By Liz Lopez Rating: B- Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, City of Ghosts, A Private War), an Academy Award®-nominee and Emmy-winning filmmaker, changes course with this music biography doc about one of the biggest international music superstars, J Balvin (born Jose Alvaro Osorio Balvin) from Medellin, Colombia. The Boy from Medellin takes a look at a… Continue reading Film Review and Interview – The Boy from Medellin
Category: Reviews
WRATH OF MAN
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) Damn! Wrath of Man is definitely one hell of a title! It is what instantly made me interested in this film. And this movie does deliver on its promise in that it involves a protagonist whose only purpose is revenge. That said, director Guy Ritchie delivers… Continue reading WRATH OF MAN
WITHOUT REMORSE
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) It would seem like a Tom Clancy novel adaptation would come across as a Cold War relic, but the filmmakers behind this take on his novel have chosen a more modern spin on the action/thriller. Though this movie mostly works well enough, I feel that, had… Continue reading WITHOUT REMORSE
Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: FOR ROSA
By Liz Lopez Rating: B During the 1960s and 70s at the Los Angeles county hospital, many mothers of Mexican descent, some immigrants, went there to have their child delivered. While giving birth, they were issued English only documents to sign as they were registered and were told to sign oftentimes without their husbands or… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: FOR ROSA
THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES
By Laurie Coker Rating: A+ We need laughter, we need diversions, and we need relevance with a positive twist. First-time feature director Mike Rianda delivers all that and more, with an exciting voice cast in The Mitchells vs. The Machines. Animators have at least one up on traditional filmmakers during the insane pandemic and in… Continue reading THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES
REEFA
By Laurie Coker Rating: B A parent should not have to bury a child. In 2013, Israel ‘Reefa’ Hernandez’ parents put their son to rest. Reefa, starring Tyler Dean Flores, chronicles the story of the wrongful, called “accidental,” death of Hernandez at the hands of the Miami police. This relevant tale plays it safe in… Continue reading REEFA
MORTAL KOMBAT
By Laurie Coker Rating: C+ It is probably minorly important to understand the source material for films like the new Mortal Kombat. I am not a gamer and really, except for pinball in my youth, appear to have no skill or propensity for video games. Regardless, I went in with an open mind. Mortal Kombat,… Continue reading MORTAL KOMBAT
MORTAL KOMBAT
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) In the 1990s, the video game Mortal Kombat became one of the hottest fighting video games in the world. With its photo-realistic graphics for the characters and its intense, gory, over-the-top violence, teens and young adults spent loads of money either playing the arcade versions or… Continue reading MORTAL KOMBAT
THE COURIER
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Now available for viewing via Premium Video on Demand, The Courier tells the compelling true story of British businessman Greville Wynne, a mostly unassuming salesman recruited as a spy during the Cold War and how his work with Russian secret agent Oleg Penkovsky helped defuse the… Continue reading THE COURIER
SXSW 2021: JAKOB’S WIFE
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) From producer/director Travis Stevens, the filmmaker behind several genre festival favorites, comes a “biting” dark satire that critiques some of the more archaic conventions of marriage. Horror legend Barbara Crampton stars as the titular character who finds herself trapped in a stale and stagnant marriage where… Continue reading SXSW 2021: JAKOB’S WIFE