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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SD Fringe top pick: 'Smile'

Are you ready to binge on Fringe?

SD Fringe adds SDSU filmmaker showcase

'Park Opera' redefines opera in Balboa Park
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Masked wrestlers, nunsploitation, monsters, and San Diego Latino Film Festival's Un Mundo Extraño — Cinema Junkie looks to extreme Latin cinema with Horrible Imaginings' Miguel Rodriguez.
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Turner Classic Movies launches its March spotlight program, Condemned, a look at more than four decades of censorship, the Catholic Legion of Decency, and the film industry.
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For almost two decades, starting in the late 1950s, you could count on Hammer Films for breathtakingly lurid Gothic horror tales that served up vampires, werewolves, monsters and luscious ladies. British author Antony Earnshaw talks about the studio and it legacy for the launch of a yearlong film series Get Hammered at the Digital Gym Cinema.
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Filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer talks about making documentaries from a subjective point of view in "The Act of Killing" and "The Look of Silence," which is up for a Best Documentary Oscar this Sunday.
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This year is off to a good start with "Bone Tomahawk" and "The Witch" (now playing throughout San Diego) serving up well-crafted horror tales that challenge expectations about the genre.
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"Bone Tomahawk" gets a one-time screening in San Diego on Feb. 21 at the Digital Gym Cinema. Writer-director S. Craig Zahler talks about ramping up his slow-burn horror western.
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Film Struck is showcasing eight classics of Blaxploitation Cinema so it's time to revisit the Cinema Junkie Podcast featuring David Walker, writer of the "Shaft" comic books. Walker loves the Blaxploitation films of the 1970s and says we're due for Blaxploitation 2.0.
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With "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" reanimating on screens this weekend, the time seems ripe to speak with Doctor of the Dead Arnold T. Blumberg about a recent strain of the undead — the self-aware zombie.
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Destin Daniel Cretton continues his posts from Sundance where he is screening his film, "Short Term 12."
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Destin Daniel Cretton continues to post about his adventures at Sundance.
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The movie "Slumdog Millionaire," which just swept the Golden Globes this past weekend, has been a surprise hit here. Warners Brothers is hoping to capitalize on the popularity of that film and its Indian setting. The studio's releasing "Chandni Chowk to China" (opening January 16 at UltraStar Del Mar). It's going to open on more than 125 screens in more than 50 markets. That would make it the largest release of a Bollywood film in the United States. And to add to the cultural mix, it's also the first Bollywood production to film in China. (You can listen to my feature from The World on Public Radio International.)
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Destin Daniel Cretton begins his blog posts from Sundance where he is showing his short film, "Short Term 12."
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"My Bloody Valentine 3D" has the right idea. Don't go remaking a horror film that was a classic ("Psycho") or that started a trend ("Friday the 13th") or that shocked people ("The Last House on the Left"). Remake a forgettable, mediocre slasher pic, and to top it off add the gimmick of 3D! I'm serious. That's the right approach. How many people will say, "Oh the original was so much better."
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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!