"Wealth, Travel, Fame…I can take you to movies that have all of that." -Me and Orson Welles
It’s rare these days to not be able to predict the end of a movie, especially one that appears to be formulaic, but I can assure you, you won’t know...
“Civil War” is about a journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time...
Documentary Explores Legendary Dancer Who Ignited Flames of the 1960s Sexual Revolution; Dallas’s Top Burlesque Dancers With Minxe Mimieux As The Lead...
When there’s something strange in the neighborhood, who you gonna call? It’s the newest sequel to an 80’s classic, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”....
“When the love of Maddie’s life gets engaged to her best friend, she puts her feelings aside to be a bridesmaid at their wedding in Ireland.”...
“The Half of It” is a very interesting take on the classic “Cyrano de Bergerac”. Set in Washington state instead of France and replacing the soldiers and nobles with high school students, “The Half of It” looks like another Netflix winner.
Check out my review of the new Netflix drama and the DVD/Blu-Ray release of “Underwater”.
“The Half of It” is available on Netflix May 1.
“Underwater” is available on Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital
You can now purchase “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD and Digital HD!
Picking up where “The Force Awakens” left off, Rey (Daisy Ridley) has located Skywalker and hopes to learn Jedi skills from him. Skywalker is extremely reluctant to train Rey in the ways of The Force because of his past experience with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).
While this drama and back story are unfolding, we have another story in another galaxy far, far away, where the rebels are under attack by forces led by the evil Snoke, Kylo Ren and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). Ace fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) leads a daring attack on a First Order dreadnought, against the orders of Leia (Carrie Fisher). Weakened, the rebels must retreat under close pursuit by the First Order fleet.
Finn (John Boyega) wakes up and immediately gets into trouble after several desperate plans cooked up by him, Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) are attempted. Another interesting new character is DJ (Benicio Del Toro) a devious hacker and thief. Laura Dern puts in a memorable performance as heroic fleet admiral Holdo.
With all that’s going on, the movie sounds like it’s all over the place, but the story is compelling and there are some solid characters to follow on this journey through many twists and turns. The acting is solid, and of course, great visual effects.
Relive the adventure in the comfort of your own home along with tons of additional content!
Bonus features include:
The Director and the Jedi – Go deep behind the scenes with writer-director Rian Johnson on an intimate and personal journey through the production of the movie—and experience what it’s like to helm a global franchise and cultural phenomenon.
Balance of the Force – Explore the mythology of the Force and why Rian Johnson chose to interpret its role in such a unique way.
Scene Breakdowns
Andy Serkis Live! (One Night Only) – Writer-director Rian Johnson presents two exclusive sequences from the movie featuring Andy Serkis’ riveting, raw on-set performance before his digital makeover into Snoke.
Deleted Scenes – With an introduction and optional commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.
Audio Commentary – View the movie with in-depth feature audio commentary by writer-director Rian Johnson.
This film begins with the thought of a slow, dragged out trip in the dessert. But as it continues, Zaytoun shows an intriguing amount of character development that eventually leads to a beautiful friendship.
Set in Beirut, during the war of 1982, Fahed (Abdallah El Akal), a 12-year-old Palestinian refugee meets Yoni (Stephen Dorff), a 30-year-old Israeli combat pilot when he is captured by the Palestine army. The two immediately despise each other and Fahed is especially bitter after the death of his father, who died as a martyr protecting his family.
Before Fahed’s father died, he took great care of a barely surviving olive (known as zaytoun in Arabic) tree. Fahed’s one wish is to plant the tree in the family’s ancestral village that is now located in Israel so that he may memorialize his father. With Yoni desperate to escape his prisoner’s cell, the two find common ground and decide they would be beneficial to each other. Fahed agrees to let Yoni out, still in chains, only if he can guarantee him entrance to the Israeli border. Once the two begin their long journey, the road traveled isn’t an easy one. They stumble upon many problems, including the police, car troubles, and the constant worry of whether or not the other one is trustworthy.
Truthfully, this friendship is about as improbable as they come. I don’t know if planting a tree would necessarily warrant a moment of truce for two people that are fighting for opposing countries. However unlikely the plot may be, the story ends up working really well. It might be because the two maintain a love/hate relationship through out the film, or it may be because it is hard to believe anyone would turn on an innocent kid even if he is technically your enemy. But I’m going to go with the most obvious fact; the performances by Dorff and Akal are outstanding and give this film plenty to work with for an extended amount of time. The transformation of these characters is subtle, but as it continues the audience begins to believe in their relationship more and more, and it isn’t long before you will also be touched by it.
Spoken in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, Zaytoun provides originality, terrific acting, and a heartfelt premise.
Zaytoun is out on DVD February 18th.
Originally posted on RedCarpetCrash.com
Out of all the documentaries I have seen this year, Momo: The Sam Gianca Story, would not be my top recommendation. Don’t get me wrong, this is a fantastic documentary and absolutely worth the watch for the shocking details alone. The film tends to drag bit, and is more informative than emotionally impacting. It’s a documentary about the infamous Chicago mob boss, Sam Giancana. The narration is done by two of Sam’s loving daughters, Bonnie Giancana and Fran Giancana, who are now both in their sixties. They are speaking about their father publicly for the first time in 30 years, and present audiences with never-before-revealed insight into Sam when he was at home.
Sam ran the Chicago Outfit from the late 50’s to the early sixties. He had a long running relationship with famous singer, Phyllis McGuire, from the McGuire Sisters. He had three daughters that he raised and adored very much. He was also best friends with Frank Sinatra.
Given his abusive background from his own father, Sam proved to be nothing like his old man when raising his little girls. Sam’s daughters loved their father, which is shocking that this man could be two totally different guys at once. Half the time he was a loving dad, while the other half he was one of the coldest hearted bosses ever to run Chicago.
Director, Dimitri Logothetis (Champions Forever, The Lost Angel), does a great job of not only showing us the two sides to Sam, but also revealing secrets about his life that I would have never known. Including how Sam helped John F. Kennedy get elected President by swinging several Midwest and eastern states. He was also hired by the CIA to assassinate Fidel Castro.
Just from the batch of documentaries this year, if you want an informative and gripping documentary that will literally haunt you even after it is over, watch God Love Uganda. However, you will still be pleased with Momo: The Sam Giancana Story.
Available on DVD and Streaming on November 19th
Originally posted on RedCarpetCrash.com