By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Some people often question why so many celebrities have so many problems and issues when they are obviously successful. What do they have to be sad about? These same people usually forget that celebrities were not always famous and that, regardless of their fame, they are… Continue reading DEMI LOVATO: DANCING WITH THE DEVIL
Author: Mark Saldana
SXSW 2021: BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) Inspired by conspiracy thrillers such as Blow Up, The Conversation, and Blow Out, writers Tim Woodall, Phil Drinkwater and director Jacob Gentry offer a more modern take on this type of story, with mostly mixed results. Though the movie has a fascinating premise, I feel that… Continue reading SXSW 2021: BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION
SXSW 2021: WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: THE HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) This year, I began my virtual festival a day early with a couple of screeners. The first of which was a screener for a lengthy and comprehensive documentary detailing horror cinema’s and television’s offerings in the subgenre of folk horror. While this film might seem like… Continue reading SXSW 2021: WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: THE HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR
Giveaway: NOBODY
Sources: Universal Pictures, Fandango TVR, in association with Universal Pictures and Fandango, are giving away Fandango Gift Cards to go see the new action flick Nobody, starring Bob Odenkirk. Sometimes the man you don’t notice is the most dangerous of all. Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul, The Post, Nebraska) stars as Hutch Mansell, an underestimated and overlooked dad… Continue reading Giveaway: NOBODY
THE FATHER
By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) With an already impressive list of performances in his filmography, Anthony Hopkins delivers yet another amazing and tremendous performance in The Father. Based on the play Le Pere by Florian Zeller, the film adaptation more or less feels like a film adaptation of a theater production,… Continue reading THE FATHER
CHERRY
By Mark Saldana Rating: 2.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Anthony and Joe Russo, the filmmaking duo responsible for some wonderful entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, have returned to cinema with a dark and gritty true story about post-war PTSD, drug additction, and crime. Despite their decision to part ways with the MCU, the filmmaker… Continue reading CHERRY
STILL LIFE IN LODZ
By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) The Holocaust and World War II had a massively tragic impact on the Jewish people in Europe. For the Jewish people in German-occupied Poland, especially in the city of Lodz, their lives were totally uprooted, as they were moved into camps, forced into slave labor, or… Continue reading STILL LIFE IN LODZ
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) With an amazing voice cast, gorgeous computer animation, and a genuinely heartfelt story, Disney studios has yet another winner on their hands. That might sound a tad formulaic, but if a certain formula works and succeeds greatly, it is best to stick with it. Raya and… Continue reading RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON
CHAOS WALKING
By Mark Saldana Rating: 2 (Out of 4 Stars) With a slew of false starts, production and creative problems, reshoots, rewrites, and retooling, it is a wonder that this film is finally seeing the light of day. Based on the book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, Chaos Walking is a messy film whose production… Continue reading CHAOS WALKING
COMING 2 AMERICA
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) It has been almost thirty three years since the Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America opened in theaters and became a comedy classic. Since then the movie has nearly constantly earned a mass of devoted fans who often repeat some of the more quotable lines and… Continue reading COMING 2 AMERICA