoluted, senseless, inane but disturbing beautiful scene. They will immediately “take a leap of faith” (oft repeated line in the movie) and not try (as obtuse thinkers did) to decipher the difference between actuality and the dream state. After thirty frustrating minutes I joined the crowd and enjoyed watching in triplicate the gorgeous actors; three of Leonardo DiCaprio, awake, asleep or dreaming he is a constant banquet for the eyes; Marion Cotillard (Academy Award Winner, La Vie en Rose. Edith Piaf’s song resonates throughout the film) ethereally enchanting and perpetually dreamlike; Cillian Murphy’s (“ Breakfast on Pluto ) beauty is mythical and worthy of a fourth dimension; small and talented Ellen Page (Juno) still in the embryonic stages; three of her was two too many; Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer) is the most aerobic and floats rhythmically in three different spheres. A future “Dancing with the Stars” candidate.

“Inception” is a 160 million dollar ambitious idea gone awry; bifurcated by the digitalized world of contemporary technology.

FOUR STARS!!!! (15-35 YEAR OLD AUDIENCE)
TWO STARS!! (36 AND BEYOND)

For Now……………..Peneflix

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

2010-07-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Or “Scenes from a Contemporary Marriage”. It is timely, well-acted and I fall into the minority that found it tedious, boring, with minimal interest in any of the principals, the exception being the children. Mia Wasikowska as Joni, the soon to be college freshman captures the essence of a bright, sophisticated, mature young woman: credit has to go to the “Moms” for her development. Josh Hutcherson as Laser is more complex; the typical boy keeping his thoughts, desires and opinions primarily to himself. The successful scenes revolve around the “Moms” soliciting him to open up and share his feelings; he stoically and with a certain dismantling charm rejects their prodding. All who have raised children will relate to these frustrating, realistic moments.

Annette Bening, as Nic gives a fine and credible performance as the bread winner in the family; she is not likeable, she whines and whimpers and elicits little or no sympathy.
Julianne Moore plays Jules, the stay at home Mom who with her daughter leaving for college and her fifteen old son moving into the nebulous and inexorable teenage world, decides to tackle a new career as a landscape artist (in this scenario a euphemism for gardener). Moore, also accomplished and amazingly convincing in the role garnishes little empathy, especially with her choices. Maybe that was planned; like many who quest for professional validity that is rarely granted, grasping the ephemeral dying leaves that invade their path.

Mark Roffalo as Paul is exceptional and insatiably gobbles up the good fortune thrust upon him. He is the alchemist pivoting and transforming one family member to another, he is genuinely endearing and could cook for me any Sunday.

The children are fine; it is the parents that are teetering on the precipice of disillusionment.

TWO STARS!!

For Now……………Peneflix

RESTREPO

2010-07-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

RESTREPO

A year ago I saw, along with young physically challenged veterans, the staggeringly remarkable “The Hurt Locker” directed by Kathryn Bigelow. It concentrated on the war in Iraq but its brilliance rested it its lack of politics; no whys, if onlys, or Bush bashing; just focusing on getting the job done. I knew it was one the finest films about war that I had ever seen and the Academy validated my insights by honoring it with the Academy Award for Best Picture, 2009.

“Restrepo” a documentary, portrays the war in Afghanistan. Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington have created a riveting but at times flawed masterpiece. Over a two year period they lived, filmed, almost perished with Battle Company of the 173rd Airborne Brigade at the Restrepo outpost (named after Juan “Doc” Restrepo, a fun loving medic we see in the commencement of the documentary; his death haunts every member of the Brigrade) in the lethal, Taliban- infested Korengal Valley. The interviewed soldiers at times stoically, but often with debilitating emotion that gashes your heart; tell their solicited and unsolicited thoughts about their families, friends, war. They are gentle men, farmers, city boys in the prime of youth; not even knowing what they “want to be when they grow up”. They live every gun- riddled moment, knowing the future is illusive, an apparition they might never possess. Their tattooed bodies a tableau, that speak vibrant, soundless volumes of their idols, passions and fears.

Afghanistan’s image is one of evil, destruction and hell. But its beauty is rarely addressed. Kahled Hosseini”s “A Thousand Splendid Suns” quotes a seventeenth century Afgan poet, Saib-e-Tabrizi:

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.

Whether their intention or not Junger and Hetherington give credibility to these lines of sublime poetry, while depicting the nightmarish, mundane, droning, unpredictable lives of the men at Restrepo.

FOUR STARS!!!!

For Now……………..Peneflix

CYRUS

2010-07-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

CYRUS

On a recent trip to Minneapolis John C. Reilly sat in the seat behind me: immediately recognizing him I was ginger about approaching him: many known personalities are protective of their privacy and this I respect. As I went to deplane I mentioned how much I was looking forward to seeing “Cyrus”; he was instantly gracious, asked which carry on was mine; he was so tall, he was eye to eye with my wheelie. We chatted, parted and I was left knowing that he was a genuinely nice person. I went to see “Cyrus” with a bias, I wanted to like it because of him. Any concern dissipated in seconds; the movie is thoroughly entertaining, thought provoking and at times “warm and fuzzy”!

The story revolves around John (John C. Reilly) a lost soul still in love with his ex-wife Jamie (Catherine Keener), not looking for love in any of the right places. Jamie persuades him to attend a party with her and her fiancé. After a couple of false starts he meets and connects with Molly (Marisa Tomei, the cire perdue, the lost wax mold; only she can sculpt this character); midway into a flirtatious conversation he hears the commencement of a song “Don’t You Want Me” (Human League) he takes flight, with beer in hand, sings and dances (neither too well) foolishly, until Molly and others join in the gaiety. This scene cements our rooting for and championing this man. Anyone who adores music and dance can relate to hearing the first strains of a song and no matter how intense the conversation: Einstein’s theory of relativity, quality of the Hubble telescope images, latest fall fashions; the intellect freezes and the body is empowered with the magic of movement. “Mack the Knife”, “YMCA”, all of Abba electrify my dancing gene.

Molly and John have instant chemistry; rather miraculous after a seven year romantic draught for John. Here is a prime example of “if it’s too good to be true”….. Enter the corpulent, creepily cunning Cyrus (a mesmerizing performance by Jonah Hill). He is a precocious new age composer, (the music surprisingly sophisticated and moving) a sultry man-child of twenty-one with an unnatural attachment to his mother, Molly. They live in an insular world, a bubble, containing two first class seats. John, the interloper wants initially coach but rapidly yearns for business status.

The essence and power of this ménage a trois; the sparring, one-upmanship, intriguing dialogue; a war of words denigrating into a battle of blows; herein lies the success of “Cyrus”. The Duplass brothers (Jay and Mark) display an uncanny ability to capture the emotions, complexities, defeats and triumphs of the major characters. Like a funambulist they walk a tightrope balancing the salacious and sensational with the salubrious and intelligent. This balance is integral to the integrity of the film.

John C. Reilly has made countless films but “Cyrus” elevates his gift of depicting the vulnerabilities and strengths of the common man to extraordinary heights and box office delights!

THREE&1/2 STARS!!!

For Now………….Peneflix

COCO (CHANEL) AND IGOR (STRAVINSKY)

2010-07-02T21:12:00.001-07:00

COCO (CHANEL) AND IGOR (STRAVINSKY)

We have all heard the expression “watching paint dry”; the implication derogatory, but what I would have sacrificed to watch a Delacroix, Courbet, Renoir, Picasso, Kline, Richter, Johns, Curran whose layers and layers of paint, encaustic, varnish took days and sometimes years to loose their liquidity, solidify and dry. Pure, unadulterated ecstasy!

So on a recent trip to Los Angeles I was taken by my most fascinating friend to view “Coco and Igor” and from the onset we felt gifted, privy, in awe of the intense beauty Jan Kounen, the director, painted for us; one of the most powerful partnerships between film and painting ever viewed, and the miracle of the experience is that we the viewer became the hand and eye of the artist envisioning and finalizing the creation.

Not being a fashion aficionado but having a few friends who have accomplished and consummated the ideal relationship between couture and individuality (L.E. G. S. P. B.C.J. First initials to protect the identity, of these pivotal archetypes).

I have tired of all the Coco hype over the last few years. But this film is great: Anna Mouglalis is magnificent as Coco Chanel; she captures the drive, ambition and courage it took to crusade and challenge a male- dominated world in the early twentieth century. Jan Kounen was dauntless in casting her in the role. She was the muse and model for Karl Lagerfeld (appointed head designer for Chanel in 1982). His choice was prophetic. No one could have worn with such grace and agility, the vintage, archival Chanel wardrobe, as grounded as her personality, she is angelic, pristine poetry in motion.

Mads Mikkelsen as Igor Stravinsky is good as the tormented innovative composer whose
scores for Firebird (1910) and Petrushka (1911) ignited his initial flirtation with fame and recognition.

The film revolves around a brief and passionate interlude in the lives of these two avant- garde individuals. Commencing in 1913 with the debut in Paris of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) choreographed by Nijinsky, performed by the Ballet Russe. This scene is worth the price of admission and should be seen by all Stravinsky lovers; it is the perfect depiction of what occurred, the audience’s descent into disrespectful audacity, the tenacity of the dancers under horrific abuse; but Stravinsky in this one composition envisions the devastation, the nightmare soon to be visited upon the world, the Great War. Coco Chanel was a witness and inspired by The Rite of Spring, she never left her seat.

In 1920 at a dinner hosted by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev the two icons meet and Stravinsky, a victim of the Russian Revolution, impoverished, living with his consumptive wife and four children in confined quarters, reluctantly accepts Coco’s invitation to move with his family into her villa, Bel Respino, Garches, situated outside Paris.

It is here that the major composition: symphonic, structured, painterly explodes with the evolution of each frame. It is symmetrically gorgeous and unmatched; each scene worthy of a Cindy Sherman film still. Jan Kounen envisions Piet Mondrian, at the conclusion of his march to abstraction, sculptural perfection of David Smith, engineering supremacy of Alexander Calder. The intimate scenes are refulgent in their staged and formal beauty. There is not a messy moment in this movie.

A stunning but brief hiatus in the lives of two fearless, iconic individuals who dared and succeeded in breaking the confines, rigidity; choking, smothering the early twentieth century.

FOUR STARS!!!!

For Now…………….Peneflix

I AM LOVE

2010-06-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

I AM LOVE……

Is flawless and the finest film I have experienced in years. It lacerated my very core leaving a crater of such magnitude, a wound, that after the pain of poignancy has evaporated the scar tissue left in its wake will leave a treasured reminder, a tattoo to be savored, and guarded for the remainder of my life.

Luca Guadagnino has created a masterpiece at the Michelangelo level: Tilda Swinton (also a producer) is his canvas. She is Emma, a Russian émigré; married into an Italian textile dynasty; the mother of three talented and ethereally beautiful children. She is detached, glacial, and floats, perfectly coiffed in designer couturiere through the magically magnificent world of wealth, refinement and privilege; she is an observer until……love shatters her pristine, crystal façade.

You rarely see a film so perfectly balanced, visually, aesthetically, musically. The camera, like Casanova strokes with tenderness and intimacy all it encounters; there is no hierarchy, every individual and object is given the same smothering, passionate embrace, reminiscent of an Andy Warhol Silkscreen.

John Adams, the minimalist composer has divined a score that will resonate forever in the sanctified halls of iconic movie soundtracks. His musical interpretation is the unspoken language, not heard but envisioned in the minds of the actors; the emotional content so chaste that one groaned with its intensity and purity.

Cuisine is the golden thread that weaves its delectable delights, the roux that binds and nourishes all the pivotal scenes, salivating with its carnality, rising as the quintessential pastry to the pinnacle of love. Guadagnino uses a Michelin starred chef to mold his “epicurean wizardry”; each tasted and swallowed morsel, sensual, personal, a metaphor for love.

We witness a love so profound, sublime that it transcends all else and the cinematography, photography, music are the match makers, complicit in the consummation, culmination of the redolent, unique recipe for a life long passion, obsession.

This film should be viewed more than once. The poet John Keats wrote:

A thing of Beauty is a joy for ever,
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness…….

“I Am Love” portrays a pairing like the Sarus Crane found in some parts of India. They meet, mate, share a soul; when one perishes the other follows, the only reason for living has passed into nothingness.

FIVE STARS!!!!!

For Now……………Peneflix

Do NOT leave the theatre until the screen is dark!

KNIGHT AND DAY

2010-06-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

KNIGHT AND DAY

If you just want the review scroll down! I can take all sorts of license being the Founder, CEO, and CFO of Peneflix.

June is one of my favorite months: conclusion of the school year, commencement of summer and a celebration of my life. Decades ago I read that when you die you take with you the things you gave away while alive; this became my mantra; I wanted to leave this world with tankards, planes, trains following my funeral pyre. Loving the “loaves and fish” philosophy the more I receive the more I give away; a “thing” is a temporary loan, a bond and should not initiate too much sentiment or attachment.

Oh how I relish giving parties; nothing is more gratifying than having fun and sharing good times with people you care about. Fun comes in all forms so two days ago I had an event for many of my friends. A movie screening, followed by lunch. Everyone had to be at the theatre by 10:30 in the morning (a first for some); they were given popcorn, water and ballots with a “ thumbs up or thumbs down” logo; I collected the ballots after the film.

“Knight and Day” starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz was incredulously hilarious; some of us laughed until the tear ducts were dry and running mascara created clown like masks on perfectly powered cheeks; others groaned with the predictability and triteness of the dialogue.
One of my tragic flaws is a weakness for Tom Cruise. Since “ Risky Business” in 1983, “Born on the 4th of July” in 1989 (one of the most devastating heart- wrenching performances in the history of film), I have admired his courage, his fearlessness in avoiding the mundane, playing vampires, homosexuals, supermen. I like looking at him, knowing he does his own stunts, I like his smile that others taunt, his Mr. America physique, his inimitable sincerity in every role he immerses himself in. It is a flaw I am comfortable living with.
The successful pairing of Cruise and Diaz saved the movie from the ordinary and strangely half way through the viewing I found myself caring about Ray and June. Diaz is remarkable in conquering comedic roles (“There is Something about Mary”); she owns the best scene as the drugged (truth serum) June walking, talking and laughing through a sea of bullets.

The lunch was in a bowling alley: pizza, turkey and veggie sandwiches, salads, chicken nuggets, chocolate chip cookies. Deliciously caloric and fraught with trans fat, my favorite energizer. As I flitted from one synergistic group to another, filling beverage desires, listening to their reviews, opinions and wallowing in the laughter, gaiety so tangible it could be packaged, I was struck and frozen by a clairvoyant bolt; with the power and vision that one has but a few times in one’s life. All my stars, universe were in perfect alignment; I looked at these platinum people of all disciplines, ages, religions and race; and my mind with a pristine clarity screamed at perfect pitch THESE ARE MY FRIENDS! My heart inflated to the size of the Good Year Blimp and these and all others not present, rendered me the most exquisite happiness, a happiness that was virginal in its completeness.

The votes are counted and interesting enough “thumbs up” won by a “nose”! We took a hiatus from the serious lives we lead and for a few brief hours basked in the sunshine of a unique moment in time.

“Knight and Day” receives:

TWO & 1/2 STARS!!

The day itself, held all the stars in the firmament.

For Now……………Peneflix

COCO (CHANEL) AND IGOR (STRAVINSKY)

2010-06-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

COCO (CHANEL) AND IGOR (STRAVINSKY)

We have all heard the expression “watching paint dry”; the implication derogatory, but what I would have sacrificed to watch a Delacroix, Courbet, Renoir, Picasso, Kline, Richter, Johns, Curran whose layers and layers of paint, encaustic, varnish took days and sometimes years to loose their liquidity, solidify and dry. Pure, unadulterated ecstasy!

So on a recent trip to Los Angeles I was taken by my most fascinating friend to view “Coco and Igor” and from the onset we felt gifted, privy, in awe of the intense beauty Jan Kounen, the director, painted for us; one of the most powerful partnerships between film and painting ever viewed, and the miracle of the experience is that we the viewer became the hand and eye of the artist envisioning and finalizing the creation.

Not being a fashion aficionado but having a few friends who have accomplished and consummated the ideal relationship between couture and individuality (L.E. G. S. P. B.C.J. First initials to protect the identity, of these pivotal archetypes).

I have tired of all the Coco hype over the last few years. But this film is great: Anna Mouglalis is magnificent as Coco Chanel; she captures the drive, ambition and courage it took to crusade and challenge a male- dominated world in the early twentieth century. Jan Kounen was dauntless in casting her in the role. She was the muse and model for Karl Lagerfeld (appointed head designer for Chanel in 1982). His choice was prophetic. No one could have worn with such grace and agility, the vintage, archival Chanel wardrobe, as grounded as her personality, she is angelic, pristine poetry in motion.

Mads Mikkelsen as Igor Stravinsky is good as the tormented innovative composer whose scores for Firebird (1910) and Petrushka (1911) ignited his initial flirtation with fame and recognition.

The film revolves around a brief and passionate interlude in the lives of these two avant- garde individuals. Commencing in 1913 with the debut in Paris of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) choreographed by Nijinsky, performed by the Ballet Russe. This scene is worth the price of admission and should be seen by all Stravinsky lovers; it is the perfect depiction of what occurred, the audience’s descent into disrespectful audacity, the tenacity of the dancers under horrific abuse; but Stravinsky in this one composition envisions the devastation, the nightmare soon to be visited upon the world, the Great War. Coco Chanel was a witness and inspired by The Rite of Spring, she never left her seat.

In 1920 at a dinner hosted by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev the two icons meet and Stravinsky, a victim of the Russian Revolution, impoverished, living with his consumptive wife and four children in confined quarters, reluctantly accepts Coco’s invitation to move with his family into her villa, Bel Respino, Garches, situated outside Paris.

It is here that the major composition: symphonic, structured, painterly explodes with the evolution of each frame. It is symmetrically gorgeous and unmatched; each scene worthy of a Cindy Sherman film still. Jan Kounen envisions Piet Mondrian, at the conclusion of his march to abstraction, sculptural perfection of David Smith, engineering supremacy of Alexander Calder. The intimate scenes are refulgent in their staged and formal beauty. There is not a messy moment in this movie.

A stunning but brief hiatus in the lives of two fearless, iconic individuals who dared and succeeded in breaking the confines, rigidity; choking, smothering the early twentieth century.

FOUR STARS!!!!

For Now…………….Peneflix

WINTER'S BONE

2010-06-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

WINTER’S BONE

It has been eons since I have experienced a more bleakly brilliant film; so brutally raw and realistic that it has a voyeuristic flavor, the viewer should not be privy to the gruesomeness and pain inflicted on the characters, especially the indomitable Ree Dolly (precociously played by Jennifer Lawrence). We must pay homage to Daniel Woodrell upon whose book this iconic film is based and to the genius of directors Debra Ganik and Anne Rosellini who nurtured it to fruition.

The plot revolves around a seventeen- year old girl, whose drug making father has jumped bail, disappeared, leaving as collateral her paltry farm nesting in the Missouri Ozarks; she is the pillar of stone and strength that keep her mother, sister and brother from starving. Her Herculean efforts to find her father, while protecting her family are gut wrenching and typify the Chinese adage “the strongest steel goes through the hottest flame”. And fire of this intensity has not been witnessed on the screen since Scarlet O’Hara, in “Gone with the Wind”.

She is aided in her endeavors by her uncle Teardrop (John Hawkes, gives a performance of such magnitude, it ranks with the elite of best performances ever portrayed in the history of film) a terrifying man with banished hope and a life wasted at the altar of addiction.

The title, so intriguing sparked a spirited conversation between a feisty, intelligent friend and me. “Winter” was obvious; the melting ice cycles, frosted breath and sterile landscape, enhanced the desperation of their plight. Also reminiscent of John Steinbeck’s 1961 “The Winter of Our Discontent” based on William Shakespeare’s Richard III (“Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York”). Never has winter been so paralyzingly painted, without volumes of snow.

“Bone” is more complex in its interpretation. References to “throw a bone”, a break, a gift, a pass; “bone of contention”, disagreement, argument, an issue that must be resolved between parties; bones constitute the skeleton of mammals and humans. But the mystery of “bone” revolves around Ree. Her survival instincts and inscrutable will enable her to grapple with and conquer the most insidious impediments, all in the name of love and survival; she is godlike in her mission.

“Winter’s Bone” takes fortitude to view but you leave knowing that winter has concluded and perhaps not “summer”, but spring and hope are on the horizon for this daughter of the Ozarks.

FOUR STARS!!!!

For Now…………….Peneflix

SOLITARY MAN

2010-06-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

SOLITARY MAN

In less than a year we have had “A Serious…”, “A Single...” and now a “Solitary Man”; played with delicious debauchery by Michael Douglas (who with time, grows to resemble his father, Kirk). Mr. Douglas as Ben Kalmen is the aging Lothario who with Faustian gusto seeks youth and virility in the arms of “barely” legal girls and women. He is amoral, shameless and raises sleaziness to the celestial level. But as much as he throws caution, relationships and love by the fistfuls into the wind there is something illusive and charming about the man that defies logic and try as one might you discover yourself rooting for him. We want him to win back his integrity, his wealth and his family; to wake up and acknowledge that no one succeeds in tricking death; gods, kings, and mortals have tried; Sisyphus relished temporary victory, but inevitably the grim Reaper, grinningly remains undaunted and undefeated. Michael Douglas triumphs with this phenomenal, insightful, even poignant characterization of a man who has lost his way, but not his vision.

The secondary female roles are outstanding: Susan Sarandon, in buxom glory, is splendid and wise as the ex wife; Jenna Fisher as Susan, his long suffering and understanding daughter is remarkable as his “confessor”. She is the parent to the child her father has morphed into.

The sumptuously beautiful Imogen Poots as Allison, the eighteen year old Siren is breathtaking in her portrayal of a woman, prematurely seasoned in the mystique of Kama Sutra, like a viper she sinks her teeth into the heart of her victim, injecting its venom, and exiting with a frigid and passionless spirit. Allison’s nefarious and iconoclastic intelligence is a force to fear and shun.

There are moments of frustration but they are outweighed by the tightly and finely tuned dialogue and the insurmountable humanity depicted by the entire cast.

Leaving the theatre Emily Dickinson’s pithy poem pranced through my head:

Because I could not Stop for Death-

He Kindly Stopped for Me-

The Carriage Held but just Ourselves-

And Immortality.

Ben Kalmen’s Carriage is years from the departure date.

THREE STARS!!!

For Now………Peneflix

SPLICE

2010-06-18T22:16:00.001-07:00

SPLICE

Do you remember Dolly? Not Dolly Levi from “Hello Dolly”; but darling Dolly, the sheep, born July 5th, 1996, the first mammal to be cloned from “an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer”. Scientists Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and their colleagues at the Rosin Institute outside of Edinburgh, Scotland used a cell from a mammary gland and chose the name in reference to the country western singer Dolly Parton, whose pneumatic endowments are universally revered and respected.

Dolly’s sheltered environment; her pallet never savored the culinary delicacies of the Scottish countryside, imprisoned in an experimental lab, where she had six children, but regretfully was euthanized February 14th, 2003, debilitated by severe lung disease and arthritis; a bleak, depressing and morbid Valentines Day!

The concept of cloning is magnetic, powerful, and science has made colossal strides in embryo (therapeutic) and reproductive cloning. Hence the movie “Splice” has a chilling sense of reality and prophesy in its thesis.

Adrien Brody (Clive) and Sarah Polley (Elsa) are biotechnicians who splice human DNA into a preexisting genetic experiment. Dren (Delphine Chaneac) is the child of their illegal project; a female centaur, half- human half- beast. The bewitchment in the film grows from the potent bond between the “parents” and the child; the accelerated rate of her development; rapidly erasing the boundaries, hierarchies, prevalent in uncloned relationships. The three principals are credible and the special affects are a digital dream; but the viewer must take a leap of faith and suspend, overlook the incredulous, and contemplate the “what ifs”! Escape can be deliriously rejuvenating.

Do you remember the film “Multiplicity”? Serendipitously released in 1996, the year of Dolly’s birth, starring Michael Keaton whose problems are initially solved then multiply explosively with each new persona. There is a greed, a gluttonous craving for life, feeding the fascination of cloning; being in two places simultaneously: the party and the lecture, the opera and the hockey game, Mumbai and Paris. Oh the hypnotic glory of this craved (and maybe depraved) fantasy.

“Splice” will appeal to those who mourned the death of Dolly; but will not exalt in the life of Dren!

TWO &1/2 STARS!!

For Now………….Peneflix

SPLICE

2010-06-18T22:15:00.001-07:00

RAAJNEETI (POLITICS)

2010-06-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

RAAJNEETI (POLITICS)

Many of you read my recent review of “Kites” a Bollywood creation that on the whole was a disappointment. In “ Raajneeti” Bollywood’s tentacles have a firm grip on the Hollywood aesthetic. Thrilled, that in less than two weeks I can give a positive and enthusiastic “ thumbs up” to this legitimate drama.

Indians might or might not be pleased with this contemporary version of the Mahabharta.

Western audiences will immediately recognize the “The Godfather” theme but the film is also peppered with biblical references (Moses), Shakespearean intrigue (Hamlet, Richard III). But it is Mario Puzo’s brutal saga that is skillfully reproduced in “Raajneeti”.

The almost three hours of accelerated action satiated the lustful quest for blood, nerve twisting tension and romantic fantasies of the chained audience; no power could induce us to relinquish our seats.

The galvanizing and incisive performances of the established Bollywood actors captivated those familiar and unfamiliar with their esteemed abilities. Ajay Devgan (Sooraj) has a dark haunting countenance, masking incipient rage; wordlessly, he inspires terror and revulsion. Ranbir Kapoor (Samar) is wonderful as he sheds his idealism and innocence and is transformed into a hardened realist; the Al Pacino role in “The Godfather”.

His love interest Sarah (Sarah Thompson, the weakest and least defined character in the film); reminiscent of Diane Keaton’s portrayal in “The Godfather”.

At the risk of being pejorative my favorite Bollywood star of 2010 is Arjun Rampal (“Om Shanti Om”, “I See You”) ; he is startlingly beautiful, a lightening bolt, the camera covets him; in every scene he is the sun, all else, just pallid, amorphous clouds. He is the volatile Prithvi, his recklessness, a lethal weapon, the catalyst in changing the destinies of all he intertwines with.

Bollywood rears its predictable head with Indu, (Katrina Kaif); she is the pawn, chattel to be sacrificed on the alter of man’s political aspirations; she is wise, and clenches her dignity with a force of such purity that no man can tear it asunder. Katrina is a young, gifted actor; watching her talent mature will be a luxury for all her devotees.

Lest you be disappointed there is one brief dance number; the plot did not warrant a musical intervention and this in my estimation led to ………..

THREE STARS!!!

For Now……….Peneflix

SEX AND THE CITY 2

2010-06-03T14:59:00.001-07:00

SEX AND THE CITY 2

For those with a limited attention span, read no further. NO STARS for this useless piece of rubbish, that ranks as one of the worst movies of 2010; might even fall deservedly into one of the most atrocious and vainglorious films of all time.

This film is filled with volumes of sins; while the torments of purgatory were heaped mercilessly upon an audience who should have vacated the theatre ten minutes into this unmitigated travesty of nonsense.

1) You have four vapid, stupid, and superficial women who pride themselves on their New York sophistication. New York women unite, rebel and cleanse the tainted image so wrongfully painted by these insignificant aging ingénues.

2) Their atrocious designer costumes only enhance their conceited and hollow existence.

3) The dialogue so sophomorphic and idiotic one cringed with embarrassment.

4) They flaunt and succeed in insulting the mores of their host country…..Dubai.

5) Their vile language (especially Samantha) worthy of the filthiest gutter; filled with shameful sexual innuendo. They are defined by the insignificance of their limited myopic vision.

Never a fan of the popular television show; viewing this just reaffirmed my initial distaste. As this everlasting, excruciating film, plodded slowly to its conclusion; soon to be confined in the morgue of wasted celluloid, I thought of other experiences I would enjoy more: jet lag, walking barefoot in the Sahara desert, a seven hour Chinese opera, birthing quintuplets, or having to see the first “Sex and the City”!

A refund was not a possibility but I will rest peacefully knowing that I have rescued you from this horrific, despicable display of detritus!

For Now………..Peneflix

THE FATHER OF MY CHILDREN

2010-06-02T14:24:00.001-07:00

THE FATHER OF MY CHILDREN

Regardless of your opinions about the French you must recognize their legacy of accomplishments in the laurels of filmmaking. “The Father of My Children” is written and directed by Mia Hansen –Love (a prodigy, at twenty-nine this is her third film) based loosely on the life of Humbert Balsan a French film producer; the title implies a biography.

The first hour is flawless. The troubled and financially strapped film maker, Gregoire (Louis- Do de Lencquesaing) dashingly handsome, and desperately trying to balance his failing business, family obligations while consuming hundreds of cigarettes; totally convincing and captivating in the role; there is a suaveness that belies his gloomy plight.

The movie dazzles in the scenes he shares with his three daughters! The oldest Clemence (Alice De Lencquesaing, his daughter in real life) captures the angst and whimsy of a teenager; every day either the best or worst of her life. The two younger daughters, Valentine (Alice Gautier) and Billie (Manelle Driss) are luminously beautiful, enchanting sprites, the screen darkens with their absence. The love, joy and comfort they exhibit, so blindingly pure and lacking in pretense or artifice. It is rare to see such unblemished happiness, so faultlessly depicted. My heart ached with its poignancy.

Then, unfortunately a malaise, like an unexpected mist or fog, creeps into the second half of the film and plays havoc with our expectations; greatness vastly diminished.

I left the theatre feeling somewhat cheated, a dissatisfaction not easily described. Still for its moments of excellence: the vicissitudes and roadblocks most directors face in the creation of a film, the choices one makes and the resulting consequences, and above all, experiencing the unique and rarely seen family dynamics I give it………

THREE STARS!!! (OUT OF FIVE)

For Now ………..Peneflix.

Become a Follower

2010-05-24T14:46:00.001-07:00

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Letters to Juliet

2010-05-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

LETTERS TO JULIET

Oh, I can hear the groans of disbelief; why bother with this romantic drivel? Is the city bereft of more worthy fare? Yes it is trivial romantic fluff. Even the story revolving around distraught, devastated young women searching for solutions to their disastrous love affairs, doomed or abandoned relationships from Juliet Capulet, the Juliet starring in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, the late sixteenth century tragedy. Who in their right mind (no matter how lovesick) seeks advice from a thirteen year old girl who kills herself on her husband’s tomb? Defies logic, but love and logic can be mismatched bedfellows.

That being said I loved every syrupy preordained second! Constant sinking to the lachrymose, every tear partnered with a smile. Italy glimmers, especially Verona; the sun spawning warmth and glory on every animate and inanimate object. You smell the olive oil, cheese, wine, fresh from the oven- baked bread, and savor the indescribable flavors of Italy; permeating every taste bud, salivating with memories of past Italian feasts, lusting for future gastronomic repasts.

Amanda Seyfried (Chloe) is Sophie, the exquisite, idealistic “fact finder” for The New Yorker, who embarks on a trial honeymoon with her intended, Victor, (Gael Garcia Benal), a chef, totally miscast but competent. Amanda visits the shrine to Juliet, where forlorn young ladies leave their sanctimonious, pleading notes, stuffed between bricks, the wailing wall of Verona; and discovers a letter written fifty years ago and answers it; hence the birth of a beautiful, nostalgic journey, blossoming in a pilgrimage throughout the dazzling Italian landscape. Vanessa Redgrave (Claire), the Midas of actors, gives a twenty- four caret gold performance as the older woman seeking the magic of a lost love, vanished but remembered youth; she imbues the role with grace, passion and dignity; Camelot will always be hers, even in the hereafter.

While exiting, peacefully satiated, walking home positive that everlasting togetherness in the genre of Doris Day & Rock Hudson, Audrey Hepburn & Gary Cooper, Kathryn Hepburn & Spencer Tracy, will be eternally theirs. “The End” at the conclusion of “Letters to Juliet” finalized that a match made in Verona is sacred.

What better feeling than realizing that all your expectations were validated, the smugness legitimized, and acknowledging how much we have missed the happy endings in film and in dreams.

THREE STARS!!!

For Now……………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-05-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

THE SQUARE

“Ah, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”, Sir Walter Scott.

These words galloped through my mind for the entirety of this tightly wrought and brilliantly conceived Australian film. This is entanglement at its summit; breathtaking, frightening and shocking to the core.

I have not seen that many Australian films but in 2005 “ Wolf Creek” won my award for the most terrifying movie ever made, because unlike “Halloween” and “ Nightmare on Elm Street” it could have happened; the reality of it made it more horrifying, (Jason and Freddie never die). Even after five years it is permanently tattooed on my memory.

“The Square”, an upscale resort hotel in the development processes, commences with a scene that rendered the audience, after a unifying scream glued to their seats and cringing behind their popcorn.

The premise universal: Ray (David Roberts) the married project developer, his brain roaming from below the neck to above the knee, is in an illicit relationship with Carla (Claire Van Der Boom) the not so innocent beauty married to a low level mobster Greg (Anthony Hayes); his meanness slithers behind his rough exterior. .

The plot is woven tighter than an Indian braid; every centimeter of one’s concentrative powers is demanded to keep up with the tapestry that Nash Edgerton (directorial debut) has woven into this masterpiece of suspense.

There were times during the viewing that I realized that “The Square’s” bewitching intensity grew out of the simplicity of the characters; they were recognizable, average people weaving an inescapable web, a maze, a trap, that resulted in their doom or the despairing annihilation of self.

FOUR STARS !!!! (OUT OF FIVE)

For Now…………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-05-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

ROBIN HOOD

If you worship at the alter of The Spectacle your prayers have been heard and answered in spades.

For those who relish the spectacular, sensational epic: “ The Ten Commandments”, “Spartacus” , “ Ben Hur”, “ Cleopatra”, whose thirst for blood and gore is insatiable, Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood” delivers on all levels: gorgeously filmed, marvelously acted, and a thousand arrows for as many bodies. For the spectacle disciple, heavenly bliss is rained upon you.

That being said it is flawed by historic inaccuracies, a meandering plot lost in the forest and twenty minutes too long. Russell Crowe as the myth in the making creates a tough, sensitive, dynamic Robin and fills the screen with enough testosterone to satisfy the taste of any viewer. He surpasses his Robin predecessors: Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, Richard Todd, Sean Connery; but Crowe, as adroit as he is, cannot steal the crown, firmly attached to the head of Kevin Costner, the undisputed King of Sherwood Forest.

Cate Blanchett dazzles as Maid Marion; the perfect blend of Joan of Arc and Annie Oakley; she is in command of her life, body and lands. There have been some lovely Maid Marion’s: Enid Bennett, Joan Rice, Audrey Hepburn, Uma Thurman but Blanchett is Robin’s match in mettle and true grit. The screen pulsates with her fire and energy. Their courtship is the melding of two strong wills destined for a marriage greater than the sum of its parts.

Who is Robin Hood? In actuality he is a potpourri of fictional to real life outlaws, first surfacing between 1194-1400 AD: (Robert Hod, a fugitive, Robert of Wetherby, Robyn Hood, porter to King Edward II, 1324). The first literary reference can be found in B-Text of Piers Plowman (1377). He is heralded in various ballads commencing in 1450; the legend magnified and embellished with each telling.

Taking from the rich to enrich the poor has lost some of its romantic vigilantism; achieving legitimate status in many cultures. Robin Hood continues to titillate, excite and woo audiences into a fantasy world where yeoman or princes can triumph and save the day!

TWO & ½ STARS

For Now………..Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-05-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

CITY ISLAND

I like Andy Garcia, I have always liked him; whether a good or bad guy; whether a good or bad movie I am always on his side. It is not just his staggering physiognomy or the timber of his voice but the depth of his characterizations; he climbs into the minds of his protagonists, inhabits their foibles and charms, and sheds, like a chrysalis his own predilections and becomes, as in this case Vince Rizzo.

We recognize Vince Rizzo, a man who loves his family and the historical City Island where the inhabitants are divided between the Clam Diggers, who are born and raised there and the Mussel Suckers, the interlopers from the outside. Vince works hard and secretly harbors a dream, a fantasy to be something other than the man reality and circumstances has molded. Jung said “the brighter the light, the darker the shadow”, Vince is the reverse, his shadow is illuminating and ebullient.

This is a movie about secrets. Vince’s wife Joyce (played convincingly by Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”) is a frustrated, shrewish, bored receptionist, projecting her lost ambitions on her daughter Vivian (Dominik Garcia-Lorido, the real life daughter of Andy Garcia), using subterfuge to rectify her self made secret. Vince, Jr. hilariously acted by Ezra Miller, has a fetish, so mouth watering gluttonous viewers had to be restrained from poll vaulting to the concession stand.

But secrets need catalysts to unveil and reveal themselves. The two catalysts, in male and female form are brilliantly played by Steven Strait as Tony, a convicted felon that Vince, a prison guard brings home to City Island to build a bathroom in an unused shed on his property; and Emily Mortimer (“Shutter Island”, “Lars and the Real Girl”) as the muse who ignites and instigates Vince’s eventual metamorphosis. Casting at its pinnacle!

This film, teetering on the precipice of greatness is so commandingly real, well-written, exhilaratingly acted that the viewer is unaware of the genius behind its production. But the laughter, joy and warmth it cloaks and leaves with the audience will sustain us through many a chilling film disappointments.

FOUR STARS

For Now………….Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-05-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

A “BRIEF ENCOUNTER”, WITH “WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE”

The English poet William Wordsworth wrote “the world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; little we see in Nature that is ours.”

Having just returned from an excursion to Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa where Wordsworth’s powerful poetry written in 1807 plummeted me with its contemporary viability; Africa robbed this urban dweller of all preconceived concepts of what was expected in the African wild. Africa laid waste to any illusions harbored before this miraculous epiphany, baptism in nature and the animal kingdom.

The single engine airplane, flew low over the dense jungle; the airstrip vivisects, slashes, like a Lucia Fontana canvas the untamed wilderness. Only constant landings and takeoffs prohibit the vegetation from consuming what is rightfully theirs, violated, raped by invaders from a technological world.

In Botswana my friend and I were taken by Land Rover, through the bush to a lush camp where we were isolated from a world perpetually peppered with communication. The isolation sang poignantly and shockingly as Mozart, Puccini, Presley, Montana, stripping one’s psyche of petty illusions, desires, energy depriving quests; each laceration gave birth to the purist insight, crystallizing, prioritizing the importance of one’s life and loves. It was so refreshingly beautiful and simple; complete happiness was mine.

African day and nighttime skies defy description; a poet is yet to be born who can portray the frightening, intoxicating, luminous beauty, the magnitude they shower on the universe. One cannot doubt the breath of a supreme being, a celestial alchemist, a Merlin, who with a shake of a wand produces a kaleidoscope of colors, never again to be replicated.

I am abashed and chagrined to admit my ignorance of the animal planet; my limited exposure confined to the Zoo. It was shocking and stunning to be exposed to the unexpected sightings of a myriad of beasts, some I had never heard of, surfacing at will. The animal hierarchy, so eminently sensible and pragmatic, they kill to thrive and survive. Watching the feeding frenzy of lions, hyenas and vultures as they devoured a kudu rendered me slacked jawed and speechless, an unknown phenomena that my friend as a reliable witness can testify to.

I loved the exotic and plentiful Impalas, the ballerinas of the plain. The monumental size of the elephants and hippopotamuses; the swiftness of the leopards and cheetahs; the aggressiveness and meanness of the hyenas and jackals; the delicious taste of the wildebeest and springbok; the wretched ugliness of the warthog, which I declined to ingest: the illusive white rhinoceros (which is black). But my heart embraced the enchanting black and white zebras and the long necked giraffes, there was a kindness, grace and elegance in their every gesture.

Africa, still in its gestation phase opened a window whose existence I was unaware of and shook me with such ferocity that it will remain unhinged and open for eternity. Genesis says “in the beginning was the word”, that word, has to be Africa!

As I left the Dark Continent, which brought illumination to my spirit and with a torn heart, again William Wordsworth’s poetry provided clarity and solace to my psyche:

Though nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower,

We will grieve not, rather find,

Strength in what remains behind.

Africa, like India years ago, gleaned the detritus and superfluous from my life and paved the way for a deeper strength and profound love of life and mankind.

Peneflix

Next Review…….City Island

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-05-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

IRON MAN 2

Sequels or seconds rarely surpass or measure up to the original; not just in movies but in life. We have all revisited a place where the memories are so vibrant and sacred, chiseled, like granite, in the temple of our consciousness that revisiting those sites rarely ignites the same passion. Thomas Wolfe says we can not go home again; this same holds true for sequels.

Robert Downey, Jr. plays the quixotic, brilliant, innovative Tony Stark, aka the Iron Man. He is good but somehow lacks the flame of creativity , stunningly prevalent in the 2008 version; his performance is so staged and effortless that I had the feeling he was not really there; he was making his “to do list” while prancing around in his costume.

Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper) and Scarlett Johansson (Natalie) two super beauties in two supercilious roles; their dialogue so trite and vacuous that I was embarrassed for them.

Whenever I reach the looking at my watch or clandestinely checking my Blackberry stage I either have to leave or focus on other aspects of the film. There were two roles that I found riveting and saved me from the mindless purgatory I was quickly being subjected to.

Mickey Rouke (“Diner”, “The Wrestler”) was perfectly cast as the Russian, Whiplash; the evil scientific equivalent to “ the messiah”, Tony Stark. He plays the deleterious genius with such alacrity that the screen dulled with his absence.

And Sam Rockwell as the obsequious politician, Justin Hammer, imbues his character with a slippery, sinuous, deliciously evil charm that is intoxicating to watch; he is amoral to the core and try as we may, would not have him any other way.

“Iron Man 2”, is no exception to the second malaise; in film history the only sequels that outdid the original were “The Godfather” series, so rent those and wait for “Iron Man 2” to appear in DVD form; the wait will not be long!

TWO STARS!

For Now………..Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-05-10T07:15:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

PLEASE GIVE

A vastly anticipated film by the talented Nicole Holofcener fell far short of expectations for this film devotee; even the title lacked credibility.

There are solid but predictable performances by Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Amanda Peet. But two characters played by Rebecca Hall (“Vicky Christina Barcelona”) and Sarah Steele were worth focusing on and salvaged the film from total tedium.

The title implies a plea for a charitable contribution; living in a major metropolis, where it is easy to develop a relationship with some of the indigents; they “rent” their corners or steps, become part of our visual landscape, and are religious in protecting their turf. There is a guilt that some of the fortunate feel for the less endowed or financially deprived and those soliciting capitalize on that guilt. This is fair; it is a tough way to survive and one of my favorites is a man who is “blind” but is an actor of sorts because his blindness is a ruse and my guilt lies in the fact that I know he sees me and would be hurt if I did not give; so I have helped support him over the years and it is a relationship that has been mutually beneficial to both.

In “Please Give” Kate (Catherine Keener) and her husband Alex (Oliver Platt) sell used furniture purchased from “dead peoples children”. They live next door to Andra, a cantankerous woman (delightfully depicted by Ann Morgan Giulbert) approaching her ninety- first birthday and have made it obvious that her demise would be gleefully welcomed, precipitating their planned expansion of their home, which they share with their caustic, attractively disadvantaged teenaged daughter Abby (Sarah Steele, a gifted talent in the embryonic stages).

Kate and Alex are at a stalemate in their marriage, or maybe the partnership, devoid of passion, is just stale. She tries to purchase from those less endowed her salvation and he, bereft of literary curiosity, seeks stimulation from television personalities or the obvious, mundane male diversion.

An unlikely friendship develops between Andra’s caring granddaughter Rebecca (sensitively played by Rebecca Hall) and Abby; they are analytic, intelligent and insightful young adults and rescue the film from the banality which surrounds them.

Leaving the theatre I was approached by two young women who asked me what the message or moral of the film was; after a twenty- four hour marination process I have concluded two things. Primarily Kate, looking to the homeless, physically or mentally challenged to fill the vacant canyon in her soul would be better served by several sessions on a psychologist’s couch.

Secondly, if you are a fifteen year old with bad skin feel free to verbally attack the parent who gifted you the affliction.

I can barely “give” “Please Give”,

TWO STARS!

For Now…………Peneflix

Caveat. Your movie appetite would be satisfying satiated by seeing “The Secret in Their Eyes”; winner of the Academy Award for best Foreign Film.

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-04-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

For over six months you’ve been bright and avid readers,

And now with some regret I am gifting you a breather!

It is with great expectation and some trepidation,

That I venture forth on this wild, exotic vacation.

My friend and I no longer too young,

Will tackle the bush and avoid the sun.

With copious sightings of untamed beasts,

We pray, not yearning for an American feast.

For almost four weeks no film will I view,

But expect from YOU as to what to review!

For Now………….Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-04-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 9 PM on PBS)

How many times have we read, seen and anguished over the fate of the doomed Anne?

No matter how often, our nature prays for a different ending, a joyful conclusion, where the Franks and their neighbors emerge from their self- imposed imprisonment into a world purged of evil, a world where goodness takes it rightful place on the throne of humanity.

Let us imagine an adult Anne (she would be approaching her eighty-first birthday) an accomplished Anne, a writer, a doctor, wife, mother, grandmother? She would be lined, arthritic, but like the finest steel, strong of mind and character because of her wartime experiences. Maybe she would have been recruited by Jewish Organizations to speak world wide about her travails or maybe her Diary would have remained buried, waiting for a Lily Koppel (The Red Leather Diary) to resurrect its author and breathe life into its long comatose pages. These fanciful speculations, are simply whimsical, wishful hopes; “if onlys”, slaughtered by reality.

This PBS production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” should be seen by all. Anne (perfectly portrayed by Ellie Kendrick) is a modern young woman; she embraces the diary she receives on her thirteenth birthday, days before her family’s clandestine exile in the attic of a commercial building in Amsterdam; she names her diary Kitty a homage to her beloved cat left behind. The year is 1942, she has less than three years to live, but live she does and records every meaningful moment. Anne is universal, like all thirteen year olds she feels the frustrations of puberty, patronizing adults, confinement; striving for individuality amongst those barricaded in the memory of the life they have been excommunicated from, clairvoyance terrifying!

Socrates said “an unexamined life is not worth living” and Anne dissects her microscopic universe and its inhabitants with wisdom and understanding far surpassing her youth. Through bombings and daily fear of betrayal she fills her diary with hope, love and a feisty fight for her keen sense of individuality.

This production, so different from the 1959 version (Millie Perkins) lacks sentimentality therefore is more contemporary in its approach. Watching these caged people who strive religiously to maintain their dignity (the men donned ties and jackets everyday) and knowing their dismal future is brutally poignant.

Anne dies of typhus in Bergen Belsen concentration camp in March 1945, three months shy of her sixteenth birthday. In questioning why, I have concluded that we all live as long as ordained by the gods or fate. Anne in her miniscule minute on this earth has gifted mankind a treasure of infinitesimal proportions; she is the icon, the patron saint of survival, courage and beauty in a world where light was anathema and bleakness prevailed. She fulfilled in fifteen years her destiny!

PBS is to be lauded and applauded for bringing Anne back to life!

FOUR STARS!

FOR Now………..Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-04-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

VINCERE (Win)

Directed and written by seasoned Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio this epic film depicts the woeful tale of Ida Dalser the supposed first wife of Benito Mussolini. No physical evidence of the legitimacy of this union has ever surfaced; Mussolini never recognized Ida’s son as his progeny.

This is an erratic film; there are moments of glorious unmitigated genius, the acting is gut wrenchingly sublime, the transitions from archival film clips to Ida’s saga are blurred to perfection; it stumbles in defining Ida’s erasure and the emergence of Rachele, Mussolini’s legal wife. Also the religious metaphor was bludgeoning; in one scene Mussolini, with his head bandaged from a wound won in the First World War, is writhing in agony as the two “wives” come to blows over his supine body, all the while a film of Christ’s crucifixion is projected on the wall of the hospital ward. A taste of irony, viewing it on Good Friday.

It is a gift to an audience when two performers match each other with such provocative and powerful intensity. Giovanna Mezzogiorno as Ida Dalser (1880-1937) defines the soul and obsessive passion that dominates Ida’s entire existence from the second she meets Benito Mussolini (1883-1945). Her adoration for him palpates in their scenes together; she loves with frightening abandonment. The audience gaze with embarrassing voyeurism at these intimate moments, but never look away. Even rejection and humiliation does not demolish but only magnifies her addiction to the demonic Il Duce. Ms. Mezzogiorno’s beauty shimmers under the most torturous circumstances.

It is fascinating that the Italian Government, complicit in the subterfuge against Ida paid her a stipend until she was incarcerated.

Filippo Timi has the dual role of playing Mussolini, as Ida’s lover and the creator of

Fascism and later playing the son he has shunned. He is haunting as the frigid megalomaniac; in his first scene he is messianic in challenging God to strike him dead within five minutes; there is no God if he survives! (We know the outcome, the movie continues for another two hours.) As much as Ida emotes selflessness and wantonness in their relationship Benito withholds at the glacial level any real affection; he views her through an egotistic lens and concrete heart.

As Ida’s son Benito (1916-1942) Timi he is even more mesmerizing; unbelievable that they are one and the same actor. He is pathetically brilliant in imitating his fathers’ fantastical oratory powers to a stupefied group of fellow students. Visions of his demise, in the embryonic stage.

Benito Mussolini, Il Duce, was executed by his own people on April 28, 1945, by a firing squad. He annihilated colossal numbers, but his first wife and son are portents of the future of his heinous dictatorship and “Vincere” honors and recognizes the legitimacy of their lives and heritage but at what cost? Blood of Benito Mussolini running through one’s veins would best be denied.

THREE STARS! (Out of Five)

For Now………..Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-03-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

CHLOE

Not every movie experience should resonate with the profound and phenomenal; some should just look good and simply entertain at the superficial level. “Chloe” fits into the latter! Loosely based on the 2003 French film “Natalie” which seemed more plausible, and depicts the simple scenario of a gorgeous, fortyish Doctor (Julianne Moore) who suspects her equally charismatic Professor husband (Liam Nesson) of having sexual proclivities beyond the marriage boundaries. So instead of hiring a private detective with a state of the art camera she procures the services of a young, magnificent professional, Chloe (dangerously, beautifully portrayed by Amanda Seyfried, a quarry leap from the ingénue in Mamma Mia); tantamount to placing Dracula in a blood bank!

Visually the movie is polished to a fine veneer; every frame glows flawlessly. The actors rise to the level they were given, somewhat higher than a puddle but boots are not required. Enough sexual titillation to prevent napping and a rather sensational climax.

It will fare better on Netflix in the comfort of your home, in the room of your choice.

TWO STARS!

GREENBERG

Another single title that was billed and drilled by many critics to flirt with the profound, but alas, this critic went with great expectations only to be sadly disillusioned with this, at best, sophomoric depiction of a pathetic forty year old searching for the essence of life and love in all the wrong places.

Ben Stiller (who might eventually actualize his potential) plays Roger Greenberg, fresh from a mental institution, recovering at his absent brother’s home in Los Angles. In one of the first scenes he claims his lack of Jewishness, because his mother is of Italian descent; lost on many, but delectable fodder for the neuroses of Woody Allen and the Coen brothers.

Greenberg establishes a tenuous relationship with Florence Marr (Greta Gerwig) the housekeeper and dog walker. Mahler, the dog, has the most intriguing role in the film and is the emotional catalyst for the bonding of Roger and Florence. Gerwig is interesting to look at but her diction replicates someone on life support or drugs. She is a talented 26-year old filmmaker and screenwriter and worth watching as a flowering actor.

Viewing this film and listening to the droning monologues as Greenberg (who has most likely spent thousands on physiatrists’) tries to convince himself and the world that he is on the road to recovery by doing nothing; he cannot even complete the doghouse for the deserving Mahler; wondering if this is a generational dilemma but subsequently reminding myself of all the accomplished forty year old adults I am privileged to know.

A shimmer of substance are the letters Greenberg composes and submits to the New York Times; they spark of intelligence and complacent ingenuity.

Greenberg’s only salvation lies in finding a job, at minimum wage and realizing that only by Doing can one Become…

Those who loved “A Serious Man” might find something endearing in a less serious boy!

ALMOST TWO STARS! (OUT OF FIVE)

For Now……….Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-03-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

Another three dimensional visual experience and a delightful one for all ages. Even the concept of having a dragon as a pet was original. Based on the book by Cressida Cowell, directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders tells the story of the scrawny Hiccup, the physically unfit son of the chief Viking on the island of Berk; where slaying a dragon commemorates the dawning of manhood or womanhood (very twenty first century concept) and acceptance into a society plagued by constant strife between man and beast.

This enchanting story, gorgeously filmed, centers on the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless an elusive, terrifying nighttime dragon, maimed by Hiccup’s ingenious weaponry; what is absent in physical attributes he more than compensates with mechanical entrepreneurship. The friendship develops in tandem with his acceptance in dragon training school.

The anthropomorphic wizardly is stunning and truly beautiful. No matter your chronological number the message, so powerful, yet so elementary deserves its place in the sun. What we fear might actually with understanding become the key to growth, wisdom and love.

THREE&1/2 STARS!

MOTHER

This why we go to the movies! This Korean film by Bong Joon-ho (The Host, 2006. Do not see it alone!) is extraordinary in garnishing every ingredient we long for in a film: a unique and captivating story, intrigue and suspense at the highest decimal, intricately woven plot evolvement and splendid acting.

Watching the movie with two highly intelligent friends, never casting our eyes away from the screen, knowing without a doubt that this was an experience so rarefied and precious, one that we can only pray happens again in this millennium; leaving and barely breathing, having met a Mother, never, ever again to be duplicated or replicated in celluloid. Kim Hye-ja as the mother of Do-joon (Won Bin) a mentally challenged twenty something miscreant, gives a performance that borders on the sublime. She loves, protects and exceeds all boundaries in her quest to save her son. He is her magnificent obsession and we never know her name.

“Mother” twists, wrings and lacerates our every emotion; just as we triumphantly solve the dilemma, another angle emerges and pulverizes our smugness until even at the conclusion we are left with confusion and wonderment.

In filmography there have been a myriad of memorable mothers: Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music”, Anne Bancroft in “The Graduate”, Mary Tyler Moore, “Ordinary People”, Glenn Close, “The World According to Garp”, Faye Dunaway, “Mommie Dearest”, Linda Hamilton, “Terminator 2”, Frances McDormand, “Almost Famous”.

But Kim Hye-ja is to coin a colloquialism the “mother of all mothers”; we meet her as she performs a ritualistic, solitary dance bathed in the lushness of the Korean landscape, we join her crusade and become fierce disciples in her mission to save her son, and finally, with clarity and incisiveness know if circumstances allow our paths to intersect with Do-joon we tread gingerly and treat him with kindness.

FOUR&1/2 STARS!

For Now……………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-03-22T06:37:00.001-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

THE RUNAWAYS……..

Has certainly proven worthy of its R rating. It is the tale of Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) and the formation of the first female rock band.

The year is 1975. The Vietnam War finally concludes; Gerald Ford has inherited the presidency; Bill Gates and Paul Allen launch Microsoft and the birth of the computer comes forth with a wail; David Bowie and Bob Dylan are the Titians in the music industry; Alex Haley’s “ Roots” was a tour de force and the commencement of the television mini series. “Jaws” the movie box office bonanza. Born in 1975 are Tiger Woods, Angelina Jolie and Kate Winslet.

Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning are rough, raw and ravishing as Joan Jett and Cherie Currie; they portray the two talented and disenfranchised teenagers with remarkable guts and courage; they sizzle and shock and plummet the audience with their audaciousness and iconoclastic behavior. Thirty five years ago they were pivotal in destroying barriers between male and female bands, “women don’t play electric guitars”! Their revolution, their experimental sexuality, drug use, and riveting performances did destroy the band and almost themselves; they rebel against the world and eventually each other. Currie does annihilate her body and soul. Jett’s metal is stronger and prevails.

The movie is based on the autobiography of Cherie Curie, Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway; whose drug and alcohol addiction almost kills her. Joan Jett is one of the executive producers. This is the product of two reflected and desperately led lives; it is also a love story and a perfect rendition of the middle 70’s: a time of mourning, the Vietnam War killed our idealism and chauvinism; no longer the age of Aquarius but the dawning of postmodernism: art can no longer be our salvation just our soulful revelation.

Michael Shannon (Academy Award nominee, Revolutionary Road) with powerful alacrity depicts the audacious, foul mouthed Kim Fowley, the manager who with meteoric speed and abusive dedication has The Runaways on the stage and recording studio; their flame, like a supernova, destined for extinction.

You do not have to like this movie, but appreciate it you must!

THREE STARS!

For Now………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-03-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

It is rare when a movie is equal to or surpasses the challenges facing it’s creators when it follows the success of a best selling book. Here is a mighty exception. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, based on the novel by Stieg Larsson, one of the longest reigning best sellers in Sweden, achieving matching notoriety in the United States. The first in a trilogy, submitted in its entirety, followed shortly by the untimely death of Mr. Larsson, at the age of fifty.

Their have been many screen pairings that transcend the story: Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in “Gone With the Wind”; Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal in “ Love Story”; Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty in “ Splendor in the Grass”; Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in “ Bonnie and Clyde”; Julie Christie and Warren Beatty in “McCabe & Mrs. Miller”; Julie Christie and Warren Beatty in “ Shampoo”; Annett Bening and Warren Beatty in “ Bugsy”.

Stieg Larsson has conjured up the most unique couple of the twenty- first century: Mikael Blomkvist (played by Michael Nyqvist) and Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the dragon tattoo, Noomie Rapace). In the world of fiction they are formidable and unforgettable. A pair so disparate in age, background and skills but unlike oil and water the differences blend into a galvanizing and exhilarating partnership. He champions in his prescient investigative skill and she is inscrutable, inexorable, incorrigible, but has yet to meet a computer that can withstand her hacking genius. This is a mystery and thriller that will sear the memory forever and is not for the squeamish or faint of heart.

Whether you have read the novel or not this movie with its cacophony of thrills and chills will keep you emotionally pulverized throughout its incredulous duration; and lusting for the sequel.

FOUR & ½ STARS!

THE ART OF THE STEAL

Dr. Albert Barnes (1872-1951) amassed one of the most massive and pristine collections of art in modern times. It is housed in his home in Merion, Pennsylvania and was meant to stay there in perpetuity. This is a documentary about the bastardization and travesty of his legal (and supposed unbreakable) will. A crime so heinous, yet perpetrated by those whose Foundations exist for the betterment of society. They stole and destroyed the wishes of a man who came from poverty, rose to Horatio Alger heights, by inventing Argyrol, an antiseptic, that did benefit mankind. At thirty-five he was a millionaire and dove headlong into a passionate pursuit of art. This was the 1930’s and he fearlessly bought what he loved; he broke all the rules and bought the unknown and unrevered.

He was criticized, scolded and maligned by the press for his choices; but he never wavered from his vision and kept acquiring. And those indulgences include 181 Renoir’s, 69 Cezanne’s, 59 Matisse’s. No museum in the world can match this.

There are over 2,500 objects in his home, his museum. Viewing them can cause vertigo; masterpiece piled on masterpiece, such beauty rampantly assaulting one’s senses; my daughter and I rendered speechless (miraculous in itself) by the privilege of the experience. Matisse felt that his works found their perfect resting place in Dr. Barnes home. Cezanne said “Monet is only an eye, but my God what and eye”; the same can be said of Albert Barnes; his first Picasso cost one hundred dollars!

His will written in 1922 pledged forever that his property, his works of art (valued in today’s market between 25-30 billion dollars) exist solely for the education and artistic enlightenment of children. He felt that art history stifled self expression and appreciation of art, yet he became an art historian of his own individualistic, iconoclastic invention.

The documentary “fair and unbalanced” is exceptionally made; there is no hand held camera affect. Why was the will slowly expunged by the Trustees (Lincoln College); the Politicians the Foundations? Some of these questions are answered, others unresolved.

Appropriately titled, this film focuses on the true masterpiece, the subterfuge perpetrated by those who artfully stole a man’s legacy!

FOUR STARS!

For Now………..Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-03-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

GREEN ZONE…..

Is the guarded and protected area in central Baghdad which contains the palaces of Saddam Hussein. Currently referred to as The International Zone.

If your political persuasion lies far to the left, you will love this film; if on the other hand you are at the diametrical opposite pole of the political spectrum, you will detest it.

This review is for the vast population constantly vacillating or wandering in the field of moderates, libertarians, philistines or dreams.

Iraq, 2003, searching for the WMD’s, weapons of mass destruction; great concept, portraying the disillusionment of one Chief Warrant Officer, Roy Miller (Matt Damon) as each site proves fruitless and his frustration with his superiors and the US government

escalates; unfortunately this worthwhile and innovative idea was saturated with sensationalism, half truths, fiction clothed as nonfiction. The audience for two hours was battered and bound by manipulation and proselytism.

On the heels of the academy award winning “ The Hurt Locker” one could not help but draw comparisons. The intrinsic brilliance of “The Hurt Locker” was that is was a movie about war, totally devoid of politics. The audience watched and learned without having to judge, or vote; regardless of the “whys” we were in Iraq, and we breathlessly lived every perilous second as each bomb was successfully or unsuccessfully defused. The bravery and selflessness of these soldiers was monumental and forever redefines the meaning of the word Hero!

Director Paul Greengrass and his cinematographer Barry Ackroyd (who also shot “ The Hurt Locker”) and actor Matt Damon (immensely flawless and believable as Roy Miller) have birthed at the marathon level action unseen since the “Bourne” films. Napping, anathema, during its entirety, so if it is action you crave, you’ll be over indulged.

Greg Kinnear is credible as the pusillanimous Pentagon lackey, prodigiously spinning the WMD’s fallacy. Brendan Gleeson as the CIA analyst, Martin Brown, does a passable job of making the CIA uncharacteristically, look good.

This is an uncomfortable film. There has not been enough time or history to look with passionless perspective at the catalytic events of the last nine years. The film and its creators flavored the fantasy with enough truth for the audience to ask, “ haven’t we seen enough of these actual devastating events in the media?.” “Do we need this?” A resounding NO!

TWO STARS! (Out of Five)

FOR Now…………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-03-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Enchanting! This is a movie that will please all audiences, even those gallivanting at Olympic speed into their dotage. Alice as a young adult, trapped in a stilted Victorian world tumbles once again into Wonderland, where she finds her old friends and nemesis.

She blossoms in three dimension; the glasses, unlike Avatar, stimulated the experience, enhancing not hindering the process.

The unparalleled imagination of Tim Burton (you can trace its origins at his exhibition at MOMA, in New York City) takes Lewis Carroll’s (Charles Dodgson 1832-1898) Alice into unchartered waters, the surreal magical world of Wonderland is unchanged only Alice has matured. Mia Wasikowska (gone are the days of generic “stage” names) an Australian actress is beguiling and believable as Alice; Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter is masterful as the disenfranchised, raffish but charming catalyst for the coming of age Alice. Depp the most recognized actor of the twenty first century adds another level to his monument of courage and genius of interpretation. Edward Scissorhands (1990, directed by Tim Burton) was the first flicker of magnitude, a glimpse of his preciousness yet to be unveiled.

Helena Bonham Carter (Burton’s significant other) is fabulous as the Red Queen; even her “off with his head” has not staled; she reigns supreme as the Queen of the Weird!

Anne Hathaway, a fine actress, was as the role required, too saccharine as the White Queen; her characterization reached the tooth ache level.

Alice Liddell (1852-1934) was the exquisite muse for Lewis Carroll’s Alice. She was one of ten children, her father Henry, was Dean of Christ Church. Lewis Carroll, a photographer, mathematician, Anglican clergyman and author was a friend of the family and succumbed to the blitzkrieg of story requests from the engaging children, Alice in particular.

Lewis Carroll said that “everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it”. Tim Burton should allow us to follow Alice in this quest: as a wife, a mother (a tumble into Wonderland might help her survive the teenage years) into the declining years, where unlike Peter Pan and more like Wendy she discovers and achieves the prophesy so propitiously predicted; wisdom comes from recognizing, embracing life’s vicissitudes and victories, learning and aging with equanimity.

THREE 1/2 STARS! (Out of Five)

For Now …………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-03-08T17:29:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

The global response to the Academy Award Contest was thrilling and kept me fully alert through, at times a tedious telecast. As the ballots dwindled with each awarded Oscar and the realization that my IRA was not threatened, I relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed the

fever of anticipation. Here are the three that triumphed. Congratulations!

Zach Overley

Gerald Rogers

Nicole Steiner

Everyone loves (or loves to hate) Oscar night; Hollywood’s Super Bowl! We watch in our most comfortable clothes, eating pizza, drinking wine, beer or diet coke, all the while critiquing the most recognized people on the planet; their designer attire, jewelry, their weight (or lack of), their hair color or style. This is our right and privilege, we know them, we have created them; they are in our debt; without us where would they be?

So they better be beautiful and this year they were, without exception, magnificent!

The WOW factor was electric, atomic: gowns were resplendent, jewelry sedate and elegant; it was a subdued, gentler Hollywood. (Although I missed the sensational; Bjork, resembling the Purdue Chicken; Barbra Streisand and Cher in their outrageous halcyon days, Sally Field’s “you really like me” or Jack Palance doing a cartwheel). Also, nostalgic for hosts of the past: Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal. Try as they might these entertainers are irreplaceable.

Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin did the best with what they were given; too many ‘inside jokes’ lost on us outsiders.

The brightest moments of the evening were the acceptance speeches. It has always been irksome and annoying when the winner gets to the podium, speechless or blabbering about their shock at winning; they have known for months that they have a twenty percent chance of victory, they are actors, so prepare a script. 2010, no one disappointed; they were the quintessential stars.

It is always a long evening, doused with too many commercial breaks; but Hyundai garnishes the Oscar for the most innovative advertisement since Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?”

The camera pans the catastrophic bedroom of a teenager while playing “I am sixteen going on seventeen” from “the Sound of Music”; the message unequivocal.

Because of you this Oscar evening will forever be carved in granite. To the winners, I will see you at the movies!

For Now………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-03-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

A PROPHET

Defined by Webster as “a religious leader regarded as, or claiming to be, divinely inspired or one who predicts the future”. We recognize from the first scene who is the Prophet in training; another An Education.

Living in a city that receives many films after they have been previewed in New York or Los Angeles (highly unfair in my pejorative estimation); before arriving at our humble shores, try as we may, we cannot escape the prophetic, gargantuan hymns of praise. A Prophet was heralded by film critic Peter Travers, Rolling Stone as “A knockout of a thriller. A Triumph of the highest order! A new crime classic.” Or Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly, “Grade :A ! Riveting! A Stunning Saga!” Or KennethTunan of The Los Angles Times, “The Movie that reminds you of why you like the movies. Especially movies like this one!” Honored by the Academy in the best of the foreign film category; it was a slim year.

These words of praise kept resounding in my consciousness for the longest two and one half hours of theatre captivity since Avatar. And usually the longer the movie or novel the more satiated I am. So why wasn’t I swept into this dark, brutal world of prison politics?

There was little doubt as to where the process or plot was heading and the protagonist, Malik (realistically portrayed by Tahar Rahim) grows over a three year time frame from a naïve petty criminal to the ultimate professional. Trained by the king of convicts Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup gives a brilliant performance); a tyrant demanding and receiving supreme loyalty: a savior and protector for the disciple, Malik.

The theme is universal, most prisons have a hierarchy; a caste system; religion, ethnicity, race, and always the ubitiquous mantra, the survival of the fittest.

It was not lost on the audience that Malik after forty days and nights in solitary confinement emerges, like Christ from the desert, a transformed man.

Giving in to the supreme no-no for movie audiences; the overwhelming lure of my Blackberry (even spam was welcome) kept me nailed to my seat! But absolution was mine and I was rewarded with my favorite song, Mack the Knife, while viewing the credits; a song popularized by Bobby Darin but written by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht for the 1929 The Threepenny Opera, featuring Mackheath, a nefarious German criminal.

A graceful conclusion to a crucifying filmatic experience.

TWO STARS!

For Now………….Peneflix

Countdown ………Eight Hours To See Who Wins the Peneflix Contest. My biggest fear is that I made this far too easy, resulting in bankruptcy, and my future role as the ticket seller in the theatre of my choice.

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-03-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

There has been an amazing response to the Academy Award Contest, with so many variables. If there is more than one winner the prize will be the same for each one of the victors: ten movies for two at the theatre of your choice. Your names will not be published unless the pleasure of gloating cannot be resisted. If I win there will be a billboard boasting my success at every overpass, train and bus station, the Post Office, and the closest airport! Good luck! Final entry date: Friday, March 5th.

AJAMI

Nominated in the Best Foreign Film Category this Israeli/Pakistani movie is of Herculean intentions but with Lilliputian results. First time filmmakers Yaron Shani (Israeli) and Scandar Copti (Palestinian, from Israel) concentrate the action in the town of Ajami, a multi-ethnic section of Jaffa. The events partially based on the co-directors experiences are not enlightening; we see the hatred, destruction of innocent lives, prejudice and its lethal consequences on television, in newspapers and the internet every day, it is inescapable.

The filming technique is reminiscent of a hand held camera creating a quasi documentary

aesthetic; using unschooled actors (this was a major mistake); a professional would have given some depth and passion that was so absent from the neophytes. The audience trapped in this dark, disjointed and disillusioned world, felt the hopelessness and the never to be resolved solution, just an eternity of despair. Here Copti and Shani have a brief brush with success.

The only glimmer of light was shed by the performance of Copti as Binj, the Palestinian chef who courageously and briefly loves a Jewish girl.

This anecdotal film reflects the lives of two men who dared to deify their differences, ignore the prejudices of their respective religions and cultures and form a partnership, still rocky, but with tenacity might thrive well into the laurels of film history. I pray so!

TWO & 1/2 STARS!

For Now…………Peneflix

Next Review THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-02-27T16:09:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

“THE GHOST WRITER”

This is a film that I can recommend for most audiences: actors, plot and intrigue are immensely satisfying; all beautifully filmed and directed by fugitive Roman Polanski. His travails have no prurient value and have not diminished the power of his direction; he is in top form in this tale of subterfuge, lies and obfuscation.

The original script based on the novel “The Ghost” by Robert Harris, focuses on the “ghost” writer of ex British Prime Minister Adam Lang, cunningly and forcefully depicted by Pierce Brosnan (gone are the halcyon days of Remington Steel and James Bond but the finely honed charm still thrives). After the demise of the first “ghost” his replacement is hired by Lang’s publisher and hence the intricate story evolves. Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge, Amelia) as the nameless “ghost” captures the selflessness and lack of ego that is necessary to climb into the mind of a known celebrity and create out of their mediocre ramblings a manuscript worthy of the subject’s status. McGregor, Scottish by birth, is outstanding in handling the manipulation visited upon him.

Olivia Williams (An Education) is Ruth Lang, a bitter, brilliant woman whose keen mind goes unnoticed and pales in comparison to her charismatic husband. Her countenance, which can vacillate from plain to beautiful in seconds commands the viewer’s riveting attention in her every scene. She is a formidable talent.

Kim Cattrall (The Bonfire of the Vanities, Sex & the City) as the devoted assistant and possible mistress of Lang is lovely in a stiff and stilted role.

The viewer will recognize certain vaguely disguised references to public personas: ex British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, ex President George W. Bush, ex Vice President Dick Cheney. Nice touch, coating the unfamiliar with the familiar.

How frequently have any of us given a moment’s thought about the ghost writer? After some research I discovered the primarily nameless have been a monumental force in literature.

All the Nancy Drew novels (1930- present, still a major commodity and read by millions) were written by Carolyn Keene, a pseudonym for countless low paid authors. John F. Kennedy and Ronald Regan used “ghost” writers. George Lucas wrote the script for Star Wars; the novel was written by Alan Dean Foster. The list is interminable.

In gratitude to “The Ghost Writer” the viewer will seek and acknowledge the name, in very small print, under the primary author; and give a skeleton, volume and substance to the vague and vanishing ghost.

FOUR STARS! (OUT OF FIVE)

For Now……………..Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-02-24T20:58:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

There is still time to enter the contest; March 5th is the last entry date. Please one ballot per person; this is not a political election!

SHUTTER ISLAND

Many of us have had a secret craving for an occasional horror/thriller flick. It is a phenomenon that I have never truly grasped; attraction, repulsion; the titillating effect of fear, the electric jolt of shock?

Over the years my cravings have dissipated but resting in the movie halls of horror are a few worth mentioning. The first Halloween (1978) was the most terrifying film I had ever experienced, after a twenty year hiatus Halloween was usurped by The Blair Witch Project (1999) so viscerally real, because the evil remains invisible. But what finally cured me of this passion for horror films was Wolf Creek (2005) an Australian film so frightening, the violence, so genuinely gruesome that I decided never to put myself through that horrifying nightmare again. I have skipped all the vampire movies; the concept of true love resulting in taking a chunk from your soul mate’s neck and living for eternity in a sunless world is unappetizing, but does eliminate the threat of skin cancer.

Rules and resolutions are oftentimes broken and the lure of Leonardo DiCaprio brought me to Shutter Island. Directed by Martin Scorsese, based on the 2003 book by Dennis Lehane (author of Mystic River) it is, with the exception of Dicaprio, at best an average film. Saved from eventual obscurity by the genius that is Leonardo; who at thirty- five, still in the embryonic stage of his career, is the greatest method actor the screen as yet to witness (this includes Marlon Brando). I have been a devoted follower of this talented man since his brilliant performance in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993), nominated in the best supporting actor category; and who could ever forget the doomed Jack Dawson in Titanic (1996); or his dynamic portrayal of the chameleon Frank Abagnale,Jr. in the all time favorite Catch Me if You Can(2002); he garnished a second academy award nomination for capturing the essence of the enigmatic Howard Hughes in The Aviator (2004); as Danny Archer in Blood Diamond (2006) he shines as the powerfully driven hero on a seismic mission, he conquers the South African accent and carves another academy nomination on his acting belt.

In Shutter Island he is federal Marshall, Teddy Daniels, investigating with his partner Chuck (played by a thinner, handsomer Mark Ruffalo, The Brothers Bloom) a missing inmate in the asylum for the criminally insane. The set works because it was filmed in an abandoned mental institution in Medfield, Mass.; perfect touch of creepiness and claustrophobia haunting its sinuous corridors.

If you have not read the book (Scorsese religiously adheres to the plot); the last half hour was entertaining due solely to the magic of DiCaprio’s characterization. This is a flawed gem in his theatrical crown; but so far from completion, the richest jewels have yet to be mined.

TWO &1/2 STARS (OUT OF FIVE)

For Now…………Peneflix

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Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-02-21T13:03:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

So many of have asked for my Oscar predictions; always one to please, know I vote from the mind, not the heart. I do not award an Oscar because the actor has been nominated a myriad of times and never acknowledged, or that their days on the planet are numbered.

With a clean slate every year, my selection is made solely on the superiority of their performance in their designated categories; regardless if it their first or fortieth nomination.

But I plead with you NOT to put wagers on my selections. Over the years I have entered so many of these competitions and have never won. So here goes:

Best Picture Nominations:

“Avatar”

“The Blind Side”

“District 9”

“An Education”

“The Hurt Locker”

“Inglorious Basterds”

“Precious:Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”

“A Serious Man”

“Up”

“Up in the Air”

Peneflix Pick

THE HURT LOCKER

2nd choice Inglorious Basterds

Three most over rated movies of the year: Avatar, A Serious Man, Up in the Air

Best Actress:

Sandra Bullock, “ The Blind Side”

Helen Mirren. “ The Last Station”

Carey Mulligan, “An Education”

Gabourey Sidibe, “ Precious”

Meryl Streep “Julie & Julia”

Peneflix Pick

Hands Down, HELEN MIRREN

2nd choice, Meryl Streep

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”

George Clooney, “Up in the Air”

Colin Firth, “ A Single Man”

Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”

Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”

Peneflix Pick

JEFF BRIDGES

2nd choice Colin Firth

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz, “Nine”

Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”

Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Crazy Heart”

Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”

Mo’Nique, “Precious….”

Peneflix Pick

Another hands down, MO’NIQUE

2nd choice Maggie Gyllenhall

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon, “Invictus”

Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”

Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”

Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”

Christoph Waltz, “Inglorious Basterds”

Peneflix Pick

CHRISTOPH WALTZ

2nd choice Christopher Plummer

Best Director

“Avatar”, James Cameron

“The Hurt Locker”, Kathryn Bigelow

“Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino

“Precious…,” Lee Daniels

“Up in the Air”, Jason Reitman

Peneflix Pick

KATHRYN BIGELOW

2nd choice Quentin Tarantino

I am not qualified to select the winners of the best animated film or the best foreign film because I have not seen them all. But because I have sole rights to this Blog I will venture a somewhat educated guess:

“FANTISTIC MR FOX” ……just loved it……better animation I have yet to see!

“THE WHITE RIBBON” a German film, its power, unforgettable!

To enter the contest, please submit your choices to me by March 5th; either by responding to the email address or commenting on my Blog. Your choices MUST match the Academy’s winners!

Your prize, tickets for two for ten movies at the theatre chain or house of your CHOICE!

Good Guessing!

For Now……………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-02-19T07:52:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

MY NAME IS KHAN

After a nine day hiatus my withdrawal symptoms raging, I paid homage to my addiction by seeing three movies in two days…….not my record but impressive, considering all the unread mail.

The first was From Paris With Love, mindlessly entertaining, if you are a John Travolta fan, which I am. You will not fall asleep or work on your “to do” list, but you would be better off contemplating the essence of Being or playing golf! (Two Stars). Followed by (I am chagrined to admit) The Wolfman. Lon Chaney Jr. started the hairy transformation in 1941 and hopefully this will be the culminating furry and ferocious metamorphosis from man to beast, starring two of Hollywood’s most capable actors, Benicio del Torro and Anthony Hopkins. Why? At the end of the day everyone needs a paycheck. (Two &1/2 Stars).

I have been fascinated by Bollywood films for over five years and have seen approximately one hundred and fifty. Netflix has satiated this hunger. My Name is Khan comes as close to eliminating the parameters between east and west as any film in recent memory. This is a courageous endeavor and my fervent wish is that it garnishes the universal audience it is so worthy of.

Except for a few scenes this movie was filmed in the United States, primarily in San Francisco, but also moves from coast to coast as our hero traverses the country to fulfill a promise he makes to his wife. The protagonist, Rizvan Khan, afflicted with Aspergers Syndrome (a cousin of autism; its victims have a lack of social skills, the fear of being touched, loud noises, rarely making eye contact. Naturally there are different degrees of Aspergers; Rizvan Khan, is highly intelligent and can function with limitations in a normal environment); comes to San Francisco where his brother employs him as a cosmetic salesman. He is a devout Muslim and the story covers fifteen years including 9/11, Katrina, the commencement of the Obama Presidency.

Rizvan Khan is played brilliantly by the major Bollywood icon, Shah Rukh Khan. If this is your first exposure to Mr. Khan you will be hard pressed to find the handsome heartthrob who can dance, sing and hypnotize any audience with exhilarating charm and chicanery; he is in his mid- forties and has made almost eighty films. But never has he had a role so challenging, demanding and pivotal to his career; he has researched and worked with those who have Aspergers Syndrome and he imbues the character with such integrity, compassion and love that Rizvan will be seared forever on our movie consciousness.

Western audiences will remember Dustin Hoffman’s powerful award winning performance in Rain Man (1988) and Hugh Dancy’s sensitive portrayal of Adam, 2009;

Shah Rukh Khan will rest comfortably in this rarefied fraternity.

The love interest in My Name is Khan is the beautiful Kajol as Mandira, the Hindu hairdresser, the flame that ignites Rizvan’s passion and devotion. They have been one of Bollywood’s most enchanting duos (Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers); this is a major deviation from the roles they have typically depicted. (See below for movies they have starred in together).

My Name is Khan tackles the controversial issues pervasive in the twenty first century, issues that we try to shun or hide from: religion, conversion, racial profiling, hatred and the potency of love. It is flawed. It is far too ambitious, melodramatic, manipulative and sensational. But God, what courage it took to bring these issues to the screen, told from the viewpoint of a physically and mentally challenged Rizvan Khan.

Shah Rukh Khan, the Brad Pitt of India was pulled over at the Newark airport last August. My Name is Khan was picketed because Mr. Khan expressed his desire that Pakistanis be allowed to play cricket on the Indian Premier League.

My Name is Khan salutes Mr. Khan’s vision and fearlessness and bequeaths the viewer the quintessential gift of hope.

FOUR STARS!

Movies Starring Shah Rukh Khan & Kajol (Devgan)

Baazingar

Khabie Kushi Khabie Gham

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayengle

Kuch, Kuch, Hota, Hai

For Now…………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-02-09T18:08:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

THE LAST STATION

With great expectations I have been desperately yearning for the opening of this film and joyously I can report that my desires were not only requited but surpassed my wildest anticipations!!!!!!! It is a tour de force at every level.

Directed by Michael Hoffman based on the biographical 1990 novel by Jay Parini, it is the wrenching tale of Leo Tolstoy’s final year; his body is frail but it still shelters a splendid mind.

It is spectacularly filmed, and unlike Avatar, glasses are not required to be embraced,

captured, and sucked into the lush palatial landscape of early twentieth century Russia.

The Tolstoy estate or commune is the Mecca for the Tolstoy disciples: practicing vegetarians, tilling the soil and abstaining from sexual intimacy, a utopian lifestyle. But tranquility ceases to exist when we are confronted with the tempestuous and fiercely competitive Leo and Sofia (Sofya).

Leo Tolstoy born in 1829 to Russian nobility, and losing his parents at a young age led him on a spiritual quest, resulting in dissatisfaction with his elitist birth right. He traveled to Europe and discovered the roots of Christianity: Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, and the teachings of St. Ignatius; eventually becoming a Christian anarchist and pacifist. Even the title The Last Station has strong religious connotations. His philosophy of non violent resistance influenced Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

Christian, Buddhist and Hindu asceticism of renunciation, paving the way to holiness was pivotal in his excommunication from the Russian Orthodox Church and the cause of the incredulous strife between Leo and Sofya, his wife of forty-eight years.

Christopher Plummer overwhelms as Leo; he is sick, exhausted, still in love with his wife but will fight with his last breath to bequeath his fortune to the people of Russia.

Sofya is sixteen years his junior, his muse (he started War and Peace the year they were married,1862) his editor and deepest confident. Her fecundity was stratospheric, she had thirteen children of which five perished at birth. She is a force to match any catastrophe nature could visit upon man.

Helen Mirren as Sofya is magnetic. She exudes in spades: sexuality, vibrancy, wisdom. She inhabits the soul, mind and spirit of Sofya and gifts her a legacy justly warranted. Rarely will you see on the screen a performance of such candor, power, love; she sinks her teeth into your psyche and you realize that there is no one more beautiful or desirable. This woman will wage war against insurmountable odds for what is her due. Oh, how we passionately root for her success.

The Academy Award is rightfully hers!

The casting is exceptional. Paul Giamatti as Vladimir Chertkov, Tolstoy’s Rasputin or Svengali, infuses the character with a delicious touch of cunning and skullduggery; James McAvoy is superb as Valentin Bulgakov, the twenty-three year old scribe and pure Tolstoyan whose idealism slowly melts into realism; and Kerry Condon as the free spirited Masha is resplendent, an Aphrodite to the innocent Valentin.

This is as good as it gets so devour every succulent scene!!!

FIVE STARS!

For Now……………Peneflix

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2010-02-04T17:35:00.000-08:00

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NORTH FACE (NORDWAND)………………………Soon to be released.

Do not miss this exhilarating, enervating, “fasten the seat belt” German film!

It revolves around mountain climbers and their quest to conquer the unfathomable summit of the Eiger Mountain (in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, 13.025 feet).

This true saga occurs in July of 1936, three years into the diabolical reign of Adolf Hitler and the Berlin Olympics. German climbers Toni Kurz (Benno Furmann, Joyeux Noel) and Andi Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas) at the peak of their climbing aptitudes, take on the “murder wall” a euphemism for the Eiger’s north face.

Director Phillipp Stolzl has created a masterpiece! It is thrilling, visceral and breathtaking; you cling to your neighbors whether you know them or not.

Stolzl filmed in refrigerated studios duplicating the hazardous and constant fluctuations in weather that climbers have to adapt to; the rugged landscape shares equal billing with the actors.

Watching this fascinating film I questioned the intense allure of height that the Eiger, or any mountain inspires in men. The mountain so cold, and impenetrable yet with magical powers to attract and addict the climber; a colossal challenge, a goddess so desperately beautiful, but like the fabled Turandot, attainable only if you pass her test, with lethal consequences if you fail.

The mountain holds the same irresistible mystique for women, compelling them to match their physical wits against the mountain’s incredulous demands.

Women have been scaling the heights for years! In 1964 German, Daisy Voog was the first woman to reach the Eiger summit via the north wall.

Junko Tabei (1939-) in 1975 was the first woman to reach the highest pinnacle of Mount Everest, the Burj Khalifa of heights! Tabei is the Director of the Himalayan Adventure Trust in Japan. For fifty years women have been testing their might and flirting with the travails of Mt. Everest.

K2 in Pakistan the second tallest mountain after Everest was conquered by Wanda Rutkiewicz, a Polish scientist and electrical engineer born in 1943. She disappeared in 1992 while climbing Mt. Kangchenjunga in Nepal.

Julie Tullis of Britain and Liliane Barrand of France, reached the summit but lost their lives on the descent: testimony to the treacherousness of the descent.

These female athletes do not share the same recognition as their male counterparts (Sir Edmund Hilary, Tenzing Norgay, Reinhold Messner, even Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea) but their courageousness is undisputed.

It is a mystical, spiritual force, a love of solitude and the power of the will that magnet-like marries man and mountain; the duration of the partnership is unimportant; just its consummation. The Chinese poet Li Po writes:

Alone Looking at the Mountain

All the birds have flown up and gone:

A lonely cloud floats leisurely by

We never tire of looking at each other

Only the mountain and I.

North Face triumphs in crystallizing this union!

FOUR&1/2 STARS!

For now……………….Peneflix

Know that many of you are followers who have not registered as such. I am improving my technological skills and will be able to get these reviews to you faster if you sign up; the price is right, just follow the directions, it is not difficult. I promise on the life of my Blog that I will not sell the list to a telemarketer!

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2010-01-27T19:19:00.000-08:00

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EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES

Over thirty years ago a close friend of mine was diagnosed with scleroderma (a debilitating connective tissue disease that involves changes in the skin, blood vessels, muscles and internal organs); she was given approximately six years to live; the younger of her two sons was six months old.

As I watched this, not extraordinary, but well intentioned film I questioned why some are fated to overcome insurmountable obstacles for the betterment of mankind, while others are felled. My friend and John Crowley, heroes created by unwanted circumstances.

John Crowley is blessed with a staggering intellect. He attended the U.S. Navel Academy at Annapolis, received a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, a law degree from Notre Dame, an MBA from Harvard. He and his wife Aileen have three children, two cursed with Pompe disease, a severe neuromuscular disorder, which manifests itself like the worst combination of cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy; with a life expectancy of five years. It is a disease so rare that there are less than six thousand cases in the world.

Extraordinary Measures focuses on John Crowley’s herculean efforts to find a cure, an enzyme, to save his and other children’s lives. Brendan Fraser gives a credible and passionate performance as John Crowley; Keri Russell, an actress of fathomless sensitivity, is Aileen Crowley; Meredith Droeger as Megan Crowley is enchanting in her depiction of a child so thirsting to survive and desperately struggling to live and play as her peers; her presence provided the flawless moments in the film.

Harrison Ford (also a co-producer) as the cantankerous, irascible, and brilliant research scientist Dr. Robert Stonehill, I found problematic, and after some research discovered that in actuality he is fictional; a composite of all the doctors and researchers Crowley dealt with over the years. There was something missing; as fine an actor as he is, there was a lack of conviction in his characterization.

The movie entertains with the friction between the experimental and empirical world of science and the bottom line decisiveness of the financial world; always a tenuous marriage; divorce, a ubiquitous specter lurking in the shadows.

Extraordinary Measures is not a great film but it succeeds in awakening the audience to the greatness of one individual. John Crowley (presently 43 years old) and my friend are monuments to the power of one. One person with boundless fortitude and tenacity can alter the universe.

TWO & ½ STARS

For Now……………..Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-01-24T18:16:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

THE LOVELY BONES

Those of you who read Alice Sebold’s 2002 novel of the same name will find this well-acted but tedious film a test of one’s concentrative powers. The genius of Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings and District 9) was on a directorial hiatus.

The mundane script is rescued or resuscitated by Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) playing Susie Salmon (‘like the fish”), Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as Susie’s parents and particularly Susan Sarandon as the glitzy, boozy Grandma Lynn and Stanley Tucci (Julie Julia) who depicts Mr. Harvey with the perfect mixture of creepiness and cunning to give the viewer goose flesh. He is a marvelous actor who seems to finally be receiving the accolades he has been worthy of for years.

The Lovely Bones losses its way and the audience by spending too much time in “the in between”!

TWO STARS!

THE BOOK OF ELI

We have all seen movies that we like but are hard pressed to describe why. I found myself wallowing in this dilemma as I journeyed through another post-apocalyptic film,

trapped in the gray area between dusk and dawn.

Possibly it was the spiritual aspect, saving the last King James Bible from evil saboteurs or the prophet Eli, who is the harbinger, protector of the Book, possessing supernatural powers in his role as savior. Eli is supposedly the first word uttered from the Cross.

The Hughes brothers, Albert and Allen deserve our approbation in casting Denzel Washington as Eli. You never doubt his faith or tenacity in achieving his mission, and overcoming dauntless obstacles as he walks west; we meet him at the thirty year point of his trek. Washington is stupendous. And Gary Oldham (Carnegie) as the debauched villain who goes to nefarious lengths to confiscate the Book. Oldman is Beelzebub and bedazzles in the role.

Jenifer Beals (Flashdance), still beautiful, plays the blind mother of Solara (Mila Kunis, Extract); the disciple of Eli. Characters in need of more depth or definition.

The ending is worth the journey.

TWO & ½ STARS!

3 IDIOTS

A Bollywood blockbuster with a ridiculous title. Westerners will think of the three Stooges and there are some similarities but this is a substantive at time times moralizing film starring actors at their pinnacle. Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor have tantalized, traumatized and driven to tears Eastern audiences for years and only recently are they mesmerizing western film lovers.

So much is demanded of the Bollywood actors. They must sing, dance, act with such effortlessness that us Westerners discount the immeasurable proficiencies required of them; many are from acting dynasties; like the Barrymores.

Discard, at the ticket counter, your filmatic prejudices and give this insightful and delightful film a well deserved chance. You will have a surprisingly good time.

THREE STARS!

In answer to your e-mails I am not viewing or reviewing Mel Gibson’s upcoming movie,

The Edge of Darkness. Mr. Gibson has been onerous, erroneous and vituperative in his comments and opinions on a religion that is not compatible with his. He has a constitutional right to express his thoughts but will see not a cent of my currency unless it is for a JUF Fundraiser!

For Now……………..Peneflix

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2010-01-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

EMMA JANE AUSTEN’S MASTERPIECE PREMIERS SUNDAY JANUARY

24TH ON PBS

It was amazingly serendipitous when I arrived home from a gluttonous culture junket to New York City, where I had just seen the Jane Austen Manuscript Exhibit (Morgan Library), to find the CD of this remarkable mini series from a generous friend!

I spent a delicious afternoon with Emma in the comfort of my home, surrounded by pillows, snacks and the ultimate adult pacifier, the remote control! This is a not to be missed jewel.

Jane Austen (1775-1817) wrote this classic anonymously (1815) after the success of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility and in her own words created a heroine only she could love.

Emma is wealthy, spoiled, acutely intelligent and entertains herself by playing cupid in her small and stilted world. She can be cruel, mean-spirited and spiteful but her appeal lies in her ability to recognize her errors and correct them; conquering all hearts in the process. Her unchained passion and joy in every wakening moment is infectious. Despite her faults her friendship would be a gift, a protected one.

There have been a myriad of Emma’s, in recent years, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Beckinsale, but Romola Garai (Atonement) surpasses them all; she is the Emma you envision as you devour the novel. Her luminosity is a film makers dream; like Scarlett O’Hara she is not a traditional beauty but before you realize it she has imprisoned your soul. Her every expression speaks volumes and her smile should be minted.

Jonny Lee Miller (Endgame) as Mr. Knightly is her intellectual match and they spar with masterful agility. The most entertaining trait of the film is the triumph of the art of conversation; they trade barbs, with wit, skill and acerbity. Their blatant honesty is riveting and delightful to behold. They were made for each other and we root for their awakening.

Wandering through the Jane Austen Manuscript Exhibit I was astounded by the millions of hand written words; minutely and meticulously written, words that danced from her mind to her pen, words that still enthrall and enchant after almost two hundred years.

She died mysteriously at the age of forty-one (now diagnosed as Addison Disease) and leaves behind a legacy that will thrive and edify through eternity.

FOUR STARS!

For Now………….Peneflix

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2010-01-20T06:51:00.001-08:00

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Soon to be released:

FISH TANK

Andrea Arnold (Oscar winning creator of Wasp, 2004) delivers a knock out punch with this rough, raw and brutally honest film, attracting and repulsing, simultaneously.

Mia (freshly discovered, Katie Jarvis) is fifteen, no longer in school, disenfranchised from, and hater of society; a pure misanthrope. Her only escape a pathetic imitation of break-dancing (one could not help but recall Jennifer Beals in Flashdance). We do not like her and she does not want us to. Living in the housing projects in Essex, England where privacy is anathema and one’s vulnerabilities showcased for all to witness, replicating a fish tank; with her alcoholic and abusive mother and her younger foul-mouthed sister; dysfunctional climbs to the nose bleed level.

Added to this menacing mix is the ragingly sensual Connor (adroitly played by Michael Fassbender, Inglorious Basterds) lover of Mia’s mother; but from the initial meeting the chemistry between Mia and Connor is palpable and if exploited, could result in explosive consequences. The success of the film rests in the gradual culmination of this relationship.

“Coming of age” films are a truism that has become trivialized, almost a cliché; usually referring to a teen’s sexual awakening or enlightenment. Someone comes of age in all films, regardless of the date on their birth certificate. From The Lost Weekend to An Education, bookends for Old Yeller, Biker Boyz, Lords of Flatbush, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Scent of a Woman, Midnight Cowboy, Cocoon; there are no time restrictions or boundaries as to the age you “come of age”, if ever.

Arnold softens this excruciating painful film with luscious views of the sky and the perfect formation of birds in flight, a metaphor for Mia’s entrapment and struggle for a space of her own.

Can Mia rise above her hubris, her histrionics? Only if you believe in Divine intervention!

THREE STARS!

For Now……………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-01-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

THE WHITE RIBBON

This sinister but compelling film by Michael Haneke is a study of the inhabitants of a small German town over a year’s time, 1913-14. A town so isolated or encapsulated that life revolves around farming, procreating and prayer; its existence rests in the hands of the powerful but just landlord, the Baron. His world doomed and soon to be “gone with the wind.”

The film evolves as the school teacher (Christian Friedel) reflects on a series of unresolved disasters that have plagued his dreams throughout the years and the intensity and tautness of this film is that, in reality oftentimes one is left with only speculation.

Brilliantly filmed in black and white, eliminating the softening effects of color; our focus is on the chilling and underlying evil seeping from the pores of those whose innocence should be unquestioned. The children so blond, beautiful and beguiling, similar in countenance that you are tested as to which family they belong to. In conclusion, it is not relevant.

The white ribbon, a symbol of purity, is worn by the children of the Pastor; it is removed when their souls are expunged of the wrongs or sins committed. The Pastor (Burghart Klaussner, is galvanizing in the role) wields his religion with axe like precision. He is a master of dehumanization and intimidation, producing not good but mendacious, cunning and amoral products.

Watching this dark, mysterious world, with the clairvoyance of almost a hundred years you see the roots of fascism, anti-Semitism all germinated in the name of religion, where God is removed from the equation, replaced with a self aggrandizing, self serving populace, terrified of the “other” and questing for its erasure.

To paraphrase Edmond Burke’s profound statement that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, The White Ribbons’s success lies in the untainted purity of the school teacher, the nanny he courts and the youngest son of the Pastor; these characters rise above the fray, redeem the film from moralizing and bequeath the viewer the gift of hope.

FOUR STARS!

For Now……….Peneflix

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2010-01-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

THE LOSS OF THE TEARDROP DIAMOND

One could never doubt the prolific and prodigious talents of Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) and this lesser known work exemplifies the breath taking depth of his skill.

He used as fodder for most of his works the dysfunctional family he was straddled with: alcoholism and madness were prime elements and he magically raises these detriments to the highest artistic levels.

Inspired by the schizophrenia of his beautiful sister Rose, his female characters are touched with fragile minds and spirits. Key examples, Blanch in Streetcar Named Desire and Laura in The Glass Menagerie. They are not grounded or rooted in the real world and view it through intelligent but fantasy laden eyes; their only coping mechanism, the imagination.

The Loss of the Teardrop Diamond which was the third but unrealized collaboration with Elia Kazan (1909-2003, A Streetcar Named Desire and Baby Doll) is the Diamond in the trilogy. We owe a tremendous debt to actor turned director Jodie Markell for conceiving and creating this deliciously fabulous film. Every member of the cast is superlative in their characterizations of life in Tennessee, in the early 1920’s.

Brice Dallas Howard (daughter of Ron Howard) is resplendent as Fisher Willow the sophisticated, educated heiress, trying desperately to reenter a world she shuns and is not suited for. She has to prove that the “sins of the father” are not inherited. William’s Fisher Willow is a provocative blend of Scarlett O ’Hera (Gone with the Wind) and Maggie (Cat on a hot Tin Roof) Howard is hypnotic in every scene. Fisher is a woman for all seasons: brilliant, opinionated, kind and lacking in all pretentions. She was a twenty-first century woman thrust into a milieu of early twentieth century elite superficiality: debutants, garden parties and the universal quest for a husband.

Fisher needs an escort and focuses on Jimmy Dobyne (Chris Evans, simmers as the poor but proud object of her affections); grandson of a governor who refuses to be intimidated or compromise his values because of his lack of wealth. He is a shining example of the strongest steel experiencing the hottest fire. Fisher is the quintessential flame!

The minor roles are majorly played by Ann-Margaret as Fisher’s Aunt Cornelia; she has made the aging process an art form; she exudes strength and believability in her limited screen presence. Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep’s daughter) as Fisher’s only friend, Julie is dazzling and the resemblance to her mother, uncanny. But worthy of an Academy Award nomination is Ellen Bursten as Miss Addie, the paralyzed but prophetic catalyst for Fisher’s epiphany. This is a gifted and memorable performance.

Tennessee Williams deserves the ultimate credit for the conception of this work of art but Jodie Markell wins the trophy for the realization of this……..

FOUR STAR MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!

For Now…………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-01-05T20:06:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

SHERLOCK HOLMES

This film is a sad and ridiculous example of the crucifixion of two fictional characters worthy of a better fate. And feted they have been throughout filmdom. Their have been fifty-nine actors, stage, screen and radio that have played Sherlock: John Barrymore, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Peter O’ Toole, Roger Moore. But it is Basil Rathbone, who reigns supreme as Sherlock Holmes, starring in fourteen movies between 1939, The Hound of Baskerville, culminating in 1946 with Dressed to Kill.

And Sherlock’s sidekick or alter ego the faithful Dr. Watson depicted by Nigel Bruce.

They were uniquely refined in their characterizations and were elegant in their solving of the most heinous of crimes, murder.

The talents of two intelligent actors, Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law were squandered in this recent rendition of purified drivel.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was trained as a doctor but credits his passion and genius for storytelling to his mother, Mary. He wrote fifty-seven novels; four of them adventures of Sherlock Holmes (also fifty-six short stories revolving around his two favorite protagonists); his fecundity, boundless.

In the great beyond he is not just turning over but performing a Cirque du Soleil after witnessing this atrocity!

ONE STAR!

For Now………….Peneflix

Please be aware that I am changing the way of informing you of my most recent reviews. It will be easier for all if you become a Follower (at no extra charge), regardless you will be alerted. You have been wonderful in your encouragement and I am loving my new career!

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2010-01-03T13:05:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

ME AND ORSON WELLES

This film focuses on a small episode in the life of Orson Welles. Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Robert Kaplow’s novel should be seen by all devotees of Orson Welles, one of the most remarkable minds of the twentieth century; William Shakespeare, the undisputed titian of the written word and those who willingly shed the travails of their lives, and use, in this instance, the darkened theatre as a time machine to scroll back to the year 1937, the nadir of the depression.

Orson Welles (1915-1985) was the son of gifted parents; his father an inventor, his mother a beautiful concert pianist, both dead by the time he was fifteen. A prodigy from birth: pianist, painter, magician, actor, director, and writer. Midas in all in touched, just twenty-one in 1937, directing and performing (Brutus) in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at the Mercury Theatre in New York. It is staged in contemporary attire, very iconoclastic and avant-garde for the times. A precursor to Barbara Gaines, the founder and Artistic Director of the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.

Me and Orson Welles, incredibly casted, revolves around Richard (Zac Efron) who at seventeen feels destined to be an actor; Sonja (Claire Danes) Orson’s “girl Friday”, also yearning for discovery and Orson (Christian McKay, uncanny in his resemblance to the actual Orson Welles) who is a master of manipulation and intimidation.

This is a play within a play luminously acted by all the major and minor characters but as I watched and relished the movie I could not help but dwell on the fact that we excuse in geniuses flaws and cruelties that we would not tolerate in lesser mortals.

Orson Welles said of himself, “I have an unfortunate personality”. He used his stratospheric talents (Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, War of the Worlds) to achieve his goals, denigrating and destroying those less equipped to challenge his monumental mind, will and ego.

Rita Hayworth (one of his three wives) said upon their divorce, “I can’t take his genius anymore” a testimony of conflicts unresolved, at least in her estimation.

But Orson Welles stated: “a film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet”. The success of this film attests to the insightful and poetic eye of Richard Linklater.

FOUR STARS!

For Now…………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-01-01T15:42:00.001-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

CRAZY HEART

Through the years there have been many iconic movies made about alcohol addiction and the devastation left in its wake. A few come to mind:

The Lost Weekend, Ray Milland

I’ll Cry Tomorrow, Susan Hayward

Days of Wine & Roses, Jack Lemmon & Lee Remick

Who’s Afraid of Virginia, Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor

Animal House, John Belushi

A Star is Born, James Mason

The Verdict, Paul Newman

Sideways, Paul Giamatti

Leaving Las Vegas, Nicholas Cage. The quintessential example of self destructiveness ever depicted on the screen; suicide by alcoholic poisoning; there had to be a simpler way to exit Las Vegas.

Many awards and accolades were doused upon these movies and their stars.

Personally, I am tired and find very little entertainment value in viewing the loss of control, both of the tongue (liquid courage) and the body (regurgitation from excessive imbibing; although in recent times, vomiting seems to be pervasive tool in too many films). So it was with trepidation that I went to see Crazy Heart and was genuinely pleased and surprised with the product……..Jim Bean, not withstanding.

Based on the novel by Thomas Cobb; a project conceived by Jeff Bridges and Robert Duvall, it is a stunning tale of a once renowned, but now just a shell of his former self, country western singer traveling the country in his dilapidated yet beloved automobile; playing one night stands in tragically depleted bowling alleys and sad bars to equally tragic and sorrowful souls. His only partner, the ubiquitous bottle.

Jeff Bridges reaches amazing heights as Bad Blake. He is not mean, he is pathetic, flawed, but traces of his talent surface while performing. Instead of turning away from his debauchery you want to shake him and wake him from his malaise. Maggie Gyllenhall so wonderfully cast as Jean is the catalyst, his muse; she is a junior reporter, concentrating on music, enthralled with his past. The contrast between the two is riveting; she is light to his bleakness; clean and pristine to his slovenliness and indolence. She is pivotal in his metamorphosis.

This movie is loosely based on two musicians whose musical careers took divergent paths; one to glory and one to anonymity. T-Bone Burnett (music producer, “O Brother Where Art Thou?”) and his gifted but misguided childhood friend, Stephen Bruton, who died this past May, defeated by cancer.

Colin Farrell, as Tommy Sweet, the successful musician, is astounding in his versatility; he sings and plays the guitar with the utmost of professionalism.

The music by Ryan Bingham adds to the delightful flavor of the film; the concerts are electric!

Jeff Bridges elevates Crazy Heart to the limited level of….

FOUR STARS!

For Now……..

Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2010-01-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

Welcome to 2010! Thank you for your encouragement, comments and becoming followers of Peneflix.

Now I realize that many of you are not movie lovers and may be tiring of my copious e-mails regarding my movie reviews (as I would feel about sport Blogs) so please let me know and I will erase you from my list; but will still remember your birthdays and go to your children’s weddings.

This will save all of us from the onset of carpel tunnel.Fellow Movie Lovers

Welcome to 2010! Thank you for your encouragement, comments and becoming followers of Peneflix.

Now I realize that many of you are not movie lovers and may be tiring of my copious e-mails regarding my movie reviews (as I would feel about sport Blogs) so please let me know and I will erase you from my list; but will still remember your birthdays and go to your children’s weddings.

This will save all of us from the onset of carpel tunnel.

May you be richly blessed in the joys of the New Year.

For now………..Peneflix

May you be richly blessed in the joys of the New Year.

For now………..Peneflix

2009-12-30T15:06:00.000-08:00

Fellow Move Lovers

A SINGLE MAN

Never has a broken heart been rendered as achingly beautiful as Colin Firth’s portrayal of Professor George Falconer in Tom Ford’s A Single man. Anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one will empathize with the excruciating pain and realization that the absence, the void is eternal.

George moves through his life, a life where everything is obsessively organized; shirts, ties, bedroom, kitchen all sterile and bereft of warmth, knowing that one uncontrolled movement will shatter into a thousand points of light, the havoc within. He looks in the mirror and sees not what the world sees but a vessel housing and protecting his pain. He has made it sacred.

An art historian said that a work of art interrogates the time in which it was created.

This movie based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood takes place in 1962. Tom Ford (a fashion designer); Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and the musical score by Abel Korzeniowski have depicted a story of love and loss with such dignity and integrity that it will rest forever on a pedestal of movie masterpieces.

FIVE STARS!!!!!!!!

For Now……………..Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-12-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

“IT’S COMPLICATED”

“It’s complicated”, a major ingredient of twenty-first century vernacular, is a euphuism for our inability to explain our ineptitudes, poor decisions or complications from personal or professional relationships gone awry. The situation we manufactured but no longer want ownership of, and are too mortified to confess to its creation and too embarrassed to seek help. But Nancy Meyers masterfully tackles the complications of the divorced Jane and Jake Adler with such skill and wisdom that never again will I utter the words “it’s complicated” without a silent but joyous chuckle. This movie charms, pleases and succeeds in lifting the spirits to unchartered heights.

Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin are flawless. Their characters exude confidence, charm and vulnerability. They have been wounded; the scars are obvious, but endured. The screen pulsated with their humanness.

The trophy goes to Meyers. She climbed into the minds, hearts and psyches of “women of a certain age” turned them inside out, so the beauty within, the sensuality that never withers but intensifies with time spilled off the screen onto an audience relishing and rooting for a woman who could be a grandmother. Why not, can’t grandmothers be desirable?

Myers has been doing this for years (Something’s Gotta Give, What Women Want) but “It’s Complicated” is the 24 carat diamond in the crown. Her females are accomplished women; secure and mature. Primarily they like what they have become; the youthful unrealized fantasies are no substitute for the power of surmounting life’s obstacles, unscathed. Wrinkles, widening hips, drooping lids are badges to be flaunted, not flaws to be surgically erased. They are ensconced in beautiful but lived in homes; reflecting the security of their taste, not a decorators.

The script is hilarious; every line by every actor delivered with precise comedic timing.

Special applause to John Kraniski, whose portrayal of Harley, the soon to be son-in-law, is rich in subtle nuances.

The movie is most sensual in the cuisine creating scenes. You salivate as Jane (like Julia Child) prepares Croque Monsieurs (open-faced grilled cheese sandwiches) for Adam or at his request warm chocolate croissants in her shuttered pastry shop; ideal setting for an eventual assignation. Food and love, a partnership that satiates both the palate and the heart; a copious theme on the screen (Tom Jones, Julie/Julia) and the real world.

In conclusion it is Jake who says “It’s Complicated”. No impediment will halt Jane’s evolution to be a “woman of a certain age”, shining and thriving in every glorious minute.

FOUR & 1/2 STARS!

For Now…………

Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-12-27T14:05:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

AVATAR

In Hinduism the word avatar, derived from the Sanskrit, avatana (incarnation) is primarily associated with the god Vishnu, the preserver. To straighten out the foibles of man he appears in human form; the two most recognized avatars are Krishna starring in the Mahabharata and Rama the hero in the Ramayana epic.

James Cameron’s (Titanic) Avatar is based on the 1992 book Cyber Punk by Neal Stephenson. You create your own three dimensional alter ego. Barely capable of navigating my DVR this is the culmination of my Virtual reality sensibility. But cloning I comprehend; never missing a party, how divine!

The story is preposterous but if you can suspend belief and don the three dimensional glasses you can enjoy the experience; although the bonding with one’s seat seems interminable.

We westerners have invaded Pandora (in Greek mythology the woman created specifically by Zeus to open the box and deluge the world with disease, evil, pain but softened with a sprinkle of hope); to mix with and understand the indigenous population and persuade them to relocate or suffer annihilation. The gestation occurs in a huge Petri tank and the process is fascinating.

The moral is achingly obvious; man’s greed for territorial expansion unchanged through the millenniums. An efficacious touch was the arrows vs. the artillery.

The actors, all gave notable performances but Stephen Lang, the epitome of military intransigence, is staggeringly real as Col. Miles Quaritch. He soars and scores a perfect missile in every scene.

What was problematic is the 3-dimensional filming technique; it has been around for many years yet never massively appealed to movie audiences.

The first attempt was in 1915 followed in 1922 by Power of Love at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The Italians and Russians venture into the genre in the 30’s and 40’s. The pivotal breakthrough was Warner Brother’s 3-D stereophonic sound, The House of Wax in 1953.

James Cameron a god in the film world creates the finest scenario for the 3-D experience. He eliminates the boundaries between the viewer and the film; we are in Pandora. Perhaps the flaw is the glasses; during the three hour Avatar I occasionally removed them and saw the blurred images and could no longer suspend my belief and with a shrug of the shoulders decided Pandora was not for me!

THREE STARS!

NINE

Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ opened in 1963. I was a student in Rome, Italy and this film, so revolutionary changed forever my expectations or satisfactions with the traditional Hollywood fare (Doris Day/Rock Hudson); guts, glory, fantasy and freedom, packaged so lusciously and sensually that Fellini became a shaman, guru to us expats in Rome.

Inebriates of Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimee, Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita); appetites never satiated, we went in ever expanding groups over and over to 8 ½, until every scene was permanently etched on our impressionable and fertile souls.

So my anticipatory taste buds were on high alert as I waited for the commencement of Rob Marshall’s (Chicago) rendition of Fellini’s 8 ½ …Nine. My hopes plummeted within minutes.

Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood) plays the stooped, tortured, ghoulish Guido, hiding behind dark glasses and cigarettes; so bereft of substance that at any second he might evaporate ghostlike in a haze of nicotine. He is a brilliant actor, miscast.

The plot revolves around the women he needs to survive; they are his sycophants. It is inscrutable what they see in him.

Fellini always said that 8 ½ referenced the number of films he had directed up to this point: not the women.

The women are resplendent. They sing, dance, gyrate, cry and pay homage to the dysfunctional Guido. Penelope Cruz (mistress) flawless; Marion Cotillard (wife) perfectly poignant; Nicole Kidman (muse) magnificent; Sophia Loren (mother) iconic;

Judi Dench (costume designer, his Edith Head) always dignified; Kate Hudson (journalist) completely compelling.

But the most sensational, lustfully luscious, Fergie (Black Eyed Peas) is mesmerizing as Saraghina, Guido’s youthful initiation into the enchantments of the female species. She bears a strong resemblance to Anita Ekberg and is hypnotic performing the only song worth humming or remembering, “Be Italian”.

A more satisfying two hours would be spent watching Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960),

8 ½, or my all time favorite Fellini flick, Juliet of the Sprits (1965).

Nine receives not 8 ½ but only………

TWO & 1/2 STARS!

For Now……..

Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-12-20T18:52:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

THE YOUNG VICTORIA & BROKEN EMBRACES

Never I have seen two movies in a twenty-four hour span that were so deliciously satiating; comparable to a titillating, palate- pampering dining experience, each exquisite swallow, gone but not forgotten.

THE YOUNG VICTORIA

The beguiling Emily Blount (The Devil Wears Prada) captures the innocence, grace and metal of the seventeen year old queen to be. Rupert Friend (Pride & Prejudice) is aptly cast as Albert, her cousin and suitor. Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind) gives a superb performance as Lord Melbourne, the politically adroit advisor to the inexperienced Queen.

Sara Ferguson adds a royal touch as a producer.

Julian Fellows (actor turned screen writer) won the Oscar for Gosford Park and will rank once again, among the contenders for this finely tuned piece of scripting.

Victoria and Albert both born in 1819; married in 1840; and with impressive fecundity produced nine children while ruling jointly over England’s economic and imperial expansion for twenty years.

This film is glorious to look at; the manicured English gardens, sculptured to perfection; the luscious opulence of the palaces; wardrobes and jewels glisten with excessive and stunning wealth.

Primarily this is a love story. Victoria as Queen must propose to the man of her choice and this is a scene that transcends their positions; two people who rise above the awkwardness and embrace as any loving couple would.

They also suffer the tensions of the first year of marriage: pregnancy, his role as the Queen’s husband and striving to come to terms with everyday life together.

The viewer will relate and rejoice as these trials are resolved.

As the film reached it conclusion, I silently screamed NO! Does this mean I have to leave? I stayed and watched every credit, the lights came on and the cleaning crew politely worked around me, until with dreaded alacrity I departed.

FOUR STARS!

BROKEN EMBRACES

This is the fourth and most successful pairing of Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz.

A partnership reminiscent of Pygmalion/Aphrodite, Svengali/Tilby, Professor Higgins/Eliza Doolittle. In the case of Almodovar and Cruz it has been mutually beneficial to both parties.

Penelope Cruz is rapturous, luminescent and at the peak of her powerful career; she is totally captivating and believable as Lena, the sprite who inspires love and obsession. It is a magical performance. She seems much more comfortable in her native tongue; audiences often feel that the character is diminished by an accent. She proved audiences wrong in garnishing the academy award for best supporting actress in Vicky, Cristina,

Barcelona!

I was emotionally ambushed from the first line. Without exception every character exudes humanness, flawed but genuine to the core. Mateo (aka Harry Caine) is given a depth of such magnitude by Lluis Homar that you empathize but not pity the man from the initial humorous moment.

Blanca Portillo as Judit is outstanding, she possess and controls and dominates every scene she appears in. Watching her was heart rendering. She is the glue that holds the story together; her catharsis is revolutionary in its candidness.

The story is unveiled in a series of flashbacks over a fourteen year period. It involves a love triangle, jealousy, and lessons in human fragility. The intimate scenes are passionate but not lewd; even hilarious and fraught with levity. There was not a maudlin or manipulative moment in this spectacular film.

Ultimately it is Penelope Cruz who takes full ownership for the success and vitality of Broken Embraces. There is one fleeting moment when she passes a Matisse like painting and her beauty matches and surpasses the work of art.

Leaving I realized with rarefied and painful clarity that all embraces are ephemeral and doomed to be broken.

FIVE STARS!

Caveat. For those of you who missed The Hurt Locker, it has been re-released. It is one of the best non-documentary war stories ever told. Kathryn Bigelow’s genius should be recognized by the Academy in the spring. It is a four star must see!

For Now…………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-12-18T16:36:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

Yes, I have returned from a warm and luscious hiatus. While relishing the only place in the continental United States that was bathed in sunshine I still managed to sit in a darkened and cool theatre to view:

INVICTUS

After a week of digesting this film, another jewel by Clint Eastwood (a man who never tires of reinventing himself) I have reached the prescient conclusion that the poem Invictus is the true star of this movie.

It was written in 1875 by British poet William Ernest Henley (1849-1902). It is worthy of

repetition;

Invictus (unconquered in Latin)

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods that be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeoning of chance

My head is bloody but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

As a child Henley was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone and eventually lost a foot to the disease. His spirit remained undaunted throughout his life. It was this poem that served as a beacon of fortitude for Nelson Mandela during his twenty- seven years of incarceration.

Morgan Freeman is Nelson Mandela; a role he was destined to play. So rarely does an actor have the attributes of the character he portrays, either real or fictional that the viewer could not fathom anyone else in the role. (Only Clark Gable could capture the inimitable charms and skullduggery of Rhett Butler; or Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice).

The plot revolves around the challenges Mandela had to conquer as the first black president of South Africa; he legitimately feared polarization and brilliantly decided that the game of rugby was the chemical needed to narrow the monumental divide between the Afrikaners and the blacks they so loathed and feared. He goes against the advice of his aids and keeps the Springbok mascot (gazelle), a symbol of oppression and white domination. He enlists as his disciple the captain of the Springbok team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and together conceive the illusive miracle……winning the World Cup in one years’ time.

Pienaar’s conversion fueled by Invictus is masterfully crafted. Matt Damon, accent and all, gives Pienaar the gentle grace and strength of a leader without a splash of sentimentality.

Watching the film I realized that something was lacking. Looking for a depth at least a thousand leagues under the sea; but instead remained at the lake level. Maybe Morgan Freeman’s imitation of Mandela was too perfect. Or possibly an over abundance of the rugby game and its rutting sound effects.

Nelson Mandela is an icon of our modern times, almost godlike in his accomplishments.

Always in the top ten of whom you would “like to have as a dinner partner”. But as I watched the film, lines from a poem by Richard Lovelace waltzed through my mind:

Stone walls do not a prison make

Nor iron bars a cage

Minds innocent and quiet

Take that for a hermitage.

If I have freedom in my love

And in my soul am free

Angels alone, that soar above

Enjoy such liberty.

Nelson Mandela is a dazzling example that there are no shackles that can hinder the flight of a soul so pure it reigns with the celestial.

THREE & 1/2 STARS!

For Now……….Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-12-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

BROTHERS

This is a well acted but not quite successful film. It is based on the 2004 movie Brodre by Danish director Susanne Bier (After the Wedding, Things We Lost in the Fire). The film’s success or failure rests with director Jim Sheridan. The subject matter, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and its victims is indeed timely and worthy of consideration. The Cahill family Sam, Tommy and Grace represent ordinary people living in extraordinary times.

Sam (Toby Maguire) is the flawless son of a military family; Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) the ne’er-do well son, an ex con, the perfect black sheep; Grace (Natalie Portman) the exquisite, ideal wife of soldier Sam. The plot revolves around Sam’s return to Afghanistan, being shot down, captured and tortured by the Taliban. Meanwhile back home Sam is presumed dead, buried and his grief ridden family struggles with the aftermath of eviscerating loss.

The patness and predictability of the story; the stereotypical Taliban; the metamorphosis of the characters all flowed downstream into a pool of mediocrity.

The movie is saved by the actors who are still young enough that their off screen personas have yet to transcend their screen roles (Fates suffered by Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey). Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) is gifted at portraying the vulnerable wounded soul and is mesmerizing as Tommy. Natalie Portman (Closer and The Other Boleyn Girl) elevated the act of crying to the Olympic level and remains ethereal with each tear. Toby Maguire (better known as Peter Parker, Spider Man) does the Hyde to Jekyll transformation too convincingly for my taste; but is a talent still evolving.

See, if you have two free hours and enjoy watching three actors in the embryonic stage of their film careers.

TWO AND 1/2 STARS!

UP IN THE AIR

A week ago I saw and reviewed The Messenger. The protagonist in Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman (Juno), is Ryan Bingham played with unwavering charm by George Clooney, a messenger in an unusual category. He flies with limited baggage around the country firing employees of companies that management lacks the courage to terminate personally. He tries, with great skill and aplomb, to spin a positive side to their trauma. These interviews played primarily by real individuals who have been euphemistically “down sized” are the focal point, and most successful aspect of the film.

Mr. Clooney whose countenance has improved with age gives a credible performance; Ryan Bingham blissfully accepts his flaws but is not intransigent to change. The catalyst for his development rests in the powers of two women. Alex (Vera Farmiga) sexually provocative and just as savvy in negotiating the elite lane of frequent fliers. Ryan’s goal is to achieve the ten million mile stratosphere, where the air is purified and shared by a privileged few. And Natalie (played with comedic brilliance by Anna Kendrick) the precocious twenty three year old hired to ground the “Ryan’s” of the corporation by firing folks via video conferencing. Natalie’s epiphany is profound.

The movie is entertaining but both Reitman and Clooney have reached higher professional peaks. Reitman’s Thank You for Smoking should be at the pinnacle of your Netflix list. Clooney’s Intolerable Cruelty exhibits his comedic flair and adroitness to perfection.

There are many contemplative messages in Up in the Air but unfortunately for the viewer it never maximizes its cruising altitude.

THREE STARS!

For Now……………..Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-12-04T16:31:00.001-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

Like many of you I have never been a fan of movies depicting massive world wide annihilation; especially the destruction of our United States. The majority of us are particularly sensitive after the catastrophic effects of 9/11. That being noted I did see two films where the universe as we know it has seen the apocalypse or is in the process of experiencing it. The best of the pair is………

THE ROAD

This movie is based on Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 Pulitzer winning novel. It is eerily enticing and at the same time disturbingly depressing. We are unaware of the cosmic reason for the death of civilization but know that most who survived have resorted to cannibalism and bestiality to move through each bleak and grueling day. The barren but still smoldering landscape adds unmitigating tension to every waking and sleeping moment.

The movie is brilliantly acted by Viggo Mortensen as a father whose sole mission is to keep his son alive and unharmed. The son played by Kodi Smit-McPhee; so perfect is his characterization of a child whose world has only witnessed starvation and evil, you mourn his never realized innocence.

The essence and the beauty lie in the unwavering bond of dignity, affection, poignancy and love that only increases in strength as they travel the road to the sun. Their devotion is palpable and constantly compelling.

Wonderful cameo roles by Charlize Theron as the wife and mother who lacked the fortitude to thrive is this altered state; Robert Duvall, barely recognizable as one of the “good guys”; and Guy Pearce, the ultimate knight.

This is a dark, rough and brutal film but for those who endure, its message is refined and purified, an unexpected gift.

FOUR STARS!

2012

Some believe that it took less than a week to create the universe. What can one say about a film that cost over 200 million dollars and seemed interminable before the catastrophic conclusion?

Destruction can have its entertaining value: Godzilla vs. Tokyo; King Kong vs. New York; James Bond vs. any and all evil empires! But here all boundaries and continents (except parts of Africa) are erased and the process actually becomes boring; very Warholian, repetition breeds ennui.

This is not a bad film; it is just not a great one. Based on the nonfiction book Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock, it deals with the heating of the earth’s core resulting in crustal displacement…………….hence flooding to rival Noah’s trials. There is even a scene where animal pairings are being hoisted on board major water vehicles!

The actors, in different stages of horror, meet the directorial challenges. Especially the ubiquitous Woody Harrelson (the man never takes a vacation), as a shaman or soothsayer.

John Cusak, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Amanda Peet, escape the ridiculous by feats of physical dexterity and calm under insurmountable pressure. Vintage stars, Danny Glover and George Segal add a touch of class and depth to the film.

But all the actors are secondary to the special effects, at times tedious, but still stunning in their virtuosity.

On the positive side, we have two years to book our ark, and with any luck, use miles for an upgrade.

TWO & ½ STARS!

For Now…………….

Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-11-30T15:11:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

Because I have yet to pass my son’s technology 101 course, I inadvertently deleted the second section of my Blog yesterday! I also see movies that appeal to me on a certain level but I do not review in depth……….

LA DANSE

Frederick Wiseman’s documentary of the Paris Opera Ballet will entertain those who are fascinated with the agility and liquidity that the human body can attain with years of practice. A marvelous testimonial to the fact that women and men can challenge gravity and touch the sky.

FOUR STARS!

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

There are not enough adjectives in Webster’s Dictionary to describe this spectacular, enchanting, whimsical animated film. All ages will be transported and rejoice in the incredible anthropomorphic characters; they become our friends and we root for their escapes and conquests.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox will live comfortably with Wall-E and Ratatouille in the echelons of iconic twenty first century film animation.

Hats or “tails” off to the incomparable Wes Anderson and Roald Dahl for this lusciously magical screen gem!

FIVE STARS!

THE MESSENGER

We have all heard the expression, “don’t kill the messenger” and have grasped its meaning but this raw and intestine wrenching tale brings our understanding to the highest level. Who considers the emotional status of these harbingers of death? The victim’s pain is accepted but the men and women who deliver the life altering blow have escaped our empathy. Due to the noble and stunning performances of Ben Foster, Samantha Morton and the ubiquitous Woody Harrelson these envoys have risen to the forefront of our consciousness; never, ever to recede.

FOUR STARS!

For Now

Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-11-29T13:57:00.001-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

Many of you have asked if I review every movie I see. The answer is a resounding NO!

Some are totally non reviewable. Viewing them falls into the category of self flagellation. Case in point………

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN

There is not enough chocolate in the universe to induce me to waste a precious brain wave on this atrocity.

THE BAD LIEUTENANT

Having read of Nicholas Cage’s financial debacles; aggravation with his money manager and the trials of divesting a myriad of castles, sprinkled around the globe. His quest for the material has imprisoned his common sense. Here we have a prime example of the Peter Principle as his character deteriorates his rank accelerates; hopefully he can blame a petit mal seizure on this despicable display of over acting. It is modern tragedy to see a talent so divine plummet to such depths.

(UNTITLED)

As I sat in the theatre with seven other people I wondered what the rest of the movie goers knew that we didn’t.

As a major contemporary art aficionado I looked forward to this ironic parody of today’s art world. But alas what could have been a major entertainment was an exercise in excruciating dullness and boredom.

Adam Goldberg (oh, he with the perpetual scowl) plays a musician who decides to commit suicide if his talents and skills were not recognized within three years; in my estimation six months would have been sufficient. His scores (with a bucket as a major instrument) imitate John Cage, but totaling lacking his brilliance. His equally ungifted brother is a bland decorative art painter.

The only reason I suffered through this worthless exercise of endurance was the performance of the gallery owner, Madeleine, wonderfully played by Marley Shelton.

She had the “art speak” down to a science; she looked at a pin stuck in a wall and took it to the Zen level.

I read that a work of art has a soul; this film was artless, heartless and unequivocally soulless.

Three out of eight left the theatre in wonderment that less than two hours seemed like an eternity!

THREE STARLESS MOVIES

For Now……………..

Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-11-25T17:24:00.001-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

It was a coincidence that I saw two movies revolving around nonfictional subjects. Both movies should be seen. Both share differences and similarities.

THE BLIND SIDE

My entire life has been surrounded by men and women who are addicted to anyone or anything that moves competitively: football, baseball, basketball, wrestling, roller skating, beach volleyball, ice hockey, floor hockey, Indy 500. You get the picture. I prefer the movie versions of these spectacles; they are shorter and sans commercial breaks!

Here Sandra Bullock (Miss Congeniality) stars as Leigh Anne Touhy, the wealthy crusader who champions the cause of Michael (Big Mike) Oher, sensitively depicted by Quinton Aaron. This is Bullock’s finest performance in years; she is back on the radar screen as a performer to watch.

Michael Oher, at six feet eight inches and three hundred and seventy-two pounds, was homeless and living on the streets of Memphis, Tennessee when he was rescued by Leigh Anne Touhy; she transforms him into a giant in the world of football. He was the first round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens (intriguing that so many teams have sobriquets of predatory animals: bears, lions, tigers, bulls, diamondbacks) in 2009. He is an offensive tackle, protecting the blind side of the quarterback.

This is a feel-good movie, a love story and easy to watch. Particularly entertaining were the coaches playing themselves: Nick Saban, Lou Holtz, and Phil Fulmer. But the movie soared when Jay Head (playing S.J. Touhy, the precocious and youngest member of the family) negotiates his perks with each coach; he is gifted and his timing prodigious.

In conclusion, I feel all films relating to athletics should be reviewed by sport reporters; those educated in the “picks” and “plays” of the game. So many of these intricacies are lost on us neophytes. In gratitude to Leigh Anne Touhy (and my husband) I grasp “The Blind Side” and recommend that this is a movie worth SEEING!

THREE STARS

SKIN

A fascinating account of Sandra Laing, born in the 1950’s in South Africa to Afrikaners. They are white, Sandra is black. Her troubles commence when she was enrolled at ten in a private Christian school; during apartheid one was classified according to race or color. Her parents battled the courts to have her classified as white; this classification earns devastation and pain to all parties.

Lacking current technology her heritage was never tested; she chose to live in a black world, a decision rejected by her parents.

Beautifully acted by the dimpled Sophie Okonedo, as Sandra: Sam Neill, as her dominating and oftentimes cruel father: Alice Krige, as her devoted but weak mother.

I was troubled and found hard to accept the naïveté or color blindness of Sandra’s parents. Afrikaners were of Dutch, German or French ancestry who ventured to Africa with the Dutch East India Company in the seventeenth century; somehow in all those centuries a dash of color invaded the gene pool. Cause for celebration not castigation. In fairness it is challenging to imagine a world where “color” completely defines the quality of one’s existence. Reminiscent of pre-Civil War days in this country.

William Kentridge, the South African artist, has dedicated his life and talents to keeping the world aware of the egregious crimes perpetrated by apartheid. “Skin” adds another dose of consciousness to this dead—but always remembered—travesty.

FOUR STARS! (Out of a possible 5)

For Now

Peneflix

2009-11-23T13:28:00.001-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-11-16T14:28:00.001-08:00

FELLOW MOVIE LOVERS

AGORA

On a recent trip to Spain I opted to succumb to my addiction and went to a movie. I was thrilled to discover that Alejandro Amenabar’s (The Sea Inside, a classic favorite) Agora with the magnificent Rachel Weisz had just premièred in Madrid.

Unfortunately, the movie fell far short of my expectations! What I did admire was the courage of Amenabar and Weisz in tackling one of antiquities most inimitable women, Hypatia. Hypatia, the beautiful, brainy mathematician and astronomer living and teaching in Alexandria, Egypt in approximately 400 A.D.

She was the daughter of Theon also a mathematician who encouraged her intellectual poweress. She became the head of the Neoplatonist school of philosophy in Alexandria. She symbolized learning and science which the early Christians identified as pagan. Hence the challenge and essence of the movie; she refuses to convert and her fate is inevitable.

Always loving and lusting after the spectacle; there can never be enough plagues, chariot races, sea partings to satisfy my cravings but a little knowledge is a dangerous thing; so many of the battle scenes looked digitally produced. Only the sacking of the Alexandria library, a citadel of knowledge, proved realistic.

The religious conflicts and conquests: pagans killing Christians, Christians sacrificing and murdering pagans and Jews became at times tedious and tiresome. Only the personal aspects of Hypatia’s life held my attention. She taught some of the greatest male minds of the period but rejected their advances, more inclined to study the movement of the earth and planets and whether or not the earth is round or flat.

There have always been women of vision and wisdom, real or mythological: the artist Anselm Kiefer in his book Women of Antiquity ranks Hypatia along with Lilith, Pandora and Queen Zenobia as a foremost member of these visionaries.

Amenabar and Weisz have resurrected Hypatia and her remarkable mind, and instead of

Antiquity proves that she is indeed a woman for all centuries.

TWO & ½ STARS

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘PUSH’ BY SAPPHIRE

It is always stimulating and refreshing to see a totally unique, untold topic on the screen: Precious exceeded all of my expectations! This is a brutal, bestial, painful, one of the worst “man’s inhumanity to man” ever portrayed but yet a resplendent tale of survival. Survival of the soul.

Gabourey Sidibe as Precious gives a performance that rivals any first time actor I have witnessed in years; she is riveting. Precious is treated as a slave by her mother and father;

castigated, maligned, humiliated; their cat is cherished, she is hated. They want to keep her fat, illiterate and worthless; she is there to serve, in every degrading category.

Lee Daniels genius is that he never allowed the script to sink into sentimentality; even the fantasy sequences where Precious sees herself romanced, wrapped in fame and adoration adds levity and laughter to an audience inebriated with pain.

Precious’s salvation commences with her being admitted to an alternative school; she is at sixteen pregnant with her second child. Here she is treated with respect, not imagined but real by her teacher Blu Rain (sensitively acted by Paula Patton); who prodigiously plods Precious to write and to read; she is the angel tantamount to Mary’s (Precious’s mother) Satan: evil so tangible it hurts to watch. Mo’Nique is astounding in the role.

Maria Carey shines in a cameo role as a social worker; the most pivotal scene takes place in her office between her, Precious and Mary. The content so virulent, it is beyond comprehension.

Above all Precious, no matter how battered and shamed she was at home; no matter her physical and mental vicissitudes (she did have an aptitude for math); she took time with her appearance, always accessorizing and styling her hair; this poignancy was so pure and such an indication of the beauty within that yes, if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Precious will live forever as a screen icon!

FOUR STARS!

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-11-01T14:35:00.000-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

Questions asked and hopefully answered:

Sequence of reviews. I review them as I view them: there is no hierarchy.

I will address the sensitive issues in An Education.

AMELIA

Amelia Earhart was born in 1897 as the Victorian Age was waning and she vanished in 1937 days before her fortieth birthday. She was a crusader a visionary and a feminist before the word was coined. She rebelled against a male dominated world; she could not vote until she was twenty-three because the nineteenth amendment, giving women the right to vote was not passed until 1920. She lived through the rise of Gandhi, Mao, Hitler and the Empire State Building. But it was the Wright Brothers and their glider (airplane) that touched her soul and inspired her passion for flying; flying for freedom and fun. She never deviated or was deterred from her quest.

Mira Nair (The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding) portrays this icon of aviation with a keen eye and the sensitivity Amelia so richly deserves.

Hilary Swank, two time Academy Award winner (Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby) climbs into the mind, heart and imagination of Amelia and creates one of the greatest screen biographies of this century. Her physical resemblance to Amelia is uncanny; she captures her voice (Amelia’s gifted prose), mannerisms and ambition without sinking into the sentimental or sensational. It is a performance worthy of the highest accolades.

Richard Gere as George Putnam, Amelia’s publicist, lover and eventual husband is credible, but lacking the strength and depth required of the role. Fortunately the camera still loves this aging charismatic star.

The music, especially Cole Porter’s You Do Something to Me and the luscious cinematography tug at one’s heartstrings and tear ducts, adds an audio and visual dimension to this beautiful film.

Amelia Earhart, thanks to the talents of Mira Nair and Hilary Swank, will forever inspire both women and men to fight for and actualize their visions and dreams!

Four Stars!

AN EDUCATION

Based on the real life memoir of British journalist Lynn Barber and written for the screen by Nick Hornby (About a Boy) is brilliantly acted and crafted.

Peter Sarsgaard (Dead Man Walking) is David Goldman the deliciously charming con man who woos his way into the life and family of sixteen year old Jenny; it is magical to watch him accomplish his mission. He is the proverbial snake oil salesman; he can and does sell and steal at whim. He is amoral to the core, and Sarsgaard’s portrayal is riveting.

But Carey Mulligan as Jenny is the star; she, like the mythical goddess Athena, springs fully grown and magically wonderful on the wide screen. She plays the gifted and bored, Jenny sharing with her father the dream of “reading” English at Oxford.

This is 1961 and no matter her intellectual skills she is emotionally incapable of withstanding the onslaught of David’s campaign for her affections. She “dresses up” and laps up the titillating nightlife of London; drinking, smoking and joking with David and his friends Danny (Dominic Cooper, History Boys) and Helen (Rosamund Pike). She is experiencing a world and its vicissitudes well beyond her maturity level. Hence, an education.

Alfred Molina gives a deft and poignant performance as her father.

The disturbing factor was the movies depiction of David as a Jew and the headmistress’ ignorance in denying that Jesus Christ was Jewish. After much contemplation I felt that David was a feckless cad, who happened to be Jewish; not a Jew who was a cad.

The headmistress (played by Emma Thompson) typified many who shared her erroneous theory. But Jenny never considered David’s religious background and at seventeen loved unequivocally and with her entire being.

The movie belongs to Carey Mulligan and we anxiously await her continued meteoric ascent.

Four Stars!

MICHAEL JACKSON THIS IS IT

A compilation of over one hundred hours of taped rehearsals for Michael’s come back concert that never occurred. Kenny Ortega creates a homage that should be seen by all.

Michael Jackson’s elasticity, liquidity, and luminosity flirts with the sublime; he is truly the epitome of “poetry in motion” and we in the audience had to be bolted to our seats for the entire two hours; we still thirsted for more.

Michael Jackson, part of the Jackson Five, was denied a childhood by achieved fame and sought forever answers to questions that others discover in the growing up process. He was a genius but failed to find his true essence.

Nonetheless he will rank with the greatest of the great: Nijinsky, Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, in defying gravity and touching the celestial.

The ultimate tragedy is that his spiritualism and love of God and man could not conquer his demons.

So sad that This Was It.

Four &1/2 Stars!

LONDON DREAMS

This is almost as good as it gets in a typical Bollywood film; comprised of all the ingredients demanded by an Indian audience: rags to riches heros; loves won and lost; conflict and redemption all cloaked in glorious songs, dances, gorgeous stars and scenery.

Two powerful players in the Bollywood scene star, at their best, in this movie.

Ajay Devgan (Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Raincoat, Omkara) plays Arjun, whose devotion to music pushes him beyond reason and Salman Khan (Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and my favorite Maine Pyar Kiya) as Manu, his sycophant and more talented best friend. Similar to the American film Amadeus. Arjun is Salieri to Manu’s

Mozart.

London Dreams is the name of the band Arjun forms in London. Eventually bringing from Punjab his closest, and most irresponsible buddy, Manu. As their reputation takes flight and Arjun’s jealousy intensifies the plot reaches its pinnacle, culminating with a major catharsis for all involved.

The enchanting and leggy Asin (Ghajini) is the love interest and definitely a talent worth watching.

The concert scenes are magnificent (worthy of an Andreas Gursky photograph ); the energy palatable, and anyone would be hard pressed to choose a favorite.

Devgan and Khan have shared the screen in the past, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam; this collaboration really works and hopefully holds another pairing in the future.

Three &1/2 Stars!

For Now……………….Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

Questions asked and hopefully answered:

Sequence of reviews. I review them as I view them: there is no hierarchy.

I will address the sensitive issues in An Education.

AMELIA

Amelia Earhart was born in 1897 as the Victorian Age was waning and she vanished in 1937 days before her fortieth birthday. She was a crusader a visionary and a feminist before the word was coined. She rebelled against a male dominated world; she could not vote until she was twenty-three because the nineteenth amendment, giving women the right to vote was not passed until 1920. She lived through the rise of Gandhi, Mao, Hitler and the Empire State Building. But it was the Wright Brothers and their glider (airplane) that touched her soul and inspired her passion for flying; flying for freedom and fun. She never deviated or was deterred from her quest.

Mira Nair (The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding) portrays this icon of aviation with a keen eye and the sensitivity Amelia so richly deserves.

Hilary Swank, two time Academy Award winner (Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby) climbs into the mind, heart and imagination of Amelia and creates one of the greatest screen biographies of this century. Her physical resemblance to Amelia is uncanny; she captures her voice (Amelia’s gifted prose), mannerisms and ambition without sinking into the sentimental or sensational. It is a performance worthy of the highest accolades.

Richard Gere as George Putnam, Amelia’s publicist, lover and eventual husband is credible, but lacking the strength and depth required of the role. Fortunately the camera still loves this aging charismatic star.

The music, especially Cole Porter’s You Do Something to Me and the luscious cinematography tug at one’s heartstrings and tear ducts, adds an audio and visual dimension to this beautiful film.

Amelia Earhart, thanks to the talents of Mira Nair and Hilary Swank, will forever inspire both women and men to fight for and actualize their visions and dreams!

Four Stars!

AN EDUCATION

Based on the real life memoir of British journalist Lynn Barber and written for the screen by Nick Hornby (About a Boy) is brilliantly acted and crafted.

Peter Sarsgaard (Dead Man Walking) is David Goldman the deliciously charming con man who woos his way into the life and family of sixteen year old Jenny; it is magical to watch him accomplish his mission. He is the proverbial snake oil salesman; he can and does sell and steal at whim. He is amoral to the core, and Sarsgaard’s portrayal is riveting.

But Carey Mulligan as Jenny is the star; she, like the mythical goddess Athena, springs fully grown and magically wonderful on the wide screen. She plays the gifted and bored, Jenny sharing with her father the dream of “reading” English at Oxford.

This is 1961 and no matter her intellectual skills she is emotionally incapable of withstanding the onslaught of David’s campaign for her affections. She “dresses up” and laps up the titillating nightlife of London; drinking, smoking and joking with David and his friends Danny (Dominic Cooper, History Boys) and Helen (Rosamund Pike). She is experiencing a world and its vicissitudes well beyond her maturity level. Hence, an education.

Alfred Molina gives a deft and poignant performance as her father.

The disturbing factor was the movies depiction of David as a Jew and the headmistress’ ignorance in denying that Jesus Christ was Jewish. After much contemplation I felt that David was a feckless cad, who happened to be Jewish; not a Jew who was a cad.

The headmistress (played by Emma Thompson) typified many who shared her erroneous theory. But Jenny never considered David’s religious background and at seventeen loved unequivocally and with her entire being.

The movie belongs to Carey Mulligan and we anxiously await her continued meteoric ascent.

Four Stars!

MICHAEL JACKSON THIS IS IT

A compilation of over one hundred hours of taped rehearsals for Michael’s come back concert that never occurred. Kenny Ortega creates a homage that should be seen by all.

Michael Jackson’s elasticity, liquidity, and luminosity flirts with the sublime; he is truly the epitome of “poetry in motion” and we in the audience had to be bolted to our seats for the entire two hours; we still thirsted for more.

Michael Jackson, part of the Jackson Five, was denied a childhood by achieved fame and sought forever answers to questions that others discover in the growing up process. He was a genius but failed to find his true essence.

Nonetheless he will rank with the greatest of the great: Nijinsky, Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, in defying gravity and touching the celestial.

The ultimate tragedy is that his spiritualism and love of God and man could not conquer his demons.

So sad that This Was It.

Four &1/2 Stars!

LONDON DREAMS

This is almost as good as it gets in a typical Bollywood film; comprised of all the ingredients demanded by an Indian audience: rags to riches heros; loves won and lost; conflict and redemption all cloaked in glorious songs, dances, gorgeous stars and scenery.

Two powerful players in the Bollywood scene star, at their best, in this movie.

Ajay Devgan (Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Raincoat, Omkara) plays Arjun, whose devotion to music pushes him beyond reason and Salman Khan (Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and my favorite Maine Pyar Kiya) as Manu, his sycophant and more talented best friend. Similar to the American film Amadeus. Arjun is Salieri to Manu’s Mozart.

London Dreams is the name of the band Arjun forms in London. Eventually bringing from Punjab his closest, and most irresponsible buddy, Manu. As their reputation takes flight and Arjun’s jealousy intensifies the plot reaches its pinnacle, culminating with a major catharsis for all involved.

The enchanting and leggy Asin (Ghajini) is the love interest and definitely a talent worth watching.

The concert scenes are magnificent (worthy of an Andreas Gursky photograph ); the energy palatable, and anyone would be hard pressed to choose a favorite.

Devgan and Khan have shared the screen in the past, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam; this collaboration really works and hopefully holds another pairing in the future.

Three &1/2 Stars!

For Now……………….Peneflix

2009-11-01T14:26:00.001-08:00

2009-11-01T14:08:00.001-08:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-10-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

Your feedback, observations and criticisms have been valid and welcomed!

Some have asked for a repeat of my Five Star rating system:

Five Stars: the movie has to be flawless.

Four Stars: almost perfect.

Three Stars: good but not great.

Two Stars: go if you have absolutely nothing else to do.

One Star: the movie should not have been made.

No Stars: why was the movie made?

Yes, I intentionally changed A Serious Man to The Serious Man. Mazeltov to those who caught it!

Again yes, my Blog is very subjective; but isn’t all criticism?

Please keep the comments coming!

Now for a sample of England, Bollywood and Hollywood!

THE DAMNED UNITED

I was twenty-five when I discovered that all men did not spring forth from the womb as bonafide sports fanatics: their first conscious thought in the shape of a “ball”!

My father failed in reigning over six vociferous women and the birth of my brother fell into the category of the Second Coming; fortunately his DNA housed the sport gene and the bonding was complete!

Sport movies have always fascinated me and this is no exception. Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon) brilliantly portrays Brian Clough the doomed manager of England’s 1970’s Leeds United Football Club; it is uncanny how he has inhabited the persona of the real Clough, a performance of sheer genius. He is supported by Timothy Spall playing Clough’s very moral assistant Peter Taylor; an equally strong performance.

More than the game itself this film captures the primal essence of the power of sports: it is, like Andy Warhol’s silk screens the greatest tool in eliminating elitism; when rooting for a team your gender, education, profession, wealth or lack thereof are secondary to the euphoria or devastation of your team’s win or loss! We clap or cry together!

Whether The Damned United will rank in the halls of iconic sport films (Brian’s Song, The Natural, Hoop Dreams, Field of Dreams, The Longest Yard) only time and the fervent wish of this critic hopes that it does.

Four Stars!

BLUE

Bollywood for a westerner is an acquired taste. I took my first bite five years ago and have been gobbling them voraciously (thanks to Netflix) ever since.

The typical Bollywood film can, at times, take up a major portion of your day; not unusual to have to devote over three hours (with an interval) to the banquet. The plots are simple, the actors are a “feast for the eyes” and the endings, happy and satiating.

There are names synonymous with Bollywood; Bachchan , Khan, Kapoor, one talented dynasty breeding another.

In Blue (short by India standards, 2 hours; obviously adjusting to the westerners’ short attention span) we have a sunken treasure hunt story; a few plot twists, starring Sanjay Dutt, who unlike Roman Polanski, did the crime and served the time, and is back in hunky glory on the wide screen. But the major stars are the breath taking under water scenes filmed in the Bahamas.

There’s romance, dance and intrigue but only gets Two Stars from me!

Would recommend the following that are highly substantive and diverge from the typical Bollywood fare:

Ghajini

Lagaan

Shukriya

Maine Pyar Kiya

Dil Chahta Hai

Maine Prem Ki Diwani Hoon

Mr. & Mrs. Iyer

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

This is a wonderful fantasy based on the book by Maurice Sendak and exquisitely directed by Spike Jonze. Starring the deliciously enchanting Max Records as Max; the imaginative and misunderstood boy who creates a world where he is crowned King!

My children loved this book along with Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree; the lessons and messages for both young and old are unlimited and ageless.

This is a movie for everyone; we have all gone where the wild things are and have returned changed and enriched!

Four Stars!

For Now……………Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-10-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

A SERIOUS MAN

Growing up in an upper middle class Christian community, studying comparative religions in college, I developed a fascination for Judaism and its amazing story of survival. From the Babylonian captivity (506 BC), Diaspora from Rome (70AD), Spanish Inquisition, expulsion from every European country and the ultimate degradation, the Holocaust, Judaism did not die, nor did its people. Why? It remains a mystery.

After embracing this religion as my own I have thrived in its glorious history, culture, philosophy and religious traditions; it is the core of my existence and I love it!

So when viewing Ethan and Joel Coen’s The Serious Man I was sickened and stunned by their portrayal of a late 1960s Jewish family and their Jewish community. Every individual is devoid of compassion, depth, sympathy and most importantly love.

They depict the rabbis as ignorant, self centered and cruel. The Coens render the familial relationships as petty, mean spirited and totally superficial. Even the Bar Mitzvah boy is stoned at his pivotal ceremony, denigrating its beautiful meaning in a young boys (and girls) religious life.

The major protagonist Larry Gopnik (exceptionally played by Michael Stuhlbarg) is the Job in this scenario; unlike Job he loses any shred of dignity by ultimately changing the failing grade of one of his students. There is not one redeeming scene in this entire film: it is pejorative, destructive and anti-semitic!

While viewing this movie with a friend we questioned the motives behind its creation? Why make your ancestors evil? Where was the respect for their family and deep rooted traditions? What kind of message does this send to the non Jewish world? After 9/11 there was another flare up of anti-Semitism; plus the financial misdeeds of Bernie Madoff; do we need another log on the proverbial pyre of Jewish hatred?

I thought of the historical wrongs perpetrated on this incredible religion and its people: the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the teachings of Martin Luther; the madness of Hitler.

Was The Serious Man necessary?

On the positive side, long after the Coens have been forgotten, Judaism will still be alive!

Seriously,

NO STARS

For Now………….Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-10-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

WHIP IT

The appropriate word to describe this coming of age movie is “sweet”! Drew Barrymoor’s directorial debut should be applauded; casting herself in a minor role is an exercise in humility that should also be commended.

Ellen Page (Juno, Smart People) stars as the frustrated small town teen, seething to break the binds of her very conventional existence. Ms. Page, radiates intelligence, comfort and supreme control over her characterization of Bliss (aka Babe Ruthless); she is a dynamite wizard on wheels.

Marcia Gay Harden gives a credible performance of a mother trying to actualize her dreams through her daughters: she too must come of age.

Whip It will satisfy the thirteen through twenty-five year olds. The rest, Skip It!

Two Stars!

The BOYS ARE BACK

I think it was Shakespeare who once said that if all one does is play, it becomes work! In this film the viewer is treated to two hours of tedium watching a father and his sons run, romp and role while sinking deeper and deeper into a sea of squalor: oblivious to the “cleanliness is next to godliness” mantra!

This is based on a true story and everyone can empathize with the pain of loss and the challenges of coping with grief but the movie was totally lacking in substance. Even the devastating countenance of Clive Owen and the magical landscape of Australia could not save this film from the world of mediocrity. The boys are back; oh how I wished they had stayed where they were!

Two Stars!

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY

When I think of filmatic love stories or pairings I conger up images of Burton and Taylor, Tracy and Hepburn, O’Neal and MacGraw, Ledger and Gyllenhaal or even Fay Wray and King Kong. But in Michael Moore’s latest fantasy he partners Wall Street and its passionate quest for “capital”ism as a marriage so devoted, so strong so empirical that it will never grace the halls of a divorce court: just a criminal one.

This is NOT a documentary. Moore’s talents lie in shedding seeds of truth on his field of fiction. The financial institutions deserve much of the castigation depicted in this, at times very entertaining film but Moorism takes it into the realm of the absurd. He proselytizes that capitalism and democracy are diametrically opposed and can never coexist: his converts, members of the clergy and Congress believe that we are on the verge of an apocalypse. Apropos of a Stephen King novel.

Moore is disturbing with his black and white portrayal of the government, financial institutions and both major political parties; nothing and no one is left unscathed. But this is his right and privilege in our democratic society; we encourage discourse and dialogue between opposing opinions. Yes, it feels good to vent; no one does venting better than Moore.

The movie shines with his clever juxtapositions of past film clips with the present; naturally edited to prove his point. His chutzpah at trying to make a citizens arrest and arriving at banks with a Brinks truck to collect the bailout funds to be redistributed to the people are hilarious.

It should be noted that Mr. Moore received millions of dollars in tax incentives from the state of Michigan to film Capitalism: A Love Story in their state; and like any good capitalist, if this was disclosed, it was in very small print! Whose pockets did these incentives come from? We also know from a recent Wall Street Journal article that you can purchase a home in Detroit for the price of a Birkin bag!

Mr. Moore, instead of Wall Street, should invest some of his capital in a new suit, hat and tie!

Two & ½ Stars!

For Now……………..Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-10-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

FAME

The delicious and gentler remake of the 1980 movie that garnished two Academy awards! Fame a four letter word that entices us to ponder its meaning; subjective to its very core. Fame comes in all packages and in all categories; the media keeps us posted on its parameters or non parameters!

The unmitigated and raw talent in this film oozes off the screen. It screams with vitality and pulls us into the world of performing arts. A refreshing look at gifted young artists; artists whose sex, race or backgrounds are totally irrelevant to their goal…………just being the best at what they do, and the competition is thrilling. Even those whose dreams are dashed, succeed in attaining a modicum of fame. Many have to be satisfied with a Warholian moment!

The movie has its flaws and clichés; but youth in retrospect is a cliché!

These young and beautiful stars, and stars they are, dance, sing, compose and act with a brightness so rarefied that I hope, unlike a supernova, they will last forever.

Three Stars!

A WOMAN IN BERLIN

Max Farberbock has created a masterpiece; based on the true story of a female journalist, struggling to survive in the waning days of WWII in the city of Berlin. The Russians are the victors and the victors take the spoils and take the spoils over and over again! A brutal, complex and at times poignantly human portrayal of “man’s inhumanity to man” (or women in this scenario)!

Nina Hoss plays Anonyma, a brilliant journalist and the perfect mold for the Aryan ideal of female perfection: blond, beautiful and loyal to the cause. There are two minutes in the early stages of the film that capture us instantly. Buoyant and educated people toasting the magnificence of Germany and its mission; in a gleaming Bauhaus living room; a room that is transformed by war but still habitable, and the stage for constant degradation.

This story was written and published anonymously. She wrote to her absent love; to record, escape and find meaning to a life unrecognizable from the glamorous one of the past. It was not well received when it was published in the late 50’s; wounds still festered between Russians and Germans. Also, German women were very sensitive to a role forced upon them by their captors.

Ultimately this is a document of revenge, power, of illusions and lives destroyed. But above all it is the story of one woman’s will to survive, through all the horrors her thirst for life and love remained unquenched!

Five Stars!

ZOMBIELAND

We’ve all had moments when we have questioned our decisions, or sanity. I had one of those moments today. After ten minutes I realized that with knowledge and foresight I chose this movie. After thirty minutes a colonoscopy would have been preferable. But by exercising supreme fortitude and because of the charm of Woody Harrelson I stayed for the conclusion (but was the first one to poll vault from my seat to the safety and saneness of the lobby)! And kept my head low to avoid detection or recognition from my peers. Really there was nothing to fear; I was the oldest member of the audience by twenty years!

In fairness many seem to really enjoy and relish the humor (lost upon humorless me); also the use of the word “like”, robbed of its legitimacy by the twenty first century culture, grates “like” nails on a blackboard on my grammatical sensitivities!

Two Stars!

For Now………………..Peneflix

Hello Fellow Movie Lovers!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

It was by sheer chance that two of the three movies I saw over the weekend dealt with the English Romantic poets; poets whose verses awakened in my youthful soul, fantasies of the perfect love; love that remained for all eternity in full bloom! Part of the romance was anchored in the fact that three of the four major poets died young (Keats, Byron and Shelley) only Wordsworth was able to capitalize on his poetic gift until the ripe age of seventy: in 1850 seventy was considered ancient. With age I realize that their lasting endurance rests with their inimitable power to transform the banal into the celestial.

BRIGHT STAR

Jane Campion (The Piano) recreates the love story between John Keats and Fanny Brawne.
Oh, how I wanted to love this movie. It is beautiful and poetic to look at. Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw
are credible as the young and doomed lovers. But the passion was missing, only the pain was prevalent.
Pain had permeated Keats's life; tuberculosis had robbed him of his mother and brother. At twenty he gave up a promising medical career to devote the rest of his life to poetry.
He meets the avant garde Fanny Brawne in 1818 and she becomes his muse, his bright star and the focal point of the movie. Their youth, their beauty and the magical verses titillate the mind, but only fractionally the soul and heart.
The real "thing of beauty" the brightest star was Edie Martin, playing "Toots", Fanny's younger sister. The screen pulsates with her shining presence and fades with her absence. Definitely a force to watch.
Three Stars!
Without disclosing too much of the story, Fanny Brawne, married, had three children and died at sixty-five.
She had saved all of Keats's letters (none of hers survived); they were discovered by her children after her death.

Almost two hundred years later............

DISGRACE

A fascinating film based on the novel by J. M. Coetzee (1999 Booker Prize winner); depicting post apartheid South Africa. John Malkovich portrays David Luri, a scholar and teacher of Romantic poetry; Lord Byron (not Keats) being his favorite; he secretely identifies with this gorgeous lover and conqueror of the female masses. But unlike Byron he has to purchase or intimidate his conquests, ultimately leading to his disgrace.
This movie is rich on so many levels. Malkovich, never better, paints a portrait of loneliness that was palatable. He moves in with his daughter, Lucy (Jessica Hains) on an isolated farm hours from civilization;
it is here that he commences shedding his illusions, his elitism and dealing with a woman as strong and as determined as any man. We watch as David and Lucy are changed irrecoverably by events that no one is ever prepared for. Out of the detritus emerge two people who chose divergent paths in coping with the aftermath. Slowly the boundaries between man and beast are eliminated; herein lies the success of this
quietly spectacular film. Four and 1/2 Stars!

PARIS

If I have a weakness or a bias it is for foreign films; especially French and Italian. Maybe it is because, not only do we have to see, but have to read what is transpiring on the screen hence our concentrative powers go into high gear.
There is no city that looks better than Paris and it glows in this film.
A simple story revolving around the ubiquitous themes of life, death, love and relationships. Starring Juliette Binoche as Elise and Romain Durais as Pierre (is there a French film without a Pierre?); a brother and sister facing life altering challenges.
The outstanding performance by Fabrice Luchini was the highlight; he performs a dance, so magnificent because of its unexpectedness (Tom Cruise in Risky (Frisky) Business and Hugh Grant in Love, Actually)
that we laugh with joy! His brother, played by Francois Cluzet (Tell No One) , a look alike for a young Dustin Hoffman, is predictably good.
Melanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds) whose beauty is so luminous, so breath taking, so commanding that all else fades when she graces the screen. She plays a small key role and her acting, if possible, transcends her luminosity. Three Stars!

It seems that in the world of film and the real world that relationships are consummated within minutes of meeting, oftentimes without exchanging names; whatever happened to dinner and a movie? Perished, along with the hula hoop in the middle of the last millennium!

For Now...............Peneflix

2009-09-24T20:29:00.001-07:00

Fellow Movie Lovers

2009-09-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

First I want to thank you for your words of approbation and encouragement in this my virginal voyage into the world of bloggers; or blogetts, in my case.

Secondly, I particularly appreciated those who shared their opinions and disagreements with some of my ratings; very valid criticisms. The major "bone of contention" was the five stars I gave Julie & Julia; especially the "lightness" or lack of substantially of the Julie role. It was on the second viewing that I concentrated on Julie; Julie, voted most likely to succeed; Julie who was wallowing in a world of mediocrity while her friends were soaring in their professions. Here is where I admired the brilliance of Nora Ephron; by casting Amy Adams (two time Academy Award nominee for Junebug and Doubt) as Julie, she found the one actress, with the strength, knowledge and intelligence to partner with the iconic Meryl Streep, playing the icon Julia Child.
Also, we have to remember the real Julie was only 30 when she turned her life around; Julia Child in her 80's
was "baked" to perfection! Julie is a work in progress; still in her 30's, and still cooking!

Thirdly, without exception everyone liked the mini reviews! In this world of information and instant gratification folks just want to know if they should see the film or not. Movies are the "fluff" of our existence;
our release from "the world is too much with us"! I promise, no gospels and no plot revelations; viewers should be left to discover how the story evolves and concludes on their own! An integral ingredient and major element of the movie experience.

9 (2009 film)
Not to be confused with District 9 (see below)
Animination has always been associated with childhood. This movie should not be seen by children under the age of ten. Produced by, among others, Tim Burton; it is a terrifying account of a world no longer recognizable; a world inhabited by evil machines ( a Louise Bourgeois sculpture come to life) and stitchniks, with heads reminiscent of footballs or baseballs. It is the proverbial contest between good and dark forces. The animination is fascinating; the movie is good; but a better bet would be to rent Wall-E; also animated and one of the best movies of 2008. Two Stars for 9!

District 9
Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings & winner of 3 Academy Awards) creates a gory and glorious futuristic film about the elimination of aliens in South Africa; who have resided there for over 20 years. Aliens who are masters of weaponery destined to be experimented upon. The creation of Wikus van der Merwe, in charge of the roundup and his metamorphosis is the focal point of the movie. Fantastic!
Oh, what I would not give, for one day to wander in the imagination of Peter Jackson!
This movie is not for the squamish! Four Stars!

Amreeka
Wonderful debut film by Cherien Dabis tackleing the universal theme of immigration; fitting into an unknown environment without losing sight of one's roots. Here we have a Palestinian mother and son moving to Chicago in the aftermath of the Iraq war; ordinary people in extraordinary times. Nisreen Faour and
Melkar Muallem give poignant and sensitive performances as the mother and son. Thought provoking, heart warming, and amazingly entertaining; we know these people; we like these people! Four Stars!

For Now..........Peneflix

Hello Fellow Movie Lovers!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

After years of prodding by family and friends I have decided to tread gingerly into the field of nameless, faceless bloggers! Adding to the myriad of individuals posting their thoughts and opinions and hoping that there are some who agree and fewer that do not!

I LOVE movies!!!!!!!!! Millions of us do. Where does this love come from? From childhood bedtime stories that transport our young, untainted and impressionable minds into a world of make-believe and fantasy? A world that might or might not exist. From the desire to escape the mundane and sometimes
monotony of our daily existence? Searching on the screen for answers to our questions; questions about our choices our ambitions our goals, our loves? Or is our passion for film just an intricate part of our DNA?
For me it is still a question or a quest that remains unanswered.

I do not go to the movies because of the director, producer or even the actors (although I do have my favorites); I go for the story, whether based on fact or fiction; nothing pleases me more than meeting someone or something on the screen that I have never encountered before. Naturally, the success of the story relies on the talents of the above mentioned.
Each movie must be judged on its own!
It is also natural that the "stars" become our "friends" and we tend to lionize them on and off the screen; but as paying customers we should realize that they need us more than we them. Hence, I want to keep them on the screen and admire their inimitable transformative powers. I do not want to know who they sleep with, who they vote for and most importantly I do not want them to tell me who I should vote for!

That being said, my reviews will be based on a five star system:

Five Stars, the movie has to be flawless in all categories.
Four Stars, almost perfect.
Three Stars, good but not great.
Two Stars, go if you have absolutely nothing else to do.
One Star, the movie should not have been made.

Due to the length of my introduction these mini reviews of recent releases are listed below:

Inglorious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino's ultimate WWII fantasy. It is worth the price of admission to see the
stunning performance of Christoph Waltz; the most charming portrayal of evil visited upon the screen in recent memory. He is definitely worthy of an Academy Award nominatoin! Four Stars!

The Informant: Matt Damon's characterization of the brilliant savant Mark Whitacre is breathtaking; he is at the pinnacle of his acting career; my guess, an Academy Award performance. Steven Soderbergh's adapation of the true tale of the demise of Archer Daniels Midland is riveting. Four Stars

The Burning Plain: panned by some, I thoroughly relished the intricacy of the story woven by director
Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros); the remarkable and gorgeous Charlize Theron and the still breathtaking Kim Basinger give performances worthy of their previous Academy Awards. Three Stars.

The September Issue: Unlike The Devil Wears Prada or The Last Emperor, left me cold. The only interesting and successful aspect of the film was the very real depiction of the pressure and the stress of making their September deadline. Fashion addicts will enjoy the clothes; travelers, the scenes from Paris, New York, Rome and London. Two Stars.

The Baader Meinhof Complex: great German film! A fair and unbalanced look at the real life gang and their march from idealism to anarchy. What I loved about this movie was that we, the viewer,could draw our own conclusions. The motives of the Baader Meinhof gang and their demise have been the subject of debate and scrutiny since its inception in the late 60's to the present. The famed German painter, Gerhard Richter, has immortalized them in some monumental works. Four Stars.

Extract: from commencement to conclusion my fervent wish was to "extract" myself from this film. It was a total waste of talent, with the exception of Ben Affleck (whose talent has always been questionable) who does a fine job as "stoned" bar owner. The 25-40 audience might be able to educate me in the subtleties
and humor that totally escaped my observations. Two Stars...............and I am being generous!

My One and Only; a gem of a film starring Renee Zellweger, about the formative travails of George Hamilton. A sensitive, real and delightful flick, just fun, easy on the eye and mind. Three Stars.

Saved the best for last:

Julie and Julia; from the first delicious minute this mouth-watering inspirational film was a pure unmitigated
joy to experience. Due to the inimitable talents of Meryl Streep, Julia Child once again reigns in our kitchens!
Ms. Streep is the Midas in the world of celluloid; every role she embraces turns to gold. Her genius will once again be recognized on Academy Award night. Also, Amy Adams deserves accolades for her performance as a frustrated writer whose passion for food saves her soul! Horrah for Nora Ephron for giving us this fabulous love story! Five Stars.

For Now..........

Penelope