Category: Movie Review

TWO LOVERS (2008)

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twolovers

Directed By: James Gray
Written By: James Gray & Ric Minello
Cinematography: Joaquin Baca-Asay
Editor: John Axelrad 


Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Patrow, Vinessa Shaw, Isabella Rosselini, Elias Koates

Leonard Kraditor is a burned-out case, living with his immigrant parents after his fiancée left him, helping out at their Brooklyn dry cleaners, taking photographs, at loose ends, suicidal. In quick succession, he meets two women: Sandra, the daughter of his parents’ business associates, frank, direct, sensual, Jewish like Leonard; and, his neighbor Michelle, mercurial, rootless, fun, blond, unattainable. Michelle is in love with a married man and cries on Leonard’s shoulder; Sandra wants to save him. Is Leonard willing to risk losing Sandra’s fidelity for the moments Michelle’s moods swing toward him? Can this end well?

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WILD (2014)

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FOX_3558.psd

Directed By: Jean-Marc Vallee
Written By: Nick Hornby
Based on the memoir “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” By: Cheryl Strayed Cinematography By: Yves Belanger 

Editor: John Mac McMurphy (Jean-Marc Vallee) & Martin Pensa 


Cast: Resse Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, W. Earl Brown, Gaby Hoffman, Kevin Rankin, Brian Van Holt, Cliff De Young

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DADDY ISSUES (2019)

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daddyissues_2-h_2018

Edited & Directed By: Amara Cash
Written By: Alex Bloom & Amara Cash
Story By: Alex Bloom
Cinematography: Nico Aguilar 


Cast: Madison Lawlor, Montana Manning, Andrew Pifco, Kamala Jones, Jodi Carol Harrison, Monte Markham, Seth Cassell 

Maya, a 19-year-old queer pixie, spends her days working on her art and cyberstalkng her insta-crush, the sexually fluid fashion designer, Jasmine. One night Maya boldly meets Jasmine IRL, there’s an insta-spark and the two begin an inspiring romantic relationship that gives Maya her first taste of true love and Jasmine the inspiration she needs to jump start her career. It’s all gumdrops and fairytales until Maya discovers Jasmine’s in a co-dependent relationship with a neurotic sugar daddy. What started as a dream come true turns into a beautiful nightmare.

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OUT OF THE BLUE (1980)

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Out of the Blue 1c

Directed By: Dennis Hopper
Written By: Leonard Yakir & Brenda Nielson
Cinematography: Marc Champion 

Editor: Doris Dyck 

Cast: Linda Manz, Dennis Hopper, Sharon Farrell, Don Gordon, Raymond Burr, David Crawley, Jim Byrnes 

A young girl whose father is an ex-convict and whose mother is a junkie finds it difficult to conform and tries to find comfort in a quirky combination of Elvis and the punk scene.

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WATER LILIES (2007)

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waterlili

Written & Directed By: Celine Sciamma
Cinematography: Crystel Fournier
Editor: Julien Lacheray 


Cast: Pauline Acquart, Louise Blachere, Adele Haenel, Warren Lacquin 


Three girls, each about 15, deal with puberty, the onset of sexual attraction, and, for two, the pressure of virginity. Marie, who’s slight and diffident, quiet and nearly expressionless, is friends with Anne, who’s a bit chunky and impulsive and has decided that François will be her first love. Watching synchronized swimming, Marie is suddenly attracted to the team captain, Floriane, beautiful, aloof, tall, and rumored to be a slut. François pursues her. Marie begins to hang around her; they trade favors, and soon it’s an odd sort of friendship. Each of the three experiences her own first, and Marie must sort out attraction and friendship.

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CLOSE CALLS (2018)

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closec

Written & Directed By: Richard Stringham
Cinematography: Craig Wynn
Editor: Tyler Hutchins 

Cast: Jordan Phipps, Greg Fallon, Carmen Patterson, Kristoff Waltermire, Star McAnn 

Morgan, a troubled, drug-addled teen, must deal with her crazy grandma and a psycho caller when her father leaves her home alone. As the calls keep coming in, a paranoid Morgan is forced to face some of her worst fears and inner demons when she believes everyone she knows is either plotting against her – or trying to kill her.

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THE GREAT WHITE HYPE (1996)

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greatwhite

Directed By: Reginald Hudlin
Written By: Ron Shelton & Tony Hendra
Cinematography By: Ron Garcia
Editor: Earl Watson 


 Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Berg, Damon Wayans, Jamie Foxx, Salli Richardson, Jon Lovitz, Cheech Marin, Michael Jace, Corbin Bernsen, John Rhys-Davies, Rocky Carroll, A.J. Johnson, Reno Wilson, Art Evans

When the champ’s promoter, Rev. Sultan, decides something new is needed to boost the marketability of the boxing matches, he searches and finds the only man to ever beat the champ. The problem is that he isn’t a boxer anymore and he’s white. However, once Rev. Sultan convinces him to fight, he goes into heavy training while the confident champ takes it easy and falls out of shape

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JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS (2001)

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josieand

Written & Directed By: Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont
Based on characters created by: Richard Goldwater, Dan DeCarlo & John L. Goldwater
Cinematography By: Matthew Labitique
Editor: Peter Teschner 


Cast: Rachael Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson, Tara Reid, Alan Cumming, Parker Posey, Seth Green, Donald Faison, Paolo Constanzo, Missi Pyle, Breckin Meyer, Alexander Martin, Gabriel Mann 


For years, the record industries have inserted subliminal messages into music so that they can turn teenagers into brain dead zombies who do nothing but buy, buy, buy. And whenever the musician or band finds out the truth, the record company silences them to keep the truth from coming out. When the hot boy band DuJour discovers this, their manager, Wyatt Frame, under his evil, corrupt boss, Fiona, has the plane they are flying in crashed and him looking for a new band to use for their evil schemes. Enter Josie, the ditsy Melody, and the tough Valerie, from Josie and the Pussycats, a small band who wants to make it to the big time. When they are discovered by Wyatt, they give in and become big rock stars. But will they find out that they are just pawns for the record industry or will fame take them over?

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AMERICAN HONEY (2016)

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american_honey

Written & Directed By: Andrea Arnold
Cinematography By: Robbie Ryan
Editor: Joe Bini 

Cast: Sasha Lane, Shia LeBouf, Riley Keough, Arielle Holmes, McCaul Lombardi, Will Patton

Star, a teenage girl with nothing to lose, joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits

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MONEY TRAIN (1995)

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Money Train - Wesley Snipes - Woody Harrelson

 

Directed By: Jospeh Ruben
Written By: Doug Richardson & David Loughery
Story By: Doug Richardson
Cinematography By: John W. Lindley
Editor: George Bowers & Bill Pankow 


Cast: Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Lopez, Robert Blake, Chris Cooper, Skip Sudduth, Bill Nunn, Joe Grifasi, Larry Gillard Jr., Vincent Pastore, Aida Turturro, Vincent Laresca 


Two foster brothers work as transit cops. While one’s life is as good as it gets, the other’s is a pit. After losing his job, getting dumped by his brother, and getting the crap kicked out of him by a loan shark for the umpteenth time, He implements his plan to steal the “money train,” a train carrying the New York Subway’s weekly revenue. But when things go awry, will his brother be able to save him in time?

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