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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Are you ready to binge on Fringe?

SD Fringe adds SDSU filmmaker showcase

'Park Opera' redefines opera in Balboa Park

Unpacking the virtues of Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners'
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You may think you’ve seen bad movies but you haven’t seen anything quite as bad as “The Room." Listen to my radio feature about how a film’s badness is turning it into a cult hit on the midnight movie circuit. This is like a car crash that you cannot avoid looking at.
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Horrible Imaginings Film Festival director Miguel Rodriguez discusses his upcoming horror fest.
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Landmark’s Ken Cinema has found success with its classic film weeks and midnight movies. "They Live" pays tribute to the late Roddy Piper.
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If you found "Turbo Kid" on a VHS tape in someone's garage you'd probably swear it was a movie from the 1980s and that's just part of its charm.
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Tribute to horror master Wes Craven, who died on Sunday. I pull an archive interview from 2006 when he discussed the state of horror and how he thinks audiences arrive at his movies already in fear.
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Unearth a Geek Roundtable with fellow podcaster and Horrible Imaginings Film Festival director Miguel Rodriguez to discuss Universal monsters and the continuing film series The Universal Suspects at the Digital Gym Cinema.
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Oscar-winner George Chakiris talks about his career, Marilyn Monroe, and his dog Sammy.
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"Drown" premiered in San Diego earlier this year at FilmOut where it won six awards including Best Narrative Feature, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Soundtrack and Outstanding Artistic Achievement. "Drown" is a difficult film to watch but for all the right reasons.
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"Pineapple Express" opens today so I thought it would be appropriate to run a highlight from the panel at this year's Comic-Con. Producer Judd Apatow moderated and actror-writer Seth Rogen, actor James Franco, and indie director David Gordon Green were on hand to answer questions about their "weed action comedy." They sneaked about ten minutes of the film at the panel. You can also check out the official trailer from Sony below.
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In very French fashion "OSS 117" mixes politics and comedy. Director Michel Hazanavicius -- partnering with screenwriter Jean-Francois Halin and using Jean Bruce's original "OSS 117" novels as inspiration -- uses the spy genre to poke fun at Western and European attitudes about the Arab world. De la Bath symbolizes the general smug superiority of the colonizers toward their colonies and their general lack of insight into the middle east and Arab world. That's something that actually resonates quite potently today.
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Everything in the waning days of Nikolai Ceausescu's oppressive regime proves to be a negotiation, whether it's dealing with haughty hotel clerks, bartering for soap and cigarettes, or haggling over the price of an abortion. Each negotiation is further complicated by bureaucratic mix ups, black market scams, and incessant I.D. checks. All this plays out like a tense thriller as Otilia struggles to help her friend. Actress Anamaria Marinca plays Otilia. She says that when you live under Communist rule, you quickly learn how to navigate uncertain terrain.
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!