SHITHOUSE (2020)

 

Written & Directed by: Cooper Riaff Cinematography: Rachel Klein  Editor: Autumn Dea & Cooper Raif

Cast: Cooper Riaff, Dylan Gelula, Amy Landecker, Logan Miller, Juan Wolf, Olivia Welch, Joy Sunday, Abby Quinn

Among thousands of kids trying their best to make college work, Alex feels alone and depressed. Home is 1500 miles away and he's struggling to find a reason not to go back. Maggie, Alex's sophomore RA, has been crushing college since day one. Today though, Maggie is dealt an unexpected loss. After a party at Shithouse, Maggie wants some company and finds it in Alex. Two young people raised in very different households, Alex and Maggie challenge each other and grow up together.

THE ARGUMENT (2020)

 

Directed by: Robert Schwartzman Written By: Zac Stanford  Cinematography: Michael Rizzi  Editor: Max Goldblatt 

Cast: Dan Folger, Emma Bell, Tyler James Williams, Maggie Q, Cleopatra Coleman, Danny Pudi, Karan Bear, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Mark Ryder, Marielle Scott, Charlotte McKinney 

A couple gets into an argument at their cocktail party that escalates until it brings an abrupt end to the festivities. They and their guests decide to re-create the entire night, again and again, to determine who was right.

BANANA SPLIT (2020)

Directed By: Benjamin Kasulke Written By: Hannah Marks & Joey Power  Cinematography: Darin Moran  Editor: Brendan Walsh 

Cast: Hannah Marks, Liana Liberato, Dylan Sprouse, Luke Spencer Roberts, Jessica Hecht, Jacob Batalon, Steve Little

Over the course of a summer, two teenage girls develop the perfect kindred spirit friendship, with one big problem: one of them is dating the other's ex.

Though the film seems to start out as a romance. It quickly becomes a comedy that is more about the power and intimacy of friendships. How they have their own kind of romance about them.

The film seems like it is headed into a screwball comedy where the main character tries to get her ex-boyfriend back by befriending his new girlfriend or most be a film of unrequited love but it does turn into a romance that shows the growth of a friendship rather than some romantic triangle. 

One that grows from the bond of both loving the same guy and also just getting along and getting to know one another.

The inclusion of his best friend in this secret and giving him his own place in the story is welcoming. Instead of usually being the third wheel or a driving force at first and then an afterthought.

This is another movie like SLASH where actress Hannah marks stars and you can’t help but fall for her character. She’s funny, enchanting, self-deprecating, intelligent, and beautiful. It also helps that she is the co-writer of the film. 

Being that they are high school seniors or is understandable why they might not exactly be fully formed characters and the intensity the characters have over something. That feels a bit trivial. The film also adds the deadline of marks character leaving for college in the background gives the film a countdown timetable.

The film just has plenty of energy and charm. That leaves it relatable and doesn’t talk down to it’s the audience. It has the spirit of a true teen film dramatic yet usually funny.

The only parents or adults the film shows are mark’s Character's family with whom she has a wisecracking rapport.

Sex isn’t necessarily treated as precious or fragile in this movie more matter of fact. Though not overabundant. 

The characters here freely make mistakes and are wrong at least half the time. So it’s refreshing to have characters not always doing the right thing or even wanting to. 

There is no real villain but also no clear hero. It’s more a slice of life. As it is subtle and doesn’t show off and has a lot of heart. Not to mention an emo/pop soundtrack that is sugary sweet yet emotional and quite catchy.

The film is open-ended enough for anything to happen to and for the characters. 

Grade: B

PROJECT POWER (2020)

 Directed By: Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman

Written By: Mattson Tomlin

Cinematographer: Michael Simmonds 

Editor: Jeff McEvoy 

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Dominique Fishback, Rodrigo Santoro, Courtney B. Vance, Colson Baker, Amy Landecker, Tait Fletcher, Andrene Ward-Hammond, Kyanna Simpson 

THE OLD GUARD (2020)

Directed By:  Gina Prince-Bythewood

Written By: Greg Rucka (Based on the graphic novel series created by him)

Cinematographer: Barry Ackroyd & Tami Reiker

Editor: Terilyn A. Shropshire

Cast: Charlize Theron, Kiki Layne, Chiwetel Ejofer, Matthias Schoenaerts, Harry Melling, Marwan Kenzari, Lucia Marinelli, Ana Maria Marinea, Veronica NGO, Natcha Karan, Shala Nyx 

Led by a warrior named Andy, a covert group of tight-knit mercenaries with a mysterious inability to die have fought to protect the mortal world for centuries. But when the team is recruited to take on an emergency mission and their extraordinary abilities are suddenly exposed, it's up to Andy and Nile, the newest soldier to join their ranks, to help the group eliminate the threat of those who seek to replicate and monetize their power by any means necessary.

BATMAN FOREVER (1995)

Directed By: Joel Schumacher 

Based On Characters Created By: Bob Kane 

Story By: Lee Batchler & Janet Scott Batchler 

Written By: Lee Batchler, Janet Scott Batchler & Akiva Goldsman 

Cinematographer: Stephen Goldblatt

Editor: Mark Steven & Dennis Virkler 

Cast: Val Kilmer, Jim Carrey, Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman, Chris O’Donnell, Drew Barrymore, Debi Mazar, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Rene Auberjonois, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Michael Patrick Chan, George Wallace, Joe Grifasi, Kimberly Scott, Bob Zmuda, Jessica Tuck

Batman must battle former district attorney Harvey Dent, who is now Two-Face and Edward Nygma, The Riddler with help from an amorous psychologist and a young circus acrobat who becomes his sidekick, Robin.

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY: THE REN AND STIMPY STORY (2020)

 Directed by: Kimo Eastwood & Ron Cicero Cinematography: Kimo Eastwood Editor: Ron Cicero, Kimo Eastwood, Sean Jarrett, Kevin Klquber & Christina Burchard 

Appearances by: John Kricfalusi, Jack Black, Billy West, Billy Gibbons, Jim Ballantine, David Silverman, Robyn Byrd, Bobby Lee, Ed Ball, Bob Camp 

A documentary that explores the rise and fall of The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991) and its controversial creator, John Kricfalusi.

A HIDDEN LIFE (2019)

 

Written & Directed by: Terrence Malick Cinematography: Joerg Widmer Editor: Rehman Nizarali, Joe Gleason & Sebastian Jorsi 

Cast: August Diehl, Maria Simon, Karin Neuhauser, Tobias Moretti, Ulrich Matthias, Matthias Schoenaerts, Bruno Ganz, Michael Nyqvist 

Based on real events, A Hidden Life is the story of an unsung hero, Bl. Franz Jägerstätter, who refused to fight for the Nazis in World War II. When the Austrian peasant farmer is faced with the threat of execution for treason, it is his unwavering faith and his love for his wife, Fani, and children that keeps his spirit alive.

THE BAND'S VISIT (2007)

 

Written & Directed by: Eran Kolirin  Cinematography: Shai Goldman  Editor: Arik Leibovitch

Cast: Sasson Gabai, Ronit Elkabatz, Saleh Bakri, Khalifa Najour, Rubi Moskovitz, Uri Gavriel, Hilla Sarjon 

A band comprised of members of the Egyptian police force head to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves lost in the wrong town.

SHIRLEY (2020)

Directed By: Josephine Decker  Written By: Sarah Gubbins & Susan Scarf Merrell Cinematography: Sturla Brandth Grovlen  Editor: David Berker

Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Logan Lerman, Michael Stahlbarg, Odessa Young, Robert Wuhl, Victoria Pedretti 

As renowned for her morose nature as she is for her horror fiction, writer Shirley Jackson is crafting yet another masterpiece when the arrival of newlyweds Fred and Rose disrupt her creative process and marriage to literary critic - and philandering professor - Stanley Hyman. As Stanley spars to maintain academic dominance over his would-be protégé Fred, Rose attempts to dampen her own ambitions and adjust to married life while living under the roof of their fiery intellectual hosts with quicksilver loyalties and myriad neuroses. When the motives of Shirley's literary muse prove elusive, Rose's curiosity and trusting nature make her tender prey for a brilliant author whose only allegiance is to her work.

SEBERG (2019)

Directed By: Benedict Andrews  Written By: Anna Whitehouse & Joe Shrapnel  Cinematography: Rachel Morrison  Editor: Pamela Martin 

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Vince Vaughn, Jack O’Connell, Anthony Mackie, Zazie Beetz, Yvan Attal, Margaret Quaker, Colm Meaney, Stephen Root

Inspired by real events in the life of French New Wave icon Jean Seberg. In the late 1960s, Hoover's FBI targeted her because of her political and romantic involvement with civil rights activist Hakim Jamal.

HOFFA (1992)

Directed By: Danny DeVito Written By: David Mamet  Cinematography: Stephen H. Burum  Editor: Lynzee Klingman & Ronald Roose  Music by: David Newman

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Frank Whaley, Armand Assante, J.T. Walsh, John C. Reilly, Kevin Anderson, Robert Prosky, Cliff Gorman, Paul Guilfoyle, Karen Young, John P. Ryan

portrait of Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa, as seen through the eyes of his friend Bobby Ciaro. This film follows Hoffa's struggle to shape America's most influential labor union through his countless battles with the RTA. As he fights for workers' rights, Hoffa locks horns with industry management, organized crime and Attorney General Robert Kennedy. In 1975, four years after serving his prison term, Hoffa disappears, in one of America's most fascinating unsolved crime mysteries.

MOVIES WATCHED IN NOVEMBER (2020)

JAY & SILENT BOB REBOOT (2020)

 

Written, Edited  & Directed By: Kevin Smith Cinematography: Yaron Levy 

Cast: Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Fred Armisen, Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Chris Jericho, Shannon Elizabeth, Rosario Dawson, Harley Quinn Smith, Joey Lauren Adams, Diedrich Bader, Craig Robinson, Justin Long, Donell Rawlings, Aparna Brielle, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Johnny Bananas, Joe Manganiallo, Karruche Tran, Melissa Benoit, Jason Biggs, Adam Brody, Val Kilmer, Kate Micucci, James Van Der Beek, Redman, Joe Reitman, Alice Wan, Brian O’Halloran, Tommy Chong, Keith Coogan, Molly Shannon, Dan Folger, Ralph Garman, Chris Hemsworth, Frankie Shaw, Treshelle Edmond 

Jay and Silent Bob inadvertently sign away their names and rights to the new Bluntman and Chronic movie. Now they head to Hollywood to stop the film from being made. Along the way Jay discovers that he is a father.

The film is a road-trip comedy. Where the story is there to explain and get the audience to the journey. Yet the reasons are more ridiculous.

It’s also a movie where half the fun of it is sporting the cameos and so-called guest stars 

OUR IDIOT BROTHER (2011)

 Directed By: Jesse Peretz Story By: Jesse Peretz, Evgenia Peretz & David Schisgall Written By: Evgenia Peretz & David Schisgall Cinematography: Yaron Orbach Editor: Jacob Craycroft & Andrew Mondshein

Cast: Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, Adam Scott, Elizabeth Banks, Rashida Jones, Emily Mortimer, Steve Coogan, Kathryn Hahn, T.J. Miller, Shirley Knight, Sterling K. Brown, Hugh Dancy, Polly Draper 

A comedy centered on an idealist who barges into the lives of his three sisters.

AMERICAN WEDDING (2003)

Directed By: Jesse Dylan 

Written By: Adam Herz 

Cinematography: Lloyd Ahern II

Editor: Stuart Pappe

Cast: Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Eugene Levy, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Eddie Kaye Thomas, January Jones, Molly Cheek, Fred Willard, Deborah Rush, Lawrence Pressman, Eric Allen Kramer, Nikki Ziering, John Cho, Jennifer Coolidge 

Jim Levenstein has finally found the courage to ask his girlfriend, Michelle Flaherty to marry him. She agrees to get married, but the problems don't stop there for Jim. Now along with Paul Finch and Kevin Myers, Jim must plan the wedding. Unfortunately, Steve Stifler is in town and won't let the wedding go past without having some fun himself, which includes setting up a secret bachelor party.

DROP DEAD GORGEOUS (1999)

Directed By: Michael Patrick Jann

Written By: Lona Williams 

Cinematography: Michael Spiller 

Editor: David Codrob & Janice Hampton 

Cast: Kirstie Alley, Kirsten Dunst, Denise Richards, Brittany Murphy, Amy Adams, Will Sasso, Mindy Sterling, Ellen Barkin, Allison Janney, Sam Mcmurray, Alexandra Holden, Matt Malloy, Mo Gaffney, Adam West, Nora Dunn, Jacy King, Amanda Detmer, Michael McShane, Jon T. Olson, Laurie Sinclair 

A small-town beauty pageant turns deadly as it becomes clear that someone will go to any lengths to win.

THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND (2020)

 

Directed By: Judd Apatow  Written By: Judd Apatow, Pete Davidson & Dave Sirus Cinematography: Robert Elswit  Editor: Jay Cassidy, William Kerr & Brian Olds 

Cast: Pete Davidson, Bill Burr, Marisa Tomei, Steve Buscemi, Bel Powley, Moises Arias, Carly Aquilino, Maude Apatow, Kevin Corrigan, Pamela Adlon, Rich Vos, Keith Robinson, Jimmy Tatro, Dominick Lombardozzi, Colson Baker, Ricky Velez, Lou Wilson

Scott has been a case of arrested development since his firefighter dad died. He spends his days smoking weed and dreaming of being a tattoo artist until events force him to grapple with his grief and take his first steps forward in life.

BUFFALOED (2020)

Directed By: Tanya Wexler Written By: Brian Sacca  Cinematography: Guy Godfree 

Editor: Casey Brooks 

Cast: Zoey Deutch, Judy Greer, Jai Courtney, Jermaine Fowler, Noah Reid, Lusia Strus, Lorrie Odom, Brian Sacca, Raymond Ablack

Set in the underworld of debt-collecting and follows the homegrown hustler Peg Dahl, who will do anything to escape Buffalo, NY.

YES, GOD, YES (2020)

Written & Directed By: Karen Maine  Cinematography: Todd Antonio Somodevilla  Editor: Jennifer Lee 

Cast: Natalia Dyer, Timothy Simons, Donna Lynne Champlin, Wolfgang Novogratz, Alisha Boe, Francesca Reale, Susan Blackwell, Parker Wierling

After an innocent AOL chat turns racy, a Catholic teenager in the early 00s discovers masturbating and struggles to suppress her new urges in the face of eternal damnation.

HOLIDAY (2018)

 

Directed by: Isabella Eklof  Written by: Johanne Algren & Isabella Eklof  Cinematography: Nadim Carlsen Editor: Olivia Neergaard-Holm

Cast: Victoria Carmen Sonne, Lai Yde, Thjis Romer, Yuval Segal, Adam lld Rohweder, Morten Hemmingsen

Young and beautiful Sascha discovers her dream life of luxury, recklessness and fun comes at a price when she is welcomed into the "family" of her drug lord boyfriend at his holiday villa in the port city of Bodrum on the Turkish Riveria. Physical and psychological violence are a way of life for this gangster family, but when the velvet veneer is stripped raw to the bone, Sascha's eye drifts towards the "normal" life she is leaving behind--is it possible she could still be accepted by polite society?

LADY MACBETH (2016)

Directed by: William Oldroyd Written By: Alice Birch Based on the book “ LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK” by Nikolai Leskov  Cinematography: Ari Wegner Editor: Nick Emerson

Cast: Florence Pugh, Cosmo Jarvis, Paul Hilton, Naomi Ackie, Christopher Fairbank, Golda Roseuval, Anton Palmer, Bill Fellows 

Rural England, 1865. Katherine is stifled by her loveless marriage to a bitter man twice her age, whose family are cold and unforgiving. When she embarks on a passionate affair with a young worker on her husband's estate, a force is unleashed inside her, so powerful that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

THE MAGDALENE SISTERS (2002)

 

Written & Directed by: Peter Mullan  Cinematography: Nigel Willoghby  Editor: Colin Monie

Cast: Anne-Marie Duff, Nora-Jane Noone, Dorothy Duffy, Eileen Walsh, Mary Murray, Brita Smith, Frances Healy, Geraldine Ewan, Phyllis Macmahon, Eithne Mcguniess

Three young Irish women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum.

DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS (2010)

Directed By: Jay Roach

Written by: David Guion & Michael Handelman

Based on the original screenplay “Le Diner De Cons” by: Francis Veber 

Cinematography: Jim Debault 

Editor: Alan Baumgarten & Jon Poll

Cast: Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Zach Galifinakis, Jemaine Clement, Bruce Greenwood, Larry Wilmore, Andrea Savage, Lucy Punch, David Williams, Stephane Szostak, Ron Livingston, Kristen Schawlow, Nick Kroll, Randall Park, Chris O’Dowd, Jeff Dunham, Octavia Spencer, Rick Overton 

When he finds out that his work superiors host a dinner celebrating the idiocy of their guests, a rising executive questions it when he's invited, just as he befriends a man who would be the perfect guest.

CELEBRITY (1998)

 

Written & Directed by: Woody Allen  Cinematography: Sven Nykvist Editor: Susan E. Morse 

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Winona Ryder, Famke Janssen, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gretchen Mol, Greg Mottola, Charlize Theron, Judy Davis, Douglas McGrath, Joe Mantegna, Andre Gregory, Sam Rockwell, Adrian Grenier, Michael Lerner, Melanie Griffith, J.K. Simmons, Famke Janssen, Becky Ann Baker, Issac Mizrahi, Anthony Mason, Kate Burton, Debra Messing, David Marguiles, Tony Sirico, Bebe Neuwirth, Patti D’Arbanville, Ingrid Rogers, Jeffrey Wright, Hank Azaria, Karen Duffy, Aida Turturro, Allison Janney, Donna Hanover, Celia Weston, Wood Harris, Donald Trump 

Lee Simon, unsuccessful journalist and wanna-be novelist, tries to get his foot in the door with celebrities. After divorcing his wife Robin, Lee gets to meet a lot folks of the rich and/or beautiful, partly through journalism, and partly because he has a script to offer. But life amongst those from out-of-this-world is hard, and his putative success always results in defeat. Meanwhile, Robin meets a very desirable television producer and takes the first steps in the world of celebrities.

FLIRTING WITH DISASTER (1996)

 

Written & Directed by: David O. Russell

Cinematography: Eric Alan Edwards

Editor: Christopher Tellefsen 

Cast: Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni, Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins, Mary Tyler Moore, Alan Alda, Lily Tomlin, George Segal, Celia Weston, David Patrick Kelly, Nadja Dajani 

Five months after the birth of his son, Mel Coplin remains unable to name the child until he has met his own biological parents and discovered who he "really is." He, his wife Nancy, and his social-worker-in-training Tina Kalb jet off to California to meet his birth mother--who turns out not to be his mother, due to an error with the agency's adoption records. The quartet sets out in search of Mel's real parents, with tensions growing because of the sexual chemistry lacking between Mel and Nancy and growing between Mel and Tina.

MOVIES WATCHED IN OCTOBER (2020)

 

(Scarlett Johansson in LOST IN TRANSLATION)

VAMPIRES VS. THE BRONX (2020)

Story & Directed By: Oz Rodriguez 

Written By: Blaise Hemingway 

Cinematography: Blake McClure 

Editor: Sara Shaw & Alex O’Flinn 

Cast: Jaden Michael, Gerald Jones III, George Diaz IV, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Coco Jones, Joel “The Kid Mero” Martinez, Sarah Gadon, Shia Whigham, Zoe Saldana, Judy Marte, Chris Redd, Jeremie Harris, Imani Lewis, Jordan Tyson, Torre Alexandre, Adam David Thompson 

A group of young friends from the Bronx fight to save their neighborhood from gentrification...and vampires.

HUBIE HALLOWEEN (2020)

Directed By: Steven Brill Written By: Tim Herlihy & Adam Sandler  Cinematography: Seamus Tierney  Editor: J.J. Titone, Brian Robinson & Tom Costen

Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Ray Liotta, George Wallace, Tim Meadows, Maya Rudolph, Julie Bowen, Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Buscemi, Rob Schneider, Blake Clark, Colin Quinn, June Squibb, Jackie Sandler, Noah Schnapp, Paris Berelc, Karan Brar, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, China Anne McClain, Kym Whitley, Allen Covert, Lavell Crawford, Mikey Day, Peyton List 

Despite his devotion to his hometown of Salem (and its Halloween celebration), Hubie Dubois is a figure of mockery for kids and adults alike. But this year, something is going bump in the night, and it's up to Hubie to save Halloween.

3 FROM HELL (2019)

 

Written & Directed By: Rob Zombie Cinematography: David Daniel Editor: Glenn Garland

Cast: Sherri Moon Zombie, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Richard Brake, Emilio Rivera, Dee Wallace, Dot Marie Jones, Lucinda Jenney, Richard Edson, Clint Howard, Sean Whalen, Sylvia Jeffries, Kevin Jackson, Pancho Moler, Daniel Roebuck, Wade Williams, Richard Riehle, Tracey A. Leigh, Steven Michael Quezada, Danny Trejo, 

After barely surviving prison, the demented Firefly clan goes on the run, unleashing a whole new wave of murder, madness, and mayhem.

HOCUS POCUS (1993)

Directed By: Kenny Ortega Written By: Mick Garris & Neil Cuthbert Story by: Mick Garris & David Kirschner  Cinematography: Hiro Narita  Editor: Peter R. Berger 

Cast: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, Thora Birch, Vanessa Shaw, Larry Bagby, Doug Jones, Charles Rocket, Sean Murray, Kathleen Freeman 

A curious youngster moves to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches that were executed in the 17th century.