Living for the Cinema

What happens when you take two comedy legends and place them in prison?? :o  Well in this particular case, in their second of four collaborations, you have Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles) paired up with Richard Pryor (Bustin Loose, Brewster's Millions, Blue Collar) paired up as two out-of-work-actors who end up in the wrong place and the wrong time and are convicted of a bank heist which they did not commit.  As a result, they are both sent to a southwestern prison where they team up with other prisoners to eventually escape via the opportunity of a prison rodeo....and HILARITY ensues!  Directed by the late great Oscar-winner Sidney Poitier (yes THAT Sidney Poitier...he was also a director), let's see how this smash hit comedy blockbuster from a different time (forty-five years ago to be exact) holds up.....

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Legendary auteur Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Time Bandits, The Fisher King, Monty Python & the Holy Grail) directs this time-bending sci-fi thriller focusing on one man's unique journey to the past to save the future.  That man is James Cole (Bruce Willis) who is currently living in a dystopian 2035 so ravaged by disease that no humans can actually live on the surface of the Earth so he has been tasked by scientists to travel back to the 1990's in Philadelphia to pinpoint the very beginning of a fatal virus which would eventually spread and wipe out most of the Earth's population.  As would be expected, several complications occur along the way including being commited to a mental facility where he meets the mad son (Brad Pitt who received an Oscar nomination for his performance) of a reknowned virologist (Christopher Plummer).  And he also encounters a therapist (Madeline Stowe) who initially believes him to be crazy though they build a unique relationshiop over time.  Co-written by David Webb Peoples (the Oscar-nominated writer of Unforgiven and Blade Runner), this dizzying tale takes features several dizzying turns carried by sterling performances.  

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Throughout his storied career, the legendary Steven Soderbergh has directed a wide array of highly acclaimed films and/or hits (Out of Sight, Ocean's 11, Magic Mike, Black Bag, Logan Lucky, Contagion, Sex, Lies, & Videotape) and THIS is the film which earned him his only Oscar for Best Director in 2000.  This was actually one of two films (the other being Erin Brockovich) which he was nominated for in 2000 which turned out to be a TRULY stellar year for him!  It's a sprawling story about the American "War on Drugs" during the late '90's, focusing on several different characters on different sides of the law and various levels of the drug trade including two DEA agents (Don Cheadle, Luis Guzman), a judge who has just been appointed the National Drug Czar (Michael Douglas), the wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) of a suspected drug dealer (Steven Bauer), that couple's conniving attorney (Dennis Quaid), a teenager (Erika Christiansen) who becomes addicted to crack, and one conflicted Mexican cop (Benicio Del Toro who won an Oscar for his performance).  It's a complex story delving into a lot of moral grey areas and it's a testament to all of the talent involved (including Oscar-winning writer Stephen Gaghan) that this film was not only highly acclaimed but also a word-of-mouth blockbuster with audiences at the time of release.  However twenty-five years later, it is not often mentioned by many as among Soderbergh's best....so how does this ambitious ensemble hold up?  Let's find out if any one gets away clean.....

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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He'll Save Every One Of Us....

Yes it's the story of Flash Gordon (Sam Jones), the fictitious quarterback of the New York Jets who inadverdently travels into deep space with intrepid travel agent Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) and crazy-but-misunderstood scientest Dr. Hans Zarkov).  They land on the mysterious planet of Mongo which is ruled by the vicious Emperor Ming (Max von Sydow) who intends to destroy Earth. :o And together, they embark on a crazy sci-fi adventure to try to save their home planet while also encountering various local leaders who may OR may not be able to help them including Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton), Princess Aura (Ornella Muti), and the boisterous Prince Vultan (Brian Blessed).  Forty-five years ago, this comic book adaptation was released into theaters with much fanfare by famous producer Dino DeLaurentis (Serpico, Blue Velvet, Conan the Barbarian, Hannibal) who was hoping that this big budget enterprise would duplicate the success of Star Wars which had come out just three years prior.  Disappointingly, the film received weak box office and weak reviews upon initial release but eventually would grow to be a beloved cult classic on cable and video.....with much of its success due to a slam-bang soundtrack by the band Queen!  And now its legacy lives on very much due to some VERY catchy music featured throughout including the now iconic main theme song perfomed by the band.  Directed by the late, great Mike Hodges (Get Carter, Croupier), it's time to head back to Ming City on our rocket cycle and.......DIIIIIIVE!!!!!

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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"Following the style of some of the world's most prolific street artists, an amateur filmmaker makes a foray into the art world." 

That's the official IMDB description for this Oscar-nominated documentary but does that even really describe it?  Well.....sort of.  The amateur filmmaker described is likely Theirry Guetta, a French clothing shop-owner in Los Angeles who never goes anywhere without his camera and we initially seem to follow him as he takes a very strong interest in graffiti artists.  So he starts to film various reknowned streets artists in action including Shephard Fairey, Space Invader, Borf, Buffmontster, and eventually.....the legendary Banksy.  He builds a relationship with Banksy, decides to film some exciting new acts of street art and then things get increasingly interesting....AND funny! :)  Well as it turns out, Banksy himself is the ACTUAL director of this film, Theirry Guetta MIGHT be the actual star, it's all wittily narrated by Welsh actor Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, House of the Dragon), and what results could actually be one of the funniest (yet still insightful) documentaries of all time. ;) 

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Sixteen years after the previous film (The Godfather Part II) in this saga won him Oscars for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture...Oscar-winning legend Francis Ford Coppola (Apocolypse Now, Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Conversation) returned to both co-write and direct this final entry in the beloved sage of The Corleone Family.  And this time around even though the film was nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture, it didn't win any.....and the consensus was that it was below the quality for the first two despite including acclaimed performances by its three main stars including Al Pacino (who returned to play Michael Corleone), the late, great Diane Keaton (who returned to play Kay Corleone), and Oscar-nominated Andy Garcia who played Michael's nephew Vincent.  Infact, it was considered by many to be by far the weakest film in the trilogy.  So thirty years later during an extended COVID lock-down, Coppola decided re-edit Part III and by the end of 2020, a newly reworked version was released to both theaters and streaming.  Celebrating The Godfather Part III's 35th Anniversary, we will review this latest version to find out how or IF it improves upon the original version released on Christmas of 1990.   

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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In honor of its upcoming 30th Anniversary next month, here is our newly remastered (with additional content) review of one of The Greatest Films Ever!

“Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner….” – Neil McCauley, 1995

And that’s the apparent thesis for one of the most beloved films of the past thirty years spoken by living legend Robert DeNiro sitting across from fellow living legend Al Pacino.  Or is it really the main theme of the movie?  Maybe it’s just something cool-sounding that a tough guy says but doesn’t really follow through on….director Michael Mann examines that very question among so many others during this almost three hour crime epic focusing on the brewing conflict between two self-obsessed master tacticians on both sides of the law…and the women who love them….along with every one else whose lives they impact.  This STACKED cast also includes Val Kilmer, Diana Venora, Amy Brenneman, Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Wes Studi, Dennis Haysbert, Mykelti Williamson, Danny Trejo, and Ted Levine among SO many others.  Let’s find out if The Action Really IS The Juice…..

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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In 1930's Mississippi, three escaped convicts go on the run into the country to find freedom and treasure - they are Everett (George Clooney), Pete (John Turturro), and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) and along the way, they have a variety of adventures encountering any number of interesting characters.  LOOSELY based on Homer's The Odyssey, this was co-written and directed by the Coen Brothers (The Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men) and unexpectedly became their biggest hit at the time.  Not only that but the bluegrass soundtrack produced by T-Bone Burnett became a surprise smash.  So let's hit the road with The Soggy Bottom Boys and find out who's BONAFIED.! :)  

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) is a tomboyish FBI agent who is tasked with having to infiltrate the Miss United States beauty pageant as a contestant (Miss New Jersey) in order to prevent the threat of a bomb attack from a mysterious terrorist.....and HILARITY ensues! :)  Actually in this case it did as twenty-five years ago, this became a surprise comedy blockbuster and pretty much cemented the since-then Oscar-winning Sandra Bullock as one of our most popular movie starts in the decades since.  And she doesn't do it alone either: the stacked cast includes Benjamin Bratt, Michael Caine, Candace Bergen, and William Shatner.  Directed by Donald Petrie (How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, Mystic Pizza, Grumpy Old Men), let's return back to a simpler time when swimsuit competitions were actually something folks watched on TV and....bikini wax jokes were still funny. ;) 

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Based upon the 1982 Stephen King sci-fi novel of the same name, this dystopian action thriller takes place in a not-too-distant-future where just a few select corporations run everything and one of them controls most of the entertainment, including THE most popular show on TV, "The Running Man."  Our beleaguered hero Ben Richards (Glenn Powell) enlists for this high-stakes reality show which involves him...you guessed it....on the run from various "hunters" who are seeking out him with plans to kill him, anywhere in the country.  Directed by acclaimed genre filmmaker Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), this is NOT a remake of the 1987 cult classic of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.  (Though that film was a loose adaptation of the same novel)  And it features LOTS and LOTS of running, go figure! :) Also among the stacked cast are Josh Brolin, Jayme Lawson, Colman Domingo, Michael Cera, and Lee Pace. 

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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