Films So Good

While the Penguin series may have captured the spotlight, two other recent projects have also featured penguins: a Brazilian/U.S. film and a British movie. It seems we’re living in a “Penguin season,” with penguins taking center stage, whether they are real-life creatures in the two films or a villain in the TV series.

My Penguin Friend

Led by Jean Reno and directed by David Schurmann, the film is based on a true story about a little penguin who, after being rescued from an oil spill, transforms the life of a heartbroken Brazilian fisherman. The penguin and the fisherman form an unlikely friendship, so strong that even the vast ocean cannot separate them

The Penguin Lessons

Directed by Peter Cattaneo (“The Full Monty”) and starring Steve Coogan and Jonathan Pryce, the movie is based on Tom Michell’s memoir about his time teaching English at an Argentinian boys’ school in 1976. Expecting an easy job, he instead discovered a complicated and divided nation—and a class of nearly unteachable young boys. When he finds a small penguin washed up on an oil-slicked beach, his life is turned upside down. The penguin becomes not only a cherished friend but also a teacher of life’s most important lessons, impacting Tom, the boys, and many others.

The film premiered as a gala presentation at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and is expected to hit theaters soon

The Penguin

In the Penguin TV series, Colin Farrell reprises his role as Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, navigating the dangerous power vacuum in Gotham’s criminal underworld following the events of The Batman (2022). Cristin Milioti joins the cast as Sofia Falcone, the determined and cunning daughter of the late crime boss Carmine Falcone, who poses a formidable challenge to Oz’s rise to power as they vie for control of the city.

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