Focus on Film & Television Reviews and writings about these subjects. As well as Pop Culture at times. With a bit of an edge and some color
Written & Directed By: Lukas Moodysson
Cinematography By: Ulf Brantas
Editor: Michael Leszcylowski, Oleg Morgunov & Bernhard Winkler
Cast: Oksana Akinshina, Artyom Bogutjarskij, Lyubov Agapova, Elina Benenson, Liliya Sjinkarjova, Pavel Ponomatjov
Sixteen-year-old Lilja and her only friend, the young boy Volodja, live in Estonia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej, who is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.
Directed By: Felix Van Groeningen
Written By: Luke Davies & Felix Van Groeningen
Based On The Books “Beautiful Boy” & “Tweak” By: David Sheff & Nick Sheff
Cinematography By: Ruben Impens ”
Editor: Nico Leunen
Cast: Steve Carell, Timothee Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Aquino, Timothy Hutton, Amy Forsyth, Amy Ryan, Andre Royo, Kaitlyn Dever, Lisagay Hamilton
Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse, and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years.
Written & Directed By: Justin Kelly
Based on an article By: Stacey Miller
Based on the Magazine Article “My Ex-Gay Friend” By: Benoit Denizet Lewis
Cinematography By: Christopher Blauvet
Editor: Aaron I. Butler
Cast: James Franco, Zachary Quinto, Emma Watson, Charlie Carver, Avan Jogia, Daryl Hannah, Lesley Ann Warren, Jefferson Mays, Ahna O’Reilly
Based on the fascinating true-life story of Michael Glatze, a gay activist who becomes a Christian pastor after identifying as a heterosexual.
Directed By: Justin Tipping
Written By: Justin Tipping & Joshia Beirne-Golden
Cinematography By: Michael Ragen
Editor: Dominic LaPerriere & Tomas Vengris
Music By: Brian Reitzell
Cast: Jahking Guillory, Christopher Meyer, Christopher Wallace Jr., Kofi Siriobe, Mahershala Ali, Nessa Ismail
Brandon is a 15 year old whose dream is a pair of fresh Air Jordans. Soon after he gets his hands on them, they’re stolen by a local hood, causing Brandon and his two friends to go on a dangerous mission through Oakland to retrieve them.
Written & Directed By: Rick Famuyiwa
Cinematography By: Rachel Morrison
Editor: Lee Haugen
Costume Design: Patrick Milani
Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersay Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoe Kravitz, De’Aundre Bonds, Kimberly Elise, Rick Fox, Chanel Iman, Ricky Harris, Roger Guenveur Smith, Keith Stanfield, Vince Staples, Tyga, Quincy Brown, Bruce Beatty, Allen Maldanado, Josh Meyer
A coming of age comedy/drama for the post hip hop generation. Malcolm is a geek, carefully surviving life in The Bottoms, a tough neighborhood in Inglewood, CA filled gangsters and drugs dealers, while juggling his senior year of college applications, interviews and the SAT. His dream is to attend Harvard. A chance invitation to a big underground party leads Malcolm and his friends into a, only in Los Angeles, gritty adventure filed with offbeat characters and bad choices. If Malcolm can persevere, he’ll go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.
Written & Directed By: Pedro Almodovar
Cinematography By: Jose Luis Alcaine
Editor: Jose Alcedo
Music By: Alberto Iglesias
Cast: Hugo Silva, Antonio De La Torre, Javier Camara, Miguel Andre Silvestre, Cecilia Roth, Blanca Suarez, Paz Vega, Carmen Machi, Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Laya Marti
A technical failure has endangered the lives of the people on board Peninsula Flight 2549. The pilots are striving, along with their colleagues in the Control Center, to find a solution. The flight attendants and the chief steward are atypical, baroque characters who, in the face of danger, try to forget their own personal problems and devote themselves body and soul to the task of making the flight as enjoyable as possible for the passengers, while they wait for a solution. Life in the clouds is as complicated as it is at ground level, and for the same reasons, which could be summarized in two: sex and death.
Written & Directed By: Burr Steers
Based on the book by: Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith
Cinematography By: Remi Adefsrasin
Editor: Padraic McKinley
Cast: Lily James, Sam Riley, Matt Smith, Jack Huston, Lena Headey, Douglas Booth, Suki Waterhouse, Bella Heathcote Charles Dance, Sally Phillips
The five highly trained Bennett sisters in Georgian England must try to protect themselves from the growing zombie threat, find suitable husbands for themselves, battle marriage proposals and unlikely suitors, and save the country before it’s too late.
Directed By: Rob Marshall
Written By: James Lapine
Based On The Musical, Music & Lyrics By: Stephen Sondheim & James LaPine
Cinematography By: Dion Beebe
Editor: Wyatt Smith
Cast: Meryl Streep, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Tracy Ullman, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, Christine Baranski, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch, Daniel Huttlestone, Lilla Crawford, Billy Magnussen, Mackenzie Mauzy, Simon Russel Beale
Into the Woods is a modern twist on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales in a musical format that follows the classic tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel-all tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife, their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch who has put a curse on them.
Written, Edited & Directed By: David Lowery
Cinematography By: Andrew Droz Palermo
Cast: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, Brea Grant, Will Oldham
In this singular exploration of legacy, love, loss, and the enormity of existence, a recently deceased, white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to try to reconnect with his bereft wife.
Directed By: Peter Bogdanovich
Written By: Peter Bogdanovich & Louise Stratten
Cinematography By: Yaron Orbach
Editor: Nick Moore & Pax Wassermann
Cast: Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Kathryn Hahn, Jennifer Aniston, Rhys Ifans, Austin Pendelton, Will Forte, Illeana Douglas, Jennifer Esposito, Lucy Punch, Colleen Camp, Debi Mazar, Cybill Shepherd, Richard Lewis
*Please note that some trivia and facts have been republished from imdb among other sources In this review
On the set of a playwright’s new project, a love triangle forms between his wife, her ex-lover, and the call girl-turned-actress cast in the production.
Cut To The Chase 