Category: Reviews

By Liz Lopez Rating: B+ Ben Affleck has had an extensive list of acting credits since the 1980s, and the films he has directed and/or written have found success, including “Good Will Hunting” (an Oscar in 1998), “The Town” (an AFI for best movie in 2011), and then the film “Argo” went on to win… Continue reading An Overview: LIVE BY NIGHT

By Mark Saldana Rating: 1 (Out of 4 Stars) The tagline to this new horror film is, “Don’t Think It. Don’t Say It.”  I say, don’t bother whatsoever with this, not at all frightening and sometimes unintentionally hilarious, movie.  This latest supernatural, bogey man flick fails miserably with its only entertainment merits coming from the… Continue reading Review: THE BYE BYE MAN

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars)  During the historical 1960s space race between Russia and the United States, intelligent minds at NASA worked long hours to guarantee (to the best of their abilities) that U.S. astronauts could travel to space and back as safely as possible.  In this same decade, Black Americans… Continue reading Review: HIDDEN FIGURES

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) Director Martin Scorsese comes from a Catholic, Italian-American, New Yorker upbringing, and this influence on his life definitely resonates in all of his films.  From Mean Streets to The Last Temptation of Christ, and especially in his new film Silence, Scorsese has tackled the themes of… Continue reading Review: SILENCE

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) Some of the better films this year have dealt with the human challenge of grief.  Manchester By the Sea, Arrival, and Jackie have adult characters coping with grief in their lives, but A Monster Calls is different in that its protagonist is young boy who must… Continue reading Review: A MONSTER CALLS

 By Mark Saldana 2016 may have been the craziest, strangest and one of the most tragic years in news, but in cinema, 2016 has to be one of the all time best in terms of quality, progression and relevance. Race relations may have suffered setbacks. Tolerance may be quite low with hate on the rise;… Continue reading BEST FILMS OF 2016 (A Work Still In Progress)

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Based on the nonfiction book, A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley and Larry Buttrose, Lion tells the true story of Saroo, a native of India who, as a child, gets separated from his poor, but loving family.  Saroo (Sunny Pawar), while looking for his older brother,… Continue reading Review: LION