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By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Fantastic Fest alum S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk) returns to the festival with his second feature film, a hardcore, badass and brutal prison movie that features a career-changing performance by Vince Vaughn.  Vaughn stars as Bradley Thomas, a retired boxer struggling to make ends meet for… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2017 Review: BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99

By Laurie Coker Rating: A The battle rages on – gender battles that is. While new and unique elements have come to the light in the battle of the sexes this century, the well-known, at least to my generation, tennis match between the arrogant, bizarre, self-professed chauvinist Bobby Riggs and one of the top female… Continue reading Review: BATTLE OF THE SEXES

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) Writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos’s follow up to to the critically acclaimed The Lobster is an equally brilliant film that mixes dark cringe comedy into a psychological horror story that is guaranteed to stay with its audiences.  Lanthimos has a distinctive style that is obviously well-schooled in Stanley… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2017 Review: THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) During her career as a tennis player, Billie Jean King had to fight hard and play well to win respect in a male-dominated sport run by men who often saw women’s tennis as novel entertainment.  King’s battles against male chauvinism would only be one of the… Continue reading Review: BATTLE OF THE SEXES

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) True crime stories have become a dime a dozen in Hollywood.  As long as real people keep making bad decisions and exercising poor judgment for cash prizes, there will always be plenty of material for filmmakers to utilize.  It is up to filmmakers, though, to not… Continue reading Review: AMERICAN MADE

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) Under the pen name Charles Moulton, Dr. William Moulton Marston is best known as the creator of comic book character Wonder Woman and also has received notoriety for inventing the lie detector machine.  Even though Marston did encounter controversy because of his inclusion of bondage and… Continue reading Fantastic Fest Review/Interview: PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) With adaptations of The Dark Tower and IT opening in theaters this year and with television getting The Mist, Castle Rock, and Mr. Mercedes, it makes perfect sense that Netflix follows suit.  This year Netflix will have two more movie adaptations of King stories,  One of which… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2017 Review/Interview: 1922

By Renee’ Collins Rating: 4.5 (Out of 5 Reels) When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, the Kingsman’s journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the US. These two elite secret organizations must band together to defeat a common enemy (IMDB). I was definitely looking forward… Continue reading Review: KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE

By Renee’ Collins Rating: 3.5 (Out of 5 Reels) Six young ninjas Lloyd (Dave Franco), Jay (Kumail Nanjiani), Kai (Michael Pena), Cole (Fred Armisen), Zane (Zach Woods) and Nya (Abbi Jacobson) are tasked with defending their island home, called Ninjago (IMDB). This is the third installment in the LEGO movie franchise and another one is… Continue reading Review: THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE