By Liz Lopez Rating: A+ Anne Rapp (“Tender Mercies” script supervisor, among others) directed and produced the documentary, “Horton Foote: The Road To Home,” and the world premiere was at this year’s Austin Film Festival. For anyone who is not familiar with Horton Foote, he is a Wharton, Texas born playwright and screenwriter, who also… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: HORTON FOOTE: THE ROAD TO HOME
Category: MAIN
Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: FUGITIVE DREAMS
By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) It has been a while since I have seen an indie art film that has blown me away like this one. I continued my virtual festival with a screener for Fugitive Dreams, a film that comes across as the love child of Andrei Tarkovsky and Jim… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: FUGITIVE DREAMS
Sitges Film Festival Review: THE OLD WAYS
By Liz Lopez Rating: B+ There have been several horror cinematic efforts to convey aspects of the Mexican culture when it comes to rituals for healing, often labeled as witchcraft by individuals who are not familiar with the culture and/or how some maladies are cured before modern medicine of the West was introduced. Some scripts… Continue reading Sitges Film Festival Review: THE OLD WAYS
ON THE ROCKS
By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks, like her Lost in Translation, is a slow but entertaining burn playing out as a satisfying analysis of relationships. Her stars Rashida Jones and Bill Murray offer realistic and witty portrayals as father and daughter maneuvering very different lives. Coppola, as she did with her… Continue reading ON THE ROCKS
THE EMPTY MAN
By Laurie Coker Rating: D+ Empty and idiotic about sums up the “horror/thriller” The Empty Man. Running an interminable two hours and seventeen minutes, writer/director David Prior’s vision never takes flight. Prior adapts his script from the popular graphic novel of the same name, but far too much goes unexplained and underplayed to garner attention… Continue reading THE EMPTY MAN
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Fourteen years later, actor/comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has returned as his most famous/infamous character, the often beloved, sometimes hated journalist from Kazakhstan named Borat. Call it serendipity or perfect timing, but Borat has returned to America at a crazy time. Going into this mockumentary, my obvious… Continue reading BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
TAKE OUT GIRL
By Laurie Coker Rating: C+ Take Out Girl is a little Indy film that almost could have been – great. Director Hisonni Johnson can’t quite pull off the tension necessary to capture the heart of the deeply disturbing story of desperation and deceit. Rich characters and a solid cast offer promise but the film falls… Continue reading TAKE OUT GIRL
Synchronic
By Laurie Coker Rating: C Filmmaking partners Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, best known for off-Hollywood-type films, team up in Synchronic, a sci-fi mystery starring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan. Playing on their knack for arthouse-style filmmaking, the directing duo delves into some dark places -physical and mental – creating what might have been a… Continue reading Synchronic
A Celebration of Fantastic Fest 2020: LAUGHTER
By Mark Saldana Rating 4 (Out of 4 Stars) This French Canadian entry is not what one might expect from Fantastic Fest, and I do sincerely mean that in the best possible way. Don’t get me completely wrong. I absolutely relish the popcorn horror flicks and entertaining, comedic thrillers and action movies, but this movie… Continue reading A Celebration of Fantastic Fest 2020: LAUGHTER
THE DEVIL HAS A NAME
By Liz Lopez Rating: B+ The Devil Has a Name” is a fictionalized drama of true events in California. News in recent years have shed light on the practice of oil companies dumping toxic wastewater into vital waterways and director and Oscar-nominated actor Edward James Olmos’ latest feature the Central Valley’s water contamination, based on… Continue reading THE DEVIL HAS A NAME