Female Filmmaker Friday: La Quinceañera (2017) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2018]

On the evening of her quinceañera, Alejandra witnesses the slaughter of her family. With the few surviving members, they set out of make things right.

Created and written by Shane McKenzie and Gigi Saul Guerrero with the latter directing, La Quinceañera started off as a series of webisodes and then became a feature with all the episodes gathered together in one feature. The film version is easy to watch with separate chapters that lead the story from a sweet start to a very bloody ending. The characters built here are strong and work together in a way that is natural and very much like a family.

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Final Score (2018)

An ex US soldier visiting his niece in the UK goes to a soccer (football) game with her in the hopes of connecting with the teen. Once there, a terrorist group looms over the game and threatens his niece’s life as well as that of thousands of people. As he works to prevent the worse, reasons for the attack are made clearer and things get more complicated.

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Barbershop (2002): Special Edition [Blu-Ray]

Ice Cube spent too much of his earl years as an actor looking for a vehicle that would propel him in to blockbuster status, and he’s had his share of misses. When he committed to simpler more personal movies like “Barbershop,” he really managed to shine. He’s not the best actor in “Barbershop,” but as Calvin Palmer Jr. he’s kind of the glue that keeps his entire crew of barbers together in a neighborhood that’s being consumed by crime, and political corruption. “Barbershop” may not be a masterpiece, but it’s a pleasing and pleasant comedy about the value of community and family.

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The Bad Seed (2018)

When Rob Lowe was originally approached about his remake of “The Bad Seed,” he commented that his film version is a drama more than a horror movie. While the original 1956 movie starring Patty McCormack was a horror movie with a dramatic tinge, by God Rob Lowe makes sure that his version of “The Bad Seed” is a drama. Even the unraveling of a parent realizing their child is a psychopath with only the goal of self preservation is painfully bent for the sake of drama, and less horror. Lowe fails, especially because the realization that their child is a psychopath with zero emotion should be a living nightmare. Not some kind of twist in a melodrama.

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You Have to See This! Perfect Blue (1997)

In Select U.S. Theaters September 6th & 10th via Fathom Events.

It’s amazing how prophetic Satoshi Kon’s “Perfect Blue” was back in 1997. Even though it was released at the beginning of the internet age, “Perfect Blue” is a very strong and still very relevant tale about rabid fandom, gate keeping, obsession, and the struggles to maintain one’s own sense of self and agency in a world where growing in one’s career means relinquishing our dignity and discretion. In a time where actresses are being chased and harassed off of social platforms, “Perfect Blue” conjures up so much interesting and familiar imagery and plot beats, and ultimately is about the cost of rabid fandom.

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