Tag Archive | "dave montalbano"

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FLICKS: What They Had opens, FLIFF continues & House of Wax concludes

Posted on 07 November 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Relief. The campaign season is over and we can start to think seriously about the upcoming public holidays — Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. For many, it is a time of renewal and a time to reconnect with family and friends. For seasoned citizens, it is a time to confront the challenges of aging, and the collateral repercussions.

Opening this weekend, What they Had is family drama that looks at this subject. There is already Oscar buzz for the performances given by Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Robert Forster and Blythe Danner. Danner portrays the matriarch suffering from dementia. When she goes for a midnight walk in a Chicago Blizzard, the son and daughter (Shannon and Swank, respectively) begin to doubt their father’s (Foster’s) competency to care for their mother. The drama will be real and painful, but expect the tender mercy of humor in family discord.

While Halloween created box office records for an October movie release, revenue dropped dramatically on Nov. 1, losing to Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. Despite mediocre reviews, save for Rami Malek’s performance as Freddy Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody was last week’s box office champion. While the biopic follows the Hollywood formula, it is the Rock ‘n Roll sequences that merit seeing this film on the big screen.

Despite the cold and flu bug that has intruded upon The 33rd Annual Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF), the event is going smoothly with successful screenings at the Seminole Hard Rock, Savor Cinema and Cinema Paradiso-Hollywood. Philanthropist Steve Savor received the Marti Huizenga Humanitarian Award, a distinguished honor. Along with her husband Wayne, Marti Huizenga founded FLIFF in the late 1980s from the Las Olas Boulevard headquarters of Blockbuster video. A friendly face at the concession counter, Tina La Boeuf, was named Employee of the Year and received her plaque. For those who earn a plaque from FLIFF, the inscription alone is worth the honor.

This Veterans Day weekend, the fun continues with screenings and the events at Cinema Paradiso-Hollywood, Savor Cinema and NSU Art Museum in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. Viewings are free for those with museum membership for the screenings beginning Tuesday, Nov. 13. On Thursday Nov. 15, the museum will host The Art & Times of Frosty Myers at 7:30 p.m. This also is an opportunity to check out the Glackens and Renoir exhibit that opened last month.

For many years, FLIFF would celebrate the Ft. Lauderdale canals [Intracoastal] as America’s Venice with a morning cruise. With Daylight Saving Time and potential confusion, this event has been transformed into a Sunset Cruise this Monday night, Nov. 12 aboard the Musette. As we have experienced the evening darkness at 6 p.m., this is an opportunity to screen four international short subjects in the dark about a variety of topics, all of them dramatic. For info. on all FLIFF events and screenings, visit www.fliff.com.

This columnist will be hosting the last screening of House of Wax this Friday evening. While he will be donating four of his books in a post screening trivia contest, he will also donate an autographed copy of The Book of Joe written by Vincent Price. Complete with 3-D glasses, last week’s House of Wax screening went extremely well, with people laughing and screaming at the appropriate times. This film is as worthy today on the big screen as it was 65 years ago, before the advent of cell phones, cable television and color television sets.

Happy Veterans Day!

 

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FLICKS: FLIFF begins

Posted on 01 November 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

After last year’s historical film festival with Burt Reynolds, there is no denying the challenge this year’s 33rd Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) faces. Fortunately, with nearly three decades experience putting on such a such an event, festival director Gregory von Hausch and his merry crew of technicians and volunteers have programmed three weeks of films that celebrate Broward County. Given how the motion picture industry does not travel south of Atlanta these days, it is especially important that FLIFF shines this week.

While most of the presentations will be held at the usual locations of Savor Cinema and Cinema Paradiso-Hollywood, this year’s venues also include the NOVA Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art and the Sunrise Civic Center. With a portion of ticket proceeds going to hurricane relief for Hurricane Michael victims in the Florida Panhandle, the festival opens at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino with a French Garden Party saluting the opening night film, The Return of the Hero, starring Jean Dujardin, Oscar winner from The Artist, which premiered at the FLIFF in 2011.

While this columnist is looking forward to hosting the 65th anniversary screening of House of Wax, Saturday night at 10 p.m. at Savor Cinema, the theater will also feature Smuggling Hendrix before it at 8 p.m., a film written and directed by Marios Piperides from Cyprus. Prior to the movies Southeast premier, Michelle Filippi will host a Greek Party in the theater’s John Mager Courtyard.

While one might think this film has something to do with legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix, it really is a story about a dog named “Jimi,” a comedy that pokes fun at culture, politics and borders. It is the story of a divorced man with custody of “Jimi,” who crosses the Cyprus/Turkey border for a vacation that becomes an epic journey. A favorite of the Festival Director, Smuggling Hendrix promises to be 93 minutes of cinema fun.

On Wednesday, Nov. 7 at the Westin Ft. Lauderdale Beach Resort, prepare to take a time machine to December 1960 with a screening of Where the Boys Are. Florida legend Connie Francis will be in attendance, as well as Woody Woodbury, who will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. Unlike the previous parties where gala clothes or togas seemed appropriate, swimsuits will be what to wear. In tribute to “Ft. Liquordale,” there will be complimentary drinks at the “Elbo Room After-Party.”

Shorts at Sea” will be a unique event on Monday, Nov. 12 aboard the Musette. This twilight cruise will feature heavy hors d’oeuvres and four short films, with the longest film being only 15 minutes long.

The topics vary from cute animals to ghosts to life affirmation. Short subjects are underrated gems and this cruise on the Musette will raise the profile of these films.

The Miami Dolphins have faded, the World Series is over and there is a hotly contested election next Tuesday. Now more than ever we need a vacation from the ordinary film and FLIFF will provide that escape. For details on these and other events and films, visit www.fliff.com.

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FLICKS: First Man, FLIFF helps Hurricane Michael relief

Posted on 17 October 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Even though some American flags flew in First Man, the box office results for First Man last weekend was a disappointment. Despite casting two non-Americans in the leading roles and poor public relations from the studio, director and screenwriter Damien Chazelle has crafted an epic motion picture, without losing sight of character development in subtle ways.

The film opens with Neal Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) test piloting an X-15 rocket plane when he accidentally bumps off into outer space. Keeping his cool, Neal returns to earth safely. His domestic life is not so safe, as his young daughter is terminal with a brain tumor. A stoic man with a stoic wife named Janet (Claire Foy), Neal tries to problem solve his daughter’s illness with the same detached precision of engineering and flying an X-15.

When his daughter dies, Neal channels his anguish into his work. With the space race in hot competition with the Soviet Union, Neal commands a Gemini spacecraft, which almost spins into disaster. Showing his grit and intelligence under extreme pressure, Neal is eventually named the commander of Apollo 11 and the rest is history.

Visually, First Man does not disappoint. Enhancing actual NASA footage with computer software, First Man will be playing in mainstream theaters (as well as at the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery IMAX six-story screen for the rest of this month. While there, check out the Archimedes Exhibit).

For all of its bells and whistles, the theme of First Man is how a family copes with grief. Besides the loss of their daughter, there is the loss of colleagues from accidents. The pain of grief is real, but how one deals with loss presents character. With understated nuance, Gosling and Foy have earned awards for their stoic performances. Expect some buzz for First Man when the awards season begins.

In two weeks, the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) kicks off its three weeks of international films, parties and merry making. To coincide with the screening of Return of the Hero, FLIFF will be hosting a French Garden Party at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood on Friday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

The opening gala is always a special event, but this may be the most important. Given the natural disaster of Hurricane Michael and its devastation of the Florida Panhandle, 50 percent of full price general admission tickets sales will be dedicated to relief efforts for Mexico Beach. The Hard Rock Auditorium can seat 3500 seats, so there is the potential to raise $21,000 dollars to help our Florida neighbors to rebuild their lives. To purchase a ticket, please visit this website — www.fliff.com/movies and scroll down to Return of the Hero.

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FLICKS: The Samuel Project & The Walking Dead Day

Posted on 11 October 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Looking for a positive experience at the movies? The Samuel Project opens this weekend and it could be the film for you. Starring Hal Linden (as the curmudgeon Samuel) and Ryan Ochoa (as the artistic Eli, the Grandson), The Samuel Project is about individuals who cross generational and cultural divisions.

Eli is an art student who is given an assignment to tell a story through his craft. His grandfather, Samuel, considers Eli’s art as a bunch of “doodles.” One afternoon, Eli is recruited by Samuel to go see an elderly Jewish woman on her deathbed. Revealing an emotional crack in his grandfather’s stoic persona, Eli realizes he has a personal story to tell about his grandfather surviving the Holocaust.

The subject is serious, but the humor is respectful. Director/writer Marc Fusco presents Eli and Samuel’s behavioral quirks in an endearing way. Like a good Hallmark channel type movie, politeness triumphs over pettiness and the grand finale builds to an agreeable climax. While there is no kicker in the end, stick around and watch the animated credits.

This Saturday, Oct. 13, the Deerfield Beach Percy White Library acknowledges the popular TV show The Walking Dead with its Walking Dead Day, which celebrates nine seasons of the zombie apocalypse on the AMC Cable Channel. At 2 p.m., there will be a screening of a classic black & white Val Lewton terror movie starring Frances Dee and Tom Conway, released 75 years ago. (Due to licensing agreements, the title cannot be revealed; however, there are plenty of flyers available at the library.)

Set on a fictional Caribbean island, this noir classic eschews gore and decapitations to set up a fearful mood. With a very modest budget, the techniques of light and shadows have influenced modern filmmakers. Evidence of Val Lewton’s production values can be found in modern classics like It, The Sixth Sense and Halloween. The images from this film are haunting.

Thanks to the sponsorship of the AMC cable channel, the first 20 people to attend the screening at 2 p.m. will receive artifacts from a box that mysteriously arrived at the Deerfield Beach Percy White Library. After screening the 70 minute movie, there will be a Walking Dead Day Trivia Contest, hosted by this reporter, as well as volunteer extraordinare Lita Andreano.

Walking Dead prizes will be awarded to individuals who finish in first, second and third places. For those who want to study for the Trivia Contest, the answers can be found within the Walking Dead television show, the previous movie being screened, horror literature, monster movies, and Halloween culture and rituals. Like The Samuel Project, the emphasis is not doom and gloom, but entertainment and fun.

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FLICKS: The Final hoopla of Adventures in Charity, FLIFF cultivates Florida locals

Posted on 04 October 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

In the motion picture industry, the last weekend in September features box office doldrums. Halloween season is starting to rev up, while some of the summer blockbuster movies enjoy their final big screen moments on the smaller screen. This is why for the past six years I have departed Deerfield to attend “Adventures in Charity” in Orlando.

The Adventurers Club in Disney World opened when Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was playing on the big screen, circa 1989, and closed when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released in 2008. A controversial business decision, Disney made plans to convert Downtown Disney into Disney Springs. The plan was successful, though many Adventurers Club members were displaced. [The Adventurer’s Club was a themed nightclub in Pleasure Island with theatrical entertainers in this part of Disney World]. Nature abhors a vacuum and for four years, there were reenactments. However, it wasn’t until 2013 with the creation of Adventures in Charity, that I started making the pilgrimage to the Holiday Inn Resort by Lake Buena Vista to attend. The show was so good that my 94-year-old mom has joined for the last five years.

Under Chairman Robert Croskery’s financial leadership and the dedicated attention of the Adventures in Charity Board, the Adventurers Club lived on, but with the mission of helping charities. This year, they raised $25,000, more than double the amount of the previous five individual charity event totals. Proceeds benefited the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Texas Civil Rights Foundation, the Actors Fund, the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation and the Dravet Foundation.

Each year, this author donated “A Cinema Dave Adventure Pack” which featured my four published books and various unique artifacts from “The Cave of Cinema Dave” [Dave’s house], including a mini crystal head vodka bottle autographed by Dan Aykroyd.

With budget limitations, cast member Graham Murphy scripted an adaptation of club bits and featured songs. This was a true Ma & Pa operation as Graham’s wife Emily filled in as secretary/event decor and swag coordinator. The spirit of adventuring lived on.

Adventurers in Charity ran its full course last Saturday night, almost to the day of the 10 year anniversary of the original club’s closing. It was still a bittersweet moment, as many of us accepted that our club has now folded; tears were shed.

Still, being a true adventurer, there had to be one last act of defiance. Last Sunday at 1 p.m., a flash mob of 21 adventurers visited “The Edison,” the steampunk replacement artifice of our beloved club. On cue, we all sang a rousing version of the Adventurers Club all-purpose theme song. Our building and our annual charity weekend are history, but the spirit of the Adventurers Club lives on…

The Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival will be born again this Nov. 2. There will be an emphasis upon Florida locals. While Connie Francis has already been announced, Cindy Morgan (Caddyshack) and Woody Woodbury have been added to the list of attendees. Woodbury owned a nightclub in Ft. Lauderdale 45 years ago and made movies with Fred MacMurray, Ernest Borgnine, Jerry Lewis and baseball legends Mickey Mantle & Roger Maris. Expect the spirit of adventure this FLIFF season. For more info., visit www.FLIFF.com.

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FLICKS: The next generation of A Star is Born, Connie Francis, James Keach and others to visit FLIFF 2018

Posted on 27 September 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Earlier this year, it was announced that there was going to be a remake of Scarface. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth for some critics, who thought the Al Pacino/Steven Bauer film was such a classic. What current film critics overlook is that the 1983 version was a remake of the Paul Muni/George Raft classic of 1932. Given the contrast of time and the gangster culture, perhaps it is time for another Scarface to reflect the culture of today.

With much Oscar buzz already, A Star is Born opens officially Oct. 5. This is the 4th adaptation of this story since 1937 and each time A Star is Born has been an Oscar contender. This time, Bradley Cooper (who also directs) and Lady Gaga portray the roles that have been portrayed by Frederick March & Mitzi Gaynor, Judy Garland and James Mason, and Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, respectively. The story is simple, entertaining and romantically tragic.

Before passing the torch to the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF), Savor Cinema will be hosting a unique birthday party for Mark Ferman this Friday, Sept. 28. A co-host for Popcorn Frights and Film Junkies, Ferman will host a screening of the Bruce Lee Classic Enter the Dragon. Prior to the screening, the award-winning Box of Chaco’s food truck will serve Asian dishes.

FLIFF has announced their opening night film at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for Friday, Nov. 2. A French farce with English subtitles, Return of the Hero stars Melanie Laurent and Jean Dujardin. Dujardin was introduced to the FLIFF filmgoers in 2011 when The Artist premiered, a film that went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture with Dujardin earning the Best Actor Award.

FLIFF has survived as a three decade old film festival because it balances the modern with the traditional. There will be a Florida emphasis this November with screenings of Caddyshack and Where the Boys Are. Known for singing the signature song, Connie Francis is expected to host the pool party at the Westin Ft. Lauderdale resort on Wednesday, Nov. 7. Other celebs are slated to appear at the fest too. (More on that soon).

James Keach will be one guest. He will be at the fest Nov. 14-15 and will screen his documentary Turning Point, a film about science being unpredictable. His last documentary was I’ll Be Me, about Glen Campbell’s last tour while battling Alzheimer’s Disease. A James Keach production usually garners award notice.

The brother of Stacy Keach, James Keach has produced the award-winning Johnny Cash bio picture, Walk the Line, and directed numerous television shows. James also costarred with his brother (along with the Carradine Brothers, the Guest Brothers and the Quaid Brothers) in the Western The Long Riders. James and Stacey Keach portrayed Jessie and Frank James, respectively. For more information, visit www.flicks.com.

 

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FLICKS: Museo & Love, Gilda

Posted on 20 September 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Museo and Love, Gilda open this weekend. While both are diverse movies, both movies present pure drama with a touch of comedy, a dose of thrills and maybe a few tears.

A hit at the Berlin Film Festival, Museo is a film with international acclaim set in Mexico. It is the holiday season and Juan Nunez (Gael Garcia Bernal) is bored with simmering anger. Observing the lax security at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, Juan recruits his friend Benjamin (Leonardo Ortizgris) to rob the museum on Christmas Eve.

With relative ease, Juan and Benjamin steal over 140 treasures and artifacts. The heist becomes an international sensation in 1985, for many of the stolen objects are priceless artifacts from the Mayan culture. Due to the notoriety of the crime, the young criminals have a hard time trying to fence the objects for payment.

Unlike the film noir conventions of The Asphalt Jungle or Heist, Museo presents a travel log of adventure. The stolen artifacts are presented as shimmering treasures that are misused by the crooks. One scene of debauchery features Juan drinking alcohol from a cup that may have been used by Montezuma. Montezuma’s revenge is not presented, but Museo reaches a thought-provoking and satisfying climax.

RE: Love, Gilda — It was post Halloween in 1975 and Channel 12 WPEC presented too many commercial interruptions of Son of Frankenstein on Creature Feature. Frustrated, I switched the dial and tried this new show, Saturday Night Live. Candice Bergen was the guest star, with a new cast of unknowns (known as The Not Ready for Prime Time Players). Among the unknowns, there was Gilda Radner, who appeared both vulnerable and tough enough to take a funny pratfall.

Gilda Radner died a month short of her 43rd birthday from Ovarian Cancer and young people today may just know her because a sick relative may visit Gilda’s Club for comfort. However, this new documentary, Love Gilda, presents videos of what made this comedian so successful, respected and loved.

Through home movies, we see a chubby girl from a well-to-do Jewish family in Detroit. Using comedy as a defense for her insecurities, Gilda becomes the class clown and excels in performing. Moving to Canada, Gilda finds work on the musical Godspell (despite her initial inability to sing) and is noticed by the Second City and National Lampoon comedy troupes. Using her personal diary as a narrative thread, Love Gilda is not just a celebration of her life. Through laughter, Love Gilda shows how one can achieve victory over his or her own mortality.

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FLICKS: The lessons of Burt Reynolds

Posted on 13 September 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

The first Burt Reynolds movie that I saw on the big screen was with my Cousin Leisia in Pensacola, Florida and the movie was White Lightening, co-starring Ned Beatty and Diane Ladd with the screen debut of her daughter, Laura Dern. It was an entertaining Country Western car chase movie that delighted this then 10-year-old boy. White Lightening marked the first of genre films that Burt Reynolds became known for.

During the 1970s, Burt proved to be an entertaining guest on television talk shows. He was a humorous storyteller and, when he was on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, a food fight would ensue, especially if Dom DeLuise was around. This decade also featured Burt’s best movies, Deliverance, The Longest Yard and Smokey and the Bandit.

When I was attending Florida State University, there were rumors of Burt Reynolds sightings at all the major football games in Doak Campbell Stadium. This was a boom period for the motion picture industry and Burt Reynolds did much to promote local business. Besides producing, directing and starring in multiple locations filmed in Florida, Burt was in B.L. Stryker, a detective series that was set in Palm Beach County and lasted two seasons on ABC Broadcast television. The show employed many local actors and crew.

Despite his Emmy Award-winning success on the CBS Sitcom Evening Shade, much of the early 1990s were troubled times for Mr. Reynolds. Yet, Burt persevered through his craft and earned a Best Supporting Oscar nomination for his work on Boogie Nights, a film he detested. Burt seemed more comforted by his weekly commentary, “Great Moments in Seminole Football” that aired on local television. Burt authored many books, including Seminole Seasons: Florida State’s Rise to the Nation Title.

After open heart surgery in 2010, Burt made his first public appearance at the 15th Annual Palm Beach International Film Festival. This was the first time that I got to meet him. He was reticent to talk to reporters, but I was granted a question. Standing next to Quinton Aaron (The Blind Side), Burt looked frail. However, when it was time for him to accept his Lifetime Achievement Award, the movie star genes clicked in and Burt gave a fantastic speech about Quinton Aaron, Quinton Tarantino and his adopted son, Quinton. As he talked about his Palm Beach roots, Burt seemed reborn that fine April evening.

Five years later, Burt Reynolds attended Spooky Empire, [a horror convention in Orlando.] Burt and his entourage really seemed to enjoy interacting with his variety of fans: the Deliverance minions, the Smokey and the Bandit crew or old cowboys who remembered his Gunsmoke days. At this convention, I was able to confirm a Hollywood legend — that a studio executive fired both Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood on the same day.

The 2017 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival was the last time I saw Burt in person. It was a fantastic evening at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino, with Burt arriving in a modified “Trans Am Golf Cart” and concluding with an emotional summary of his life, career and craft, after a screening of the film he starred in, Dog Years (The title has changed to The Last Movie Star). Clips of Reynolds talking after the screening can be found on my “Cinema Dave” YouTube Channel. However, there is a story that bears repeating here — Burt’s conversation with Last Movie Star co-star Ariel Winter (from the television show Modern Family). Apparently, Miss Winter had a bit of a potty mouth and it bothered Mr. Reynolds. The old actor pulled the young actress aside and asked, “Do you like Sally Field?”

Ariel Winter responded in the affirmative and Burt Reynolds continued, “Well, Sally Field don’t talk like you. She wouldn’t talk like you. You would have to hit her with a board to make her say some of the words you say. And I don’t talk like that, I don’t think. You can’t do that anymore and I am not going to let you. You gotta stop it, you are a pretty little thing and you are talented and I don’t want you to do that no more. You either got to stop it or quit acting!”

Ariel Winter said she would stop using vulgar language and she did not use that type of language in front of Burt Reynolds again.

Despite his fame or scandal, most people who met Burt Reynolds enjoyed his candor and Southern Manners. Perhaps, that is the best lesson movie star and teacher Burt Reynolds could teach us and his peers.

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FLICKS: MODS, FLIFF or sequels, everything old is new again

Posted on 05 September 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

With Labor Day being the unofficial conclusion of summer, Hollywood will attempt to release movies for Academy Award consideration and Halloween inspired movies. In fact, one of the most anticipated movies of this season will be Jamie Lee Curtis’ return to the Halloween, a direct sequel to the original Halloween movie released 40 years ago.

The Nun will have a one-week engagement at the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science (MODS) IMAX theatre this weekend [and will also be shown in regular theaters]. The Nun is part of an original horror movie franchise created by James Wan that includes titles like The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 movies and the two Annabelle movies. Like the Marvel Comic universe, each one of these thrillers is a standalone story of a contemporary world around us. After making a memorable, but brief appearance in The Conjuring 2, The Nun features an original story about a nun battling suicidal tendencies.

After The Nun, The Predator, The House with a Clock in its Walls and Venom will take over IMAX’s five-story screen. The now controversial (for not showing American astronauts planting the flag on the moon) First Man opens on Oct. 11 for a two-week stay. Based on the eight years in the life of Neil Armstrong leading up to the moon landing in 1969, First Man has received standing ovations at the Venice Film Festival.

Locally, The Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) will dominate November. The opening film and party will begin Friday, Nov. 2 at the remodeled Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Beyond the regular screenings at the Savor Cinema in Ft. Lauderdale and Cinema Paradiso Hollywood, there will be special screenings and party related themes at a variety of other venues. The Westin Ft. Lauderdale Beach Resort will feature a screening of Where the Boys Are. The wrap party on Nov. 18 will feature a fairway screening of Caddyshack at the Ft. Lauderdale Country Club.

Saturday, Nov. 17 will be an interesting day at Bailey Hall. In honor of the 20th anniversary of Pleasantville, starring Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon and Don Knotts in his final film, the afternoon screening of the film will feature a tribute to writer/director Gary Ross, who also directed Seabiscuit, The Hunger Games and Ocean’s 8.

Twelve years ago, FLIFF premiered Sharkwater, a documentary that was sympathetic to the ocean’s mightiest predator, the shark. Sharkwater Extinction is a follow-up documentary that will examine the roll of the predator and its role in the balance of nature. Has there been progress? The answers can be seen at a party/screening on Nov. 17 at Bailey Hall.

As the film industry wraps up 2018, it will not feature a Star Wars or a Marvel Comics universe movie. There will be a prequel to the Harry Potter series with a sequel to Fantastic Beasts, written by JK Rowling. Co-written by Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa returns to the big screen in Creed II, which stars Michael Jordan in a unique sequel that reaches back to a Rocky sequel from 1985. As lyricist Peter Allen once sang, “Everything old is new again.”

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FLICKS: Even with no nudity, Juliet, Naked is a fun romantic comedy

Posted on 29 August 2018 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

First premiering at the Sundance Film Festival last winter, Juliet, Naked is a new romantic comedy that opens this Labor Day weekend at select theaters. For the 50 Shades of Grey fans, Juliet,Naked will be a disappointment. There is no nudity nor acrobatic sex scenes, but for fans of Spencer Tracy/Katherine Hepburn or Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movies, then Juliet,Naked is the film for you.

Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke) is an American one-hit-wonder who penned and performed the song “Juliet.” Much like the cult worship of Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain, Tucker Crowe is the subject of worship for some British music fans, especially Duncan Thomson (Chris O’Dowd). Duncan has had a long time relationship with live-in girlfriend Annie Platt (Rose Byrne), who tolerates her boyfriend’s obsession with the faded musician.

One day, Annie receives a bootleg CD titled “Juliet, Naked” and listens to it, unimpressed by the song. After a comedic domestic dispute, Duncan listens to the song and worships it. While discussing the CD on his podcast, Duncan is met with some heavy criticism from an anonymous source. The anonymous source turns out to be Tucker Crowe.

Bit by bit, the plot moves forward to a logical climax and conclusion. The mystery and magnitude of Tucker Crowe is deconstructed, while Rose and Duncan take the time to discuss the seriousness of their relationship. Will there be a happy ending? Let’s just say that this romantic comedy supplies a satisfactory ending.

Juliet, Naked is based on the novel of the same name by Nick Hornby. This British novelist also penned High Fidelity, About a Boy and his own memoir Fever Pitch, all titles that have been converted into movies. While not major box office sensations, the movie versions of Nick Hornby’s books have grown in status with repeated television viewings. The characters and situations are real with much audience empathy. The emphasis is about everyday pains, but with subtle humor.

As either second banana or the heroine’s antagonist in romantic comedies like Bridesmaids and The Internship, top billed Rose Byrne shines as the heroine. Chris O’Dowd also shines as the super fan, who becomes the romantic rival to his own idol. Ethan Hawke was born to play enigmatic Tucker Crowe. As written, Crowe could have been a total jerk, but Hawke brings a working class charisma to the musician, who prefers to just live in his garage apartment and talk to his many kids, from his two or three wives, or girlfriends.

Being a romantic comedy, go see this movie with some friends and get some dinner afterwards. Juliet, Naked is a communal affair that is best seen on the Big Screen. Happy Labor Day!

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