Greetings again from the darkness. Writer-director Van Maximilian Carlson and co-writer A. Shawn Austin touch on a wide variety of controversial topics in this one: PTSD, Veterans’ Affairs, homelessness, foster care, social workers, and mental illness. At the heart of...
Greetings again from the darkness. Frank Zappa’s music was never considered mainstream. His songs were rarely played on the radio. In his entire career, he charted one Top 40 song, and that was driven by his daughter. To some, he was known as a political activist and...
Review by James Lindorf From co-producing American Beauty to adapting and directing Towelhead to his latest feature film Uncle Frank Alan Ball has always been interested in exploring family dynamics and their relationship to sexual expression. In His latest film, it...
Review by James Lindorf Writer and Director Joan Carr-Wiggin’s “Getting to Know You” starts simply with a request. When pressured to rekindle an old romance by a married but determined ex, Luke (Rupert Penry Jones, “Black Sails”) asks fellow hotel guest Abby (Natasha...
Greetings again from the darkness. Alan Ball has been behind such high profile projects as Best Picture Oscar winner AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999), “Six Feet Under”, and “True Blood”. This time, he is writer-director-producer for a film that he partially based on his own...
Greetings again from the darkness. Traditionally, an “unauthorized biopic” will contain some of the less-desirable, and often more entertaining aspects of its subject; however, writer-director Gabriel Range (with co-writer Christopher Bell) admit up front that this is...
Review by James Lindorf Josh Duhamel (Transformers) takes his turn behind the camera, making his directorial debut with Buddy Games. A raunchy R-rated comedy he co-wrote with fellow first-timers, Bob Schwartz and Jude Weng. Duhamel was able to pull in a bunch of his...
Greetings again from the darkness. “We don’t use that word.” That is law school student JD’s reaction when someone refers to those like his family as hillbillies. He’s understandably defensive, despite his daily navigations between two distinct worlds. Oscar winning...
TIMO’S WINTER (Inverno, short film, 2020) Greetings again from the darkness. This 15 minute short film from Italy follows young Timo as he and his family face tragedy during the winter season. Writer-director Giulio Mastromauro has been making short films since 2012,...
Review by James Lindorf Making his feature film debut with “Team Marco” is director Julio Vincent Gambuto who also co-wrote the film with B.R. Uzun. “Team Marco” has been shown at over 50 film festivals before it hit digital platforms this weekend. It won the audience...