Category: Movie Review

WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD (2014)

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White-Bird-in-a-Blizzard

Written & Directed By: Greg Araki
Based on the Book By: Laura Kasischke
Cinematography By: Sandra Valde-Hansen 

Cast: Shailene Woodley, Thomas Jane, Eva Green, Shiloh Fernandez, Christopher Meloni, Gabourey Sidibe, Angela Basset, Dale Dickey, Sheryl Lee, Mark Indelicato

Kat Connors is 17 years old when her seemingly perfect homemaker mother, Eve, disappears in 1988. Having lived for so long in an emotionally repressed household, she barely registers her mother’s absence and certainly doesn’t blame her doormat of a father, Brock, for the loss. But as time passes, Kat begins to come to grips with how deeply Eve’s disappearance has affected her. Returning home on a break from college, she finds herself confronted with the truth about her mother’s departure, and her own denial about the events surrounding it.

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SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR (2014)

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sincity22

Directed By: Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller 

Written By: Frank Miller (Based on Characters & Graphic Novels created By Him) Cinematography & Editing By: Robert Rodriguez 

Cast: Eva Green Jessica Alba, Jamie Chung, Dennis Haysbert, Mickey Rourke, Josh Brolin, Powers Boothe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Jamie King, Christopher Lloyd, Ray Liotta, Juno Temple, Jeremy Piven, Christopher Meloni, Bruce Wills, Alexa Vega, Marton Csokas

Co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller reunite to bring Miller’s “Sin City” graphic novels back to the screen. Weaving together two of Miller’s classic stories with new tales, the town’s most hard boiled citizens cross paths with some of its more notorious inhabitants.

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300: RISE OF THE EMPIRE (2014)

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300: BATTLE OF ARTEMESIUM

Directed By: Noam Murro
Written By: Zack Snyder & Kurt Johnstad
Based On the Graphic Novel “XERCES” By: Frank Miller
Cinematography By: Simon Duggan
Editor: David Brenner & Wyatt Smith
Production Design By: Patrick Tatopoulos 

Cast: Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Headey, Rodrigo Santoro, Jack O’Connell, Peter Mensah

After its victory over Leonidas’ 300, the Persian Army under the command of Xerxes marches towards the major Greek city-states. The Democratic city of Athens, first on the path of Xerxes’ army, bases its strength on its fleet, led by admiral Themistocles. Themistocles is forced to an unwilling alliance with the traditional rival of Athens, oligarchic Sparta whose might lies with its superior infantry troops. But Xerxes still reigns supreme in numbers over sea and land

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THE EQUALIZER (2014)

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EQUALIZER

Directed By: Antoine Fuqua
Written By: Richard Wenk
Based on the Series Created By: Michael Sloan & Richard Lindheim
Cinematography By: Mauro Fiore
Editor: John Refoua 


Cast: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloe Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Haley Bennett, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, James Wilcox

A man believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and has dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her.

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KNOCK KNOCK (2015)

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knockknock

Directed By: Eli Roth
Written By: Eli Roth, Nicolas Lopez & Guillermo Amoedo
Story By: Anthony Overman & Michael Ronald Ross
Cinematography By: Antonio Quercia
Editor: Diego Macho 


Cast: Keanu Reeves, Lorenaa Izzo, Ana De Armas, Aaron Burns, Colleen Camp, Ignacia Allamand

When a devoted husband and father is left home alone for the weekend, two stranded young women unexpectedly knock on his door for help. What starts out as a kind gesture results in a dangerous seduction and a deadly game of cat and mouse.

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31 (2016)

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31-sundance-2016

Written & Directed By: Rob Zombie
Cinematography By: David Daniel
Editor: Glenn Garland 


Cast: Sherri Moon Zombie, Jeff Daniels Phillips, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Meg Foster, Lew Temple, Malcolm McDowell, Judy Geeson, Elizabeth Daily, Ginger Lynn, Jane Carr, Torsten Voges, Ricahrd Brake, Daniel Roebuck, Tracy Walter, Esperanza America, Andrea Dora 


The day before Halloween, five carnival employees are kidnapped & held hostage in an isolated compound known as “Murderworld”. On Halloween, they are thrown into a sadistic game called “31” where they must survive 12 hours against a gang of maniacs dressed like clowns. It’s time to play 31.

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ELLE (2016)

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Elle-Header-750x400

 

Directed By: Paul Verhoeven
Written By: David Birke
French Adaptation: Harold Manning
Based on the book by: Philippe Djian
Cinematography By: Stephane Fontaine
Editor: Job Ter Burg 



Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Cosigny, Charles Berling, Christina Berkel, Vilmala Pons, Alice Issaz 


Michèle seems indestructible. Head of a successful video game company, she brings the same ruthless attitude to her love life as to business. Being attacked in her home by an unknown assailant changes Michèle’s life forever. When she resolutely tracks the man down, they are both drawn into a curious and thrilling game-a game that may, at any moment, spiral out of control.

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EDEN (2015)

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Directed By: Mia Hansen-Love
Written By: Mia Hansen-Love & Sven Hansen-Love
Cinematography By: Denis Lenoir
Editor: Marion Monnier 


Cast: Felix De Grivy, Pauline Etienne, Zita Hanrot, Arsinee Khanjian, Lea Rougeron, Golshifteh Farahani, Greta Gerwig, Brady Corbet,

Loosely based on the life of the director’s brother, Sven Hansen-Løve

Paul, a teenager in the underground scene of early-nineties Paris, forms a DJ collective with his friends and together they plunge into the nightlife of sex, drugs, and endless music.

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WIDOWS (2018)

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widows1

Directed By: Steve McQueen
Written By: Gillian Flynn & Steve McQueen
Based On “Widows” By: Lynda La Plante
Cinematography By: Sean Bobbitt
Editor: Joe Walker 

Cast: Viola Davis, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Liam Neeson, Lukas Haas, Jon Bernthal, Carrie Coon, Jacki Weaver, Ann Mitchell, Garret Dillahunt, Kevin J O’Connor 


 “Widows” is the story of four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities. Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, tensions build when Veronica, Alice, Linda and Belle take their fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.

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