Culver City Observer -

Leave it to Jean-Marc Vallee to deliver yet another emotionally intense and introspective character driven film. Leave it to Jake Gyllenhaal to once again put his chameleonic skill set to use to deliv...

Anyone who seen writer/director Deon Taylor’s freshman film, “Supremacy”, has been awed by the power and strength of the heavy dramatic themes rising from the a racially motivated true story. Many,...

Stop the presses now with all the awards talk for Leonardo DiCaprio and his performance as 1820's frontier man Hugh Glass in Alejandro Inarritu's THE REVENANT. There are two more notable and...

Still in the midst of spring break and with baseball season fast upon us, it’s a moviegoing grand slam this week with everything from a biopic on an American institution, Hank Williams, to a foul-mout...

THE CONFIRMATION Clive Owen is always a welcome presence in any film, but particularly in one as smartly subtle and engaging as Bob Nelson’s THE CONFIRMATION, and in which Owen shares the screen w...

[NOTE: While I have made every effort to keep this review spoiler-free, for a completely pure viewing experience of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, wait to read this review or any other until after you...

Despite what is being touted of late, let it never be said that there isn't diversity in filmmaking. And contrary to the "forced" diversity which many film festival directors, programmers and...

The kid in me fell in love with Panda Po back in 2008 when "Kung Fu Panda" was released. Charming, funny and filled with action and antics led to pure entertainment, while introducing us to what have...

Many may know the grainy black and white images of Jesse Owens’ triumphant quadruple-gold medal performance at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, but do they know the story behind it? Those images, c...

In addition to scattered screenings of many of this year’s Academy Award nominated films still showing in theatres, there are plenty of new releases opening every week in theatres, as well as d...

Almost 30-years in the making, Martin Scorsese finally delivers SILENCE. Adapted by Scorsese and co-writer Jay Cocks from Shusaku Endo's 1966 fact-based historical novel, Scorsese delves into the worl...

Hooray for Hollywood!! The Hollywood Musical Is Alive and Well with LA LA LAND!!! Who said the Hollywood movie musical is dead? Maybe napping at times, but certainly not dead as is evidenced by this...

Bright and early on this crisp Beverly Hills morning, the nominations for the 88th Academy Awards were announced to the world from the beautiful and historic Samuel Goldwyn Theatre at the Academy of...

Christmas Day. Winter Break. After all the office parties, the opening of presents and enduring relatives, the holidays scream for one thing - movies! And this holiday week has no shortage of some...

Dust off the cobwebs boys and girls! We're going back to school for a refresher course in literature along with some actual history which many may or may not know. Over the decades, Herman Melville's...

Thanksgiving is all about family, and what better way is there to celebrate family than to see one of the best family films of the year - THE GOOD DINOSAUR. A rare treat to have two Pixar films...

We may be in the midst of the holiday season but that also means we are in the midst of the movie awards season aka “studios bring out their best and brightest Oscar hopefuls.” And while some nat...

In what I can only describe as an epic end to a cinematic legacy, THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 2 is the final film in what has been a global phenomenon over the past decade, as moviegoers (and...

Stand up and cheer for TRUMBO! Under Jay Roach's direction with an Oscar-worthy script from John McNamara, and thanks to an Oscar caliber performance by Bryan Cranston, TRUMBO celebrates the 1st...

It’s a political powerhouse this week at the theater as we are treated to David Gordon Green’s “fictional” OUR BRAND IS CRISIS based on the 2002 Bolivian presidential campaign, plus a documen...

ROOM When Emma Donoghue’s emotional telling of the story of a boy named Jack and his Ma hit the bestseller list in 2010, Donoghue already had a screenplay in the works. Wanting to challenge herself, a...

You had me at Michael Almereyda. For those unfamiliar with writer/director Michael Almereyda, he is a creator who thinks outside the box. With an eclectic mix of documentaries and short films to his...

Now in the heart of “awards season”, as the cinematic cream starts to rise to the top and the wheat separates from the chaff, the annual definition of “best” becomes clearer and the race for Oscar b...

As comes as no surprise, writer/director Ramin Bahrani breaks down the door of our collective moral compass with this cat and mouse thriller of corruption versus conscience - 99 HOMES. The very title...

Some terrific movies to bite into this weekend at the box office. Bloody, violent, pushing the envelope in every direction, directors Eli Roth and Denis Villeneuve fascinate with strong story,...