Saturday, August 31, 2019

THE CRUSH (1994)



Written & Directed By: Alan Shapiro 
Cinematography: Bruce Surtees 
Editor: Ian Crafford 


Cast: Alicia Silverstone, Cary Elwes, Jennifer Rubin, Kurtwood Smith, Amber Benson, Matthew Walker 

Nick Eliot, a 28-year-old newspaper reporter, moves into the guest house of the Forresters. Everything goes fine until he meets 14-year-old Adrienne, the Forresters' only child. When she develops a crush and is rebuffed, she retaliates with vengeance.

ONE NIGHT STAND (1997)



Written, Music & Directed By: Mike Figgis 
Cinematography: Declan Quinn 
Editor: John Smith 

Cast: Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey Jr., Natassja Kinski, Ming-Na Wen, Kyle Maclachlan, Amanda Donohoe, Marcus T. Paulk, Vincent Ward, John Calley, Glenn Plummer, Thomas Haden Church, John Ratzenberger, Annabelle Gurwitch, Julian Sands, Saffron Burrows, Ione Skye, Donovan Leitch, Xander Berkeley 


Los Angeles advertisement director Max visits his friend, artist Charlie, who was diagnosed with A.I.D.S. in New York City. There he meets Karen, they are attracted to each other and after they meet later that day at the concert, they have a passionate night. Then he returns home to Los Angeles to his family, and wife Mimi. A year later, Max returns to New York City again to visit Charlie, who is now dying, and there he meets Karen again, who is married to Charlie's brother Vernon.

RENAISSANCE MAN (1994)



Directed By: Penny Marshall 
Written By: Jim Buerstein 
Cinematography: Adam Greenberg 
Editor: George Bowers & Battle Davis 


Cast: Danny DeVito, Gregory Hines, Stacey Dash, Mark Wahlberg, Kadeem Hardison, Lilo Brancato, Khalil Kain, Ed Begley Jr., James Remar, Richard T. Jones, Cliff Robertson, Ann Cusack, Greg Sporleder, Alanna Ubach, Matt Kessler, Isabella Hoffman 


A down-on-his-luck businessman desperately takes the only job offered - a teacher in the U.S. Army. His mission: keep a ragtag bunch of underachieving misfits from flunking out of basic training! Be on alert as this unlikely new teacher and his underdog class unexpectedly inspire each other to be all they can be!

HEXED (1993)


Written & Directed By: Alan Spencer 
Cinematography: James Chressanthis 
Editor: James Horak & Debra McDermott 


Cast: Ayre Gross, Claudia Christian, Adrienne Shelly, R. Lee Ermey, Norman Fell, Ray Baker, Michael E. Knight, Robin Curtis 


Lowly hotel clerk Matthew Welch stumbles unto a chance to go on a date with supermodel Hexina by pretending he is someone else. But something goes wrong on the date, she tries to kill him! Soon she kills a couple more people, and unfortunately all the evidence points to Matthew. Gloria, who has been wishing Matthew would ask her on a date, thinks he is innocent and is willing to help, but hardnosed Detective Ferguson is hot on the clues, and closing in on Matthew.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

POINT BLANK (2019)



Directed By: Joe Lynch 
Written By: Adam Green 
Based on characters created By: Fred Cavaye 
Cinematography: Juan Miguel Azpiroz 

Cast: Frank Grillo, Anthony Mackie, Marcia Gay Harden, Stuart F. Wilson, Christian Cooke, Teyonah Parris, Boris Micgiver, Markice Moore 

An ER nurse and a career criminal are forced into an unlikely partnership in taking down a ring of corrupt cops threatening the lives of both their families.

COLD PURSUIT (2019)



Directed By: Hans Petter Moland 
Written By: Frank Baldwin 
Based On The Film KRAFTIDIOTEN Screenplay By: Kim Fupz Aakeson 
Cinematography: Philip Ogaard
Editor: Nicolaj Monberg 


Cast: Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, William Forsythe, Tom Bateman, Emmy Rossum, Domenick Lombardozzi, John Doman, Michael Eklund, Julia Jones, Elizabeth Thai 


A grieving snowplow driver seeks out revenge against the drug dealers who killed his son. Based on the 2014 Norwegian film 'In Order of Disappearance'.

13 ASSASSINS (2010)



Directed By: Takashi Miike 
Written By: Daisuke Tengan 
Story By: Shoichirou Ikemiya 
Based on A Screenplay By: Kaneo Ikegami 
Cinematography: Nobuyasu Kita 
Editor: Kenji Yamashita 


Cast: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Arata Furuta, Sosuke Takaoka, Koen Kondo, Masataka Kubota, Ikki Sawamura, Seiji Rokkaku 


A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.

THE COMMUTER (2018)



Directed By: Jaume Collet-Serra 
Written By: Ryan Engle, Byron Willinger & Philip De Blasi 
Story By: Byron Willinger & Philip De Blasi 
Cinematography: Paul Cameron 
Editor: Nicholas De Toth 

Cast: Liam Neeson, Sam Neill, Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Elizabeth McGovern, Jonathan Banks, Florence Pugh, Carla Lago, Damson Idris, Letitia Wright 


Now a hard-working life insurance salesman and a caring family man, the former police officer, Michael MacCauley, has taken the commuter rail to New York for the past ten years. But, unexpectedly, things will take a turn for the worse, when on one of his daily journeys, the cryptic passenger, Joanna, makes Michael a generous and tempting offer to locate a single commuter or face grave consequences. Is this a sick joke, or is this indeed a serious situation? As Michael races against the clock to solve this wicked conundrum, everyone aboard is a suspect, in a deal where there's definitely more than meets the eye. Can he decide in time who's the one?

Sunday, August 18, 2019

GOOD BOYS (2019)


Directed by: Gene Stupnitsky 
Written By: Gene Stupinsky & Lee Eisenberg 
Cinematography: Jonathan Furmanski 
Editor: Daniel Gabbe 

Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon, Michaela Watkins, Molly Gordon, Midori Francis, Will Forte, Retta, Lil Rel Howery, Sam Richardson 

Three sixth grade boys ditch school and embark on an epic journey while carrying accidentally stolen drugs, being hunted by teenage girls, and trying to make their way home in time for a long-awaited party.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

MIRAI (2018)



Written & Directed By: Mamoru Hosoda 
Editor: Shigeru Nishiyama 

Cast: Voice Actors: Rebecca Hall, Daniel Dae Kim, John Cho, Crispin Freeman, Koji Yakusho, Jaden Waldman, Victoria Grace, Kumiko Aso, Masaharu Fukuyama 

The movie follows a 4-year old boy who is struggling to cope with the arrival of a little sister in the family, until things turn magical. A mysterious garden in the backyard of the boy's home becomes a gateway allowing the child to travel back in time and encounter his mother as a little girl and his great-grandfather as a young man. These fantasy-filled adventures allow the child to change his perspective and help him become the big brother he was meant to be.

BLENDED (2014)


Directed By: Frank Coraci 
Written By: Ivan Menchell & Clare Sara 
Cinematography: Julio Macat 
Editor: Tom Costain 

Cast: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Bella Thorne, Kevin Nealon, Terry Crews, Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Shaquille O’Neal, Joel McHale, Abdoulaye N’Gom, Jessica Lowe, Braxton Beckham, Emma Fuhrmann, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Allen Covert, Dan Patrick, Tim Herlihy, Alexis Arquette, Lauren Lapkus, Michael Buscemi, Rob Moran, Jonathan Loughran 


After a blind date gone horribly wrong, Jim and Lauren agree they never, ever want to see each other again. Well, that's all about to change when the two find themselves and their respective families (including children) all stuck together in one suite at an African Safari vacation spot.

ZAZIE DANS LE METRO (1960)



Directed By: Louis Malle 
Written By: Louis Malle & Jean-Paul Rappeneau 
Based on the Novel By: Raymond Queneau 
Cinematography: Henry Raichi 
Editor: Kenout Peltier 


Cast: Catherine Demongeot, Phillipe Noiret, Hubert Dechamps, Carla Marlier, Annie Fratellini 

With her mother away for the weekend, a brash and precocious ten-year-old country-girl sets out to explore Paris during a Métro strike, under her uncle's not-so-watchful eye. Can a little girl cause so much chaos in the heart of the city?

FORBIDDEN GAMES (1952)



Directed By: Rene Clement 
Written By: Jean Aurenche, Pierre Bost & Francois Boyer 
Based On The Novel By: Francois Boyer 
Cinematography: Robert Juillard 
Editor: Roger Dwyre 


Cast: Georges Poujouly, Brigitte Fossey, Jaques Marin 


A girl of perhaps five or six is orphaned in an air raid while fleeing a French city with her parents early in World War II. She is befriended by a pre-adolescent peasant boy after she wandered away from the other refugees, and is taken in for a few weeks by his family. The children become fast friends, and the film follows their attempt to assimilate the deaths they both face, and the religious rituals surrounding those deaths, through the construction of a cemetery for all sorts of animals. Child-like and adult activity are frequently at cross-purposes.

Friday, August 9, 2019

SERENITY (2019)


Written & Directed By: Steven Knight 
Cinematography By: Jess Hall 
Editor: Laura Jennings 


Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jason Clarke, Dijmon Hounsou, Diane Lane, Jeremy Strong 


A fishing boat captain juggles facing his mysterious past and finding himself ensnared in a reality where nothing is what it seems.

OUT OF TIME (2003)



Directed By: Carl Franklin 
Written By: Dave Collard 
Cinematography By: Theo Van De Sande 
Editor: Carole Kravetz-Aykanian 

Cast: Denzel Washington, Sanaa Lathan, Eva Mendes, Dean Cain, John Billingsly, Arain Ash, Alex Carter, Robert Baker, Terry Loughlin 


This film is so cliche ridden it feels like a quicken version of a noir story down for television. That takes place in the bright daylight of Florida instead of some belated landscape with everyone in suits and dresses. Instead of tropical wear.

JEFF OF THE CINEFILES & UNFINISHED BUSINESS: HALL OF FAME: FILE #0060: ATLANTIC CITY (1980)



Directed By: Louis Malle 
Written By: John Guare 
Cinematography By: Richard Ciupka 
Editor: Suzanne Baron 

Cast: Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid, Michel Piccoli, Robert Joy, Mary Alice, Robert Goulet, Wallace Shawn, Hollis McLaren 


Dreams. Becoming an Atlantic City croupier will help Sally realize her dream of going to Monte Carlo, a symbol of the glamorous life that has been evading her since escaping from Saskatchewan a decade ago. Lou dreams that he was a great mobster in the old days. Grace came to Atlantic City for a Betty Grable look-alike contest and stayed to become the wife of a mobster. A brief visit to Atlantic City by Sally's estranged husband will change the course of the lives of Sally and Lou.

GUMSHOE (1971)



Directed By: Stephen Frears 
Written by: Neville Smith 
Cinematography By: Chris Menges 
Editor: Charles Rees 
Music By: Andrew Lloyd Webber 

Cast: Albert Finney, Billie Whitelaw, Frank Finlay, Janice Rule, Carolyn Seymour 


Nightclub comedian Eddie Ginley fulfills his Dashiell Hammett love by putting an ad in the paper as a private eye.

Friday, August 2, 2019

THE FAREWELL (2019)



Written & Directed By: Lulu Wang 
Cinematography: Anna Franquesa Solano 
Editor: Michael Taylor & Matt Friedman 

Cast: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Aoi Mizuhara, Shuzhen Zhou 

A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Billi struggles with her family's decision to keep grandma in the dark about her own illness as they all stage an impromptu wedding to see grandma one last time.

ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE (2019)



Directed By: Nahnatchka Khan 
Written By: Ali Wong, Randall Park & Michael Golamco 
Cinematography: Tim Suhrstedt 
Editor: Lee Haxall 


Cast: Ali Wong, Randall Park, Keanu Reeves, Michelle Buteau, Susan Park, Vivian Bang, Charlene Yi, Daniel Dae Kim, Casey Wilson, Karan Soni, James Saito, Lyrics Born 


A pair of childhood friends end up falling for each other when they grow up.

SEARCHING (2018)



Directed By: Aneesh Chaganty 
Written By: Aneesh Chaganty & Sev Ohanian 
Cinematography: Juan Sebastian Barron 
Director Of Virtual Photography & Editor: Nicholas D. Johnson & Will Merrick 


Cast: John Cho, Debra Messing, Michelle La, Joseph Lee, Dominic Hoffman, Briana McLean 

After David Kim's 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter's laptop. In a hyper-modern thriller told via the technology devices we use every day to communicate, David must trace his daughter's digital footprints before she disappears forever.

DANS PARIS (2006)



Written & Directed By: Christopher Honore 
Cinematography: Jean-Louis Vialard 
Editor: Chantal Hymans 


Cast: Roman Duris, Joanna Priess, Louis Garrel, Guy Merchand, Alice Butand, Marie-France Pisier 


Anna has just left Paul who, annihilated by the separation, moves back with his father in Paris. His younger brother Jonathan, a casual student, still lives in his father's apartment and spends most of his time womanizing and fooling around. But what this apparent lightness conceals is a deep wound. Jonathan, in fact, has never been able to overcome the death of his beloved sister. Meanwhile Paul sinks into depression.