Nicky Spurgeon is an extremely accomplished con man who takes an
amateur con artist, Jess, under his wing. Nicky and Jess become romantically
involved, and with Nicky's profession of being a liar and a cheater for a
living, he realizes that deception and love are things that don't go together.
They split, only to see each other three years later... And things get messy.
(Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)
FOCUS is written and directed by Gleen Ficarra and John
Requa and Produced by Denise Di Novi. I had wanted to see this film since
seeing the trailers way back. I felt this was a very entertaining film filled
with this incredible air of sensuality and sexuality due to the chemistry
brought by Will Smith and Margot Robbie. To my memory there hasn’t been
recently a couple that has fired up the screen like that in awhile. Outside of
that the story was rather tight getting to see the underside of a con mans life
was interesting, but very glossy and shiny making it look almost glamorous.
That is cool, yet I would have loved to seen something a little more gritty,
true to life. Overall I felt FOCUS was entertaining so I give it 3 stars.
Harley loves Ilya. He gives her life purpose and sets her
passion ablaze. So, when he asks her to prove her love by slitting her wrists,
she obliges with only mild hesitation, perhaps because of her other
all-consuming love: heroin. (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database).
HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT is Directed by Ben and Joshua Safdie and
written by Ronald Bronstein and Joshua Safdie, produced by Sebastian Bear
McClard and Oscar Boyson. Oddly this is the most interesting film I had seen in
awhile. I would also have to say that I’ve always been fascinated by the
lifestyle of those who live on the street, especially the youth and more
specifically young females. I think to myself going without having a blessing
like a place to live gets taken for granted sometimes, but not to have a place
to call home I wonder how that effects their lives? And not that I would want
to try it out or anything, but that living like that would seem to be so hard.
HEAVEN KNOWS NOT takes this look in a gritty real life manner as we follow our
character Harley in what seems like a span of a few days. Watching this film I
never knew what to expect making me feel like there was danger around every
corner adding tension to the most serine moments. The film was shot in a way
that was intimate with the characters with full screen close ups and in making
the camera a character itself by its positioning. This is in no way a
redemptive story, which I was hoping to see, but in a way it depicts enough of
that lifestyle that it helped me understand the life of living on the street
more, but with no real reason to why someone would if they didn’t have to. As
for HEAVEN KNOWS NOT it gets 4 stars.
Welcome, here is a still from a short film I wrote and co-directed some years back. Can't wait to be back shooting some of the new stuff in the works. Enjoy!
Fresh Dressed chronicles the history of Hip-Hop <> Urban
fashion and its rise from southern cotton plantations to the gangs of 1970s in
the South Bronx, to corporate America, and everywhere in-between. Supported by
rich archival materials and in depth interviews with individuals crucial to the
evolution of a way of life--and the outsiders who studied and admired
them--Fresh Dressed goes to the core of where style was born on the black and
brown side of town. (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database).
FRESH DRESSED is Directed and written by Sacha Jenkins and
produced by Peter Bittenbender and Marcus A. Clarke. I really enjoyed this
documentary type film. Having grown up within the era of a great deal of the
happenings of the film. I can even take it a step further as learning from the
people making moves at that time and starting my own clothing line. I know the
need to be fresh dressed. I liked how they treated the history and held
interviews with some of the more people of that day. I really appreciated the
examination and explanation of the movement of people in the industry and why
so many clothing lines failed to make a profit. I would suggest this film to
anyone looking to enter the clothing industry. For all of those reasons I give
FRESH DRESSED 4 ½ stars.
CASA DI MI PADRE is Directed by Matt Piedmont, written by
Andrew Steele, Produced by Emilio Diez Barroso, Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell,
Darlene Caamano Loquet, Adam McKay, and Kevin J. Messick. Not understanding that
this film would be entirely shot in Spanish I watched without subtitles. I
can’t truly say what the entirety of the film is about, yet the film still had
some funny moments that I could understand. Also seeing Will Ferrell deliver
his lines in Spanish was funny to me as well. Grasping very little of the dialogue
I was forced to pay close attention to how lines were delivered and the
dramatic action, which tipped me off to what was going on. Shot in an old
Hollywood style with large scenes shot on a sound stage I wondered whether the
film was made to be a comedy or not. I saw it as a bit of both comedy and
action with a forbidden love story wrapped up in the middle. Of course not
knowing what they were saying took a lot from my understanding of this film,
but for the overall impression of CASA DI MI PADRE it was entertaining enough
for me to give it 3 stars.