Author: Mark Saldana

Another year has passed, and that means another year of movies. So much has been said about the state of cinema during the past twelve months, but I must say that, all things considered, I am feeling very positive. Perhaps, I am too much of an optimist, or maybe, I am the type of person… Continue reading 2022: ANOTHER YEAR OF MOVIES

This year’s Austin Film Festival had such a great line-up of feature films made by some of the most talented directors who have worked in cinema for the past several decades. As I was selecting my movies, I would see names like Darren Aronofsky, Rian Johnson and would instantly want to select those screenings. I… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2022: WOMEN TALKNG

Whiplash, La La Land, and First Man are all movies that absolutely sold me on, and made me a fan of, filmmaker Damian Chazelle. So, I most definitely went into Babylon with great expectations. After sitting though the exhausting 189 minutes of Chazelle’s newest, I was reminded that almost every filmmaker has that one movie… Continue reading BABYLON

Musical artist biopics. Just saying those words aloud is certain to elicit eye rolls from some people, particularly film critics. To write, produce and direct any movie is no easy feat, but to do so about a real life musical artist makes the work so much more challenging. The problem simply is that the more… Continue reading I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY

Wow! It has been eighteen years since the character (as known from the Shrek universe) was first introduced in Shrek 2, and it has been eleven years since the rascally swashbuckling feline had his own movie hit theaters. I suppose the question is why has it taken so long for a sequel? Well, regardless of… Continue reading PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH

Loosely based on the true story of a real Civil War era slave who escaped and eventually served as a soldier in the war, Antoine Fuqua’s Emancipation is a movie that obviously makes some embelishment’s on this slave’s harrowing journey to the occasional points of disbelief. The movie sometimes plays out like a tall tale… Continue reading EMANCIPATION

Based on Michael Ausiello’s personal memoir, Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies, director Michael Showalter and screenwriters David Marsall Grant and Dan Savage present the true story of television journalist Ausiello and his romance with photographer Kit Cowan. Even though there have been other, similar stories and movies with similar journeys, the characters and their personality… Continue reading SPOILER ALERT

This week I screened two movies that promise to pay tribute to the magic of cinema by offering glimpses into its history. One particular film goes so hard that it goes over-the-top in moments and overplays the filmmaker’s love and passion for the medium. The other which is this movie, Empire of Light, actually falls… Continue reading EMPIRE OF LIGHT