By: debbie lynn elias “Little Miss Sunshine”, SUNSHINE CLEANING. Don’t get confused by the two but be forewarned that the parallels between these two films start from the get-go; not the least of which are the dark blend of comedy, Alan Arkin, an adorable kid, a dysfunctional family, the same
By: debbie lynn elias Growing up, just how many of you wanted to be, or during “play time” pretended to be, Superman, Batman, Spiderman, the Boy Wonder Robin, or even the villainous Riddler, Joker or Pruneface? I am willing to bet, a lot of you (and that group includes both
By: debbie lynn elias What better way to honor the opening week of baseball season than with, what I believe, is one of the finest baseball films to come around in a long while – SUGAR. For decades, some of the sports finest players have come from Latin America and
By: debbie lynn elias It takes one heckuva film or performance for me to be swayed into a position of utter allegiance to an actor, writer or director, but with SURVEILLANCE, writer/director Jennifer Lynch has done just that, solidifying my belief in her unique vision, style and solid execution of
By: debbie lynn elias It is a real privilege and pleasure for me to bring you my review of SEVERED WAYS: THE NORSE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, a film which debuted at Los Angeles Film Festival in 2007 and which was one of my “Must See Festival Films” as well as
By: debbie lynn elias On November 11, 1972, Barbara Daly Baekeland was murdered by her 25 year old son, Antony, in their London home. Not just “any” murder, this one garnered international attention as Barbara was not just “any” wealthy socialite. She was the ex-wife of Brooks Baekeland, grandson of
By: debbie lynn elias There are several words to describe a man like Monty Lapica but the first two that come to mind are honest and brave. As writer, director and star, Lapica takes a leap of faith and “lays it all out there” with a cathartic semi-autobiographical look at
By: debbie lynn elias Who else but Robert Rodriguez (and maybe Quentin Tarantino) could create a fake Mexploitation movie trailer, run it during another film, and have it turn into such a cult phenomena that he had no choice but to make the actual film on which the trailer was
By: debbie lynn elias You all know how much I love horror films (and if you knew my brother Ed you would understandwhy) which is why I would be remiss to not give a special Festival not-to-be-missed shout-out for LAST RITES. Directed by Santa Monica resident Duane Stinett and co-written
By: debbie lynn elias I should know by now that anything to which Nicholas Sparks is attached will guarantee an increase in the stock value of Kleenex. A world class novelist, the mere mention of some of his most cherished works, “The Notebook”, “Dear John”, “Message in a Bottle”, “Nights
