Like that weird large pouch Lucas grew under his chin, “Phantom Menace” is one of the films in the franchise that sticks out. It’s pretty boring, it’s bland, it’s anti-climactic, the story is complicated, and let’s not forget the atrocious acting courtesy of Jake Lloyd. Granted, Darth Maul is pure bad-assness, and McGregor rocked the house as Obi-Wan, but let’s face it, “Phantom Menace” sucked. Hard. But in a recent article I came across, Lucas seems to not only be jumping ship on his prequels, but he, as all directors do, blames us for its failure and lack of quality in a double talk pretending to be refering to the new film....

At first, all is well. Despite Hal’s protests, the Green Cross machine performs exactly as advertised, filling prescriptions and working through the customer rush with ease. But can the machine handle those customers that require a bit more care than just having their order filled quickly? While the base premise isn’t new, the idea of technology replacing people in the name of profit and efficiency, this is the first time I’ve considered it in regards to the pharmaceutical side of things....

The picture opens with Zara sneaking out of bed. At the same time, Robert’s snooping through a box of her possessions, including cryptic notebooks of body drawings and paraphernalia bordering the mystical. Zara and Robert have money troubles, and they are exasperated by his career woes and her difficulty landing acting gigs. He’s upset that he’s nothing more than a lackey for wealthy people who summon him every day, even on holidays....

The first segment, bluntly titled “Mind Fk”, concerns Tina (Jackie Adragna) and her husband Tim (Johnny Capuano). They’re from Staten Island and go out one night to see a hypnotist act. The Great Xaxxo (Mark K. Simmons) has a famous bit in his show where the hypnotized person will experience an intense orgasm every time his name is spoken. Soon, Xaxxo has Tina squirming on stage with other hypnotized people writhing around her....

If only the film tried to do something a little different – rather than the conventional, Hollywood style of filmmaking – if only the writing gave me more than one or two good jokes, and if only any of the characters developed logically. Unfortunately, none of those minimum requirements are fulfilled in “Wake.” Instead, we are given a stream of stunted, obvious dialogue, and characters forced to follow the conventional romantic comedy formula without having any logical reason to do so....

A Real One is simply a solid film from start to finish. It’s a bit cliche for a reviewer to complement the cinematography, but it’s top-notch. The camera is almost always moving, which bolsters the action of a film that is mostly Lauren and Keisha talking. It would have been easy to keep the camera fixed while the two stood there and talked. One conversation involves the two of them walking down a sidewalk as the camera pans around them to work hand-in-hand with the dialogue....

“I still have a hard time considering myself ‘into’ acting. I’m doing this because it’s a lot of fun, not because I want to be some kind of huge star. Not that I’d fight it… I did play dress-up as a child… Sometimes I’d answer the door dressed only in a variety of colorful scarves and cartoony KISS-style Halloween make-up on my face, much to my parents’ dismay, so maybe there’s an element of destiny in there somewhere....

Gertten joins BYOD to talk about the daunting task of facing a multi-national corporation with only a small team of dedicated filmmakers, and the extent that Dole has gone to slander him in the media and artistic community. The struggle has been documented in his new film, “Big Boys Gone Bananas,” and we get deep into the rewards and enormous difficulty of making a truthful film about big dirty business....

Mrs. Kelley (Bríd Ní Neachtain) is the housekeeper for the local priest. She also has an administrative role at the church’s school. On this particular morning, a father desparate to give his daughter, Clodagh (Katelyn Rose Downey), a proper education presents her to Mrs. Kelley. No promises, but she’ll have a look. Mrs. Kelley puts Clodagh in front of the school’s stepdance team and Clodagh shows exceptional skill and talent to dance, but we soon find out that Clodagh lives barely in the neighboring county....

Another distinct aspect of your films is the musical score, which really sets the tone. You’ve worked with composer Howard Shore, on I think, all of your films. How do you and Howard work together? We sort of grew up in Toronto together and we sort of grew into movies together and evolved and somehow managed to keep pace. And Howard is, well, he just won the Oscar for Lord of the Rings and he could have won five times, he’s brilliant....

While fundamentalists from outside the Unites States are castigated these days for their social extremism, this film shines a new light on American fundamentalism, a powerful ideological bloc in the U.S. Among the documentary’s subjects are a Pentecostal church leader and her gay grandson and lesbian daughter; the gay son of a Mormon bishop in rural Utah; and Brian Bennett, the gay former chief of staff to conservative (and Catholic) Congressman Bob Dornan (R-California), who regarded Bennett almost as a son....

No, this is not a conspiracy theory film but professing a different, if not controversial, view of money. These ideas are built chiefly around changing economic theory called Modern Monetary Theory with an American slant built chiefly around clips from News stories. There are no actors in this film, only people going about their lives and speaking on camera in various situations. The picture follows mostly Stephanie Kelton or Dr....

Holler was written and directed by Nicole Riegel, her first feature after a short of the same name featuring some of the same characters. As a first feature, there’s a lot to like — the acting is first-rate, the drama is realistic, and the world is believably rendered. Riegel shows refreshing restraint, keeping the stakes high enough to be interesting, but never letting it devolve into overblown melodrama. Making a film about opioid addiction, the loss of manufacturing jobs and working-class struggles in the midwest can seem condescending if not handled with the utmost of respect....

One of my favorite sequences of several charming scenes is when Reyes goes to a dinner with other women in a support group. Besides watching the making of carné asado, there are many delicate and funny “home remedies” cited for infertility. One woman even mentions she swam in special waters and then scheduled sex with her husband on specific days to develop a rhythm to assist her body in becoming pregnant....

As Jim (Jamie H. Jung) is trying to pull the pieces of his life back together but life suddenly takes a dark turn. Ignoring the advice of his best friend Paul (Kenneth McGlothin) to move on, Jamie resorts to “stalking” his ex, Alice (Bonnie Gayle). He soon discovers she’s been dating Carlos (Joe Perez), who unbeknownst to both of them is a local drug cartel leader. While Jim is obsessed with finding love again with Alice, he and his friends are sitting upon the rumblings of a potential drug war....

Musings of a Mechatronic Mistress is a documentary that explores the purpose of sex robots…particularly the very busty robot Tiffany (voiced by Alix Martin). The documentary is a series of one-on-one conversations between Tiffany and several experts in the fields of robotics, AI, and gender identity. The conversation is very free-form and goes off in many different directions. It starts with the very purpose of a sex robot and the fact that it may look like a woman and have the sexual parts of a woman, but instantly, the lifeless latex feel sets it apart from humans....

Barbara and her two friends, Tony (Robbie Allen) and Jill (Ivy Polkinghorne) are booking it out of town with a bag full of cash and a horde of zombies following them. Tony has been bitten and is not doing well. The trio finds themselves being chased by a greedy man, Big Jake (D.T. Carney), with a gun. After both are run off the road by an oncoming semi, the zombies dispatch with her friends, and Barbara is left to fend for herself....

Chase (Jules Roscoe) is a young woman who is laser-focused on achieving her ultimate demise, which is to be eaten by a shark. The story is told in twelve vignettes, with each chapter featuring Chase sitting on the sand of the beaches of New York City in her bikini. She reflects on her experiences and feelings of sitting on the sand looking for a shark through her inner monologue. No Shark begins at Coney Island, and the steady stream of the protagonist’s thoughts begins....

As a Senator, he slammed his pen down on the table in Congress one time for every blow suffered by Rodney King at the hands of the police. In Bradley’s sports days, there were still “Whites Only” rules, particularly in the South. When traveling, the team refused to split up, so Bradley experienced firsthand what it was like to be oppressed by the “Jim Crow” laws. His pivot to politics had the expected ups and downs, ending with a failed Presidential bid in 2000....

“Skin Deep” opens with a rather disturbing sex scene, one which is reminiscent of “Showgirls”; the pool is not present, but there is mosquito netting around the bed. We quickly discover that Alex (name ripped directly from “Fatal Attraction) is Anthony’s (Mailon Rivera) co-worker/mistress and, despite the “Showgirls” moment, Anthony no longer wants to see her. Alex (Debra Wilson), like her namesake, doesn’t take the break-up very well. After ending the affair Anthony speeds off on his motorcycle (chaps and all) and arrives at his large, expensive, secluded home where he and his wife, Victoria (Kristen Shaw), have a fight about the fact that she doesn’t put out like she should....