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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WorldBeat Cultural Center celebrates Threads of Freedom
Escape to Arcade Monsters
From the World of John Wick: You want action? Yeah.
SD Fringe top pick: 'Smile'
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Cinema Junkie has been exploring escapist films to distract you from our current coronavirus pandemic but as parts of the country and some businesses start to reopen I decided it was time to explore some unconventional pandemic films that raise issues beyond just the virus itself. I will be speaking with neuroscientist and emotion researcher Eric Leonardis who has been spending his quarantined time at home watching pandemic films but he has an interesting take on these movies because he wants to see how emotions like panic and fear can spread as readily as a virus and how words can be as dangerous as germs. We will consider silents to contemporary films as well as films from China, Cambodia, South Korea and the U.S. So wash your hands, put on a mask, and defy being infected by these pandemic movies. -
Write, blogger, and classic film enthusiast Will McKinley will be your guide to becoming a more adventuresome digital explorer as you navigate the quarantine landscape. He suggest skip the entertainment fast food and pick more nourishing options from the digital buffet. We'll discuss everything from free services to boutique streaming services to bulking up on physical media. There really are so many choices! -
April was to have been the month we got Bond 25, "No Time To Die" but the film has been postponed to November because of the current pandemic. So here's a discussion about the best and most outrageous Bond rip off spy films that provide perfect escapist fare while sheltering at home. To help guide us through this fun terrain is #Bond_age espionage aficionado James Patrick. We also pay tribute to Honor Blackman, Pussy Galore of "Goldfinger," who died earlier this month. -
Cinema Junkie offers up some quarantine viewing options that provide escapism. First up, TCM Classic Film Festival had to cancel its Hollywood event but has moved it to its TCM cable channel for a Home Edition that anyone can enjoy while sheltering at home. Charles Tabesh, senior vice president in charge of programming at Turner Classic Movies, previews the festival. The Nora Fiore, author of the Nitrate Diva blog, highlights the best screwball comedies to take your mind off the coronavirus pandemic. She suggests some well-known classics as well as under-appreciated gems. Plus enjoy a rendition of "The Good Ship Lollipop" that will delight and surprise you. -
UC San Diego professor Joel Wertheim uses the 2011 Steven Soderbergh film "Contagion" to teach a class every fall in epidemiology because it is so accurate in depicting a global pandemic. I talk to Wertheim about viruses and what we might be able learn from pop culture about dealing with the current coronavirus pandemic. -
I became a fan of Benh Zeitlin after his first film "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Now almost eight years later he has a second film that once again captures the wonder of childhood through a young girl's eyes. For "Wendy" he has reimagined "Peter Pan" from her point of view and place the idea of motherhood front and center. I speak to him about shooting on 16mm, working with non-professional child actors, and keeping reality as part of the magical world he creates. -
February is Women In Horror Month and Cinema Junkie checks in with the Twisted Twins Jen and Sylvia Soska. The Soskas have a new film currently streaming, it's the remake of fellow Canadian David Cronenberg's 70s cult favorite, "Rabid." I have been following the rise of the Twisted Twins since their feature debut "Dead Hooker in a Trunk" in 2009 and their brilliant and most personal project "American Mary" in 2012. The good news is that they are returning to another very personal horror project that I can't wait to see. -
The Academy Award nominations always incite me to give out my own awards for best of the year. So here are the Cinema Junkie Awards to highlight the films that I loved this year, some of which I feel were severely under-appreciated.
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Following on the heels of the animated "Monsters Vs. Aliens," "Alien Trespass" (opening April 3 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) covers somewhat similar ground. Both films present us with an alien who comes to earth and then the films try to use the trappings of 50s sci-fi movies to sell the premise. But unlike "Monsters Vs. Aliens," "Alien Trespass" is live action. It also comes from R. W. Goodwin who should know what he's doing since he worked on the cult TV show "The X-Files," which frequently dealt with aliens although usually in a more serious vein.
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Most films that deal with border issues focus on immigrants and immigration along the California or Texas state lines. But the new film "Sin Nombre" (opening April 3 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) shows us how people living deeper in Mexico and Central America get to that border. The film played last month at the San Diego Latino Film Festival and just about everyone I spoke to at the fest was recommending it. I spoke with first time feature filmmaker Cary Fukunaga at the festival just before he presented the film to a full house.
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Just a quick reminder that the San Diego Latino Film Festival is not the only festival in town screening films this week. The San Diego Italian Film Festival will screen Incantesimo Napoletano/A Neopolitan Spell on Thursday, March 12 at 7:00 pm at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. The tageline for the film asks: "In Naples, what could be worse than not being Neapolitan?" Written and directed by Paolo Genovese, "Incantesimo Napoletano" serves up a fanciful tale about the shock felt by a fifth-generation Neopolitan couple whose daughter's first words are in Milanese. Mama mia! This film features Chiara Papa, Gianni Aiello, Serena Improta and Clelia Bernacchi. Although it's nice to have choice it's too bad these festivals are up against each other.
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Here's a little twist on Trailer Tuesday: Instead of posting a preview of a big Hollywood movie or cool indie title you get to see an entire movie.
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The teen critics have spoken out on The Last House on the Left (opened March 13 throughout San Diego) and I was curious to hear what they had to say since they weren't even born when the original film came out (OK, that made me feel old). I was glad that at least one of them had seen the original and found it more disturbing than the remake. -
The 16th San Diego Latino Film Festival kicked off last night with films, music, and a gala party. Now we can get down to the business of seeing films. Here are a few suggestions for what you might want to seek out and mini-reviews of some of the films that I had a chance to screen in advance. All films are at the UltraStar Mission Valley Theaters at Hazard Center.
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Real life French teacher François Bégaudeau plays an on-screen version of himself in "The Class/Entre les murs" (held over at Landmark's La Jolla Village Theaters), based on his book about his own classroom experiences. We discussed the film on last month's Film Club but I also wanted to highlight the film on my blog. Director Laurent Cantet (who also made "Time Out" and "Heading South") collaborated with Bégaudeau to bring his story to the screen. The ressult is a documentary style portrait of teaching in a contemporary French school. Cantet chose to shoot multiple improvised takes using real students and multiple cameras to chronicle what happens in a single classroom of middle school age students. The film was nominated this year for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and took home the Palm D'Or at Cannes. While there were definitely more worthy films to pick as the best of the year, the Cannes Award is telling because it reflects France's need and maybe desire to try and come to terms with its increasing multi-ethnice make-up, a fact that's been harder to ignore inlight of recent riots and protests.
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A text messaged Teen Critic review from Kimi Allen and Shelby Iacometti:
Stripper Energy just received an Emmy for Journalistic Enterprise, you can watch the six-part video podcast now.