Female Film Critics 24/375
Fans of The Wire know the hard-hitting, confrontational social critiques delivered by its creators, George Pelecanos and David Simon. They’ve lost none of their gritty, scathing indictment of dysfunctional communities as proved by the six episode series, We Own This City. Based on real events, to our shocking dismay, sequences immerse us in Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force.
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Tokyo Vice follows a journalist probing Japan’s yakuza. A bonus of watching a series based on real events set in a foreign country is the immersion in that culture, the opportunity to learn customs while being entertained. This holds true for the HBO series Tokyo Vice based on American Jake Adelstein’s 2009 memoir of his journalistic days on the crime beat at the fictional, daily Meicho Shimbun newspaper.
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Award winning documentarians Dick Kirby and Amy Ziering instill trust in this educational series Remember that feeling of horror and betrayal while witnessing chief executive officers of major tobacco corporations declare, man for man, that cigarettes are not harmful? Similar scenes are played over and over in Not So Pretty, a series of four half-hour investigative documentaries that tear apart the beauty industry. Not So Pretty moves swiftly and carries a bruising punch.
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Ooh Lord, what they got going on over on that desert planet this time? Denis Villeneuve makes his version of Dune. Now, is it a remake of the classic David Lynch film or is it a new interpretation and adaptation of the Frank Herbert book?
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We’ve waited a long time for director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, and, yes, it has been worth the wait in terms of its overpowering visuals and sound design. The technical elements do all but smother the ecological, sociopolitical critique, but it’s there in battles for the rare commodity spice, imperialist incursions affecting the native Fremin culture, and the imperial family skirmishes.
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Since its publication in 1965, Frank Herbert’s epic tale has become one of the most popular sci-fi novels of all time. No wonder that filmmakers have grappled with interpreting its vast, complex story. French Canadian writer/director Denis Villenueve begins his $165 million extravaganza with “Part I.”
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Steven Soderbergh’s created a stupefying ‘noir’ trip back to 1954 in Detroit, where ex-con Curt Goynes is eager to pocket $5,000 to re-claim land that was taken from him. When he visits his buddy’s barber shop, he’s sent to the back alley where he’s hired to hold the Wertz family hostage while the husband/father, an accountant at General Motors, is forced to steal engineering specs.
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HBO Max has greenlit a new docuseries celebrating iconic movie moments guided by Hollywood’s most exhilarating cinematic voices. One Perfect Shot, a half-hour unscripted series, will be executive produced and narrated by Oscar nominee and Emmy Award winner Ava DuVernay and produced by Warner Horizon Unscripted Television with DuVernay’s production company, ARRAY Filmworks.
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Monique Marvez is author, podcaster, radio host and rescuer of pound puppies headed for the big goodbye. She’s a comic’s comic, a populist player, a fiercely intelligent and funny woman who’s served as San Diego’s top voice on Jack FM’s Monique and the Man, Next up: HBO Max’s HA Comedy Festival: The Art of Comedy.
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Actor-producer-director Hayek will first bring projects to the WarnerMedia-owned subscription service for potential development via her Ventanarosa production company as part of the deal. As a helmer, Hayek won a Daytime Emmy for Best Direction of a Family Movie for The Maldonado Miracle. Her producing credits include Santa Evita at Fox Latin America and Monarca at Netflix.
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