Category: MAIN

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Brian Belovitch has lived a rather fascinating life. Through his childhood, he endured physical and verbal abuse by his father, in addition to feeling uncomfortable in his own skin, and feeling completely unloved and out of place. Brian would later spend his young, adult years in… Continue reading SXSW 2020 Review: I’M GONNA MAKE YOU LOVE ME

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) From Guatemala comes this tremendously powerful film from writer/director Camila Urrutia who makes her feature film debut here. Urrutia tells the story of two girlfriends enjoying life and love in an impoverished country with few opportunities for prosperity. On one life-changing night, Claudia (Andrea Henry) and… Continue reading SXSW 2020 Review: GUNPOWDER HEART

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

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

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

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

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