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
Directed By: Tom Shadyac
Written By: Doug Atchinson
Cinematography: Ricardo Diaz
Editor: Greg Hayden
Cast: Aldis Hodge, Greg Kinnear, Sherri Shepherd, Dorian Missick, Morgan Freeman, Tiffany Dupont, Melanie Liburd, Xosha Roquemore
A football player’s dreams to play in the NFL are halted when he is wrongly convicted and sent to prison. Years later, he fights to clear his name within an unjust system.
Written & Directed By: Sebastian Silva
Cinematography: Alexis Zabe
Editor: Jennifer Lame & Sofia Subercaseaux
Cast: Jason Mitchell, Christopher Abbott, Caleb Landry Jones, Michael Cera, Michael Zegen, Reg E. Cathey, Ann Dowd, Roddy Bottum, Nicolas Arze
Tyler, a sole black man, attends an otherwise all-white weekend of drunken bro debauchery on a birthday trip to a cabin in the Catskills.
Directed By: Melina Matsoukas
Written By: Lena Waithe
Story By: Lena Waithe & James Frey
Cinematography By: Tat Radcliffe
Editor: Pete Beaudreau
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeen Woodbine, Sturgill Simpson, Indya Moore, Flea, Chloe Sevingy, Benito Martinez, Jahai Di’allo
Winston
Slim and Queen’s first date takes an unexpected turn when a policeman pulls them over for a minor traffic violation. When the situation escalates, Slim takes the officer’s gun and shoots him in self-defence. Now labelled cop killers in the media, Slim and Queen feel that they have no choice but to go on the run and evade the law. When a video of the incident goes viral, the unwitting outlaws soon become a symbol of trauma, terror, grief and pain for people all across the country.
Written & Directed By: John Singleton
Cinematography: Peter Lyons Collister
Editor: Bruce Canon
Cast: Tupac Shakur, Janet Jackson, Regina King, Joe Torry, Maya Angelou, Q-tip, Tyra Ferrell, Khandi Alexander, Jenifer Lewis, Tone Loc, Ricky Harris, Clifton Collins Jr., Michael Rapaport, Lloyd Avery II, Robi Reed, Roger Gueneveur Smith, Yvette Wilson, Kimberly Brooks, Maia Campbell, Michael Colyar, Sarena Mobley, Lori Petty, Billy Zane
After witnessing the murder of her first and only boyfriend, young Justice decides to forget about college and become a South Central Los Angeles hairdresser. Avoiding friends, the only way for her to cope with her depression is by composing beautiful poetry. On her way to a convention in Oakland, she is forced to ride with an independent-minded postal worker whom she has not gotten along with in the past. After various arguments between them and their friends, they start to discover that their thoughts on violence, socially and domestically, are the same. Justice may finally feel that she is not as alone as before.
Written & Directed By: Reggie Rock Bythewood
Cinematography: Bill Dill
Editor: Kevin Krasny & Joel Plotch
Cast: Nicole Ari Parker, Isiah Washinton, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Kadeem Hardison, Estelle Harris, Malinda Williams, Tichina Arnold, James Avery, Jenifer Lewis, Jay Underwood, Constance Marie, Wren T. Brown, Marcia Cross, Anna Maria Horsford, Mel Jackson, Brent Jennings, Juanita Jennings, Peter Onaroti, Chi McBride, KImberly Russell, Royale Watkins, Aisha Tyler
A black female TV producer struggles in Hollywood.
Written & Directed By: Sarah Polley Cinematography By: Luc Montpellier
Editor: Christopher Donaldson
Cast: Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Sara Silverman, Luke Kirby, Jennifer Podemski
A happily married woman falls for the artist who lives across the street.
Directed By: David Cronenberg
Written By: Bruce Wagner
Cinematography By: Peter Suschitzsky
Editor: Ronald Sanders
Music By: Howard Shore
Cast: John Cusack, Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Williams, Sarah Gadon, Carrie Fisher, Robert Pattinson, Evan Bird
The Weiss family is the archetypical Hollywood dynasty: father Stafford is an analyst and coach, who has made a fortune with his self-help manuals; mother Cristina mostly looks after the career of their son Benjie, 13, a child star. One of Stafford’s clients, Havana, is an actress who dreams of shooting a remake of the movie that made her mother, Clarice, a star in the 60s. Clarice is dead now and visions of her come to haunt Havana at night… Adding to the toxic mix, Benjie has just come off a rehab program he joined when he was 9 and his sister, Agatha, has recently been released from a sanatorium where she was treated for criminal pyromania and befriended a limo driver Jerome who is also an aspiring actor.
Directed By: Matteo Garrone
Written By: Ugo Chiti, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudiso, Giulio Troli, Fabio D’innocenzo, Damiano D’innocenzo & Marco Perfetti
Story By: Ugo Chiti, Matteo Garrone & Massimo Gaudiso
Cinematography: Nicolaj Bruel
Editor: Marco Spoletini
Cast: Marcello Fonte, Edoardo Pesce, Adamo Dionisi, Nunzia Schiano Marcello
a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighborhood. In an effort to reaffirm his dignity, Marcello will submit to an unexpected act of vengeance. This is really a tale of good versus evil you would think but there are so many grey areas It’s hard to truly describe it that way. As the film comes off as a fable more than anything else.
Story & Directed By: Paolo Sorrentino
Written By: Paolo Sorrentino & Umberto Contarello
Cinematography: Luca Bigazzi
Editor: Cristiano Travaglioli
Cast: Tom Servillo, Elena Sofia Ricci, Riccardo Scamarico, Kasia Smutniak, Euridice Axen, Alice Pagani, Fabrizio Bentivoglio
During a tumultuous period in the career of Silvio Berlusconi, as his marriage to second wife Veronica Lario fractures, LORO speculates on what may or may not have taken place behind closed doors, depicting a wide variety of characters from multiple levels of society and their attempts to either ingratiate or distance themselves from him.
Written, Edited & Directed By: Onur Turkel
Cinematography: Zoe White
Cast: Anne Heche, Sandra Oh, Alicia Silverstone, Amy Hill, Ariel Kavoussi, Damian Young, Tituss Burgess, Jay O. Sanders, Peter Jacobson, Jordan Carlos, Ivana Milicevic, Dylan Baker, Craig Bierko, Myra Lucretia Marcel
The rivalry between two former college friends comes to a head when they both attend the same glamorous event.
Cut To The Chase 