Category: MAIN

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) It has been often said that CGI and motion-capture are necessary components of modern movie making. While there may be some truth to this argument, the over-reliance on these advances in technology can take from a film’s credibility and come across as a shamelessly cheap cheat.… Continue reading Review: THE CALL OF THE WILD

By Mark Saldana Rating: 2.5 (Out of 4 Stars) To coincide with Valentine’s Day weekend, Universal Pictures is hoping that their newest release will fill theaters for THE date night of the year. The Photograph does actually make for an interesting film. It features a compelling story that intertwines two romances–one of the past and… Continue reading Review: THE PHOTOGRAPH

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) In 2014, the Swedish comedic drama Force Majeure earned a well-deserved critical acclaim. The film delivers a a subtle and and moderately paced bulid up of tension and awkwardness, as audiences witness marriage in crisis that gets catalyzed by a supposed near-death experience. The film can… Continue reading Review: DOWNHILL

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) After receiving mixed critical and public reactions to some of their films, particularly Suicide Squad, Warner Bros’s DCEU has gone into clean-up/rebuilding mode. This new strategy hopes to capitalize on the strengths of their otherwise problematic previous entries and build on them without completely ignoring and… Continue reading Review: BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN)

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) The Grimm fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel, has inpired multiple adaptations in various media. Often comedic or juvenile, most film adaptations have failed to explore the dark undertones that the Brothers Grimm brought to their bewitching story. Writer/director Oz Perkins and co-writer Rob Hayes have made… Continue reading Review: GRETEL & HANSEL

By Mark Saldana We have reached both the end of 2019, as well as the end of another decade. I have now watched my final screeners and attended my last screening of the year. 2019 got off to a bit of a slow start with most of the top films saved for the end. The… Continue reading Mark’s Best of 2019

By Laurie Coker Rating: A+ Nothing beats a good murder mystery and Knives Out starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plumber, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas and a host of other awesome actors keeps the audience guessing like an old-style Agatha Christie novel.  Writer/director Rian Johnson plays every trick in… Continue reading Knives out

By Laurie Coker Rating: B From the trailers, the debut from the writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo, Brittany Runs and Marathon looks like a goofy, body-shaming film in line with those by Amy Schumer, but it is far more.  Colaizzo gives a little film with a big heart and Jillian Bell serves up a subtly touching… Continue reading Review: BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON

By Laurie Coker Rating: A+ My father raced cars – this was back in Model A cars and I wasn’t alive – but he taught me how to drive – fast. I love speed and I love the film Ford V. Ferrari, starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon.  Director James Mangold offers up the story… Continue reading Ford v Ferrari