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: David Cronenberg
Based On The Novel By: Don Delilo
Cinematography By: Peter Suschitzky
Editor: Ronald Sanders
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Sarah Godon, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Durand, Matthieu Almaric, Samantha Morton, Jay Baruchel, Zeljiko Kecojevic
Riding across Manhattan in a stretch limo in order to get a haircut, a 28-year-old billionaire asset manager’s day devolves into an odyssey with a cast of characters that start to tear his world apart.
Written & Directed By: Lorene Scafaria
Cinematography By: Brett Pawlek
Editor: Kayla M. Emter
Cast: Susan Sarandon, Rose Byrne, J.K. Simmons, Jerrod Carmichael, Cecily Strong, Lucy Punch, Michael McKean, Billy Magnussen, Jason Ritter, Casey Wilson, Megan Echikunwoke, Amy Landecker, Harry Hamlin, Robert Picardo, Shiri Appleby, Laura San Giacomo, Roger Arron Brown, Randall Park, Bill Fagerbakke
An aging widow from New York City follows her daughter to Los Angeles in hopes of starting a new life after her husband passes away.
Directed By: Steve Rash
Written By: Fax Bahr, Adam Small & Shawn Schepps
Story By: Patrick Clifton, Susan McMartin & Peter Lenkov
Cinematography By: Peter Deming
Editor: Dennis M. Hill
Cast: Pauly Shore, Carla Gugino, Lane Smith, Mason Adams, Tiffani Amber-Theissen, Patrick Renna, Cindy Pickett, Dennis Burkley
Country girl Rebecca begins college in Los Angeles. There she meets Crawl, a student who is crazy, unpredictable and wild. During the holidays she brings him with her home. Her parents have never seen anything like him and are shocked when Rebecca tells them that they are engaged to be married. Two different worlds collide…
Directed By: John Lee
Written By: Paul Reubens & Paul Rust
Cinematography By: Tim Orr
Editor: Jeff Buchanan
Cast: Paul Reubens, Alia Shawkat, Richard Riehle, Leo Fitzpatrick, Brad William Henke, Robert R. Schafer, Stephanie Beatriz, Josh Myers, Diane Salinger, Joe Manganiello, David Arquette, Nicole Sullivan, Paul Rust, Lynne Marie Stewart
A fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger inspires Pee-wee Herman to take his first-ever holiday in this epic story of friendship and destiny.
Directed By: George Clooney
Written By: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, George Clooney & Grant Heslov
Cinematography By: Robert Elswit
Editor: Stephen Mirrione
Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar issac, Noah Jupe, Richard Kind, Jack Conley, Gary Basaraba
In the bosom of Suburbicon, a family-centred, all-white utopia of manicured lawns and friendly locals, a simmering tension is brewing, as the first African-American family moves in the idyllic community, in the hot summer of 1959. However, as the patriarch Gardner Lodge and his family start catching a few disturbing glimpses of the once welcoming neighbourhood’s dark underbelly, acts of unprecedented violence paired with a gruesome death will inevitably blemish Suburbicon’s picture-perfect facade. Who would have thought that darkness resides even in Paradise?
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh
Written By: Tarell Alvin McCraney
Cinematography: Peter Andrews
Editor: Mary Ann Bernard
Cast: Andre Holland, Melvin Gregg, Eddie Tavares, Zazie Beetz, Kyle Maclachlan, Zachary Quinto, Bill Duke, Sonja Sohn, Caleb McLaughlin
In the midst of a pro basketball lockout, sports agent Ray Burke finds himself caught in the face-off between the league and the players. His career is on the line, but Ray is playing for higher stakes. With only 72 hours to pull off a daring plan, he outmaneuvers all the power-players as he uncovers a loophole that could change the game forever. The outcome raises questions of who owns the game – and who ought to.
Directed By: Rashid Johnson
Written By: Suzan Lori-Parks
Based on the Novel By: Richard Wright
Cinematography: Matthew Libatique
Editor: Brad Turner
Cast: Ashton Sanders, Kiki Layne, Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, Bill Camp, Elizabeth Marvel, David Alan Grier, Sanaa Lathan, Lamar Johnson
A young African-American living in Chicago enters into a seductive new world of money and power after he is hired as a chauffeur for an affluent businessman. Continue reading “NATIVE SON (2019)”
Directed By: Roman Polanski
Written By: Yasmina Reza & Roman Polanski
Based on The Play By: Yasmina Reza
Translation By: Michael Katmis
Cinematography: Pawel Edelman
Editor: Herve De Luze
Cast: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz
In New York’s Brooklyn Bridge park, eleven year old Zachary strikes his eleven year old classmate Ethan. The boy’s parents learn of the fight and meet to deal with the incident. Although the meeting starts civilized, it quickly degenerates after an unfortunate incident, and soon, their meeting is not only about their boys’ fight, but also the couple’s fitness as parents.
Directed By: Barbet Schroeder
Written By: Nicholas Kazan
Based on the book By: Alan Dershowitz
Cinematography By: Luciano Tovoli
Editor: Lee Percy
Cast: Jeremy Irons, Ron Silver, Glenn Close, Annabella Sciorra, Uta Hagen, Christine Baranski, Julie Hagerty, Fisher Stevens, Jack Gilpin, Felicity Huffman, Bill Camp, Lisa Gay Hamilton
Alan Dershowitz a brilliant professor of law is hired by wealthy socialite Claus von Bulow to attempt to overturn his two convictions for attempted murder of his extremely wealthy wife. Based on a true story the film concentrates not on the trial like other legal thrillers, but on the preparatory work that Dershowitz and his students put in as they attempt to disprove the prosecution’s case and achieve the Reversal of Fortune of the title. Continue reading “REVERSAL OF FORTUNE (1990)”
Cinematography & Directed By: John G. Avildsen
Written By: Norman Wexler
Editor: George T. Norris
Cast: Peter Boyle, Dennis Patrick, Susan Sarandon,
Bill, a wealthy businessman, confronts his junkie daughter’s drug-dealing boyfriend; in the ensuing argument, Bill kills him. Panic-stricken, he wanders the streets and eventually stops at a bar. There he runs into a drunken factory worker named Joe, who hates hippies, blacks, and anyone who is “different”, and would like to kill one himself. The two start talking, and Bill reveals his secret to Joe. Complications ensue.
Cut To The Chase 