The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout (2024) [Cinequest 2024]

“Of the 220 people that were constantly on location shooting in Utah, 91 came down with cancer…”

“The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout” is an important documentary, and one that warrants a mass audience with as many people as possible, if only to view how Hollywood can often become the folly of the rich and powerful as well as how one man’s hubris can destroy so many lives in one fell swoop. Although William L. Nunez’s documentary is very much about the calamity that was “The Conqueror,” the Howard Hughes and John Wayne vanity project that amounted to a massive epic scale shooting that ended with an abysmal often derided biographical film, it’s also about the corruption of the American government.

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Wonka (2023) [4K UHD/Digital]

Now Streaming on Digital and Available on Physical Media.

What made the 1971 screen version of Willy Wonka so entertaining was that while he was an idealist, he was also a well-worn cynic who hated people as much as he loved them. While he made candy for people, he also understood how ravenous and cut throat they could be. He approached everyone entering his factory with a sense of caution and quiet observation. Even with Charlie he saw something special in the boy but was quick to write him off at a moment’s notice. What’s missing from Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka is that sense of misanthropy; that sense that deep down while he likes people, he understands how nasty that they can be.

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Mean Girls: The Musical (2024)

Now Available on Digital Streaming.

Despite the flack that it received this year from a lot of anti-musical individuals that transformed “Mean Girls: The Musical” in to a tik tok meme, at the end of it all Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr’s film ended up being much ado about nothing. It can’t be that narratives can’t translate in to musicals since “Hairspray” was excellent. But when all was said and done “Mean Girls: The Musical” ended up being an okay movie. It wasn’t what I’d call awful, but it’s by no means in the upper echelons of musicals like “Grease” or even “Teen Beach Movie.”

It’s a just fine, pretty okay movie that just made me want to rewatch the original classic.

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Geographies of Public Sex [LA&M Film Fetish Forum]

Playing at the LA&M Film Fetish Forum Saturday, March 16th at 7pm EST; It Will Be Co-Presented by Henry Hanson of Full Spectrum Features.

“Geographies of Public Sex” is a series of eight short films curated by Henry Hanson, most of which revolve around the Gay experience and accounts of the gay lifestyle. It’s a mixed bag, admittedly, but an interesting gallery of shorts, nevertheless. 2021’s “Trade Center” from Adam Baran is the best of the bunch; it’s a fascinating documentary about cruising in the seventies and eighties, and the amount of sites in New York City where men could have sex with one another any time of the day.

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The Brave Locomotive (2023) [Cinequest 2024]

Andrew Chesworth’s animated adventure is a neat and adorable tribute to the likes of Disney and classic Merrie Melodies tunes. It’s that classic tale about friendship, and commitment and loyalty above all else. While I was originally assuming this would be about a lot more, “The Brave Locomotive” keeps its intentions firmly planted in the more innocent side with a story about wicked companies and sticking to what works.

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ATM (2022) [Cinequest 2024]

At three minutes in length there isn’t a ton of set up to “ATM” but it does have the particular feeling of a creepy past or SCP. The idea of a sentient ATM feels like something out of a dream but becomes a nightmare for a poor man one day. Director Ooullo’s experimental animated film is a mix of stop motion, absurdist humor and live action to form a tale about experiencing our wildest dreams and the whole idea of the sword of Damocles.

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Imaginary (2024)

Take a bit of “Insidious,” a dash of “Annabelle Comes Home” with a heaping spoonful of “Pinocchio’s Revenge” and you get what is another dull genre installment from Blumhouse Pictures. Once the beaming genre studio, Blumhouse seems to be contractually obligated to release at least two horror movies a year, no matter what, and “Imaginary” feels like more of an obligation than anything. It’s a convoluted, and often dull movie that seems to really want to be a cerebral tale about PTSD and mental illness.

But mid-way you can sense the producers intervene when the narrative suddenly veers off in to a more commercial dark pseudo-Gaiman horror fantasy involving magical beings, and a weird dimension for imaginary creatures.

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