Category: Banner

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

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

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

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

By Laurie Coker Rating: B- We need humor, especially now. I decent, belly laugh can raise spirits and is priceless to the soul. Over thirty years after the Coming to America had us rolling in the aisles, the cast is back, and then some in Coming 2 America. This newest film offers up culture-clash comedy… Continue reading COMING 2 AMERICA

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) For Billie Eilish, the title of this documentary/concert film is most definitely an appropriate title, given her meteroric rise to fame. As RJ Cutler’s film reveals, the still teenage Billie has been living in a very blur of fame, fortune, and critical acclaim. This experience is… Continue reading BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY

By Mark Saldana Under normal circumstances, in a non-pandemic world, I would have already written and posted this end-of-year review and would have already moved on and focused on the films this year has to offer. Most of the major film awards would’ve already taken place, but just like everything else in 2020, accolades and… Continue reading Mark’s Best of 2020

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) The American dream is a goal that not only natural-born citizens of the United States hope to accomplish, but is often, more importantly, a goal that immigrants hope to achieve. That is the main message of this beautiful and heartfelt movie about South Korean immigrants trying… Continue reading MINARI

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) Based on the true story of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and the infiltration of the Chicago chapter of the party by FBI informant William O’Neal, writer/director Shaka King presents an all-too-real and dual-faceted example of our US government’s oppression of Black America. Out-spoken and unfiltered,… Continue reading JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) Based on Mohamedou Ould Salahi’s memoir Guantanamo Diary, this film adaptation by director Kevin Macdonald does manage to deliver an emotional wallop, but gets undermined by a mostly dull, legal procedural approach to the material. The movie follows the legal defense and their investigation into the… Continue reading THE MAURITANIAN