Author: Mark Saldana

Writer/director Celine Song makes her feature film debut with an outstanding film that makes its audience reflect upon the various paths we have taken in life and those we didn’t. The movie focuses on the relationship between two former childhood friends who had the potential for romantic involvement, but life had other plans for them.… Continue reading PAST LIVES: A Powerful and Moving Cinematic Experience

After the mixed-to-negative reactions to Michael Bay’s Transformers movie series and the more positive responses to Bumblebee, the robots in disguise are back and have their name in the title once again. People who despise Michael Bay and his take on battling robots can sigh relief because he is only a producer on this newest… Continue reading TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS

In 2018, movie audiences experienced a fantastic movie, Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse, which explores the possibilities of a multiverse existing within the world of Marvel Comics. Now, I am sure everyone going into this sequel has the expectations that the filmmakers cannot, in any way, top what they have accomplished previously. How can they? The… Continue reading SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE Outdoes Its First Installment

Based on the short story by Stephen King, the movie adaptation of The Boogeyman delivers when it comes to supernatural horror. While it attempts to delve deeper into real human emotions of loss and mourning, it doesn’t succeed. I have never actually read the source material of the movie. Still, director Rob Savage and his… Continue reading THE BOOGEYMAN Delivers Genuine Frights

In every type of relationship, most people have encountered the experience where sharing their opinion could hurt someone they hold dear. That is precisely the premise of this humorous and delightful film, where a writer values her husband’s opinion of her work but is floored when she accidentally discovers the truth. Featuring exceptional performances by… Continue reading YOU HURT MY FEELINGS Gives a Charming and Comedic Glimpse Into Relationship Drama

Two recent films attempt to give audiences a “realistic” glimpse into the lives and work of American soldiers in Afghanistan and their relationships with their Islamic-bred translators. Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant is one of them, and Ric Roman Waugh’s Kandahar is the other. While both films have riveting and harrowing moments, neither ultimately comes across… Continue reading KANDAHAR Offers A Strange Mix of Action, Both Great and Undecipherable

The animated Disney version of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale is one of those movies that has eluded me, or rather, I have never gotten around to watching it. Before going into this “live-action” remake, I finally made the time to see it. While I enjoyed it for the most part, it is a… Continue reading THE LITTLE MERMAID Is Visually Fascinating, But Still Bewildering

Very loosely based on his life, About My Father promises a personal glimpse into comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, an Italian-American comedian with charisma and some natural real-world experiences that make his stand-up comedy very relatable. However, unlike his stand-up act, the movie often plays out like a frustrating installment of the Meet the Parents/Meet the Fockers… Continue reading ABOUT MY FATHER Promises A Personal Story, But Fails In Its Delivery