SlamDance 2023 “Our Males and Females”: Cultural Bridges and Generational Tunnels
And I wanted more, so much more of this child and these parents. Continue reading SlamDance 2023 “Our Males and Females”: Cultural Bridges and Generational Tunnels
Category: Movie Review
‘Raymond Lewis: L.A. Legend’ is the Greatest Basketball Player You’ve Never Seen
Raymond Lewis: L.A. Legend Rating: 7/10 Directors and Writers: Ryan Polomski and Dean Prator Style: Documentary Time: 82 minutes Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NzNpikx070 Review by Mike Szymanski Los Angeles is definitely a city of secrets and after more than three decades here, I’m constantly finding out more about the people and potential stars that came from the city, but never made it as a household name. For example, … Continue reading ‘Raymond Lewis: L.A. Legend’ is the Greatest Basketball Player You’ve Never Seen
‘Razzennest’ Is the Funniest, Scariest Movie You’ll Ever Listen To
Razzennest Rating: 7/10 Director: Johannes Grenzfurthner Writer: Johannes Grenzfurthner Style: Comedy/Horror/Satire Time: 81 minutes Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIuF40DRsXI Review by Mike Szymanski Just when you think all the innovative stuff was done involving found-footage films, or all-devices movies, there comes something truly unique and innovative that will bite you in the fettasna and tickle your roligben. That’s this movie “Razzennest” which is German for “rat’s nest” but it also incorporates Swedish … Continue reading ‘Razzennest’ Is the Funniest, Scariest Movie You’ll Ever Listen To
Capping Off Bruce Willis’s Action Career with Satisfying ‘Independence’
Detective Knight: Independence Rating: 9/10 Director: Edward John Drake Writer: Edward John Drake Style: Action/Crime Thriller Time: 90 minutes Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt-hyQE-sIA Rated: R Review by Mike Szymanski This crime thriller trilogy of the Detective Knight series is a fitting finale to Bruce Willis’s action movie career. Of course, everyone hopes and expects Willis to conquer his aphasia, which is a language disorder that affects a person’s … Continue reading Capping Off Bruce Willis’s Action Career with Satisfying ‘Independence’
Bruce Willis Gets Redeemed in One of his Final Films: ‘Detective Knight: Redemption’
Detective Knight: Redemption Rating: 8/10 Director: Edward John Drake Writers: Edward John Drake and Corey Large Style: Action/Crime Thriller Time: 93 minutes Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXMbkKzvpHY Rated: R Review by Mike Szymanski This second in the Detective Knight trilogy, perhaps Bruce Willis’s last film role, is called “Redemption.” In the first part, “Rogue,” the celebrated Willis’s character Detective Knight is in prison for murdering the bad guys, Winna … Continue reading Bruce Willis Gets Redeemed in One of his Final Films: ‘Detective Knight: Redemption’
My Sister Liv: Exactly What We Need More of In Film
Very few movies cut you open so finely so soon just by knowing the downward drop of the third act. This is one of them. And what’s for better and for worse is that it’s a documentary. The real evidence of a young life, crashing into the colorless void, not because it was time but because the passing of time was too much. By Austin … Continue reading My Sister Liv: Exactly What We Need More of In Film
You Will Want to Give in to These ‘Toxic Impulses’
Toxic Impulses Rating: 8/10 Director: Kyle Schadt Writer: Kyle Schadt Style: Thriller Time: 89 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peAqVQjqspU Review by Mike Szymanski “Toxic Impulses” is truly one of the best examples of a modern film noir thriller than any movie that has been made in a long time. Film noir (or “dark film” in French) is characterized by stark lighting, unkempt anti-heroes, twisting plot lines, and heavy … Continue reading You Will Want to Give in to These ‘Toxic Impulses’
A Washed-Up Rock Star Hiding from the World Realizes He’s ‘Lost Inside’
Lost Inside Rating: 8/10 Director: Jeff Hindenach Writer: Jeff Hindenach Style: Drama Time: 95 minutes Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ipVr5C6Yws Review by Mike Szymanski “Lost Inside” delves into the feelings of isolation and loneliness we all get, whether famous or never famous. It’s labeled a drama, but it’s very funny, too. We’ve all dealt with isolation during these years of the pandemic, but for this movie it’s more than … Continue reading A Washed-Up Rock Star Hiding from the World Realizes He’s ‘Lost Inside’
Dramatic Steps to Tell ‘An American Ballet Story’ No One Knows
An American Ballet Story Rating: 7/10 Director and Writer: Leslie Streit Style: Documentary Time: 94 minutes Trailer: vimeo.com/672952777 Review by Mike Szymanski Even if you are a dance aficionado you may not have heard of Harkness Ballet. Even if you are — or were — a professional dancer (and I know more than just a few) you probably never heard of Rebekah Harkness, who founded that … Continue reading Dramatic Steps to Tell ‘An American Ballet Story’ No One Knows
‘The Whole Lot’ Has a Whole Lot Going for It
The Whole Lot Rating: 7/10 Director: Connor Rickman Writer: Matthew Ivan Bennett Style: Drama Time: 75 minutes By Mike Szymanski Don’t pick a character that you like or relate to early on in this family drama. Chances are, you may change your mind about him or her pretty quickly, and many times in this twisting reunion of brother and sister. “The Whole Lot” really has … Continue reading ‘The Whole Lot’ Has a Whole Lot Going for It
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Flies Higher Than The Original
Top Gun: Maverick Rating: 10/10 Director: Joseph Kosinski Writer: Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie Style: Drama Time: 137 minutes Rated: PG-13 By Mike Szymanski Sequels are usually never better than the first. In fact, most of them pale in comparison to the original film.Some notable exceptions may be the second “Alien” movie (“Aliens”), or “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” and many saythey loved … Continue reading ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Flies Higher Than The Original
If You Dream of Getting into The Industry, This is a Must-See: ‘Movie Money CONFIDENTIAL
Movie Money CONFIDENTIAL Rating: 10/10 Director and Writer: Rick Pamplin. Style: Documentary Time: 101 minutes by Mike Szymanski This is a subject I know a lot about. Not only have I taken a lot of classes about the film industry, and have two bookcases full of dusty books about breaking into the business, but I’ve watched the plethora of how-to documentaries that parse out secrets … Continue reading If You Dream of Getting into The Industry, This is a Must-See: ‘Movie Money CONFIDENTIAL
We Are All One Step Away from ‘One Road to Quartzsite
One Road to Quartzsite Rating: 7/10 Director and Writer: Ryan Maxey Written by: Ryan Maxey, Josh Polon, Sophie Hardeman Style: Documentary Time: 105 minutes Official Site: https://www.facebook.com/quartzsitefilm By Mike Szymanski I loved the 2021 Best Picture winner “Nomadland” partly because it was a bit frightening. It came out while the world was quarantined and in the middle of the pandemic, and I felt like I … Continue reading We Are All One Step Away from ‘One Road to Quartzsite
The Heart-Ache in ‘Stay Awake’ Focuses on How Two Brothers Deal with It
Stay Awake Rating: 8/10 Director & Screenwriter: Jamie Sisley Style: Family Drama Time: 94 minutes By Mike Szymanski Although the disease of addiction is rampant throughout small communities throughout America, very few films have truly captured the pain and angst of what it does inside a family than in “Stay Awake.” The frustrations of the two brothers in the movie are issues that anyone can … Continue reading The Heart-Ache in ‘Stay Awake’ Focuses on How Two Brothers Deal with It
When Getting ‘Crabs!’ Is A Good Thing: A Succulent Horror-Comedy To Get Your Claws Into
Crabs! Rating: 10/10 Director & Screenwriter: Pierce Berolzheimer Style: Horror/Comedy Time: 80 minutes By Mike Szymanski Lately — well at least for the past two years — it is very rare that I laugh out loud over a movie, and this one had me doing it from the first scene. So thank you “Crabs!” for getting me to giggle in this strange and unfunny times. … Continue reading When Getting ‘Crabs!’ Is A Good Thing: A Succulent Horror-Comedy To Get Your Claws Into
Try Harder Film Review
By: Vernon Nickerson At Lowell High School, the top-ranked public high school in San Francisco,the seniors are stressed out and I can can relate. “Try Harder” shows the unbelievable pressure students are under to achieve their dream, but sometimes it’s not their dream but their parents. There is a parallel of what these students went through and what I went through in my earlier academic … Continue reading Try Harder Film Review
Review of Days of Rage:Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol | Visual Investigations
Rarely does a k-12 Social Studies certificated education professional dual-credentialled ( in-progress) in Special Education have the honor of reviewing a documentary that has a current mainstream narrative. I am grateful that the stars aligned– Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol | Visual Investigations is the documentary; I am the teacher. Based upon a six-month-long investigative process which yielded never-before-seen footage, … Continue reading Review of Days of Rage:Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol | Visual Investigations
A Simple Indie Film Filled with Tears, Drama and Silence in “Lotawana”
By Mike Szymanski Sometimes a true “Film” is about filmmaking, not the dialogue. A lot of silence permeates this moody, picturesque film that’s an impressive first feature by Trevor Hawkins. Every scene, every camera shot, every moment is a piece of art, framed in nature and natural surroundings as we follow this couple who live on a sailboat, and take life where the wind send … Continue reading A Simple Indie Film Filled with Tears, Drama and Silence in “Lotawana”
Inheritance Italian Style
By Mike Szymanski Think of “Inheritance Italian Style” as like a dark comedy melodrama with wacky characters, over-the-top acting, and unpredictable liaisons all set in a beautiful countryside estate. It’s enjoyable, heart-felt, ridiculous, sad, and funny. Five sisters come together to discuss the dividing up of the family furniture well before their parents are gone in a large villa in Sicily. The countryside and the … Continue reading Inheritance Italian Style
“American morning” Speaks To America’s Tragedy
By Monteque Pope-Le Beau The story of “American Morning” takes place in the present as it take us on a on a journey through Connor Mathis (Stephen Dexter) tragic experience. A small-town elementary school music teacher who survived a mass shooting at his elementary school that killed 27 children which happened two years ago. In today’s continuing debate about the gun control of assault rifles … Continue reading “American morning” Speaks To America’s Tragedy
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