“And I On the Opposite Shore” is a mystery surrounding two Haitian couples, one adrift on a boat out at sea while another vacations on a beach resort in Florida. Their lives seem very different yet may share an enigmatic connection. With atmospheric imagery of the sea, sunsets and shore, the film evokes an intangible dream of traveling and the consequential reality of reaching one’s destination.The short film won critical acclaim at the 7th Annual Harlem Film Festival and took away the award for Best Short Short. In addition, it is slated to be shown at the upcoming Big Apple…
Author: Tobe R. Roberts
Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos) plays Gino, a calculating, serious mobster with purpose. Gino finds himself in the middle of the woods on a routine job. His job is to quiet (permanently) his target played by Louis Vanaria (A Bronx Tale). What seems like a routine job ends up turning topsy-turvy due to the very fact that Gino feels he’s being watched by extraterrestrials. While having visions of wide eye humanoid beings arriving to visit him, Gino falters in his hired job to rub out his victim. What ensues is comic banter, which is never what it seems to be. There’s…
The elusive, eccentric, sugar craving super sleuth L has returned, this time in his own movie as a derivative to the Death Note manga/anime (and also live action) series. This is the third of the live action films, where the previous two have met much success and following. L is a figure shrouded in total secrecy and we now see him out from the shadows to experience events he himself is not use to. With the ever-pervasive iciness of his deductive reasoning, L contends not just with a single villain, but several. L must deal with a wicked band of…
In the footsteps of “Spinal Tap” comes, “Anvil!” where a group of hard-core rockers started out at 14 in Canada to make a pact to rock in 1973…and they did. Director Sacha Gervasi brings us the legends that turned the music world upside down. Anvil was co-founded by lead Vocalist Steve “Lips” Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner. Along with other rockers layer the foundation and influenced other metal bands like- Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and many others. However, every band mentioned went on to rock out, become sensations and sell millions of records. What about Anvil? That’s where our story begins,…
The IMAX team delivers yet another captivating film shot entirely with its 1,300- pound IMAX 3D cameras. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Howard Hall returns after creating “Deep Sea 3D” and “Into The Deep 3D” and brings us his most stunning and stylistic work yet. Taking us down into beautiful briny sea of the world’s awe inspiring underwater locations, we are catapulted into a wonderland of color. Filmed in both remote and exotic locations of Indonesia, Southern Australia and The Great Barrier Reef, and Papua New Guinea for example, we embark upon a world not seen by many.An entire universe is below…
Korean writer-director Kwak Jae-Yong with past trademark films like- “My Sassy Girl”, to “Cyborg Girl”, the trend of strong female leads (with weaker men) are evident. “My Mighty Princess” is a quirky and cute romantic comedy with enough martial arts wire-fu to keep your interest. The film seems to be influenced by other successful films of the genre (Crouching Tiger, The Stormriders, Shaolin Soccer for ex.), taking pieces from one film to the next, but still maintains its own identity however jigsaw as it may seem.We begin with our heroine, a likeable seemingly normal college girl named, So Hui (Shin…
The sequel to the highly successful film based on the Japanese manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “Death Note”, catapults us back into the forefront of the cat and mouse game of L and Light. Helmed once again by Shusuke Kaneko, the plot makes for a wildly engaging, nail biting experience. The manga, which is a hit, sold 26 million copies worldwide and has finally made the transition to the silver screen to unprecedented success.On one side, we have top of his class, college student, Light Yagami (played viciously by Tatsuya Fujiwara), popular, athletic and intelligent. Only issue with…
Explores the historical roots and family ties of Director Reaghan Tarbell, who takes us to two places: first to her Kahnawake community in Quebec and then to the small community known as “Little Caughnawaga” in Brooklyn, NY. A fact that should be of definite mention is that Mohawk ironworkers historically have placed their sweat, tenacity and heart into many of the metropolitan structures we see and are in contact with today. Kahnawake iron workers have assisted for instance in the construction of Rockefeller Center, The Verrazano bridge, the Empire State Building, and The United Nations among others. A small area…
Director Josh Gilbert’s documentary a/k/a Tommy Chong focuses on the legendary comedian’s imprisonment for selling drug paraphernalia over the internet. Famous for his classic film, “Up in Smoke” with his comedic partner Cheech Marin, whom he met in the late 1960’s, Chong (of mixed heritage- Chinese father and Canadian mother) grew up in a very conservative neighborhood in Alberta, Canada where being biracial was a stigma. The documentary discusses the U.S. Justice Department’s massive 12 million dollar sting operation on drugs called, “Operation Pipe Dreams”. The multimillion dollar strongarm was spearheaded by U.S Attorney General John Ashcroft and Mary Beth…
Rich-Heape Films brings to us- Told from purely the Native American perspective, “Our Spirits Don’t Speak English” is a true account of the atrocities committed by our own government education policies around the late 19th century. Designed to indoctrinate Native people to what Western society and culture was, the result was catastrophic. For the indigenous children forced into a purely European system, not only was their identity stripped from them, but families were torn apart, languages stolen and spirits crushed. The idea of “Who am I” is a longstanding question for those who went through the system of both mental…