REVIEW: The 33 [2015]

“Aim to miss” As if being the international feel-good story of 2010 wasn’t enough, the Copiapó mining accident at the San José copper/gold mine in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile included the type of personal, human melodramatic intrigue ripe for cinematic interpretation. Sourced from Hector Tobar‘s non-fiction novel Deep Down Dark (commissioned with each miner’s help so one couldn’t benefit more than another), Patricia Riggen‘s The 33 could be fiction. Mario Sepúlveda (Antonio Banderas) was working his day off, Álex Vega (Mario Casas) was days from fatherhood, and Mario…

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REVIEW: Lucy in the Sky with Diamond [2013]

“Are you prepared to spend eternity together?” Written in the hopes iconic actor Lou Diamond Phillips would agree to participate, Joey Boukadakis‘ comedy short Lucy in the Sky with Diamond was born. Blindly sending the script to his muse unsure of what the reaction would be, Boukadakis found his love of the man validated once the response came back positively. Phillips loved the script, was flattered by the Being John Malkovich treatment, and graciously accepted the offer to film for two days in the San Fernando Valley and have his…

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TIFF08 REVIEW: Che: Part Two – Guerrilla [2008]

“Maybe our failure will wake them up” After the mild disappointment from Che: Part One – The Argentine, I began to anticipate something better with Che: Part Two – Guerrilla. I probably should have taken the subtitle more literally than I did as I thought maybe this would show us the political conversations and aftermath of the Cuban fight for freedom from Batista. The black and white flash forwards of The Argentine showing the UN speeches and fervor surrounding Che Guevara showed what I hoped would comprise a big chunk…

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