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: Hannah Fidell
Cinematography By: Andrew Droz Palermo
Editor: Sofi Marshall
Cast: Lindsay Burge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Julie Dell Phillips, Jonny Mars
A high school teacher in Austin, Texas has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end.
Written & Directed By: Maggie Carey
Cinematography By: Doug Emmett
Editor: Paul Frank
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Johnny Simmons, Bill Hader, Connie Britton, Rachel Bilson, Donald Glover, Christophe Mintz-Plasse, Scott Porter, Alia Shawkat, Sarah Steele, Clark Gregg, Andy Samberg, Adam Pally, D.C.Pierson, Dominic Dierkes
Feeling pressured to become more sexually experienced before she goes to college, Brandy Klark makes a list of things to accomplish before hitting campus in the fall.
Written & Directed By: Harmony Korine
Cinematography By: Benoit Debie
Editor: Douglas Crise
Cast: James Franco, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Vanessa Hudgens, Rachel Korine, Gucci Mane, Heather Morris
Brit, Candy, Cotty, and Faith have been best friends since grade school. They live together in a boring college dorm and are hungry for adventure. All they have to do is save enough money for spring break to get their shot at having some real fun. A serendipitous encounter with rapper “Alien” promises to provide the girls with all the thrill and excitement they could hope for. With the encouragement of their new friend, it soon becomes unclear how far the girls are willing to go to experience a spring break they will never forget.
Cinematography & Directed By: Robert Rodriguez
Written By: Kyle Ward
Story By: Robert Rodriguez & Marcel Rodriguez
Editor: Robert Rodriguez & Rebecca Rodriguez
Cast: Danny Trejo, Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen, Amber Heard, Demian Bichir, Michelle Rodriguez, Vanessa Hudgens, Sofia Vergara, Alexa Vega, Walton Goggins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Tom Savini, William Sadler
During an operation of a Mexican Cartel, Machete Cortez and Sartana Rivera intercept the criminals alone, but another group arrives and a masked man kills Sartana. Machete is arrested, accused of killing his beloved Sartana and Sheriff Doakes hangs Machete. But the President of the USA Rathcock pardons and recruits Machete to kill the revolutionary Marcos Mendez that has threatened the USA with a missile with a bomb. Machete goes to San Antonio to meet the Miss San Antonio Blanca Vasquez that will be the liaison between Machete and President Rathcock. Then Machete goes to the brothel of Madame Desdemona to seek out the prostitute Cereza that is Mendez’s mistress. Machete meets Mendez and learns that his heart is connected to the missile and only the arm dealer Luther Voz is capable to disarm the bomb. Now Machete needs to bring Mendez to the USA in less than twenty-four hours and save his new country in a dangerous journey with betrayals.
Directed By: Kevin Goetz & Michael Goetz
Written By: Kyle Killen
Cinematography By: Sean O’Dea
Editor: Kindra Marra
Cast: Josh Duhamel, Dan Folger, Christie Burson, Miracle Laurie
Tensions rise between lifelong friends Mitchell and Carter after their truck breaks down on an isolated desert road as they start to attack each other’s life decisions with unwavering brutality.
Directed By: Spike Lee
Written By: Mark Protosevich
Based On The Manga By: Garon Tsuchiya & Nobuaki Minegishi
Cinematography By: Sean Bobbitt
Editor: Barry Alexander Brown
Cast: Josh Brolin, Sharito Copley, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, James Ransone, Michael Imperiolli, Pom Klementieff, Max Casella, Lance Reddick, Ricahrd Partnow, Hannah Simone
An advertising executive is kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his punishment, only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment.
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.
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: Rebecca Johnson
Cinematography By: Annemarie Lean-Vercoe
Editor: John Dwelly
Cast: Jessica Sula, Ntonga Mwanza, Lucien Laviscount, Naomi Ryan, Danielle Vitalis, Lauren Johns, Tosin Cole, Savannah Gordon-Liburd
Inspired by true events, it tells a story of fifteen-year-old Layla, who sets up the boy in love with her to be killed. When Troy discards her, Layla is left in ruins. She vows to rebuild herself as a hardened player in order to win him back and Shaun becomes a pawn in her game. Soon the forces she has set in motion are escalating out of control. The first UK urban drama seen from a girl’s point of view, HONEYTRAP is authentically local in its setting but universal in its themes of passion, jealousy and revenge. We have not seen a character like Layla take centre-stage before and it’s time her story to be told.
Written & Directed By: Peter Berg
Based On The Novel By: Marcus Lutrrell & Patrick Robinson
Cinematography By: Tobias A. Schliessler
Editor: Colby Parker Jr.
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana, Yousef Azami, Alexander Ludwig, Jerry Ferrara, Peter Berg
Marcus Luttrell, a Navy Seal, and his team set out on a mission to capture or kill notorious al Qaeda leader Ahmad Shahd, in late June 2005. After running into mountain herders and capturing them, they were left with no choice but to follow their rules of engagement or be imprisoned. Now Marcus and his team are left to fight for their lives in one of the most valiant efforts of modern warfare.
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