REVIEW: Bad Grandmas [2017]

I’m nervous like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Writer/director Srikant Chellappa and co-writer Jack Snyder aren’t fooling around when it comes to Bad Grandmas. We don’t meet their senior citizens as innocent grannies playing Rummy before watching them turn “bad.” No, Mimi (Florence Henderson) walks into Jim’s (David Wassilak) place of work, waits for the only other employee in the office to leave, and confronts him with gun drawn. Whether or not the trigger depresses accidentally, no tears are shed. Mimi is stone cold, chiding…

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NYAFF11 REVIEW: Machete Maidens Unleashed! [2010]

“Human life was cheap, film was cheap—it was a great place to make a picture” As the most telling quote of Machete Maidens Unleashed! exclaims, “The stories are 10 times better than the actual films”. The anecdotes and memories of those involved in the Filipino exploitation genre of cinema are an amazing account of a period never to be repeated. Screening at the New York Asian Film Festival, Mark Hartley’s documentary opens our eyes to what went on in order to make some of the infamous cult schlock from the…

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REVIEW: Just Wright [2010]

“You’re da bomb dot com” It truly is a pleasure to see Queen Latifah in a starring role; the woman is good. I’ll admit, I often forget her knack of acting naturally and ability to charm her way across the screen when all I see is her doing thankless parts in Valentine’s Day or Stranger Than Fiction, both of which make you wonder why they bothered casting someone of her caliber and expense to do absolutely nothing. Her talent and constant good-natured attitude force you to pull for her character…

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