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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From the World of John Wick: You want action? Yeah.
SD Fringe top pick: 'Smile'
Are you ready to binge on Fringe?
SD Fringe adds SDSU filmmaker showcase
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You must remember this … after 75 years, the film “Casablanca” still maintains an iconic place in pop culture. A new book explores the life, legend and afterlife of Hollywood’s most beloved film. -
Forty years ago, Stuart Gordon adapted Kurt Vonnegut’s novel “The Sirens of Titan” to the stage. Now, Sacred Fools Theater Company in Los Angeles is reviving that adaptation and finding it surprisingly topical. -
It is that time of year for classic film zealots to make the pilgrimage to the mecca known as the TCM Film Festival, running April 6 through 9 in Los Angeles. -
Cannibal films — in which people mindlessly slaughter and eat others or where carnage soaks the screen — are a dime a dozen. But films in which great care is taken with both the filmmaking and the preparation of human flesh for consumption are more rare. And that's what we are going to be talking about on this gourmet cannibal podcast. -
This week, the 24th annual San Diego Latino Film Festival kicks off, and that is a perfect excuse to look at Latin cinema — so good it’s scary. -
The wait is finally over. After 13 years "Samurai Jack" is back for his fifth and final season and I speak with Phil LaMarr, the voice actor who has brought Jack to life since his debut in 2001. -
February is Women in Horror Month and just before the month closes I want to pay tribute to some wickedly talented filmmakers, Jen and Sylvia Soska and their second feature, "American Mary." -
With "John Wick: Chapter 2," stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski proves that he knows what's best for American action films.
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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. -
This year, the 67-year-old Romero delivers his fifth zombie film, “Diary of the Dead” (opening February 15 exclusively at the AMC Palm Promenade Theaters) so run, don’t “shamble,” over to catch the undead’s latest uprising. -
A Valentine To Hong Kong's Rapturously Romantic Filmmaker -
Irish playwright Martin McDonagh makes his feature film writing and directing debut with "In Bruges" (opening February 8 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas), a darkly comic tale of two hitmen on holiday in the idyllic European city that calls itself “the Venice of the North.” Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell play the Irish killers. McDonagh previously worked with Gleeson on his Oscar-winning short "Six-Shooter." -
“There Will Be Blood” (opening January 11 at AMC Mission Valley and on January 18 at Landmarks La Jolla Village Theaters) is not the film fans of Paul Thomas Anderson may be expecting but it's a film that should please them nonetheless. The filmmaker who gave us “Hard Eight,” “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia,” and “Punch Drunk Love” now turns to an 80-year-old Upton Sinclair novel called “Oil!” as inspiration for his epic tale of greed and ambition.
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!