Artistically, Hollywood has had a tough time adapting young adult novels. While usually finding an audience, most of their adaptations of the more serious YA novels have fallen flat. Sadly, and despite a solid cast, the new film “Words on Bathroom Walls” is no exception. Adapting Julia Walton’s novel, screenwriter Nick Naveda attempts to recognize the issues of mental illness in realistic and understandable ways.

Seeing the trailer for the new film “The Big Ugly” could mislead the viewer into thinking they are in for just another straight-to-video action film cheapie starring Vinnie Jones, who made quite the post-Guy Ritchie films career out of this genre. This assessment would be massively incorrect. Writer/director Scott Wiper’s new film (co-written by Paul Tarantino) is a sharply focused southern thriller that emphasizes mood and character and features

I really enjoy David Ayer’s work. His screenplays can occasionally bring about intense and powerful portrayals of cops and street criminals.

When he hits, he hits hard such as with his screenplay for Ron Shelton’s excellent crooked cop drama “Dark Blue” starring Kurt Russell, and his sensational police drama “End of Watch” with Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena. I even found Ayer’s 2014

“We decide for ourselves what will hurt.”

Ah, the past and the memories it leaves us. Be they good or bad they make a home in our mind and soul, guiding our life decisions and shaping who we will become. Sometimes warm, sometimes dark, our remembrances become our true and constant life companions.

Hans Petter Moland’s adaptation of Per Petterson’s novel

The definition of amulet is “a charm (such as an ornament) often inscribed with a magic incantation or symbol to aid the wearer or protect against evil such as disease or witchcraft.”

But there is a new definition. “Amulet,” a 2020 film directed by Romola Garai that is subtly eerie and one of the most effectively-directed films of 2020. Romanian actor Alec Secareanu stars

Films about investigative journalism exposing a dramatic event and/or cover-up have been popular for decades, from Billy Wilder’s “Ace in the Hole” and Sam Fuller’s “Park Row” to Alan Pakula’s “All the President’s Men” to 2015’s Oscar winning “Spotlight,” all have expertly captured what it means to be a dedicated journalist tirelessly searching for the truth.

The best films about journalism offer viewers a potent story and relatable

It is rare when a Hollywood thriller can glue us to our seats. These days, big budget films in this genre are too concerned with creating big action set-pieces meant to be eye candy, rather than crafting smart and interesting situations where the tension comes out of the moment and the characters. Therefore, the best thrillers usually come from the independent or the foreign film worlds. German filmmaker Patrick Vollrath’s