Cinema Junkie

Satisfy your celluloid addiction and mainline film 24/7 with Cinema Junkie’s Beth Accomando. So if you need a film fix, want to hear what filmmakers have to say about their work, feel like taking a deep dive into a genre, or just want to know what's worth seeing this weekend, then you've come to the right place. You can also find Beth's coverage of other arts and culture events here.
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'Park Opera' redefines opera in Balboa Park

Unpacking the virtues of Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners'

La Jolla Playhouse serves up audacious theatre to WOW you

Cinema Junkie recommends 'Sinners' and 'Gazer'
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"John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum" finally arrives and stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski delivers an exhausting, exhilarating film. I have a review of the new film and have a 2017 interview with Stahelski where he explains exactly why John Wick raises the bar on action films. And learn the difference between having a star do action versus doing stunts.
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J.R.R. Tolkien famously wrote "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" books that inspired Peter Jackson's recent films. Now a film biography about the author hits theaters. I'll discuss the allure of Tolkien's fellowship, have a review of the biopic "Tolkien" and speak with the film's director Dome Karukoski about making connections between the man and his books.
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Reel Science returns with the San Diego Natural History Museum and Digital Gym Cinema pairing sci-fi films with real scientists to put the movie science into a broader context. Whether you want preview of the film series or if you can't make the films but want to watch sci-fi films with some questions to ask you'll want to hear entomologist Michael Wall and cognitive scientist Eric Leonardis dissect "Damnation Alley" and David Cronenberg's "The Fly."
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I may hate the Academy for some of its Oscar choices but I have nothing but praise for the work it does to preserve film history. I speak with Josef Lindner, the preservation officer at the Academy Film Archive about the challenges of preserving and restoring films. As an example we discuss the pre-Code comedy naughtily titled Cock of the Air.
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In part one of my look at the 10th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival I spoke with TCM Film Festival programmer Charles Tabesh. Now for part two, I speak with Fox archivist Schawn Belston about the studio's past, future, and exactly what it is an archivist does. He also discusses some of the strange places he has discovered film elements.
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TCM Classic Film Festival is a four-day event held in Hollywood and showcasing films from the silents on up into the 1980s. In part one of this week's podcast I speak with TCM Film Festival programmer Charles Tabesh about what it takes to put on the festival and about the special Fox Appreciation presentation. In part two, I will speak with Fox archivist Schawn Belston about the studio's past and the challenges of restoring films.
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This spoiler-filled episode examines the hidden meanings of Jordan Peele's latest box office hit with the help of a UC Riverside professor of media and cultural studies.
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With Alfonso Cuaron’s recent multiple Oscar win and San Diego Latino Film Festival entering its second quarter century, I felt it was the perfect time to pull up an archive interview I did with Mexican director Guillermo del Toro.
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Canadian and US Associations of Fringe Festivals hold conferences at Spreckels Theatre
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KPBS Midday EditionOne-woman show pays tribute to Josephine Baker
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KPBS Midday EditionSan Diego Opera turns to transgender story for dētour series
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KPBS Midday EditionFestival runs through Nov. 18 with home base at UltraStar Mission Valley
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Cinema Junkie recommends some foreign and indie options
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When the Arab Spring swept through North Africa, the economic and political unrest threatened to take the regions film industry down with it. Guest blogger Rebecca Romani says North African cinema is back and stronger than ever, as this weekend's screening at the SAn Diego Arab Film Festival show.
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Biopic is Finland's official entry for best foreign film Oscar
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Guest blogger Rebecca Romani says a new Lebanese film about a blind musician forced to discover his true identity and a political thriller about a TV preacher who faces off against the Egyptian State are two of the stronger films screening at this year's San Diego Arab Film Festival.
Beth Accomando is taking a short break from film reviews and arts coverage to create a six-part video podcast called Stripper Energy. Check it out!