By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) At this year’s festival, I enjoyed two comedies about inter-cultural relationships and their impact on familial relations. The first is a truly delightful indie film titled Signature Move, while the other is the Festival Favorite Headliner The Big Sick. Both films deal with Pakistani-Americans from Muslim… Continue reading SXSW 2017 Review & Interview: THE BIG SICK
Category: Reviews
Review: IN SEARCH OF ISRAELI CUISINE
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Occasionally I have the privilege of reviewing independent films opening in only select markets, and most of the time these films have something truly special to offer. The latest film, a documentary titled In Search of Israeli Cuisine, examines the rich culinary culture that has risen… Continue reading Review: IN SEARCH OF ISRAELI CUISINE
Review: POWER RANGERS
By Mark Saldana Rating: 2.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Considering that I was twenty years-old when the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series first aired on television, it’s not all that surprising that I had little to no interest in that franchise as it continued through the nineties with two feature-length films and other spin-off series.… Continue reading Review: POWER RANGERS
Review: T2 TRAINSPOTTING
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) In 1996, the now iconic classic Trainspotting took the world by storm and kick started the careers of director Danny Boyle and actors Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremmer, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle and Kelly McDonald. The film had a huge impact on the world, not only… Continue reading Review: T2 TRAINSPOTTING
SXSW 2017 Review: SONG TO SONG
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Writer/director Terrence Malick has become one of the more divisive filmmakers of modern cinema. With recent films To the Wonder and Knight of Cups polarizing audiences and critics alike, it isn’t all that surprising that his latest film has had the same impact on the audience… Continue reading SXSW 2017 Review: SONG TO SONG
Review: LIFE
By Laurie Coker Rating: C- Life — a condition that includes the capacity for growth, reproduction, function and change — and the subject of the latest sci-fi thriller, Life, starring Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal. Director Daniel Espinosa creates a visually stunning environment and an interesting enough creature, but Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese’s story… Continue reading Review: LIFE
SXSW 2017: Mark’s Film Festival Recap
By Mark Saldana Source: SXSW After nine days of movies, the 2017 SXSW film festival has come to an end. For the most part, my festival went well. I was able to see twenty-one films and participate in five interviews with some of the films’s available talent. Since 1994, the SXSW film festival and conference… Continue reading SXSW 2017: Mark’s Film Festival Recap
Review: LAND OF MINE
By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) As World War II came to an end, some German prisoners of war were charged with the perilous task of defusing and removing land mines placed in various strategic locations. Land of Mine tells one particular story of a band of child POWs forced by the… Continue reading Review: LAND OF MINE
Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
By Renee’ Collins Rating: 4.5 (Out of 5 Reels) An adaptation of the Disney fairy tale about a monstrous-looking prince (Dan Stevens) and a young woman (Emma Watson) who fall in love (IMDB). Beauty and the Beast is one of this film critic’s favorite Disney fairy tales because Belle never sets out to marry the… Continue reading Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Review: KONG: SKULL ISLAND
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) This new reboot of King Kong is a strange, ambitious, but highly entertaining film that takes a slightly different approach to introducing the beloved beast. Not only is the movie a monster film, but it also offers commentary on the folly of machismo and the futility… Continue reading Review: KONG: SKULL ISLAND