By Mark Saldana Rating 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) For multiple decades, much has been said about the oft romanticized relationship between Johnny Cash and June Carter. James Mangold’s Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line, portrays the love affair as a fairy tale romance. Even I have to admit that I became a sentimental “sucker”… Continue reading SXSW 2020 Review: MY DARLING VIVIAN
Category: MAIN
SELAH AND THE SPADES
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Available on April 17, 2020 for streaming through Amazon is an intriguing high school drama that features an assortment of new, young acting talent and marks the feature film debut of gifted filmmaker Tayarisha Poe. Selah and the Spades doesn’t necessarily reinvent the high school drama,… Continue reading SELAH AND THE SPADES
ReelAbilities Film Festival 2020: BEDLAM
By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) The issue of mental healthcare has been a heated and controversial subject of discussion for the past couple of decades, with a rise of public shootings and other types of homeland terrorism in the United States. It even has become a rather contentious issue in the… Continue reading ReelAbilities Film Festival 2020: BEDLAM
WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) Now available for streaming through Amazon Prime is an amiable and heartwarming romantic comedy that should help pass your quarantine time quite gently. As what happens to a lot of indie films, What Love Looks Like deserves more attention than what it is getting. Writer/director Alex… Continue reading WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE
ReelAbilities Film Festival 2020: THE WITCH HUNTERS
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) From Serbian director Rasko Miljkovic, comes this lovable and poignant story of friendship between two troubled preteens. The two main characters of The Witch Hunters may have their own different struggles in life, but the bond they share helps both of them to find the courage… Continue reading ReelAbilities Film Festival 2020: THE WITCH HUNTERS
ReelAbilities Film Festival 2020: OUR TIME MACHINE
By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) From directors Yang Sun and S. Leo Chiang comes this beautiful and heartbreaking documentary about an artist bonding with his beloved father, an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Our Time Machine gives audiences a look behind the scenes of Chinese artist Maleon’s new passion project.… Continue reading ReelAbilities Film Festival 2020: OUR TIME MACHINE
ReelAbilities Film Festival 2020: CODE OF THE FREAKS
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) My festival coverage continues with an insightful documentary that examines Hollywood’s obsession with the disabled. Featuring candid interviews with intelligent disabled people, director Salome Chasnoff takes a good, hard look at disabled tropes in cinema, some of the various formulaic stories that are often told and… Continue reading ReelAbilities Film Festival 2020: CODE OF THE FREAKS
THE DOG DOC
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Now available via VOD and Digital platforms is an engrossing and compelling documentary about alternative veterinary medicine. Most people (myself included) have viewed healthcare for pets in rather short-sighted and limited ways. Such is not at all the case for veterinarian Dr. Martin Goldstein and his… Continue reading THE DOG DOC
NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) There are never, ever any easy answers to the questions teenage pregnancy poses, especially when such pregnancy occurs as the result of abuse. Writer/director Eliza Hittman presents this troubling dilemma to her audiences in this heartbreaking and powerful film. Hittman delivers a gut-wrenching and stressful movie… Continue reading NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
I STILL BELIEVE
By Liz Lopez Rating: B-/C+ The faith-based drama, “I Still Believe” is directed by the Erwin Brothers, Andrew and Jon, the filmmaking team behind their successful “I Can Only Imagine” (2018). “I Still Believe” is based on the real events in Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Jeremy Camp’s life. He was inspired to write a Christian/Gospel song… Continue reading I STILL BELIEVE