Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Review by Siraj Syed: Mind-boggling 2,734 VFX shots in 136 mins French director Luc Besson has made the most expensive French/European film ever. It is also the most expensive independent film, at about $200 million. From initial responses, it looks like the film will fall far short of recovering its cost, and that will be a pity. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets adds a new, fresh feel to the sci-fi, interplanetary, inter-galactic, alien...

The Magnificent Seven, Review by Siraj Syed: Rogue Bogue’s Epilogue You might say that The Magnificent Seven is not as iconic a Western as some others in the genre, like Stagecoach, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Last Train from Gun Hill, Annie Get Your Gun, Billy the Kid, Shane, the Sergio Leone trilogy, The Alamo, True Grit, MacKenna’s Gold or Cat Ballou. But it is not very far either. For one, it has spawned several remakes, sequels and bootleg versions (including a few Hindi fil...

  by Martin I. Petrov    Maggie’s Plan, Rebecca Miller’s new dramatic comedy starring Julianne Moore, Greta Gerwig and Ethan Hawke received its European premiere at the 66th Berlinale Panorama section yesterday evening at the Friedrichstadt Palast Theatre.    The film is a contemporary story, following young Maggie who leaves and works in NYC. She is convinced that at the approach of her thirties, she wants to have a child and is seeking a sperm donor....

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent On May 15, IFC Films will release GOOD KILL starring Ethan Hawke, Bruce Greenwood, January Jones, Zoë Kravitz, and Jake Abel. It’s an unusual war-related drama in that it uncovers the world of armchair drone pilots and how they go about the business of warfare from 7000 miles away. Set in 2010, the year President Obama made headlines for biggest number of drone strikes in US Military History, Ethan Hawke plays an F-16 fighter who is r...

SPOTLIGHT MEDIA PRODUCTIONS   87TH OSCARS® NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED   By Adrienne Papp   Directors Alfonso Cuarón and J.J. Abrams, actor Chris Pine and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards® today (January 15).  For the first time, nominees in all 24 categories were announced live. Cuarón and Abrams announced the nominees in 11 categories at 5:30 a.m. ...

SPOTLIGHT MEDIA PRODUCTIONS   Inside the 2015 Golden Globes   By Adrienne Papp You really have to hand it to Hollywood, they really know how to put on a show. The Golden Globe Awards traditionally kicks off the awards season for the entertainment industry, and the Globes have become known for their casual, liquor-lubricated and sometimes eccentric and unusual turns of events. You have to look back no further than last year, when we had dis...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent (*Richard Linklater also just received the Sonnny Bono Visionary Award at the 26th Annual Palm Springs Film Festival.) Two things will happen as Writer/Director Richard Linklater* (Slacker) hits the stage with Elvis Mitchell for Film Independent’s “An Evening With … Richard Linklater” in the Bing Theater at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) presented by Film Independent, the BAFTA Awards are poised to tip the dir...

 Wednesday, August 22--------Oscar nominated actor Ethan Hawke and fellow thespian Justin Theroux are two of the latest actors  who have gone behind the cameras for their latest films. Hawke has adapted his own novel THE HOTTEST STATE for a wide screen version that had its world premiere at last year's Venice Film Festival. The film stars Mark Webber as a New York city actor (originally from Texas) who falls desperately in love with a singer (played by Oscar nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno, w...