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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Oscar-winner George Chakiris talks about his work on "West Side Story."
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In 1968, ABC News was trailing miserably in the ratings and to offset its inability to provide gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Republican and Democratic conventions it came up with the idea of offering a series of debates between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal. The new documentary, "Best of Enemies" focuses on these debates.
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Horror and science fiction frequently turn to bugs and the insect world to scare people and this podcast features theNAT's entomologist Dr. Michael Wall talking about the interplay of science and pop culture.
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Giant bugs attack humanity in the new sci-fi horror film, "Stung" and meet TheNAT's curator of entomology.
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ScareLA's Extreme Haunt Panel featuring McKamey Manor, Blackout, and Gates of Hell's Victim Experience. Each haunt brought along a "victim" to discuss the experience. Here's the audio from the panel.
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David Foster Wallace won accolades for his 1,000-page tome “Infinite Jest” in 1996. Then he saddened fans by committing suicide just over a decade later. Actor Jason Segel talks about playing the late writer in the new film “End of the Tour."
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"The End of the Tour" reviewed by Cinema Junkie Beth Accomando.
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With Simon Pegg returning in "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation," I decided to reach into the archives for a 2007 interview with Pegg about "Hot Fuzz."
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Coming of age films are filling the theaters these days. Recently we have seen coming of age tales play out in 1980s Pittsburgh ("Adventureland") and Northern Australia ("The Black Balloon"), and coming up we travel to 1970s New Jersey ("Lymelife").
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Earlier this month "Fast and Furious" scored a surprising hit at the box office bringing in $72 million in three days. What's also surprising is that at the helm of this $80 million dollar Hollywood sequel is one time indie film darling Justin Lin. Today, "17 Again" -- the new film with Disney star Zac Efron -- opens, and in the director's chair is another independent filmmaker, Burr Steers.
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In "17 Again" (opening April 17 throughout San Diego) Mike O'Donnell (Disney star Zac Efron of "High School Musical" fame) is a star on his high school basketball court with a college scout in the stands and a bright future in his grasp.
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The San Diego Italian Film Festival may be the new kid on the block but they have been actively bringing films to San Diego both at their festival and for single screening film events. These are films that have not played in San Diego before and are unlikely to receive any kind of release here.
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Seth Rogen has become an unlikely star through a series of projects with Judd Apatow beginning with the TV series "Freaks and Geeks" in 1999 and reaching a peak with the feature film "Knocked Up" in 2007. Those projects played on Rogen's slacker appeal. Now Rogen tries something a little different with "Observe and Report" (opened April 10 throughout San Diego).
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For last year's closing night, FilmOut San Diego presented the world premiere of James Vasquez' homegrown film "Ready? Okay!" This San Diego-based charmer concerns a young boy named Josh who wants to join his school's cheer squad.
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Sugar (opened April 10 at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas) is a baseball movie in the same way that Eight Men Out was a baseball movie. You cannot conceive of either film without the baseball backdrop but neither film is a formula sports movie in the sense of putting primary importance on the winning or losing of games.
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!