Based on the intense first three episodes of the ... [more]
Film
The Handmaid’s Tale Starts Season 2 Just as Intense; Plus, a Writer Comes to Town
Based on the intense first three episodes of the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu, it is obvious why Elisabeth Moss and Ann Dowd were Emmy winners for Outstanding Actress and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series respectively. The Handmaid’s Tale was also the Emmy winner for Outstanding Dramatic Series, and among the […]
Did ’70s Sci-Fi Cinema Nail Our Looming Brave New World?
In the 1970s, Hollywood was hell-bent on scaring the bejesus out of audiences with futuristic dystopias, churning out iconic, outrageous, science-fiction stories that imagined—and warned of—horrific “things to come.” But just how accurate were these filmmakers’ visions, most of which were believed far too insane to ever come to pass? Hold our Moscow mule! ROLLERBALL […]
![Who Are You Really? [Special Screenings, April 12-19]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/screenings-imitation-girl_illium-pictures-7-348x180.jpg)
Who Are You Really? [Special Screenings, April 12-19]
Isle of Dogs. Wes Anderson’s latest animation has, by executive decree, all the canine pets of Megasaki City exiled to a vast garbage dump called Trash Island. That sends 12-year-old Atari off alone in a miniature turbo prop to find his bodyguard dog, Spots. He is assisted on his epic journey by a pack of […]
A Look At the Most Memorable Music DJs in Film
In the roughly 112 years that Hollywood has been churning out feature-length films, radio disc jockeys have made for some interesting, if not iconic, cinematic characters. Record spinners really started appearing onscreen in the 1970s—back when DJs were still able to pick their own music—and here are some of the best. Stevie Wayne, The Fog […]
![No More Hammer Time [Special Screenings, April 5-12]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/screenings-basket-case_basket-case-productions-1-348x180.jpg)
No More Hammer Time [Special Screenings, April 5-12]
Psiconautas, los niños olvidados (Birdboy: The Forgotten Children). Alberto Vázquez and Pedro Rivero’s darkly comic animated feature is based on Vázquez’s graphic novel and is not intended for children. Stranded on an island in a post-apocalyptic world, teenager Dinky and her friends hatch a dangerous plan to escape for a better life. Meanwhile, her old […]
Edie Falco and Jay Duplass Are Star-Crossed Lovers in Outside In
Brothers Jay and Mark Duplass have carved themselves an interesting niche of indie cinema that has consistently examined mid-30s age malaise as reflected in interpersonal relationships in the 21st century. Together—and separately—they’ve embarked on making character-driven films in which the main protagonists are flawed, uncertain individuals working through some type of anxiety and confusion during […]
![Wonderful You [Special Screenings, March 29-April 5]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/screenings-professor-marston-and-the-wonder-women_opposite-field-productions-10-348x180.jpg)
Wonderful You [Special Screenings, March 29-April 5]
Una Mujer Fantstica (A Fantastic Woman). Writer/director Sebastian Lelio’s 2018 Best Foreign Language Oscar winner has Marina (Daniela Vega), a transgender waitress who moonlights as a nightclub singer, facing persecution after the death of her older boyfriend (Francisco Reyes). The Frida Cinema, 305 E. Fourth St., Santa Ana; thefridacinema.org. Thurs., March 29, 12:30, 2:45, 5, […]
The Decline of Western Orange County, Starring Penelope Spheeris!
Penelope Spheeris’ three The Decline of Western Civilization documentaries are Los Angeles-based stories, although Orange County plays a major role. It’s fitting then that Angeleno (Angelena?) Spheeris returns to the region she grew up in to present 2K restorations of her trilogy. At the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana on Friday night, she introduces The […]
![Better Work It, Girl [Special Screenings, March 22-29]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/screenings-RuPaul-s_Drag-Race-Season-10_courtesy-Bravo-14-348x180.jpg)
Better Work It, Girl [Special Screenings, March 22-29]
Aliens. The director baton was handed from Alien’s Ridley Scott to James Cameron, and the 1986 sequel is now regarded as a sci-fi classic. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is awakened 57 years after being the lone survivor when her merchant space ship returned to Earth. At first skeptical about her claims regarding who wiped out her […]
This Film is Cursed: Zak Bagans Conjures Up a Spooky Doc with ‘Demon House’
It was like something out of a horror movie: a series of strange, unexplainable occurrences began happening to a family living in a small Indiana town, and the results of those happenings became their own supernatural legend. Back in 2014, Latoya Ammons and her three youngchildren started experiencing abnormal signs in their Gary, Indiana home […]
I Kill Giants Is a Coming-of-Age Tale With Surprises
Having never read Joe Kelly’s excellent graphic novel, I expected an earnest giant-killing fantasy film out of Anders Walter’s directorial feature I Kill Giants. What I got instead was a film that, albeit one that still contained elements of fantasy, was more a direct coming-of-age story about a young girl being the David to the […]
![Everyone Has Their Own Truth [Special Screenings, March 15-22]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/screenings-i-tonya_courtesy-neon-1-348x180.jpg)
Everyone Has Their Own Truth [Special Screenings, March 15-22]
Before We Vanish. In the sci-fi thriller from acclaimed Japanese horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse, Cure), three aliens travel to Earth on a reconnaissance mission before a mass invasion. Each takes possession of a human body, robs it of its essence and leaves it unrecognizable to family members. In Japanese with English subtitles. The Frida […]
The Young Karl Marx Paints a Humanizing Portrait of the Reviled, Revered Philosopher and His Friend
Young intellectuals smoking cigars, playing chess and trading philosophical barbs between moves in the mid-19th century may not seem like the makings of compelling cinema. But when situated in a European society newly transformed by the Industrial Revolution and centered on a 26-year-old protagonist destined to become the founding father of communism, The Young Karl […]
![You’re in Terrible Danger, Girl! [Special Screenings, March 8-15]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/screenings-coraline_focus-features-3-348x180.jpg)
You’re in Terrible Danger, Girl! [Special Screenings, March 8-15]
Oscar Nominated Short Films. The Oscars are over, but the screenings continue. Academy Award Best Live Action Short Film nominees: Reed Van Dyk’s DeKalb Elementary; Derin Seale and Josh Lawson’s The Eleven O’Clock; Kevin Wilson Jr.’s My Nephew Emmett; Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton’s The Silent Child; and Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen’s Watu Wote/All […]
Movie Town, OC’s Last Great Video-Rental Store, Set to Close After 25 Years
On a recent Friday night, Movie Town in Anaheim bustled with more customers roaming the aisles than usual. It appeared that the video-rental store enjoyed the kind of foot traffic needed to continue making it an OC rarity in an era of digital streaming. But far from a display of resurgence, loyal customers began bidding […]
The Great Parks Huell Howser Showed Us on View at Orange County Great Park
Huell Howser exposed Orange Countians (and other Californians) to the Golden State’s great parks (and beaches and lakes and mountains and rivers and etc., etc., etc.). So, it is only fitting that the Orange County Great Park is the venue for the art exhibition “Golden Parks: Huell Howser.” Opening Sunday with a reception from 1-3 […]
The Oscars Don’t Matter—But You Should Still Watch Them
I love watching the Academy Awards. I love seeing the glitter of the people walking the red carpet, discovering what designer each actress chose to wear, the pomp and glamour of the award presenters, the “In Memoriam” montage, and even the possibility of seeing older stars come back for a surprise cameo. As a film-lover, […]
![Believing Takes Practice [Special Screenings, March 1-8]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/screenings-a-wrinkle-in-time_disney-8-348x180.jpg)
Believing Takes Practice [Special Screenings, March 1-8]
A Night at the Oscars. Enjoy an evening with hosts Robert Kline and Stephanie Heredia, who present an Oscars pre-party with a glimpse behind the scenes of this year’s nominated films and what it takes to win the statue. Regency San Juan Capistrano, 26762 Verdugo St., San Juan Capistrano, (949) 661-3456. Thurs., March 1, 6:30 […]
Dan Savage’s Hump! Film Fest Returns to Long Beach
For years, decades even, ocweekly.com and the back pages of our dead-tree edition have featured the sex-and-relationship-advice column Savage Love. Think ¡Ask a Mexican!, only with more fluids from naughty bits. (Dan Savage and Gustavo Arellano even swapped columns once.) Savage, an openly gay father and husband, as well as editorial director of Seattle’s savage […]
![Oh, Baby! [Special Screenings, Feb. 22-March 1]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/screenings-baby-driver_sony-pictures-1-348x180.jpg)
Oh, Baby! [Special Screenings, Feb. 22-March 1]
Call Me By Your Name. Charming American doctoral student Oliver (The Social Network’s Armie Hammer) goes to an Italian villa to serve as the annual summer intern for an eminent Greco-Roman culture professor (Boardwalk Empire’s Michael Stuhlbarg). But Oliver and the professor’s son Elio (Timothe Chalamet of Interstellar and Homeland) fall in love. Director Luca […]
Marvel’s Black Panther Is a Blockbuster Fit for a King
The amount of hype surrounding the release of the latest Marvel superhero film has reached levels not seen for blockbuster films in years. So I won’t bury the lede here: Black Panther is definitely worth all the praise it has received so far—and then some. Much of what makes the film a success can be […]
