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: Jason Orley
Cinematography: Andre Huebscher
Editor: Waldemar Centeno
Cast: Pete Davidson, Griffin Gluck, Emily Arlook, Jon Cryer, Sydney Sweeney, Machine Gun Kelly, Thomas Barbusca, Oona Laurence, Omar Brunson
A suburban teenager comes of age under the destructive guidance of his best friend, an aimless college dropout.
Directed By: Shira Piven
Written By: Eliot Laurence
Cinematography: Eric Alan Edwards
Editor: Josh Salzberg & Kevin Tent
Cast: Kristen Wiig, Wes Bentley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Linda Cardellini, James Marsden, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, Loretta Devine, Thomas Mann, Alan Tudyk, Kulap Vilaysack
Alice suffers from borderline personality disorder, but she has what she needs in life. She has an apartment, she has a best friend, and she has tapes of every Oprah Winfrey show. And now, after winning the lottery, she also has 83 million dollars. What she doesn’t have is an outlet for the whole world to know who she really is. The TV station cut her off when she tried turning her lottery announcement into a frank discussion of her sexual experiences, but with her money in hand, she’s off to LA to convince two struggling TV producer brothers to produce her own TV show. Whatever it costs, she’s going to do it. From swan entrances to dog neutering, she is going to introduce the world to Alice. But is the world ready for Alice?
Written & Directed By: James L. Brooks
Cinematography: John Seale
Editor: Richard Marks & Tia Nolan
Cast: Adam Sandler, Paz Vega, Tea Leoni, Cloris Leachman, Sarah Steele, Shelbie Bruce, Phil Rosenthal, Thomas Haden Church, Angela Gothelas, Freddy Soto, Nichole Hiltz, Eric Schaefer, Spencer Locke, Sarah Hyland
Flor emigrates to Los Angeles from Mexico in hopes of finding a better life for her and her daughter, Cristina. Hired by the John and Deborah Clasky as their housekeeper, Flor contends with the language barrier, Cristina’s budding femininity, and the eccentric Clasky’s way of life.
Written & Directed By: Cynthia Mort
Cinematography By: Mihai Malaimere Jr.
Editor: Josh Rifkin, Mark Helfrich & Susan Littenberg
Cast: Zoe Saldana,David Oyelowo, Keith David, Ella Joyce, Mike Epps, Ronald Guttman, Ella Thomas, Michael Vartan, Matthew Hoffman
The story of the late jazz musician and classical pianist Nina Simone including her rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson.
Written & Directed By: Nacho Vigalondo
Cinematography By: Jon D. Dominguez
Editor: Bernat Vilaplana
Cast: Elijah Wood, Sasha Grey, Neil Maskell
An actress named Jill refuses to have dinner with Nick, a fan who won a date with her in an Internet contest. In return, a guy named Chord, posing as Jill’s campaign manager, helps Nick to follow in the footsteps of the actress from his own computer. Nick starts a game in which he realizes that he is only a puppet into the maniacal plans devised by Chord, to hunt down the star
Directed By: Mikael Hafstrom
Written By: Miles Chapman & Arnell Jesko
Story By: Miles Chapman
Cinematography By: Brendan Galvin
Editor: Elliot Greenberg
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Amy Ryan, Jim Caviezel, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Vinnie Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio, Farin Tahar, Sam Neill, Graham Beckel, Matt Gerald
Ray Breslin is the world’s foremost authority on structural security. After analyzing every high security prison and learning a vast array of survival skills so he can design escape-proof prisons, his skills are put to the test. He’s framed and incarcerated in a master prison he designed himself. He needs to escape and find the person who put him behind bars.
Directed By: Peter Berg
Written By: Sean O’Keefe & Brian Helgeland
Based On Characters Created By: Robert Parker
Based On The Novel By: Ace Atkins
Cinematography: Tobias A. Schliessler
Editor: Michael L. Sale
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke, Alan Arkin, Iliza Shlesinger, Michael Gaston, Marc Maron, Bokeem Woodbine, Colleen Camp, Post Malone, James Dumont
When two Boston police officers are murdered, ex-cop Spenser teams up with his no-nonsense roommate, Hawk, to take down criminals.
Written & Directed By: Guy Ritchie
Story By: Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson & Marn Davies
Cinematography: Alan Stewart
Editor: James Herbert & Paul Machliss
Cast: Matthew McConauhey, Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Grant, Eddie Marsan, Henry Golding, Colin Farell, Michelle Dockery, Tom Wu, Jeremy Strong, Chidi Ajufo, Lyne Renee
A talented American graduate of Oxford, using his unique skills, audacity and penchant for violence, creates a marijuana empire using the estates of impoverished English aristocrats. However, when he tries to sell his empire to a fellow American billionaire, a chain of events unfolds, involving blackmail, deception, mayhem and murder between street thugs, Russian oligarchs, Triad gangsters and gutter journalists.
Directed By: Jeremy Saulnier
Written By: Macon Blair
Based On The Book By: William Giraldi
Cinematography: Magnus Nordenhof Jonck
Editor: Julia Bloch
Cast: Jeffrey Wright, James Badge Dale, Alexander Skarsgard, Riley Keough, Beckham crawford, Anabel Kutay, Julian Black Antelope
Retired naturalist and wolf expert Russell Core journeys to the edge of civilization in northern Alaska at the pleading of Medora Slone, a young mother whose son was killed by a pack of wolves. As Core attempts to help Medora track down the wolves who took her son, a strange and dangerous relationship develops between the two lonely souls. But when Medora’s husband Vernon returns home from the Iraq War, the news of his child’s death ignites a violent chain of events. As local cop Donald Marium races to stop Vernon’s vengeful rampage, Core is forced on a perilous odyssey into the heart of darkness.
Directed By: Etan Cohen
Written By: Ian Roberts, Etan Cohen & Jay Martel
Story By: Adam McKay, Jay Martel & Ian Roberts
Cinematography By: Tim Suhrstedt
Editor: Michael L.Stale
Cast: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Edwina Findley, Alison Brie, Craig T. Nelson, Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris, Paul Ben-Victor, Ron Funches, Matt Walsh, Greg Germann
When obscenely rich hedge-fund manager James is convicted of fraud and sentenced to a stretch in San Quentin, the judge gives him one month to get his affairs in order. Knowing that he won’t survive more than a few minutes in prison on his own, James desperately turns to Darnell, a black businessman who’s never even had a parking ticket – for help. As Darnell puts James through the wringer, both learn that they were wrong about many things, including each other.
Cut To The Chase 