The Lair of the Movie Man - Reviews, Previews, Blogs, and More

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens  Nominated for 5 Academy Awards = Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Original Score (John Williams), Best Visual Effects Nominated for 11 MTV Movie Awards = Best Movie, Best Female Performance (Daisy Ridley), Best Breakthrough Performances (Daisy Ridley & John Boyega), Best Ensemble Cast, Best Virtual Performances (Andy Serkis & Lupita Wyong’o), Best Hero (Daisy Ridley), Best Action Performance (John Boyega), Best Villain (Adam Driver), Best Fight (Daisy Ridley vs. Adam Driver)  I think I’m going to get a lot of flack for this, but let me start the review by getting it off my chest: “YAHOO!! George Lucas has finally done it. He's redeemed the series back to it's former glory.” O.K. That’s over with, back to my review. It has been ten years since Lucas gave us “Revenge of the Sith”, a movie that was surprisingly not bad as people claimed it to be (but then again the prequel trilogy w...

DEADPOOL Nominated for 8 MTV Movie Awards = Best Movie, Best Male Performance (Ryan Reynolds), Best Female Performance (Morena Baccarin), Best Comedic Performance (Ryan Reynolds), Best Female Performance (Morena Baccarat & Ryan Reynolds), Best Villain (Ed Skrein), Best Action Performance (Ryan Reynolds), Best Fight (Ryan Reynolds vs. Ed Skrein) Running time:  108 minutes Rated: R (for strong violence and language throughout; sexual content and graphic nudity) Distributed by: 20th Century Fox/Marvel Entertainment Release Date: February 12, 2016 After years in the making, the Marvel comic property “Deadpool” finally graces the big screen in all its fantastic glory. However it is a unique take on the superhero genre for two reasons: 1) it’s an action comedy and 2) unlike most superhero flicks nowadays that garner a PG-13 rating (ahem, looking at you Disney), this one delivers a hard R that does deliver when it comes to foul language and plenty of gore. It gai...

CAROL Nominated for 5 Golden Globe Awards = Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Actresses (Cate Blanchett & Rooney Mara), Best Director (Todd Haynes), Best Original Score (Carter Burwell) Nominated for 6 Academy Awards = Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara), Best Adapted Screenplay (Phylis Nagy), Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score (Carter Burwell) Nominated for 2 SAG Awards = Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara) Release Dates:      November 20, 2015 (limited)                              January 15, 2016 (wide) Starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson, Jake Lacy Genre: Drama Rated: R (for a scene of sexuality/nudity and brief language) Running time: 118 minutes Todd Haynes’ latest screen effort evokes that of a prior film in which he directed: 2003’s “...

HE NAMED ME MALALA  Release Date: October 2, 2015 (Limited), October 9, 2015 (Wide) Starring: Malala Yousafzi Genre: Documentary Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements involving disturbing images and threats) Running time: 87 minutes Malala Yousafzai, the young girl from the Pakastani Swat Valley area, is the primary focus of Davis Guggheim’s latest documentary. She was the girl that was shot in the head by the Taliban for daring to suggest that women should be allowed to go to school and have a chance at a descent education. She survived the assassination attempt, but suffered permanent damage to the left side of her face. The movie does work as a documentary, and it’s an important one that everyone should see, but it feels to me that it only scratches the surface of the context. The movie’s title “He Named Me Malala” has both a influential and political meaning: her father named her Malalai who, from Afghan folk lore, rallied the locals into fighting t...

Release Date: August 28, 2015 Starring: T.C. Stallings, Priscilla Shrier, Alana Pitts, Karen Abercrombie, Michael Jr., Alex Kendrick Rated: PG Running time: 120 minutes Released thru: TriStar Pictures The Kendrick Brothers are back….and hold on, they’re not done with their preachin’ message yet. There’s no denying that they’re an unstoppable force in the Christian film market right now. Their first film, “Flywheel” was made for a paltry $25,000. “Facing the Giants”, “Fireproof” and “Courageous” soon followed. Essentially one in the same message, their films deal with repairing the structure of broken homes. Now, they’re back with their fifth film “War Room” and the plot is about, you guessed it, repairing a broken home through the power of God and Jesus Christ. This film can be essentially “Fireproof 2”, however with a completely different cast and focusing on a different family. Their latest effort centers on the Jordan family, who have been married for...

With the summer movie season over and the fall movie season beginning, I was thinking a survey was in order. It’s a great way to find out who’s been seeing what (and if anyone’s out there checking my blog posts). Answer this simple question and give me feedback. I’ll try and post more stuff on either a daily or weekly basis. Facebook poll: What was your best movie this summer.? Vote here

As my first student film nears the production phase, I’ve got much to celebrate. Hopefully, this short update will help out. First off, I’ve got the cast: the cast will be mostly made up of DVC students at this point. Without ado the cast are as follows: Robert Black will play the role of the male protagonist Trent, Cassie Moronez will be the female protagonist of Chloe, Alexander Patrick will play the role of Brad, Trent’s roommate, and Lindsay Nicole Perino will play the role of Jessica the waitress. Second, the script is LOCKED and has been approved and we are doing our first table read Monday. We might do the read-through twice just to have the actors get familiar to the characters they will be playing. Third: Locations. We currently have four of our five locations. We are waiting for one final one. Fourth: the date of filming. I shared the dates with my producer/production assistant and production will begin this Wednesday, April 29th and will continue until n...