Experimental filmmaker Nobuhiko Ōbayashi was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2016. His team of doctors feared the director had only three months to live. Ōbayashi defied the odds (although he was very ill) and made two more films before his death (three years after his diagnosis), 2017’s “Hanagatami” and this year’s “Labyrinth of Cinema” which was completed in 2019. In the ... more >
MOVIES
“Introducing, Selma Blair” and “Mass” | REVIEWS
“Introducing, Selma Blair” Directed by Rachel Fleit The actress Selma Blair had a promising career in Hollywood going at the turn of the millennium, appearing in major roles in “Cruel Intentions” and “Hellboy,” among others. She was on an upward trajectory, appearing in dozens of other films and television shows. However, in recent years the actress was cruelly struck with a diagnosis of multiple ... more >
DOPESICK ON HULU: “This con was so outrageous that I thought we’ve got to dramatize this” (OUR INTERVIEW WITH DANNY STRONG AND BETH MACY)
Over a twenty-year stretch, half a million people have died from opioids, according to the CDC. And one of the crisis’s major killers is OxyContin, which earned the already-wealthy Sackler family billions of dollars. Even though the family’s firm, Purdue Pharma, is now in bankruptcy proceedings and ordered by courts to pay billions in penalties and compensation, members of the Sackler family ... more >
Ben Whishaw, dominant and poised, mesmerizes in “SURGE” | REVIEW
Directed by Aneil Karia Starring Ben Whishaw, Ellie Haddington and Hammed Animashaun Alienation is unhealthy, it is not good for the psyche. Fading into the background with no friends or acquaintances, people who go unnoticed would do almost anything to have their voice heard and for someone to see them. Loneliness and an uncaring world can drive some people to madness. In Aneil Karia’s ... more >
FROM THE SLASHER FLICK DOSSIERS : “There someone inside your house” (REVIEW)
Directed by Patrick Brice Starring Sydney Park, Markian Tarasiuk and Asjha Cooper The slasher film has always been one of the most popular genres in horror films. It can be argued that slasher horror was born of “Psycho.” If that film was the grandfather of the slasher genre, the spark was lit fourteen years later with Bob Clark’s 1974 treasure “Black Christmas” and became a full-blown inferno ... more >
MOVIE REVIEW: “The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain”
There is no comprehensive government data on the topic of police brutality, no real accountability. According to the Lancet more than half of all police killings since 1980 do not appear in official government data. The undercounted police killings, of black Americans, particularly, is odious. Since the 2020 murder of George Floyd, more than a thousand people have died at the hands of the ... more >
LGBTQ HISTORY MONTH IS HERE and with it, new documentaries to take note of: “My Name is Pauli Murray” and “The Capote Tapes”
There are some especially strong documentaries out there to see to celebrate some LGBTQ Americans who have made incredible contributions to this land, its culture and, more importantly, its present. “My Name Is Pauli Murray” Directors: Julie Cohen and Betsy West Pauli Murray (featured image) might be among the most important lawyers of the twentieth century that most of us (myself included) had ... more >