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 Lei Howden
Cinematography By: Simon Raby
Editor: Jeff Hurrell & Gareth Van Niekerk
Cast: Milo Cawthrone, Kimberly Crossman, James Blake, Sam Berkley, Kate Elliot, Daniel Cresswell, Delaney Tabron, Stephen Ure, Colin Moy, Jodie Rimmer
Two teenage boys unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity known as The Blind One by delving into black magic while trying to escape their mundane lives.
Directed By: Betty Thomas
Written By: Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner, Rick Copp & Laurice Elehwany
Based On Characters created By: Sherwood Schwartz
Cinematography: Mac Ahlberg
Editor: Peter Teschner
Cast: Gary Cole, Shelly Long, Christine Taylor, Michael McKean, Jean Smart, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Jennifer Elise Cox, Olivia Hack, David Graf, Megan Ward, Jack Noseworthy, Alanna Ubach, R.D. Robb, Shane Conrad, Marissa Ribisi, David Leisure, David Proval, Tamara Mello, Jennifer Blanc Biehn, Rupaul, Christopher Knight, Eric Nies, Ann B. Davis, Florence Henderson
Mike Brady and his wife Carol Brady have just only one week to come up with $20,000 in back taxes or their house is sold and they’ll have no choice but to move. And it’s up to the Brady kids to secretly raise money and save the homestead before they lose their house to their scheming neighbor Mr. Larry Dittmeyer.
Directed By: Brian Henson
Written By: Todd Berger
Story By: Todd Berger & Dee Austin Robertson
Cinematography: Mitchell Admunsen
Editor: Brian Oids
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks, Maya Rudolph, Leslie David Baker, Michael McDonald, Joel Mchale, Cynthy Wu, Jimmy O. Yang, Ryan Gaul, Ben Falcone
A murder mystery set in a world where humans and puppets co-exist, but puppets are viewed as second-class citizens. When the puppet cast of an ’90s children’s TV show begins to get murdered one by one, a former cop, who has since become a private eye, takes on the case.
Written & Directed By: John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein
Based on Characters Created By: John Hughes
Cinematography By: Barry Peterson
Editor:Jamie Gross
Cast: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann, Chris Hemsworth, Charlie Day, Regina Hall, Keegan-Michael Key, Norman Reedus, Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Kaitlin Olsen, Michael Pena, Colin Hanks, Hannah Davis, Ron Livingston,Nick Kroll, Tim Heidecker, Elizabeth Gilles, John Francis Daley
Hoping to bring his family closer together and to recreate his childhood vacation for his own kids, an adult Rusty Griswold takes his wife and two sons on a cross-country road trip to Walley World. Needless to say, things don’t go quite as planned.
Directed By: Craig Johnson
Written By: Daniel Clowes (Based on His Graphic Novel)
Cinematography By: Frederick Elmes
Editor: Paul Zucker
Music By: Jon Brion
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Jusy Greer, Margo Martindale, David Warshofsky, Cheryl Hines, Brett Gelman
A lonely, neurotic and hilariously honest middle-aged man reunites with his estranged wife and meets his teenage daughter for the first time.
Written & Directed By: Matthew Bright
Cinematography: Joel Ransom
Editor: Suzanne Hines
Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Maria Celedonio David Alan Grier, Michael T. Weiss, Vincent Gallo, Max Perlich, John Landis, Jenn Griffin
In this modern update of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale (actually more like Gretel and Gretel), 15-year old Crystal is a bulimic delinquent who makes her living by beating and robbing potential “tricks”. While awaiting a 25-year jail term, Crystal hooks up with a psychotic young lesbian named Cyclona, doing time for slaughtering her entire family. After escaping, they head for Mexico, where Cyclona’s saviour Sister Gomez lives in a confectionery full of children. Along the way, they leave a trail of crack rocks, binging and purging, and dead people.
Continue reading “FREEWAY II: CONFESSIONS OF A TRICK BABY (1999)”
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: 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: 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?
Cut To The Chase 