JFK (1991) Re-Release

What better way to celebrate March Madness than to revisit a basketball movie which actually isn't a basketball movie but does still feature lots of basketball.....sorta? :) Benny and Josh Safdie followed up their breakout success of a couple of years prior - the extremely tense urban thriller Good Time starring Robert Pattinson - with an even TENSER crime thriller starring Adam Sandler as a fast-talking New York jeweler who also happens to be a gambling addict.  His habit of betting on NBA basketball games just escalates further and further after he also encounters NBA superstar Kevin Garnett (played by himself) at his store at the same time he receives an extremely valuable stone imported from Ethiopia.  And from there, things just get more intense as he makes larger high stakes bets while also using increasingly valuable gems from his store as collateral.  This highly acclaimed drama also stars LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Eric Bogosian, and Idina Menzel.

 Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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This is the story of a bored suburban housewife Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) who finds herself drawn to reading personal ads and becomes especially interested in those featuring a mysterious woman named Susan (Madonna) who she ends up sorta stalking. And through a series of unfortunate events, Roberta inadvertently becomes mistaken for Susan while also getting amnesia. :o Along the way she ends up striking up a romance with a charming film projectionist Dez (Aidan Quinn) who happens to be friends with Susan's boyfriend who asked to look after her...also thinking that she is in fact Susan. (Even though she's really Roberta) Toss into the mix a quiet white-haired mob killer (Will Patton) who is on Susan/Roberta's trail seeking stolen a pair of valuable diamond earrings....and chaos ensues. :) Directed by Susan Seidelman (Making Mr Right, She-Devil), it's all very quirky and hopefully charming....

 Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Kicking off Women's History Month, here is a truly unique take on one of the most famous (or infamous) monarchs in the history of French royalty.  Kirsten Dunst stars as the eponymous Queen married to King Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman) - their reign lasted from 1774 through 1793 and happened to be during one of the most tumultuous periods in French history.  Though you would be forgiven for not noticing this for most of their story as we watch Marie live a legendarily decadent lifestyle filled with colorful clothes, food, and company.  

This was director Sofia Coppola's follow-up to her Oscar-winning smash from three years prior, Lost in Translation, and it was generally looked upon during initial release as a disappointment.  Over the past 18 years though, its reputation has grown somewhat thanks to Coppola's inventive direction and her memorable decision to fill the soundtrack with anachronistic New Wave pop music.  If nothing else, it's a true original and the stacked cast also includes Judy Davis, Rose Byrne, Jamie Dornan, Asia Argento, and then very baby-faced Tom Hardy.   Let Them Eat Cake indeed!!!

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Since we are apparently still several years away from the next Star Wars or Star Trek movie on the big screen, director Denis Villeneuve has given us the next best thing....or maybe something even better? :) 

This long-awaited sequel to the Oscar nominated sci-fi blockbuster Part 1 picks up EXACTLY where the previous film left off.....Paul (Timothee Chalomet) and Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) now venturing on the desert planet of Arrakis (otherwise known as Dune) with the Fremen tribe lead by Javier Bardem's Stilgar while also becoming getting more acquainted with Chani played by Zendaya.  And of course a burgeoning war begins to escalate with the Harkonnens who have violently taken over the desert planet lead by the Baron played by Stellan Skarsgard.  Also including in this stacked cast are Florence Pugh, Josh Brolin, Christopher Walken, Dave Bautista, and Austin Butler.  LONG LIVE THE FIGHTERS!

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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The Coen Brothers are back!  Well actually just one of them (Ethan Coen) but he's here to direct while also co-writing and co-producing with his wife and long-term Coen's collaborator Tricia Cooke.  And what they have collaborated to deliver is an ambling, quirky, violent crime drama/comedy in the GREAT tradition of previous Coen Brothers' films like Burn After Reading, Fargo, or Raising Arizona.....but is it quite as good as those films?  

Well the cast certainly helps as it stars Margaret Qualley (Once Upon A Time in America) and Geraldine Viswanathan (Blockers) as two young ladies who embark on a road trip from Philly to Tallahassee, only to discover that they have a hidden package in their rented car with some VERY sketchy items. :o And of course, there are now various folks chasing after them played by a very stacked cast including Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Bill Camp, Pedro Pascal, and Matt Damon.  So let's find out if this '90's throwback lives up to its pedigree....  

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Welcome to the Living for the Max series.  Over the past 45 years, there has been no other film franchise QUITE as inventive nor as consistently exciting as The Mad Max Saga….four films mostly chronicling the post-apocalyptic adventures of lone wolf Max Roxatansky played three times by Mel Gibson and most recently by Tom Hardy.  As everyone has been directed by Australian cinematic genius George Miller, they have each reflected his unique vision while also being HUGELY influential on pop culture, more specifically the action genre.  So needless to say, new ones don’t come around very often and when they do….it MORE than qualifies as a cinematic EVENT.  Therefore over the next several months, I will be revisiting EACH entry of this beloved franchise every month leading up to the U.S. release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on May 24!  

And now the SECOND film in this franchise which is considered by many to be the best overall.....well at least was considered to be the best until Mad Max Fury Road came out in 2015.  But it's still damn impressive bringing us back to Max who is now a drifter with his own heavily souped up Interceptor wandering around the post-apocalyptic Australian Outback.  His character is always on the search for gasoline....as are most others at this point in time which leads to some potential trouble. He finds a massive oil refinery occupied by well-meaning survivors who just want to live in peace.  Of course there are more dangerous elements out there who want to take over this oil refinery and they are lead by the evil Lord Humungus played by Kjell Nilsson...and they're not taking any prisoners. :o So here comes Max to try to help them transport their oil to a safer place while avoiding this violent gang which means to overtake them....and what results is a rip-roaring series of action sequences mostly taking place on the open road!  Also co-starring are Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Emil Minty, and Vernon Wells.

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Considering that he was one of the most influential musical performers of the 20th Century pioneering an entire genre (reggae) of music, it was only a matter of time before we were to see a big budget studio of biopic of the late, great Robert Nesta Marley hailing from Nine Mile, Jamaica.  His life was tragically short but his music has lived on decades after his untimely passing in 1981.  This film directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard, We Own This City) focuses on a few critical years of his later life in the mid to late '70's which includes some big events in his life including an assassination attempt on him in 1976 and his eventual performance in important One Love peace concert in Jamaica in 1978.  Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night In Miami, Barbie) stars as the titular musical legend and Lashana Lynch (No Time To Die, The Woman King) co-stars as his wife, Rita Marley. 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Probably the best way to describe this movie would be as a "Kung Fu Musical Comedy" but that MIGHT not do it justice!  Produced by the founder of Motown Records (Berry Gordy) and directed by one of the early pioneers of African American cinema (Michael Schultz), it was a tale as old as time....of Bruce Leroy (Taimak), a young aspiring martial artist from New York City who aspires to become as accomplished as his idol, the legendary Bruce Lee.  Of course, some folks stand in the way of our hero achieving his goal, mainly a local Kung Fu bully Sho'Nuff (Julius Carry III) and a local gangster, Eddie Arcadian played by Christopher Murney.  Beyond that, he also might be falling in love with the host of a local music video show, the luminous Laura Charles played by the late, great Vanity.  And what results is an enduring cult classic which could ONLY come out during the 1980's featuring loads of memorable fighting, music, and hijinks....all geared towards answering one critical question: "WHO is the MASTER??" Let's find out.....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Just a couple of years before the breakout success of his seminal horror classic, John Carpenter directed this low-budget action thriller focusing on the siege of a soon-to-be-closing LA police station by a some local gangs who are trying to take down a rival gang-leader being held in custody by the police.  As the gun fire and violence escalate, every one inside - both cops and criminals - eventually team up to defend themslves and hopefully survive through the morning.  This highly influential cult classic stars Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, and Tony Burton. 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Poor Things is a high-brow steam-punk fantasy which just garnered the second largest number of Oscar nominations for 2023 including BEST PICTURE and has received universal acclaim for this surrealist tale of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone, also nominated for Best Actress), a young woman in Victorian England (?) who has recently been reborn/revived via a series of questionable experiments by a mad scientist Dr. Godwin played by Willem Dafoe.  We follow her on several adventures throughout Europe as she explores what it means to be a free-thinking human being.  It was directed by acclaimed Polish filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos whose previous film The Favourite also garnered several Oscar nominations five years ago.

Showgirls is a trashy exploitation melodrama which was universally panned upon initial release in '95 while also flopping notoriously at the box office, also receiving multiple Razzie Awards for that year.  This story focuses on Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley, who was blamed for its failure and whose career never quite recovered afterwards) who is a wandering dancer (?) who stumbles into Las Vegas seeking fame and fortune, working her way up from an exotic dancer at a sleazy local club to an all-out phenomenon leading THE premiere exotic dance show in Vegas!  We follow her character as she navigates through various dangerous and tawdry situations towards becoming.....well it's not really clear. :o This film was directed by Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven who had recently given us Basic Instinct and Total Recall....though from this film on, he was never able to find that level of success in the US again. 

Now what could these two films possibly have in common?  Well more than you would think, especially the extreme reactions they each seem to elicit from audiences... 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

https://livingforthecinema.com/

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