THE REVIEW CORNER

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, Taliah Webster, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Barkhad Abdi Directed by: Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie Screenplay by: Ronald Bronstein and and Josh Safdie     The title for the movie might be Good Time, but the characters have anything but a good time in this film.  Nick and Constantine Nikas (Benny Safdie and Robert Pattinson respectively) are brothers who go on the occasional bank robbery.  When one goes wrong, Nick gets caught and sent to Rikers Island, a prison just outside of Queens, NY.  Nick suffers from some intellectual disabilities, for which he gets help, but Constantine wants to get him out of Rikers Island as soon as possible before something horrible happens to him inside the prison.  Constantine hears that he might be in a hospital elsewhere in Queens after potentially suffering injuries in the prison.  If Constantine is going to break him out, that's the place to do it.  Well, unfortunatel...

Starring: Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara Directed by: David Lowery Screenplay by: David Lowery     In theory, a film about a ghost lurking in the background much of the time should be a horror movie; one that should terrify you to the core (or not).  It might be a film that one thinks little of upon leaving the theater at the film's end.  Or it might be a film that sticks with audiences long after they leave.   A Ghost Story is a film that leaves the viewer unsure of what to think.     Casey Affleck plays a character only known as C.  Rooney Mara plays a character only known as M.  They are clearly in a relationship and living together, very much in love.  The film begins as they are trying to build their life together, but it comes to a tragic and crashing end when C is killed in a car accident appearing to be not far from the house.  M, seemingly unsure of how to deal with this sudden and shocking loss remains calm and some...

     Lots of film festivals lately!  Yes folks, I've been to another one showcasing short films.  I love short films.  Short films are amazing things.  A short film can do a number of things; it can showcase a particular scene and make that the central focus or even the entirety of the short film, or it can challenge the filmmaker.  It can challenge him or her by forcing him or her to condense a story into a short span of time.  It can challenge the filmmaker to develop a story, whether it be complex or simple, in a short amount of time.  I am often amazed by short films and the power they can have on the viewer.  HollyShorts is a big film festival here in Los Angeles.  It's an Academy Awards qualifier which makes it a very important and competitive festival.  I found the production value of some of these short films to be higher overall than some of the other shorts I've seen at other festivals like Palm Springs or...