Friday, June 15, 2018

MOLLY'S GAME (2017)



Written & Directed By: Aaron Sorkin 
Based on the book by: Molly Bloom 
Cinematography By: Charlotte Bruus Christensen 
Editor: Alan Baumgarten, Elliot Graham & Josh Schaeffer 

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Bill Camp, Jeremy Strong, Brian d’Arcy james, Chris O’Dowd, Graham Greene, J.C. Mackenzie, Angela Gots, 


Molly Bloom, a beautiful young Olympic-class skier, ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans, and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe to her lawyer as well as excerpts form her book. We follow her story.

INLAND EMPIRE (2006)


Edited, Cinematography, Written & Directed By: David Lynch 

Cast: Laura Dern, Justin Theroux, Grace Zabriskie, Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton, Diane Ladd, Julia Ormand, Mary Steenburgen, Masiumi Max, Amanda Foreman, Terry Crews, Jordan Ladd, Ian Abercrombie, Cameron Daddo, Jerry Stahl, Nastassja Kinski 

 A blonde actress is preparing for her biggest role yet, but when she finds herself falling for her co-star, she realizes that her life is beginning to mimic the fictional film that they're shooting. Adding to her confusion is the revelation that the current film is a remake of a doomed Polish production, 47, which was never finished due to an unspeakable tragedy.

LIGHT'S OUT (2016)



Directed By: David F. Sandberg 
Written By: Eric Heisserer 
Based on the original short film by David F. Sandberg 
Cinematography By: Marc Spicer 
Editor: Michael Aller & Kirk M. Morri 


Cast: Teresa Palmer, Maria Bello, Billy Burke, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia 


A man called Paul is working after hours and is murdered by a supernatural entity in the shadow. When his son, the boy Martin, is frightened by the same creature, he sees his mother Sophie talking to an imaginary friend called Diana in the shadow of her room. Martin does not sleep anymore during the night. His older step sister Rebecca who lives alone is summoned by the social assistant. She brings Martin home and recalls her own experience with Diana years ago when she was young. Rebecca and her boyfriend Bret investigate the connection of Sophie with Diana and come up to a scary revelation about their past.

FALL TIME (1995)



Directed By: Paul Warner 
Written By: Steve Alden & Paul Skemp
Cinematography By: Mark J. Gordon 

Editor: Steven Nevius 


Cast: Mickey Rourke, Stephen Baldwin, Jason London, Sheryl Lee, David Arquette 


Three young men decide to plan a mock kidnapping, but everything goes wrong because a real bank robbery was already planned by two other guys.

Friday, June 8, 2018

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992)



Directed By: David Lynch 
Written By: David Lynch & Robert Engels 
Based on the television series created by: David Lynch & Mark Frost 
Cinematography By: Ron Garcia 
Editor: Mary Sweeney 
Music Score By: Angelo Badalamenti 


Cast: Sheryl Lee, Moria Kelly, Dana Ashbrook, Madchen Amick, James Marshall, Ray Wise, Grace Zabriskie, Kyle Maclachlan, David Bowie, Chris Isaak, Kiefer Sutherland, Heather Graham, David Lynch, Miguel Ferrer, Pamela Gidley, Jurgen Prochnow, Harry Dean Stanton, Lenny Von Dohlen, Frances Bay, Rick Aiello, Frank Silva 

 A young FBI agent disappears while investigating a murder miles from Twin Peaks that may be related to the future murder of Laura Palmer; the last week of the life of Laura Palmer is chronicled.

UNSANE (2018)



Cinematography, Edited & Directed By: Steven Soderbergh 
Written By: James Greer & Jonathan Bernstein 
Cinematography By: Peter Andrews
Editor: Mary Ann Bernard 

Cast: Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Amy Irving, Juno Temple, Sarah Stiles, Robert Kelly 


A young woman is involuntarily committed to a mental institution, where she is confronted by her greatest fear--but is it real or a product of her delusion?

VERONICA (2018)




Directed By: Paco Plaza 
Written By: Fernando Navarro & Paco Plaza 
Cinematography By: Pablo Rosso 
Editor: Marti Roca 


Cast: Sandra Escacena, Bruna Gonzalez, Claudia Placer, Ivan Chavero, Ana Torrent, Consuelo Trujillo, Angela Fabain, Carla Campra 


Madrid, June of 1991. Verónica is a teenage girl surpassed by the circumstances after her father died recently, her mother works in a bar all day and she must care for her three siblings, twin girls Lucía and Irene and the youngest Antoñito. Still mourning for her father's death, Verónica decides to play Ouija with her friends Rosa and Diana, taking advantage a total solar eclipse where all classmates and teachers are on the school's rooftop watching it. Alone in the cellar, the girls try to contact their recent deceased family members, but the session goes wrong and something happens to Verónica. She hid from her mother what has happened, Verónica starts to feel strange presences inside the house and fears that these ghosts are a threat to any of her siblings. Advised by Sister Narcisa (nicknamed by the children as Sister Death) about the sinister spirit which is close to her, Verónica looking for a way to break the contact with the ghost and save everyone

FULL FRONTAL (2002)



Cinematography & Directed By: Steven Soderbergh 
Written By: Coleman Hough 
Editor: Sarah Flack 


Cast: Julia Roberts, Blair Underwood, David Duchovny, Mary McCormack, David Hyde Pierce, Catherine Keener, Enrico Colantoni, Nicky Katt, Erika Alexander, Jeff Garlin, Terence Stamp, Brad Rowe, Rainn Wilson, Sandra Oh, Justina Machado, January Jones, Brad Pitt 


A day in the life of a group of men and women in Hollywood, in the hours leading up to a friend's birthday party.

Sunday, June 3, 2018

JEFF OF THE CINEFILES & UNFINISHED BUSINESS: HALL OF FAME: FILE #0052: THE LAST SEDUCTION (1994)



Directed By: John Dahl 
Written By: Steve Barancik 
Cinematography By: Jeffrey Jur 
Editor: Eric L. Beason 


Cast: Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, Bill Pullman, Bill Nunn, Dean Norris, J.T. Walsh 


Bridget Gregory has a lot going for her: she's beautiful, she's intelligent, she's married to a doctor. But all of this isn't enough, as her husband Clay finds out. After she persuaded him to sell medicinal cocaine to some drug dealers, she takes off with the money, almost a million dollars, and goes undercover in a mid-American small town. Because Clay has to pay off a loan shark who'll otherwise damage him severely, he keeps sending detectives after her, trying to retrieve the money. When Bridget meets Mike Swale, a naive local who is blinded by her beauty and directness, she devises an elaborate, almost diabolical scheme to get rid of Clay once and for all.

BREAKING IN (2018)



Directed By: James McTeigue 
Written By: Ryan Engle 
Cinematography By: Toby Oliver 
Editor: Joseph Jett Sally 

Cast: Gabrielle Union, Billy Burke, Richard Cabral, Christa Miller, Jason George 


A woman fights to protect her family during a home invasion.

JEFF OF THE CINEFILES & UNFINISHED BUSINESS: HALL OF FAME: FILE# 0051: COMPLIANCE (2012)



Written & Directed By: Craig Zobel 
Cinematography By: Adam Stone 
 Editor: Jane Rizzo 


Cast: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Ashlie Atkinson, Bill Camp, Matt Servitto 


A normal Friday service at a fast food restaurant becomes interrupted by a police officer who claims an employee stole from a customer, but something more sinister is going on.

BROKEDOWN PALACE (1999)



Directed By: Jonathan Kaplan 
Written By: David Arata 
Story By: David Arata & Adam Fields 
Cinematography By: Newton Thomas Sigel 
Editor: Curtiss Clayton 


Cast: Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jaqueline Kim, John Doe, Tom Amandes, Daniel Lapaine, Aimee Graham, Amanda DeCadent 


Alice and Darlene, best friends, decide to take a trip to Thailand to celebrate high-school graduation. While there, they are befriended by charming Australian rogue Nick Parks. Nick convinces them to take a weekend side trip to Hong Kong, but at the airport, they are busted for smuggling drugs. They are convicted in a show trial and sentenced to 33 years; in desperation, they contact Yankee Hank, an American lawyer based in Thailand who has been reported to be helpful if you've got the cash.