Author: jbg

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (2018)

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YOUWERE

Written & Directed By: Lynn Ramsay
Based on the Novel By: Jonathan Ames
Cinematography By: Tom Townend
Editor: Joe Bini
Music By: Johnny Greenwood 


Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola, Judith Roberts, John Doman, Alex Mannette 


Balancing between feverish dreamlike hallucinations of a tormented past and a grim disoriented reality, the grizzled Joe–a traumatised Gulf War veteran and now an unflinching hired gun who lives with his frail elderly mother–has just finished successfully yet another job. With an infernal reputation of being a brutal man of results, the specialised in recovering missing teens enforcer will embark on a blood-drenched rescue mission, when Nina, the innocent 13-year-old daughter of an ambitious New York senator, never returns home. But amidst half-baked leads and a desperate desire to shake off his shoulders the heavy burden of a personal hell, Joe’s frenzied plummet into the depths of Tartarus is inevitable, and every step Joe takes to flee the pain, brings him closer to the horrors of insanity. In the end, what is real, and what is a dream? Can there be a new chapter in Joe’s life when he keeps running around in circles?

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ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: A REVIEW & TESTAMENT

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(Before you read this I suggest you see the film. As there are mild spoilers towards the end of this writing)

Written & Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Cinematography: Robert Richardson

Editor: Fred Raskin

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Margaret Qualley, Timothy Olyphant, Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell, Luke Perry, Emile Hirsch, Austin Butler, Lena Dunham, Bruce Dern, Dakota Fanning, Damien Lewis, Mike Moh, Kate Berlant, Danielle Harris, Lorena Izzo, Harley Quinn Smith, Maya Hawke, Kansas Bowling, Parker Love Bowling, Sydney Sweeney, Rumor Willis, Martin Kove, Leslie Bega, Dreama Walker, Clifton Collins Jr., Rebecca Gayheart, Samantha Robinson, Scoot Mcnairy, Omar Doom, Brenda Vacarro, Mikey Madison, Nicholas Hammond, Clu Gulager, Lew Temple, Vincent Laresca

Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood visits 1969 Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The ninth film from the writer-director features a large ensemble cast and multiple storylines in a tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age

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MIDSOMMAR (2019)

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midsommar1

Written & Directed By: Ari Aster
Cinematography By: Pawel Pogorzelski
Editor: Lucian Johntson 


Cast: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Ellora Torchia 

Dani and Christian are a young American couple with a relationship on the brink of falling apart. But after a family tragedy keeps them together, a grieving Dani invites herself to join Christian and his friends on a trip to a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village. What begins as a carefree summer holiday in a land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite their guests to partake in festivities that render the pastoral paradise increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing.

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TEEN SPIRIT (2019)

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teen-spirit

Written & Directed By: Max Minghella
Cinematography: Autumn Durald
Editor: Cam McLauchlin 


Cast: Elle Fanning, Agnieszka Grochowska, Archie Madekwe, Zlatko Buric, Millie Brady, Vivian Oparah, Rebecca Hall 


Violet is a shy teenager who dreams of escaping her small town and pursuing her passion to sing. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a local singing competition that will test her integrity, talent and ambition. Driven by a pop-fueled soundtrack, Teen Spirit is a visceral and stylish spin on the Cinderella story.

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RESTLESS (2011)

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Restless

Directed By: Gus Van Sant
Written By: Jason Lew
Cinematography By: Harris Savides
Editor: Elliot Graham

Cast: Henry Hopper, Mia Wasikowska, Ryo Case, Jane Adams, Schuyler Fisk

Annabel is a terminally ill cancer patient and is quietly awaiting her death spending her time studying nature. Enoch is struggling to recover from the death of his parents and spends his time attending funerals with his only friend – a ghost named Hiroshi who was a WWII Japanese kamikaze pilot. Just as Annabel’s sister is trying to cope with Annabel’s impending death, Annabel and Enoch fall in love. They both finally have a reason to live, but is it too late to have a life together?
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DIRTY GIRL (2010)

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DIRTY-jumbo

Written & Directed By: Abe Sylvia
Cinematography By: Steve Gainer
Editor: Jonathan Lucas


Cast: Juno Temple, Jeremy Dozier, Mary Steenburgen, Dwight Yoakam, Jack Kelher, Milla Jovovich, Pat Healy, Brent Briscoe, William H. Macy, Nicholas D’Agosto, Tim McGraw, Elsie Fisher

A comedic story of the search for identity and the redemptive power of unexpected friendship. Danielle is the dirty girl of Norman High School. When Danielle’s misbehavior gets her banished to special ed, she teams up with an innocent closet-case and together they head out on a road trip to discover each other and themselves through a funny and serendipitous friendship.

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THE RAID 2: BERANDAL (2014)

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raid2

Written, Directed & Edited By: Gareth Evans
Cinematography By: Matt Flannery & Dimas Imam Subhono
Music By: Aria Prayogi, Joseph Trapenese & Fajar Yuskemal
Fight Choregraphy By: Iwo Uwais & Yayan Ruhain 


Cast: Iwo Uwais, Julie Estelle, Yayan Ruhain, Arifin Putra, Donny Alamsyah, Oka Antara, Alex Abbad, Tio Pakusodewo, Very Tri Yulisman

He thought it was over. After fighting his way out of a building filled with gangsters and madmen – a fight that left the bodies of police and gangsters alike piled in the halls – rookie Jakarta cop Rama thought it was done and he could resume a normal life. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Formidable though they may have been, Rama’s opponents in that fateful building were nothing more than small fish swimming in a pond much larger than he ever dreamed possible. And his triumph over the small fry has attracted the attention of the predators farther up the food chain. His family at risk, Rama has only one choice to protect his infant son and wife: He must go undercover to enter the criminal underworld himself and climb through the hierarchy of competing forces until it leads him to the corrupt politicians and police pulling the strings at the top of the heap. And so Rama begins a new odyssey of violence, a journey that will force him to set aside his own life and history.

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NORMA RAE (1979)

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MSDNORA EC002

Directed By: Martin Ritt
Written By: Irving Ravetch & Harriet Frank Jr.
Cinematography By: John A. Alonzo
Editor: Sidney Levin 


Cast: Sally Field, Ron Liebman, Beau Bridges, Pat Hingle, Barbara Baxley, Gail Strickland, Noble Willingham, Bob Minor, Grace Zabriskie, Frank McRae, 

Like a lot of her family before her, Norma Rae works at the local textile mill, where the pay is hardly commensurate with the long hours and lousy working conditions. But after hearing a rousing speech by labor activist Reuben, Norma is inspired to rally her fellow workers behind the cause of unionism. Her decision rankles her family, especially her fiancé, Sonny, and provokes no shortage of contempt from her employers.

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KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017)

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kongDirected By: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Written By: Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein & Derek Connolly
Story By: John Gatins
Based on the Character created By: Merian C.Cooper & Edgar Wallace
Cinematography By: Larry Fong
Editor: Richard Pearson 


Cast: Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reily, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham, Toby Kebbell, Tian Jing, Thomas Mann, Richard Jenkins, Will Brittain 


A diverse team of scientists, soldiers and adventurers unite to explore a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific, as dangerous as it is beautiful. Cut off from everything they know, the team ventures into the domain of the mighty Kong, igniting the ultimate battle between man and nature. As their mission of discovery becomes one of survival, they must fight to escape a primal Eden in which humanity does not belong.

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DIVINES (2016)

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divines_1_copy.jpg-h_2016

Directed By: Houda Benyamina
Written By: Houda Benyamina, Romain Compingt & Malik Rumeau
Cinematography By: Julien Poupard
Editor: Louic Lallemend & Vincent Tricon 

Cast: Oulaya Amamra, Deborah Lukumuena, Kevin Mishel, Jisca Kalvanda, Yasin Houicha, Majdouline Idrissi 


 A street teenager from a dysfunctional family from a banlieue (HLMs) in Paris comes across a young dancer who turns her life upside down.

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