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: Nahnatchka Khan
Written By: Ali Wong, Randall Park & Michael Golamco
Cinematography: Tim Suhrstedt
Editor: Lee Haxall
Cast: Ali Wong, Randall Park, Keanu Reeves, Michelle Buteau, Susan Park, Vivian Bang, Charlene Yi, Daniel Dae Kim, Casey Wilson, Karan Soni, James Saito, Lyrics Born
A pair of childhood friends end up falling for each other when they grow up.
Directed By: Gus Van Sant
Written By: Jason Lew
Cinematography By: Harris Savides
Editor: Elliot Graham
Cast: Henry Hopper, Mia Wasikowska, Ryo Case, Jane Adams, Schuyler Fisk
Annabel is a terminally ill cancer patient and is quietly awaiting her death spending her time studying nature. Enoch is struggling to recover from the death of his parents and spends his time attending funerals with his only friend – a ghost named Hiroshi who was a WWII Japanese kamikaze pilot. Just as Annabel’s sister is trying to cope with Annabel’s impending death, Annabel and Enoch fall in love. They both finally have a reason to live, but is it too late to have a life together?
Continue reading “RESTLESS (2011)”
Written & Directed By: Woody Allen
Cinematography By: Vittorio Storaro
Editor: Alisa Lepselter
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carrell, Blake Lively, Corey Stoll, Parker Posey, Anna Camp, Richard Portnow, Paul Schneider, Jeannie Berlin, Sheryl Lee, Saul Stein, Tony Sirico, Don Stark, Elissa Piszel
In 1930’s Hollywood, the powerful agent, Phil Stern, is attending a party and receives a phone call from his sister living in New York. She asks for a job to her son and Phil’s nephew, Bobby, who decided to move to Hollywood. Three weeks later Phil schedules a meeting with Bobby and decides to help him. He asks his secretary Veronica “Vonnie” to hang around with Bobby, showing him the touristic places. Bobby immediately falls in love with Vonnie, but she tells that she has a boyfriend, a journalist that travels most of the time. However, Vonnie’s boyfriend is indeed a married man that is also in love with her and soon she has to make a choice between her two loves.
Directed By: Luca Guadagnino
Written By: James Ivory
Based On The Book Written By: Andre Aciman
Cinematography By: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
Editor: Walter Fasano
Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Esther Garrel, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar
In Northern Italy in 1983, seventeen year-old Elio begins a relationship with visiting Oliver, his father’s research assistant, with whom he bonds over his emerging sexuality, their Jewish heritage, and the beguiling Italian landscape. I am not the biggest fan of director Luca Guadagnino as it is obvious he has talent but I have never exactly been a fan of his previous films. Visually lucious but the stories and plots left a lot to be desired. Here he seems to have found the right material because here he and his style definitely come through loud and clear.
Written & Directed By: Jennifer Kaytin Johnson
Cinematography: Autumn Eakin
Editor: Mollie Goldstein & Jeffrey Wolf
Cast: Gina Rodriguez, Brittany Snow, DeWanda Wise, Lakeith Stansfield, Michelle Buteau, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Rupaul, Rosario Dawson, Jaboukie Young-White, Questlove, Jesse Reyez
After a devastating break up on the eve of her cross-country move, Jenny enjoys one last NYC adventure with her two best pals. Someone Great is a romantic comedy about love, loss, growth and the everlasting bond of female friendship.
Directed By: Chris Nelson
Written By: Alan Yang
Cinematography: David Robert James
Editor: Akkiko Iwakawa-Grieve & Tia Nolan
Cast: Nicholas Braun, Hunter Cope, Zach Cregger, Dakota Johnson, Ray Santiago, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Larry Wilmore, Gary Cole, Sarah Hyland, Dustin Ybarra, Rob Huebel, Aziz Ansari, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Brian Geraghaty
High school seniors Michael and Matty make a pact to help each other lose their virginity before their high school prom. Their plan hits a snag when Matty tells his best friend that he’s gay. Michael’s supportive but awkward attempts to help Matty fit in put a strain on their decade-long friendship. Their friendship is further tested when Michael falls for Matty’s former girlfriend and Matty falls for a guy whom Michael wouldn’t approve of. Prom looms and Michael and Matty have to repair their friendship and then figure out their love lives.
Directed By: James Gray
Written By: James Gray & Ric Minello
Cinematography: Joaquin Baca-Asay
Editor: John Axelrad
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Patrow, Vinessa Shaw, Isabella Rosselini, Elias Koates
Leonard Kraditor is a burned-out case, living with his immigrant parents after his fiancée left him, helping out at their Brooklyn dry cleaners, taking photographs, at loose ends, suicidal. In quick succession, he meets two women: Sandra, the daughter of his parents’ business associates, frank, direct, sensual, Jewish like Leonard; and, his neighbor Michelle, mercurial, rootless, fun, blond, unattainable. Michelle is in love with a married man and cries on Leonard’s shoulder; Sandra wants to save him. Is Leonard willing to risk losing Sandra’s fidelity for the moments Michelle’s moods swing toward him? Can this end well?
Edited & Directed By: Amara Cash
Written By: Alex Bloom & Amara Cash
Story By: Alex Bloom
Cinematography: Nico Aguilar
Cast: Madison Lawlor, Montana Manning, Andrew Pifco, Kamala Jones, Jodi Carol Harrison, Monte Markham, Seth Cassell
Maya, a 19-year-old queer pixie, spends her days working on her art and cyberstalkng her insta-crush, the sexually fluid fashion designer, Jasmine. One night Maya boldly meets Jasmine IRL, there’s an insta-spark and the two begin an inspiring romantic relationship that gives Maya her first taste of true love and Jasmine the inspiration she needs to jump start her career. It’s all gumdrops and fairytales until Maya discovers Jasmine’s in a co-dependent relationship with a neurotic sugar daddy. What started as a dream come true turns into a beautiful nightmare.
Written & Directed By: Angelina Jolie Pitt
Cinematography By: Christian Berger
Editor: Martin Pensa & Patricia Rommel
Cast: Angelina Jolie Pitt, Brad Pitt, Melaine Laurent, Melvil Poupaud, Niels Arestrup, Richard Bohringer
Set in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa, a former dancer, and her husband Roland, an American writer, travel the country together. They seem to be growing apart, but when they linger in one quiet, seaside town they begin to draw close to some of its more vibrant inhabitants, such as a local bar/café-keeper and a hotel owner.
Directed By: Jesse Peretz
Written By: Jim Tayler, Tamara Jenkins & Evgenia Peretz
Based On The Novel By: Nick Hornby
Cinematography By: Remi Adefarisan
Editor: Sabine Hoffman & Robert Nassau
Music By: Nathan Larson
Cast: Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, Chris O’Dowd, Ayoola Smart
Annie is stuck in a long-term relationship with Duncan – an obsessive fan of obscure rocker Tucker Crowe. When the acoustic demo of Tucker’s hit record from 25 years ago surfaces, its release leads to a life-changing encounter with the elusive rocker himself. Based on the novel by Nick Hornby, JULIET, NAKED is a comic account of life’s second chances.
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