Category: Reviews

Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: THE GET TOGETHER

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) A sort of spiritual relative to Can’t Hardly Wait, The Get Together focuses on a group of twenty-somethings at a house party facing scary and uncertain futures as they attempt to fully embrace their lives as true adults. Shot in and around the Austin, Texas area,… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: THE GET TOGETHER

Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: NINE DAYS

By Mark Saldana Rating 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) My festival officially began with this “Marquee” opener. I have seen several movies that envision or imagine the “afterlife.’ Never before had I ever seen a film that presents the “before-life.” Written and directed by Edson Oda, Nine Days gives its audience an visionary and highly… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: NINE DAYS

Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: HORTON FOOTE: THE ROAD TO HOME

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

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