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: Clay Liford
Cinematography By: Ellie Ann Fenton
Editor: David Fabelo & Bryan Poyser
Cast: Michael Johnston, Hannah Marks, Michael Ian Black, Missi Pyle, Sarah Ramos, Angela Kinsey, Sam Eidson
Freshman Neil’s Vanguard stories are all he cares about…until he meets the older Julia, who pushes him to put his own fan fic online. When the website’s moderator takes a special interest in Neil’s work, it opens up a whole new universe.
Written & Directed: Joel Schumacher
Cinematography By: Declan Quinn
Editor: Mark Stevens
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Barry Miller, Chris Bauer, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Rory Cochrane, Vincent Laresca, Katrina Arroyave, Skip Sudduth, Scott Allen Coopper, Mark Margolis, Wanda De Jesus, John Enos III, Winter Ave Zoli, Joey Arias, Jackie Beat
Walt Koontz, a homophobic guy, ends up with paralyzed vocal cords because of an unfortunate stroke. His therapy includes receiving singing lessons from a neighbor who is not only openly flamboyant but also a pre-op transgenderist. Both of them are equally prejudiced; Koontz against homosexuals and the neighbor against close-minded straight people.
Directed By: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
Written By: Simon Beaufoy
Cinematography By: Linus Sandgren
Editor: Pamela Martin
Cast: Steve Carrell, Emma Stone, Bill Pullman, Andrea Riseborough, Natalie Morales, Sarah Silverman, Elisabeth Shue, Martha MacIssac, Alan Cumming, Eric Christian Olsen, Fred Armisen, Mickey Sumner, Wallace Langham, Matt Molloy, Bridey Elliott, Chris Parnell, Mike Vogel, Tom Kenny, Jamey Sheridan
In the wake of the sexual revolution and the rise of the women’s movement, the 1973 tennis match between women’s world champion and ex-men’s-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs was billed as the BATTLE OF THE SEXES and became one of the most watched televised sports events of all time, reaching 90 million viewers around the world. As the rivalry between King and Riggs kicked into high gear, off-court each was fighting more personal and complex battles. The fiercely private King was not only championing for equality, but also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, as her friendship with Marilyn Barnett developed. And Riggs, one of the first self-made media-age celebrities, wrestled with his gambling demons, at the expense of his family and wife Priscilla. Together, Billie and Bobby served up a cultural spectacle that resonated far beyond the tennis court, sparking discussions in bedrooms and boardrooms that continue to reverberate today.
Directed By: Darren Stein
Written By: George Northy
Cinematography By: Jonathan Hall
Editor: Philip J. Hartwell
Cast: Michael J. Willett, Paul Iacono, Sasha Pieterse, Xosha Roquemore, Molly Tarlov, Evanna Lynch, Joanna “Jojo” Levesque, Derek Mio, Mia Rose Frampton, Andrea Bowen, Rebecca Gayheart, Jonathan Silverman, Natasha Lyonne, Megan Mullally, Horatio Sanz
Social warfare erupts when three high school clique queens battle for supremacy: drama diva Caprice, Mormon princess ‘Shley and blonde fashionista Fawcett. When unassuming Tanner is outted, he finds himself cast as the hottest new teen-girl accessory: The Gay Best Friend. The clique queens immediately pounce and makeover Tanner into their ideal arm candy, forcing him to choose between popularity and the true friends – including his own B.F.F. Brent – that he’s leaving behind. –Now while this film is totally predictable. It is a fun film that is rarely boring. That tackles a serious subject somewhat with tons of humor and with class. Other then a few objectionable words ln a few scenes. The movie is pretty much clean. It’s pretty much soft seeing it’s subject and inoffensive. While dismantling a bunch of stereotypes and reveling in others.
Directed By: Luca Guadagnino
Written By: James Ivory
Based On The Book Written By: Andre Aciman
Cinematography By: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
Editor: Walter Fasano
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Esther Garrel, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar
In Northern Italy in 1983, seventeen year-old Elio begins a relationship with visiting Oliver, his father’s research assistant, with whom he bonds over his emerging sexuality, their Jewish heritage, and the beguiling Italian landscape. I am not the biggest fan of director Luca Guadagnino as it is obvious he has talent but I have never exactly been a fan of his previous films. Visually lucious but the stories and plots left a lot to be desired. Here he seems to have found the right material because here he and his style definitely come through loud and clear.
Written & Directed By: Christopher Landon
Based on characters created by: Scott Lobdell
Cinematography: Toby Oliver
Editor: Ben Baudhuin
Cast: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu, Ruby Modine, Steve Zissis, Rachel Matthews, Sarah Yarkin, Suraj Sharma, Charles Aitken, Laura Clifton, Missy Yager, Jason Mayle, Rob Mello
Having survived the farcical but utterly life-threatening events in the first film, the feisty sorority sister, Tree Gelbman, finds herself in the same college dorm, thankful to be alive. However, this time, it’s Carter’s roommate, Ryan, who claims that he is reliving the same paradoxical day over and over again, as a mysterious paranoid killer in a single-toothed baby-faced mask with a big kitchen knife has made a habit of murdering him. Under those circumstances, a valiant but vain attempt to face the challenge, once more, will send Tree back to square one, trapped in an all too familiar and blood-drenched time loop. How many deaths separate Tree from a truly happy birthday?
Directed By: Samuel Bayer
Written By: Wesley Strick & Eric Heisserer
Story By: Wesley Strick
Based On Characters Created By: Wes Craven
Cinematography: Jeff Cutter
Editor: Glen Scantelbury
Cast: Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara, Connie Britton, Clancy Brown, Kyle Gallner, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, Kellan Lutz
Death stalks the dreams of several young adults to claim its revenge on the killing of Freddy Kruger. Chased and chastised by this finger-bladed demon, it is the awakening of old memories and the denials of a past of retribution that spurns this hellish vision of a dreamlike state and turns death into a nightmare reality.
Continue reading “A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (REMAKE) (2010)”
Directed By: Jamie Blanks
Written By: Silvio Horta
Cinematography: James Chressanthis
Editor: Jay Cassidy
Cast: Alicia Witt, Tara Reid, Rebecca Gayheart, Jared Leto, Joshua Jackson, Michael Rosenbaum, Loretta Devine, John Neville, Robert Englund, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Danny Comden
A college student suspects a series of bizarre deaths are connected to certain urban legends.
Directed By: Jack Bender
Written By: Don Mancini
Cinematography: John R. Leonetti
Editor: Scott Wallace & Edward A. Warschilka Jr.
Cast: Justin Whalin, Perrey Reeves, Jeremy Sylvers, Travis Fine, Dean Jacobson, Dakin Matthews, Andrew Robinson, Brad Dourif (Voice)
Chucky returns for revenge against Andy, the young boy who defeated him, and now a teenager living in a military academy.
Written & Directed By: Wayne Kramer
Cinematography By: James Whitaker
Editor: Arthur Coburn
Cast: Paul Walker, Vera Farmiga, Chazz Palmenteri, Karel Roden, Cameron Bright, Johnny Messner, Ivana Milicevic, Michael Cudlitz, Bruce Altman, Elizabeth Mitchell, Idalis DeLeon, Jon Noble
After a drug-op gone bad, Joey Gazelle is put in charge of disposing the gun that shot a dirty cop. But things goes wrong for Joey after the neighbor kid stole the gun and used it to shoot his abusive father. Now Joey has to find the kid and the gun before the police and the mob find them first.
Cut To The Chase 