MCN Originals Archive for June, 2016
The Weekend Report
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows led the weekend with an estimated $35.3 million debut. Two other films bowed nationally, with better-than-expected results for the drama Me Before You of $18.1 million and a disappointing turn of $4.6 million for boy-band music-and-fame satire Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.
Read the full article »LAFF Report 2016
My first taste of LAFF 2016 was Friday and signs were positive. The pulse of the neighborhood quickened without heightening the anxiety level. An amiable and engaged quality circled the hospitality area, and folks waiting in line to see the evening shows sported smiles.
Read the full article »The DVD Wrapup: Janis, Triple 9, Princess, Wim Wenders, City of Women, Blood Bath, Human Tornado and more
For as long as I can remember, someone has been trying to make a biopic about Janis Joplin. The closest anyone has come is Mark Rydell’s 1979 The Rose, which was loosely based on the Texas songbird’s troubled life, career and premature death to a heroin overdose nine years earlier. Because Joplin’s family wasn’t yet ready to commit to a specific Hollywood suitor, The Rose could only tease audiences with allusions to known facts. Since then, Lili Taylor, Pink, Zooey Deschanel, Brittany Murphy, Renée Zellweger, Amy Adams and Nina Arianda have had their names attached to film and theatrical projects that hit roadblocks along the way for similar reasons. The wait, in large part is over. Amy Berg’s comprehensive and legitimately affecting documentary, Janis Joplin: Little Girl Blue, succeeds because she was granted the access the other hopefuls were denied. Still, it took eight years to complete.
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