Murray Cumming’s documentary, Songwriter, is able to capture Ed Sheeran as he puts together his third studio album, ÷. With director Murray Cummings also being a cousin of the singer, it makes this documentary extra special. Because it’s a family affair, Cummings goes behind-the-scenes as Sheeran puts together a new album with producer Benny Blanco. Sheeran writes whenever he has the time–be it on the bus, a Malibu estate, or even while on a cruise…
"Songwriter: An Ed Sheeran Documentary"Month: August 2018
Amy Heckerling’s satirical Clueless manages to hold up some 23 years after it’s theatrical release. Yeah, the film is pretty dated given the technology but it doesn’t matter. We are introduced to Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) as a montage of scenes play out to The Muff’s “Kids in America.” The stereotypical Valley Girl is one of the most popular girls in school, no doubt helped by her litigator father, Mel (Dan Hedaya). She is also…
"Clueless holds up 23 Years Later"
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood reveals a fascinating history for those of us not familiar with the story of Scotty Bowers. Scotty Bowers moved to Hollywood after serving as a U.S. Marine during World War II. The rest as they say is history. Unbeknownst to America at the time, Bowers became a lover to our favorite stars. He did all of this while running a business at a gas station just on the…
"Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood"
The Meg offers a fair share of humor and suspense but comes off as just a bit more than the typical SyFy B-movie of the week. At least I think it does. When you get misgendered in the bathroom before seeing a film, it absolutely kills your mood and kick-starts a depression. Just going off of my notes during the press screening, I can say that I appreciated the commentary with regards to shark poaching. There…
"The Meg: You Won’t Need A Bigger Boat"
Dog Days is the type of ensemble comedy that will chew and tug at your heart’s emotions. This is a very large ensemble cast. There’s always a worry when it comes to a film of this nature that someone’s going to get considerable more time than others. This does not appear to be the case. Everyone gets what appears to be an equal amount. In the vein of so many other ensemble films, many of…
"Dog Days: A Crowd-Pleasing Comedy"
The Most Dangerous Year is an important documentary with a focus on families fighting against anti-transgender rights legislation. This documentary is personal for director Vlada Knowlton. Her youngest daughter was five years old upon coming out but started showing signs of being transgender two years earlier. The director comments in the film that “it was a terrifying time for us.” Struggling to accept their child’s gender identity was one thing but the next year proved to…
"The Most Dangerous Year: A Battle for Trans Rights"
Inspired by a true story, Pretty Bad Actress is a satirical look at how far talent will go to save their careers. Gloria Green (Heather McComb) is a former child star, best known for playing Trudie, and she’s been struggling ever since. There’s a lot to take in during the opening, which introduces the former child star through magazine clippings. This also helps to introduce Dawnee Von Bummell (Stephanie Hodes). The teenager is obsessed with…
"Pretty Bad Actress: How Far Would You Go?" Nick Scown took some time to speak about his new film, Pretty Bad Actress, during a phone interview with Solzy at the Movies. Thanks for joining us and congrats on the film. Nick Scown: Thank you. Thanks for speaking to me. You’re welcome. What was the idea behind Pretty Bad Actress and what films did you look at for inspiration? Nick Scown: I had the initial idea—I was watching Larry King doing an interview with…
"Nick Scown talks Pretty Bad Actress"
Deep Impact has all the makings of a cinematic masterpiece but falls just a tad bit short of joining the all-time classics. The film starts out with Leo Biederman (Elijah Wood) discovering an unknown object at a party. This is later revealed to be a comet heading towards a collision course with Earth. They send the photo to Dr. Marcus Wolf (Charles Martin Smith). He realizes what the object his but dies in route while…
"Deep Impact at 20 Years"
While Armageddon runs a bloated 150 minutes, the large majority of the film could really be defined as a comedy. This film no doubt offered a glimpse into the future of what a Michael Bay movie would be–full of disaster with a side of visual effects. Nobody asked for either but okay. There’s nothing else that you really need to say. When an asteroid “the size of Texas” is discovered to be heading towards an…
"Armageddon at 20 Years"