Category Archives: Movies
Ghost In The Shell Is A Visual Splendor
Twenty-two years ago, Japanese director Mamoru Oshii introduced audiences worldwide to a dystopian future, where humankind has become reliant on cyber-enhancements and virtual terrorism thrives.
Check out the full-story at Salute Magazine
Bottom line, if you enjoyed the original, you will love seeing this movie brought to life. However, a word of advice, although it has a PG-13 rating, the film and its subject matter will go over the head of some underdeveloped minds.
It’s not bloody and there is no sex or outlandish language, but the story itself is about cybernetics, the human “soul” and the evolution of our consumerist ways. It’s like telling a 9-year-old to read Nietzsche, it’s just not going to happen.
5 Things to Love and Hate about Jurassic World
The newest chapter in the Jurassic Park saga follows two brothers who return back to Isla Vida years after the park has been developed into a state-of-the-art facility where dinosaurs are put on display as a public spectacle.
Warning the following contains some spoilers, but I do my best to try and keep them at a minimum.
Rockatansky Rides Again
With gossip blogs buzzing over what is perhaps one of Director George Miller’s best scripted and best cast films, I figured I’d throw my two cents on the latest chapter into the world of Mad Max Rockatansky and the chick-heavy casting choices.
Until I did some research I was unaware that Miller “decided that the reboot will take place in the post-apocalyptic Australia, years after the new Max (Tom Hardy) lost his family, because he did not wish to do a remake or retell the story that had already been told and had wanted to update the universe and the wasteland and wanted new moviegoers to remember Max as a man with nothing to lose after losing his family,” according to IMDB.
This really peaked my interest, so much so that I started to rewatch the old Mel Gibson ones to better understand this dystopian universe.
Sour Grapes Over Bad ‘Chappie’ Reviews
In this digital age, a lot of the public weighs so heavily on the scores of critics, when in fact the scores of reviewers themselves seem to depict a more objective outlook than those of some of the most highly regarded film critics and cinema snobs in the world.
Take, for instance, the movie “Chappie” which opened earlier this week to audiences all over the country. After having to coerce both my parents into seeing the film, each one of us agreed that while it was not the “blockbuster” that rakes in the dough, it was incredibly well made, had a dynamic plot and a colorful selection of characters who peter back-and-forth between good and evil.
Queens World Film Festival Returns This March
Beginning next week, the fifth annual Queens World Film Festival will showcase 117 short and feature films – 19 made here in Queens – with daily screenings at the Museum of Moving Image in Astoria, the Secret Theatre in Long Island City and PS 69 in Jackson Heights.
Kicking off the week-long film competition, the museum will feature a special opening night tribute on March 17, to Leon Ichaso, a Los Angeles-based director of such groundbreaking films as “El Super,” “Crossover Dreams” and “Paraiso.” He will be presented with the “Spirit of Queens” award from Cynthia Lopez, commissioner with the Mayor’s office for media and entertainment. Ichaso will also be at the museum on March 18 to present his latest film, “Bitter Sugar,” which chronicles the political disillusionment of a Cuban revolutionary.
This story originally appeared in the March 12, 2015 edition of the Queens Tribune.
Flash Mob Feature Film: Avi’s Farewell Tour
Avi Ghandi, owner of Center Lane Stationary in Levittown
Over the summer, more than 100 loyal customers from all across Long Island and beyond, lined up outside the Center Lane Stationary store in Levittown to surprise one of their favorite local business owners, Avi Ghandi.
Operating the Center Lane stationary store for the past ten years, Avi has left a memorable impression on many of the residents of the Levittown community and beyond, with his smiling demeanor and never-ending supply of stories.
So, to show Avi just how much he means to the Levittown community, former Long Islanders Celeste-Hamilton Dennis and her husband Craig orchestrated a “cash” mob to try and help clear out his inventory and help send Avi out in style before Center Lane Stationary shutters its doors.
This story originally appeared on LongIslandWeekly.com on Oct. 2, 2014
2012 Oscar Picks
With five weeks to go till the Feb. 26 broadcast, the buzz is flowing… and the question on everyone’s mind is who will win.
Here are some of my predictions for the 2012 oscars:
- Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
- Best Actor in a Leading Role: Jean Dujardin for The Artist
- Best Picture: The Artist
Photo: Slate.com
With its nostalgic black and white filming and its lack of spoken dialogue, this film could easy be mistaken with a lost work of Fritz Lang or Charlie Chaplin. A movie within a movie, the Artist looks on a motion picture celebrity who falls head over heals for a woman he jokingly pulled from the crowd. While the featured actors, Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, aren’t the most well known (which I can guarantee you they will be after this film), the movie features a few scenes with well-known actors like John Goodman, James Cromwell, and Malcolm McDowell. Yes it is entirely silent… and sure maybe its no big production value, but it’s a classy well done movie that I recommend highly.
