Living for the Cinema

Set in Spain during World War II, this is the moving story of a young girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) who is sent along with her pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) to live with her new stephfather (Sergi Lopez), a ruthless captain of the Spanish army.  During her first night there, she meets a fairy who takes her to meet an old faun (Doug Jones) in the nearby forest.....which is also at the center of a labyrinch.  And thus begins a haunting, fantastical adventure which is part fairy tale and part war story.  This modern classic was both written and...

Based (loosely) upon real events, this is the incredible story of an incident which occurred in 1896 on a railroad construction site in Africa run by the British Empire.  Two mysterious lions started mauling and killing dozen's of local workers, resulting in an intense effort lead by the British Colonel (Val Kilmer) overseeing the site....to hunt AND take down these two murderous lions.  The lions are nicknamed, "The Ghost" and "The Darkness" and they prove VERY difficult to find and kill! :o Written by Oscar-winner William Goldman (All the President's Men Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid) and directed by St...

Someone's Taken Their Love of Scary Movies One Step Too Far.....

It has been almost one year since high-school student Sydney (Neve Campbell) had to deal with the aftermath of the brutal murder of her mother.....now there's a new killer on the loose around the sleepy town of Woodsboro and apparently, he's now targeting her?? :o Teenagers are being killed all over town and everyone's a suspect....and what results is one of THE more influential horror films of all time which is approaching it's 30th Anniversary!  Directed by horror master Wes Craven (Nightmare o...

Digger Rockwell (Oscar-nominee Tom Cruise) is one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world who runs a lucrative oil company which has been digging for oill in the Arctic.  One fateful morning, it is revaled to him that a drilling operation in that part of the world has inadverdently caused a massive glacier to break apart.....and it's headed towards Europe, which would result in a MAJOR environmental catastrophe. :o Suddenly he finds himself surrounded by American leaders, scientists, family members, and various other lackeys ALL freaking out over the impending disaster....how will he handle t...

A punk rock band is forced to fight for survival after witnessing something they shouldn't have at a bar run by Neo-Nazi skinheads.....and those skinheads are lead by Sir Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men)?? :o What results is a brutal thriller when the band lead by Pat (Anton Yelchin) and Sam (Alia Shakwat) have to figure out increasingly ruthless ways to escape this situation alive.  Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier (Rebel Ridge, Blue Ruin) and just in time for spooky season, let's revisit one of the more intense horror thrillers of recent years.....

Based upon one of the earliest novels from Stephen King, this is the tragic story of Carrie White (Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek) who's a troubled teenage girl struggling to fit in at her local high school.  Carries's life is dominated by her very religious mother, Margaret (Oscar-nominee Piper Laurie) who has completely isolated her from every one else around her.  Carrie also discovers that she has a special gift...an ability to move people and objects with her mind. :o Suddenly, Carrie finds herself being courted by Tommy (William Katt) who has asked her to be his prom date.  So the...

Nick Styles (Oscar-winner Denzel Washington) is a hot shot LAPD cop-turned-Assistant DA who took off after publicly nabbing a murderous criminal named Earl Talbot Blake (Oscar-nominee John Lithgow) who ends up in prison afterwards.  Only Earl has other ideas.....not just escape, but REVENGE.:o So after a brutal prison scape, Earl plots to ruin Nick's life and terrorize every one involved with him.....and violent, sleazy chao ensues!  This was one of Denzel's first major starring vehicles and his first true action role not longer after his first Oscar win in 1990 - it was a minor hit upon re...

Based upon the long-popular video game, acclaimed directed Zach Cregger (Weapons, Barbarian) has brough his own vision of this beloved property to the big screen.  The focus this time is on a lowly courier named Brian (Austin Abrams) who is tasked with delivering an urgent medical specimen one snowy night outside of Raccoon City.  On an icy country road, he gets into an accident and hits some one .....once he stops to try to help this person, he gets a LOT more than he bargained for resulting in one crazy, scary night!  New, scary threats emerge from every corner and...

Four young women who are also long-time friends (Jada Pinkett-Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise) living in Los Angeles find themselves increasingly desperate to the point where they decide to become bankrobbers.  Initially they're successful but then then things start to get increasingly complicated when one of them strikes up a romance with a local bank executive (Blair Underwood) and the local police (lead by John C. McGinley) begin to close in on them.  Directred by F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton, Law Abiding Citizen, The Italian Job, Friday), this tense action thriller was a surprise hit wh...

Co-directed by Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada, Spotlight) and Campbell Scott (Singles, Roger Dodger), this acclaimed culinary dramedy also co-stars both of them alongside a stellar cast of Oscar and Emmy nominees/winners including Tony Shalhoub, Minnie Driver, Marc Anthony, Allison Janney, and the late, great Sir Ian Holm.  This is the simple of story of two recently emigrated brothers (Tucci, Shalhoub) from Italy who start their own Italian restaurant on the New Jersey shore in the 1950's.  The food is great but business is slow, especially compared to a rival restaurant run down the street run by a...

Danny (Emmy-nominee Rob Lowe) and Debbie (Oscar-nominee Demi Moore) are two young Chicagoans who meet at their favorite bar, start to date, move in together....and eventually fall in love.  And they each have two best friends (Elizabeth Perkins, Jim Belushi) who have conflicting feelings about each of their new partners which sometimes complicates things.  That's pretty much the entire story but what made this romantic comedy so special forty years ago when it was first released was the writing, the performances, the '80's Chicago setting, and even the songs.  Co-written and directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, Love and...

A group of troublemaking teenage boys decide to take a stand when terrorists seize control of their boarding school.

That's the official IMDB description and pretty much all you need to know. ;) Released thirty-five years ago, this was one of several '90's action films inspired by Die Hard - this "Die Hard with Teenagers" was directed by Daniel Petrie Jr. (In The Army Now) and it stars Sean Astin, Will Wheaton, Andrew Divoff, Keith Coogan, Mason Adams, Oscar-nominee Denholm Elliott, George Perez, TE Russell, and Oscar-winner Louis Gossett.  Let's go back to school! 

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This is the story of a divorced, burnt out ex-army sniper-now- superintendent (Adria Arjona) of a remote trailer park in the deserts of New Mexico who has her young daughter (Blake Kennedy) for one weekend....and is soon tasked with trying to protect her once a new brutal threat emerges. This threat is a trio of murderous super-soldiers who have broken out from a nearby military experimentation facility....and they are brutally wiping out everyone in their path! 😳 Directed by genre master Adam Wingard (The Guest, Godzilla Vs Kong, You're Next), this throwback grindhouse action/sci-fi/horror thriller also co...

Multimillionaire newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane (Oscar-winner Orson Welles) dies alone in his extravagant mansion named Xanadu, speaking a single word: "Rosebud."  In an attempt to figure out the meaning of this word, a reporter tracks down the people who worked and lived with Kane.  They tell their stories in a series of flashbacks which reveal much about Kane's life but not enough to unlock the riddle of his dying breath.  This was the film directorial debut of Orson Welles who was also an actor and playwright at the time of release, bringing over much of the cast from his...

Rest In Peace to the legendary Dolly Parton. (1946 to 1986)

In honor of he recent tragic passing, what better way to remember her than to review this '80's comedy classic, which was also her big screen debut.  Directed by Collin Higgins (Foul Play, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), this is a frenetic tale of sexism, office politics, suspected murder, and REVENGE.  It focuses on three beleaguered co-workers at a fictional conglomerate named Judy (Oscar-winner Jane Fonda), Violet (Emmy-winner Lily Tomlin), and Doralee (Grammy-winner Dolly Parton)....and their despicable boss Frank played by late, great Em...

In honor of its recent 50h Anniversary, here is our newly remastered (with additional content) review of one of The Most Influential Films of the 1970's.....

What can be said about one of THE most iconic movies of the past 50 years which hasn't been said already?   Well you probably know that it was directed by Martin Scorsese, one of our greatest living American filmmakers.  And you probably also know it stars the legendary Robert DeNiro in one of his most iconic roles playing Travis Bickle, the titular taxi driver.  You might also know that it was...

In honor of its recent 35th Anniversary, here is our newly remastered (with additional content) review of one of The Most Beloved Action Films of the '90's!

This is the tale of an undercover FBI agent and a surfing bank robber thrust together through fate – Keanu Reeves (John Wick, Speed) plays the FBI agent and the late great Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing, Ghost) plays the bank robber.  Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty, The Hurt Locker) directs them alongside Gary Busey, John C. McGinley, and Lori Petty in one of the more quotable action fil...

Just a year after he received his first two Oscar nominations for both starring in and directing Henry V, Oscar-winner writer/director Kenneth Branagh (Belfast, Thor, Murder on the Orient Express) directed and starred in this dazzling modern reinvention of the sort of suspense thrillers which Alfred Hitchcock had specialized in several decades prior.  The story focuses on a mysterious woman (Oscar-winner Emma Thompson) who has lost her memory, the private detective (Branagh) who has been tasked with helping her find out her memory, and.....how this mystery connects to the tragic passings in the 1940's of Roman and M...

MANN WEEK continues....(Michael Mann that is) 

Forty years ago, Oscar-nominated legend Michael Mann (Heat, The Last of the Mohicans, Collateral) wrote and directed this adaptation of the best-selling novel "Red Dragon" from acclaimed author Thomas Harris.  This was the FIRST big screen adaptation of Harris' series of stories featuring the iconic character of Hannibal Lector, five years before the Oscar-winning box office phenomenon of The Silence of the Lambs which won Sir Anthony Hopkins his Oscar for potraying Lector.  However unlike 'Silence, this film was NOT a success upon release as the subject matter of...

Welcome to MANN WEEK!!!

Based upon the hit '80's TV show of the same name co-created by Oscar-nominated writer/director Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral, The Last of the Mohicans), Mann brought this adaptation to the big screen twenty years ago this summer.  The story once again focuses on two partnering Miami police detectives named Sonny Crockett (Oscar-nominated Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx) - they are going undercover to take down a Latin American drug cartel and the similarities to the original show pretty much end there.  Among their targets are Jose Ye...

Ned Racine (Oscar-winner William Hurt) is a handsome, sleazy lawyer and Matty Walker (Oscar-nominee Kathleen Turner in her big screen debut) is the alluring wife of a wealthy businessman (Richard Crenna) and one steamy Florida night, they meet and begin a torrid affair.  They then conspire to murder Matty's husband as part of an insurance scam.....and a lot of a sweaty, twisty chaos ensues!  This Neo-Noir thriller was the directorial debut of Oscar-nominated writer/director Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill, Silverado, Grand Canyon) and even though it was only a minor hit when it was first released in th...

Forty years ago this summer, genre master David Cronenberg (Videodrome, Eastern Promises, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers) directed this remake of the 1958 cult classic of the same name starring Vincent Price.  This is the updated story of Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), a quirky scientist who has been developing an exciting new invention geared towards teleportation.  He meets an enterprising science reporter named Ronnie (Geena Davis) and together, they not only work to further this technoloy....but they also fall in love.  But then one fateful night alone, Seth makes the mistake of "teleporting while drunk" and the pod which he...

NOLAN WEEK continues....

Adapted from the legendary tale written by Homer, this is the epic tale of one man's treacherous journey home after leading a war effort which has left both him and his men broken and continuously in danger. That war was the Trojan War and the man is Odysseus (Oscar-winner Matt Damon) who yearns to get to his home country of Ithaca where he is king, so that he can reunite with this wife Penelope (Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway) and his son Telemachus (Tom Holland).....or DOES he??  And along the way of this j...

Welcome to NOLAN WEEK!

Before reviewing his latest big budget opus (The Odyssey), let's revisit the beloved superhero sequel which helped push Oscar-winning writer/director Christopher Nolan (Inception, Oppenheimer, Dunkirk) into the pantheon of master modern filmmakers.  As a direct sequel to 2005's word-of-mouth hit Batman Begins, this was released with much fanfare as it was not only about the continuing adventures of Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) but also the reintroduction of a classic villain who happpens to be the latest threat to his beloved home of Gotham City. :o This new threat is m...

Forty years ago this summer, genre master John Carpenter (The Thing, Halloween, They Live) directed this big budget (for the time) extravaganza blending various genres including martial arts, fantasy, and crime drama.  Starring Kurt Russell in one of his more iconic roles as truckdriver Jack Burton, it was fast, funny, and phrenetically entertaining!  And yet no one really saw it in theaters. :( Fortunately this film did eventually find its audience on cable and video, becoming a cult classic and is now often looked upon as one of Carpenter's most believed movies.  It also features a STELLAR cast beyond Russell inc...

Olivia Wilde (Booksmart, Don't Worry Darling) directs her third film, also co-starring with Seth Rogen as a beleaguered married couple living in San Francisco.  One fateful evening, her housewife invites over the earthy couple from upstairs (Oscar-winner Penelope Cruz, Oscar-nominee Edward Norton) for a dinner party.  And things go awry.....what results is one of the most highly acclaimed comedies of 2026 so far, let's see if it lives up to the hype!  

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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In World War II, a group of NAZI officers come up with a propaganda event in which an all-star NAZI team will play a team composed of Allied POW's in a soccer (football) game.  The prisoners agree, planning on using the game as a means of escape from the camp.  Directed by the legendary Oscar-winner John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen, Prizzi's Honor) late in his career, this sports drama is lead by Oscar-winner Sylvester Stallone, Oscar-winner Michael Caine, Oscar-nominated Max von Sydow, and the late, great professional football LEGEND Pele. :) Ju...

Welcome To The 23rd Century.

The perfect world of total pleasure.

....there's just one catch.

This is the story of Logan 5 (Michael York) who lives in a distant future where where every one looks bright, young, and engergetic.  That might be because every one is only allowed to live their first life until they turn 30.  That's when an light in the palm of their hand blinks red, notifying them that they have to report to a "carousel" where they will then be "renewed" to kick off a br...

In what was his second film as the titular Man of Steel, the late, great Christopher Reeve returns as Kal-El, the Son of Crypton who has now settled in Metropolis under disguise as Clark Kent, a nerdy reporter a The Daily Planet who also pines for his fellow reporter Lois Lane played by the late, great Margot Kidder.  As Superman, he is now doing his part to keep the human inhabitants of Planet Earth safe until.....three Kryptonians come calling lead by the aggrieved General Zod (Terence Stamp) who is seeking revenge against Kal-El after his late father had h...

Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl (Milly Alcock) joines forces with a recent orphan Ruthye (Eve Ridley) who is out to avenge the murder of their parents.  Together they embark on an interstellar journey of vengeance and justice, alongside a mercenary named Lobo (Jason Mamoa) who is looking to take out the same villains.  Directed by Craig Gillespie (I Tonya, Cruella, Lars and the Real Girl, Dumb Money), this is the latest entry in the recently rebooted DCU (Detective Comics Universe).  It has earned mixed reviews from critics, garnered weak box office, and has attracted intense online vitriol (mostly directed at its...

Lt. Colonel Nat Serling (Oscar-winner Denzel Washington) is a recent veteran of Operation Desert Storm and a deadly mistake which he made in the heat of combat is still haunting him.  He has been tasked by his officer to investigate the service of recently deceased Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) who flew a chopper on a rescue mission during that war and is now being considered for the Medal of Honor.  As Serling investigates various other soldiers who were involved in this mission, he not only realizes how getting to the truth of what actually occurred is more complicated th...

At the peak of his movie stardom and in the wake of having just won several Oscars for Best Picture-winner Dances With Wolves which he both starred in and directed, Kevin Costner (Yellowstone, Bull Durham, JFK) took on the iconic role of Robin of Locksley for his next major project.  He partnered with long-time friend and director Kevin Reynolds (Waterworld, The Count of Monte Cristo) to spearhead this this new adaptation of an iconic story, while also filling key roles with several prominent stars of the time including Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Christian Slater as Will Scarlett, Mary E...

Roy Neary (Oscar-winner Richard Dreyfuss) was just a mild-mannered Indiana family man working for the power company.  Until one evening while out on the job.....he had an encounter with an unfamiliar being blasting brilliant light into the night sky.  What results for Roy is an increasingly bizarre descent into madness as he not only feels drawn towards seking out these otherworldy beings but also begins to alienate his wife (Teri Garr) and family in the process.  And he's not the only one: there's also Jillian Guiler (Oscar nominee Melinda Dillon) who is also drawn towards seeking out these str...

Legendary Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, ET: The Extra Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) returns to the science fiction genre for the first time in almost twenty years with this mystery thriller focusing on a group of scientists (Josh O'Connor, Oscar-nominee Colman Domingo) who are attempting to find and release classified information from the United States government about the existence of alien life and its presence on our planet.  Standing in their way is a shadowy organization lead by Oscar-winner Colin Firth (The King's Speech, Kingsman, A Single Man) and the key towards r...

Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves) are hustlers working their way around Portland trying to make ends meet, who are also best friends.  Together they hit the road to Idaho AND Italy on a journey of self-discovery while Mike tries to find his mother whom he hasn't seen in years.  This stirring comedy/drama road movie was written and directed by Oscar-nominee Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk, Drugstore Cowboy) early in his career and was not only considered a breakthrough for independent cinema at the time of its release, but also for LGBT cinema.  It also now...

By The Power of Grayskull.....

For the first time in thirty-nine years, He-Man and the other Masters of the Universe are back on the big screen!  After being sent to Earth as a young boy more than fifteen years ago to hide him from the evil Skeletor (Oscar-winner Jared Leto), Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) has finally found his sword and is returning to his homeland of Eternia to reclaim his legacy.  Of course, it gets more complicated than that as not only has much of Eternia (including Castle Grayskull where he's from) been decimated and ta...

Just in time for 6/6/26.....

It's time to review this influential supernatural horror thriller on the eve of its 50th Anniversary.  Directed by Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon, The Goonies), it focuses on an American ambassador (Oscar-winning legend Gregory Peck) and his wife (the late, great Oscar-nominated Lee Remick) who have recently moved to England after recently having their first child.....or DID they?  The child is Damien (Harvey Stephens) who was born under very mysterious circumstances and as he gets to a certain young age, he starts to not only exhibit di...

Based upon the viral online phenomenon which he helped launch, YouTube creator Kane Parsons has directed this somewhat expiremental horror thriller focusing on an unique realm containing a never-ending series of strange rooms and corridors.  The story focuses on a troubled recent divorcee (Oscar-nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor) who owns a failing furniture store which contains a hidden door to this realm.  Once he enters, he begins exploring this realm and becomes obssessed with figuring it.  Oscar-nominee Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value, The Worst Person In the World) plays his troubled therapist who also eventually investigates....and liminal horror ensues!  

Host...

At the very height of his mid '90's superstardom, Jim Carrey (Ace Ventura, The Truman Show, Liar Liar) received a then record-setting $20 million paycheck to star in this dark comedy directed by Ben Stiller (Tropic Thunder, Zoolander, Reality Bites).  Carrey starred as a the titular Cable Guy who installs cable television for a newly single bachelor (Matthew Broderick) living in Los Angeles but then makes the mistake of trying to become friends with him and eventually stalking him. :o  And hilarity ensues!  Well as it turned out, the movie was quite funny but at the time was poorly rec...

A group of shoplifters (Keke Palmer, Taylour Paige, Naomi Ackie) take aim at a ruthless fashion maven (Oscar-nominee Demi Moore) by stealing her clothes and reselling them at a lower price, partially out of revenge for her stealing several of their fashion designs.  This is the latest opus from writer/director Boots Riley (Sorry To Bother You) and that overall description doesn't really do it justice to the many crazy turns which this sci-fi/corporate satire takes.  The stacked cast also includes Lakeith Stanfield, Eiza Gonzalez, Poppy Liu, Will Poulter, and Don Cheadle.  Get ready for a wild, genre-defying rid...