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By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) While Nomadland is mainly a character study of one woman’s attempt to survive and endure past hardships, it is also a reflection of a group of people who have given up the traditional life that once failed them. Writer/director Chloe Zhao has taken Jessica Bruder’s non-fiction… Continue reading NOMADLAND

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) The black bear is that elephant in the room that is the soul of humanity. It is the ugly, animalistic beast that often destroys, maims, and wreaks havoc when it escapes us. The black bear often emerges from within the hearts and souls of artists as… Continue reading BLACK BEAR

By Liz Lopez Rating: B+ Valencian filmmaker Javier Polo wrote the screenplay together with Sixto Xavier García about a sound engineer who always wears black and loves to record all different types of sounds in the environment on his time off from work. Coincidently, he begins to feel as if he is surrounded by pink… Continue reading The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) In the 1980s, video game companies Bally/Midway and Williams competed fiercely for the big money generated by coin operated games. The two companies merged in 1988 when Williams took over Bally/Midway after mother company Bally decided to diversify into other ventures. This blend of brains, talent,… Continue reading INSERT COIN

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) From filmmaker Alan Ball (American Beauty, Towelhead, Six Feet Under) comes a moving and heartwarming film that is part coming-of-age and part coming to terms with the past. Ball offers some personal insight on the experience of being gay during the 1970s and what it is… Continue reading UNCLE FRANK

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Four years ago, I was, for the first time, introduced to artisty and idiosyncratic behavior of one Frank Zappa. This introduction was not in real life, of course, but through a documentary titled Eat That Question: Frank Zappa In His Own Words. Though this solid documentary… Continue reading ZAPPA

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) When one sees the Oscilloscope Pictures label before a movie, they should know that they’re in for a delightfully unsual treat. I cannot help, but sport a big grin whenever I see it and that’s how I felt at the beginning of this odd, but hilarious… Continue reading THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Opening in some theaters on November 20, 2020 and available for streaming on Prime Video on December 4, 2020, Sound of Metal presents actor Riz Ahmed as we’ve never seen him before. But enough with the cliches, this powerful and emotional film features one of the… Continue reading SOUND OF METAL

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Based on the short film of the same name by writer/director Michael Angelo Covino and co-writer Kyle Marvin, The Climb is an often uproarious, but also poignant portrait of two best friends during several stages of their adult lives. Loosely based on their real friendship, Covino… Continue reading THE CLIMB