SPECIES (1995)

 

Directed By: Roger Donaldson Written By Dennis Feldman  Cinematography: Andrzej Bartkowiak Editor: Conrad Buff

Cast: Natasha Henstridge, Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Forest Whitaker, Alfred Molina, Marg Helgenberger, Michelle Williams 

In 1993, during a search for extraterrestrial life, a transmission was received, detailing an alien DNA structure, along with instructions on how to splice it with human DNA. The result is Sil, a sensual but deadly creature who can change from a beautiful woman to an armor-plated killing machine in the blink of an eye. Government agent Xavier Fitch assembles a team of scientists and mercenaries to locate and destroy Sil before she manages to find a mate and breed.

WRATH OF MAN (2021)

 

Directed By: Guy Ritchie  Written by Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson & Marn Davies  Based on the film “LE CONVEOYEUR” Written By: Nicolas Boukhrief & Eric Basnard Cinematography: Alan Stewart  Editor: James Herbert 

Cast: Jason Statham, Josh Hartnett, Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan, Andy Garcia, Scott Eastwood, Rocci Williams, Laz Alonzo, Eddie Marsan, Raul Castillo, Chris Reilly, Niamh Alger, Rob Delaney, Darell D’Silva, Deobia Oparei, Babs Olussanmokun 

Mysterious and wild-eyed, a new security guard for a cash truck surprises his co-workers when he unleashes precision skills during a heist. The crew is left wondering who he is and where he came from. Soon, the marksman's ultimate motive becomes clear as he takes dramatic and irrevocable steps to settle a score.

JOLT (2021)

Directed by: Tanya Wexler Written By: Scott Wascha  Cinematography: Jules O’Loughlin Editor: Michael J. Duthie & Carsten Kurpanek

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Bobby Cannavale, Laverne Cox, Jai Courtney, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Ori Pfeffer, David Bradley, Lewis Bray 

A bouncer with a slightly murderous anger-management problem that she controls with the help of an electrode-lined vest she uses to shock herself back to normalcy whenever she gets homicidal. After the first guy she's ever fallen for is murdered, she goes on a revenge-fueled rampage to find the killer while the cops pursue her as their chief suspect.

UNHINGED (2020)

 

Directed By: Derrick Borte  Written By: Carl Ellsworth Cinematography: Brendan Galvin  Editor: Michael McCusker, Steve Mirkovich & Tim Mirkovich 

Cast: Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Jimmi Simpson, Gabriel Bateman, Austin P. McKenzie, Juliene Joyner, Stephen Louis Grush, Anne Leighton

A divorced mother honks impatiently at a deranged middle-aged stranger at a red light while running late on her way to work. His road rage escalates to horrifyingly psychotic proportions as he becomes single-mindedly determined to teach her a deadly lesson for provoking him.

EXTERMINATOR 2 (1984)

 

Directed by: Mark Buntzman  Written By: Mark Buntzman & William Sachs  Cinematography: Bob Baldwin & Joseph Mangine  Editor: Marcos Manton, George Norris & Florent Retz 

Cast: Robert Ginty, Mario Van Peebles, Frankie Faison, Deborah Geffner, Scott Randolf, Ayre Gross, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Bruce Smolanoff, Irwin Keyes 

The flamethrower-wielding vigilante John Eastland returns to rid New York City of a drug lord and his gang.

The exterminator returns. This is basically a revenge movie and vigilante movie rolled into one.  Not that the film is supposed to be taken all that seriously. As it seems more an action film of the times that tries to be exploitive but forgets in all ways. That seems to want to try to be more mainstream. Which then takes out most of what made the first film stand out in the first place. 

SOUND OF VIOLENCE (2021)

 

Written & Directed By: Alex Noyer  Cinematography: Danube Qin Wu  Editor: Hannigan Aukia & Virtti Virkajarvi 

Cast: Jasmin Savoy Brown, Lili Simmons, James Jagger, Tessa Munro, Dana L. Wilson 

Alexis recovered her hearing during the brutal murder of her family when she was ten. The visceral experience awakened synesthetic abilities in her and started her on an orphaned path of self-discovery through the healing music of brutal violence. She goes on to pursue a career teaching and experimenting to find new sounds. She is supported and loved by her roommate Marie who is unaware of the dark secrets behind Alexis' unique music and the part she unknowingly plays. Faced with the likelihood of losing her hearing again, Alexis escalates the pursuit of her masterpiece through gruesome sound experiments and devastating designs. She won't let anything stop her not even love.

THE ULTIMATE PLAYLIST OF NOISE (2021)

 

Directed by: Bennett Lasseter Written By: Mitchell Winkie Cinematography: Vincent Patin  Editor: Robin Gonsalves 

Cast: Keean Johnson, Madeline Brewer, Bonnie Hunt, Ian Gomez, Rya Kihlstedt, Oliver Cooper, Carol Mansell, Emily Skeggs, Ariela Barer, Jake Weary 

Marcus, an audio-obsessed high school senior, learns he must undergo brain surgery that will render him deaf, and decides to seize control of his fate by recording the Ultimate Playlist of Noise.

GET HIM TO THE GREEK (2010)

 

Written & Directed By: Nicholas Stoller  Based on Characters Created by: Jason Segel Cinematography: Robert D. Yeoman  Editor: William Kerr & Michael L. Sale

Cast: Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Sean Combs, Rose Byrne, Elisabeth Moss, Colm Meaney, Aziz Ansari, Kali Hawk, Nick Kroll, Carla Gallo, Ellie Kemper, Jake Johnson, Davone McDonald, T.J. Miller, Neal Brennan, Kristen Schaal, Lindsey Broad, Carlos Jacott, Pharrell Williams, P!NK

A record company intern is hired to accompany out-of-control British rock star Aldous Snow to a concert at L.A.'s Greek Theater.

WHITEBOYZ (1999)

 

Directed by: Marc Levin  Written by: Danny Hoch, Garth Belcon, Marc Levin & Richard Stratton  Story By: Danny Hoch & Garth Belcon  Cinematography: Mark Benjamin  Editor: Emir Lewis 

Cast: Danny Hoch, Dash Mihok, Mark Webber, Piper Perabo, Eugene Byrd, Lisa Jane Todd, Bonz Malone, Reno Wilson, Jaqueline Williams, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Kim Wozencraft, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Fat Joe, Dead Prez

In a virtually all-white Iowa town, Flip daydreams of being a hip-hop star,. He practices in front of a mirror and with his two pals, James and Trevor. He talks Black slang, he dresses Black. He's also a wannabe pusher, selling flour as cocaine. And while he talks about "keeping it real," he hardly notices real life around him: his father's been laid off, his mother uses Food Stamps, his girlfriend is pregnant, James may be psychotic, one of his friends (one of the town's few Black kids) is preparing for college, and, on a trip to Chicago to try to buy drugs, the cops shoot real bullets. What will it take for Flip to get real?

PIECES OF A WOMAN (2020)

 

Directed By: Kornel Mundruczo Written By: Kata Weber Cinematography: Benjamin Loeb Editor: David Jancso

Cast: Vanessa Kirby, Shia Lebouf, Molly Parker, Ellen Burstyn, Iliza Shlesinger, Benny Safdie, Sarah Snook, Jimmie Fails 

When a young mother's home birth ends in unfathomable tragedy, she begins a year-long odyssey of mourning that fractures relationships with loved ones in this deeply personal story of a woman learning to live alongside her loss.

SYSTEM CRASHER (2019)

 

Written & Directed By: Nora Fingscheidt Cinematography: Yunus Roy Imer Editor: Stephan Bechinger & Julia Kovalenko

Cast: Helena Zengel, Albrecht Schuch, Gabriela Maria Schmeide, Lisa Hagmeister, Melanie Straub, Maryam Zaree 

She is small but dangerous. Wherever Benni ends up, she is immediately expelled. The wild 9-year-old girl has already become what child protection services call a "system crasher". And she is certainly not looking to change her ways. Because Benni has one single goal: to be back at home with her mommy. But Bianca is scared of her own daughter. Mrs. Bafané from child protection services is trying her best to find a permanent placement for Benni. She hires the anger management trainer Micha as Benni's school escort and suddenly there is a seed of hope. Will Micha be able to succeed where all others despaired?

JEFF OF THE CINEFILES & UNFINISHED BUSINESS: HALL OF FAME - FILE #0067 - IVANS xtc (2000)

 

Directed & Edited By: Bernard Rose Written By: Bernard Rose & Lisa Enos Based on the novel “THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH” By: Leo Tolstoy  Cinematography: Bernard Rose & Ron Forsythe 

Cast: Danny Huston, Peter Weller, Lisa Enos, Angela Featherstone, Valeria Golino, Joanne Duckman, James Merendino, Tiffani Amber Theissen, Heidi Jo Markel 

Ivan Beckman, Hollywood's most sought-after talent agent, the darling and the crown prince of La-La Land is dead. How and why did it happen? Was it drugs, murder or excess, or perhaps something altogether more mundane? We begin with an ending and then catapult back a number of days to the apex of Ivan's brilliant career as he bags international megastar Don West onto his company's books, and then charts the highs, lows (and they are so very low), and extreme excesses of his final days.

MI VIDA LOCA (1993)

 

Written & Directed By: Allison Anders  Cinematography: Rodrigo Garcia  Editor: Richard Chew, Tracy Granger & Kathryn Himoff

Cast: Angel Aviles, Seidy Lopez, Jacob Vargas, Christina Solis, Neilda Lopez, Arthur Esquar, Jesse Borrego, Monica Lutton, Salma Hayek, Eddie Perez, Guy Boyd, Spike Jonze, Jason Lee, Kurt Voss, Nicole Holfcener 

Mousie and Sad Girl are childhood best friends in a contemporary Los Angeles poor Hispanic neighborhood. But when Sad Girl becomes pregnant by Mousie's boyfriend, a drug dealer named Ernesto, the two become bitter enemies. While their dispute escalates towards violence, the violence of the world around them soon also impacts their lives.

WEAPONS (2007)

 

Written & Directed By: Adam Bhala Lough Cinematography: Manuel Alberto Claro Editor: Jay Rabinowitz 

Cast: Nick Cannon, Paul Dano, Mark Webber, Riley Smith, John Campo, Regine Nahu, Brandon Mychel Smith. Arliss Howard, Aris Mendoza,  Amy Ferguson, Serena Reeder, Jade Yorker 

Weapons present a series of brutal, seemingly random youth-related killings over the course of a weekend in a typical small town in America, and tragically reveals how they are all interrelated.

ASSASSINATION OF A HIGH SCHOOL PRESIDENT (2008)

 

Directed by: Brett Simon  Written By: Kevin Jakubowski & Tim Calpin  Cinematography: M. David Mullen  Editor: William Anderson & Thomas J. Nordberg

Cast: Mischa Barton, Reece Daniel Thompson, Bruce Willis, Michael Rapaport, Kathryn Morris, Melonie Diaz, Zoe Kravitz, Josh Pais, Luke Grimes, Joe Perrino, Aaron Himelstein, John Magaro, Robin Lord Taylor, Vincent Piazza, Adam Pally, Emily Meade, Quinn Shephard

At a Catholic high school, a sophomore newspaper reporter investigates a case of stolen SAT exams. He thinks he's nailed the suspect and managed to get the popular girl when he realizes a larger conspiracy is afoot.

MOVIES WATCHED IN AUGUST (2021)