— by BEV QUESTAD — “If you are trying to rescue people from hell you have to kinda go to hell to do it,” Jonathan Rapping, Georgia law professor, patiently explains to Brandy, a warrior in America’s shaky battle in the criminal justice system. She’s been a public defender for thr[...]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Review: Morning
— by RON WILKINSON — From the very beginning of this film, five days in the lives of a severely grief stricken couple, you know the going will not be easy. Sure enough, for the first hour there is not much variety in the grief presented. Unfortunately, this first hour tells the story of [...]
Review: Runner Runner
— by JAMES SHAW — “Is your life worth the gamble?” Brad Furman’s “Runner Runner” is an exaggerated film that seeks to expose the seedy world of online gambling. Online gambling brings in a lot of revenue for owners, but can you really trust them? Richie Furst (played by Justin [...]
Review: Salma
— by BEV QUESTAD — Salma was 13 when she was locked up in a room with one window. For nine years, she stayed there without friends, schooling or a walk outside. The custom in her southern Indian village is to lock up all girls once they reach puberty. To limit the internment the girls [&[...]
Review: Gravity
— by ADAM DALE — “Gravity” opens with a 20-minute single shot that is just the beginning of what is one of the most beautiful, majestic and moving films I have ever seen. This behemoth of a project has been a passion project of writer-director Alfonso Cuarón’s for years and I’m [...]
Review: Inequality for All
— by BEV QUESTAD with MICHAEL FUNG — Economic inequality, above all else, is the defining issue of our time. A healthy economy is the prime precedent for a healthy world. But can a doc on a subject like that bring in an audience? “Inequality for All” reflects how things are going rig[...]
Review: Baggage Claim
— by JAMES SHAW — “Girl, open your eyes” is the best statement I can use to describe “Baggage Claim,” a film about a flight attendant, Barbie type named Montana Moore (Paula Patton), who travels over 30,000 miles to reignite old flames as she is pressured into marriage by her mot[...]
Review: Wedding Palace
— by RON WILKINSON — One of the first, if not the first, Korean-American romantic comedy to open in the USA, “Wedding Palace” is home grown and foreign at the same time. Backed by the Los Angeles Korean-American community, the film is American, with a few Korean curses thrown in. It [...]
Review: The Colony
— by RON WILKINSON — Emerging film-maker Jeff Renfroe tried hard on this slightly modified zombie flick, with good results for an emerging film maker. But the film is still inexcusably derivative and has little to recommend it over a thousand other thriller monster movies. The best thing[...]
Review: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
— by JAMES SHAW — “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” brings back the voices of Bill Hader (Flint), Anna Faris (Sam Sparks) and Andy Samberg (Brent McHale), and brings in newcomers Will Forte as Chester V, Kristen Schaal as Barb and Terry Crews, who replaces Mr. T as Earl. The voic[...]
Review: Le Week-End
— by RON WILKINSON — Screened at the 2013 New York Film Festival, Roger Michell’s (“Notting Hill,” “Venus”) newest elder rom-com is less of romp than a stroll. The screenplay openly dares the most romantic city in the world to pull the couple back from the abyss of the autumn y[...]
Review: Battle of the Year
— by JAMES SHAW — “Battle of The Year” is a dance movie … I mean marketing ploy … for director Benson Lee’s 2007 documentary “Planet B-Boy.” “Planet B-Boy” describes how B-Boying has evolved and illustrates the Battle of the Year competition: the Oly[...]
Review: The Wizard of Oz 3D
— by ADAM DALE — There has never been — and probably never will be — a film that can encapsulate such a feeling of awe and wonder, laughs and frights the way that “The Wizard of Oz” has done for the past 75 years. The film has become a rite of passage for the […][...]
Review: Jewtopia
— by RON WILKINSON — Based on the popular play of the same name (the longest-running off-Broadway comedy of all time) “Jewtopia” is a pratfall slugfest that swerves back and forth across all boundaries of taste and correctness and comes up smiling. Director Bryan Fogel’s debut feat[...]