Austin Film Festival 2018 Review: WIDOWS

Viola Davis stars in Twentieth Century Fox’s WIDOWS. Photo Credit: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox.

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Director Steve McQueen, a filmmaker known for his bleak and powerful films Shame and Twelve Years A Slave, has a new film in theaters that shares his dark and cynical style, but still manages to be entertaining and empowering.  With Widows, McQueen takes on a heist… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2018 Review: WIDOWS

Review: INSTANT FAMILY

By Mark Saldana  Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) Considering that this movie comes from the director of Daddy’s Home and Daddy’s Home 2, I went into this screening with low expectations.  I just could not find much entertainment value in these two previous films by Sean Anders.  Regarding his latest entry, Instant Family, however,… Continue reading Review: INSTANT FAMILY

Review: WIDOWS

By Renee’ C. Rating: 3 (Out of 5 Reels) Set in contemporary Chicago, amidst a time of turmoil, four women, Viola Davis as Veronica, Michelle Rodriguez as Linda, Elizabeth Debecki as Alice and Cynthia Erivo as Belle, with nothing in common accept a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities, take fate into… Continue reading Review: WIDOWS

Review: THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB

By Liz Lopez Rating: B- Ever since Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium” franchise was released in the United States, the triology of Swedish films based on crime novels became some of my top favorite films featuring the Lisbeth Salander character from his novels. All three films feature Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist and Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth… Continue reading Review: THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB

Fantastic Fest 2018 Review: OVERLORD

“Overlord” World War II Thriller Mixes Action, Mystery and Horror   By Liz Lopez Rating: B+ “Overlord” premiered at this year’s Fantastic Fest and judging by the audience in the theater I was in, the J.J. Abrams-produced feature film and directed by Julius Avery (“Son of a Gun”) sounded as if it was an overall… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2018 Review: OVERLORD

Austin Film Festival 2018 Review: BOY ERASED

BOY_02597_R5 Lucas Hedges stars as Jared and Nicole Kidman as his mother Nancy in Joel Edgerton’s BOY ERASED, a Focus Features release.

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Before Garrard Conley started his career as an acclaimed writer, he lived a rather simple life in Arkansas with his loving parents.  His parents have a traditional marriage with his mother working as a hairdresser and his father working as a car salesman while also serving… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2018 Review: BOY ERASED

Review: A PRIVATE WAR

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) From 1985 until 2002, American journalist Marie Colvin risked her life on a regular basis, working as a foreign affairs and war correspondent for British newspaper, The Sunday Times.  During her tenure at the paper, Colvin would interview Muammar Gaddafi and cover multiple conflicts in the… Continue reading Review: A PRIVATE WAR