Sunday, December 27, 2020

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


Thursday, December 17, 2020

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.

Thursday, December 10, 2020

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.

Saturday, December 5, 2020

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.