Fioravante
decides to become a professional Don Juan as a way of making money to help his
cash-strapped friend, Murray. With Murray acting as his "manager",
the duo quickly finds themselves caught up in the crosscurrents of love and
money. (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)
I liked this film as it featured two of my favorite actors
in John Tuturo who directed andwrote the film, produced by Bill Bock, Paul Hanson, Jeffery Kusama-Hinte
and Woody Allen. The story and the film were very straightforward showing a bit
of the Jewish culture within the New York setting that I found to be very
interesting. The overall premise of the film I felt would come off corny, but
it was charmingly funny and heartfelt and both Turturo and Allen worked well
and even the A-list celebrity’s cameo interacted well within the films dynamic.
So for FADING GIGGALO I give 3 ½ stars as a mildly funny film with a bit of a
message on love and life.
A master auctioneer becomes obsessed with an extremely reclusive
heiress who collects fine art. (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)
THE BEST OFFER is directed and written by Giuseppe Tornatore
and produced by Isabella Cocuzza and Arturo Paglia. From the moment of seeing
the main character with his uptight and peculiar way I knew throughout this
film the story needed to push him to become something else or something new.
The pace of the film accentuated this metamorphosis gradually moving at a pace
that forced the character to adapt rapidly or fail at gaining what he deeply
wanted, which was the love of a woman to share his greatest possessions. BEST
OFFER was shot in a very straightforward way with limited creative flurries in
camera movement allowing all attention to be on the main characters fight to
uncover the truth. So for BEST OFFER I give it 3 stars as it entertained me yet
disappointed me with an ambiguous and sad ending for a character with so much
potential.
Sam Ellis is a man on the
rise - a federal prosecutor on the cusp of a bright political future. But what
was meant to be a one-time experience with a high-end escort instead turns into
a growing addiction. His moral compass unraveling, his new demon threatens to
destroy his life, family and career. (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)
ZIPPER is directed and written by Moa Stehpens and co
written by Joel Viertel, produced by Marina Grasic, Mark Heyman, and Amy
Mitchel-Smith. As one who watches another political drama / thriller entitled
the House of Cards, a series on Netflix, the character motivations seem
familiar. Whether or not you view politicians to be drawn from another cloth
and held to a higher standard I think a great deal of Americans understand
there is a whole other game being played behind closed doors, which in many
ways this film show. The pace of the film was warranted slowly unraveling the
main characters vigilance to his family, wife and career goals only to have
them pushed aside for the desire for high priced anonymous sexual encounters.
As these escapades eroded the main characters value system putting his entire
life in jeopardy you could feel the tension build asking ‘What if he got
caught? The film shot and told in a straightforward manner could have used some
cinematic choices to heighten the viewer’s experience. Overall I gave Zipper 3
stars as an entertaining glimpse of the pressures of political office.
Meeting the right person at
the wrong time can be the best thing that ever happened to you. (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)
THIS ISN’T FUNNY directed by Paul Ashton, written by Paul
Ashton and Katie Page, produced by Paul Ashton, Maria Menounos, Kate Page, and
Lije Sarki. In this film that focuses on the life of a comedian it made me
think of how secretly I would like to be a comedian myself. Yet as the film
continued I realized how his was the story of the span of a relationship of a
man and woman from beginning to well... to where the film ended. I founded it
to be very refreshing that this story unfolded in a completely unexpected way.
Then again who am I to say how a relationship should begin, but it just felt
authentic and of course funny. I enjoyed the pace of the film and understanding
the dynamics of a relationship evolve over time the leaps ahead of the
relationship depicted also felt right, while also packing the most hilarious
situations while still seeming true. Whether you would call this a romantic
comedy or not I felt this story stayed away from the things that ruin most
romantic comedies in that it used real life rather than portraying a fairy tale
and feel good tactics to carry the viewer along. In the end I gave THIS ISN’T
FUNNY 3 1/2 stars as I liked the balanced of humor, pace, and drama in
developing a story about a love relationship.
