Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: The Accountant!

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Denise

the-accountant-posterOkay, time to get our free passes on.  Because Wednesday, and why not.  Today it’s Ben Affleck’s latest “I’ma be broody and things” joint, The Accountant.  Synopsis!

Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people.  Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he works as a freelance accountant for some of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations.  With the Treasury Department’s Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King (J.K. Simmons), starting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company where an accounting clerk (Anna Kendrick) has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars.  But as Christian uncooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise.

I’ll take anything that allows me to see Simmons strut his considerably talented stuff. You?  Well okay then.  Let’s go… Continue reading →

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TrailerWatch: Pitt must see if Cotillard is a spy in “Allied”

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Denise
Brad Pitt plays Max Vatan and Marion Cotillard plays Marianne Beausejour in Allied from Paramount Pictures.

Brad Pitt plays Max Vatan and Marion Cotillard plays Marianne Beausejour in Allied from Paramount Pictures.

Beautiful people in danger. World War II espionage.  In Allied, things may not be what they seem, at least to Brad Pitt’s Max Vatan.  Synopsis!

“ALLIED” is the story of intelligence officer Max Vatan (Pitt), who in 1942 North Africa encounters French Resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (Cotillard) on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Reunited in London, their relationship is threatened by the extreme pressures of the war.

Check out the trailer – it’s gorgeous, and there’s a nice bit of tension as things go from love to mistrust.  Allied opens November 23rd, 2016.

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#31in31 2016: Deathgasm

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Denise

deathgasm-poster“Wouldn’t it be crazy if the music had something to do with demons?”

Story: Death Metal nerd moves in with his uncle’s family after his mom is committed. Needless to say he doesn’t fit in. That is until he finds a group of fellow misfits and forms a band. First up? Playing that music they found at the house of a metal legend…that glowing pentagram on the page isn’t gonna be a problem, right?

Scares: Not many. This is revenge fantasy gone out of control. Scares take a back seat to sweet, sweet payback…and the resulting chaos. Continue reading →

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I don’t even like horror movies D: “Get Out”

Posted on October 5, 2016 by solaana

Get Out posterYeah what am I even doing here. But! Jordan Peele! From Key & Peele! Wrote one!

Check out the trailer!

[Ed Note: I salute your bravery in the face of terror, Solaana. – Denise]

via Nerdist

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Damn you, Lin-Manuel Miranda

Posted on October 5, 2016 by solaana

America’s High School Nerd Crush™ Lin-Manuel Miranda was on the Tonight Show last night rapping about Pop Tarts and unicorns AND HARRY POTTER, y’all. Y U DO DIS.

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#HistoryCrushHumpDay: Mary Ann Shadd Cary

Posted on October 5, 2016 by solaana

I am apparently also all about them hashtags. (I am not about hashtags, I swear.)

mary_ann_shaddIn my family, we eschew the term “spirit animal”, because its current usage is appropriationist garbage (see: Your Spirit Animal Is Here To Take You On Your Vision Quest at The Toast #RIPtheToast). We prefer patronuses. (Patronii?)(We are a very cool family.) And my patronus is Mary Ann Shadd Cary.

If I believed in reincarnation, I, and any other opinionated female of color, would believe that I was her in a past life. Decried at times as shrill in her writings (even by Frederick Douglass yooooo I thought we were cool), she was actually just an educated vagina-haver (of color!) in a time when people owned other people, with opinions she had the audacity to share in numerous writings, including her own freaking newspaper (the first owned by a woman in all of North America, and the first anti-slavery newspaper in Canada). She traveled all over Canada and the U.S. arguing for integrated schools during the Civil War. Also, she recruited for the Union Army, went to various conventions thrown together by abolitionist societies and schooled their punk asses on all kinds of shit, and oh hey by the way, was the second woman to get her law degree in the U.S. At 60 years old. BEAST. MODE. Continue reading →

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#TeamDustin for life

Posted on October 4, 2016 by solaana

Dustin and Lucas from Stranger Things sat down with the folks at the Guardian and continued their charm offensive. Key quote:

C: I think Simba would see Jesus and just hug him anyway, and they’d go off into the sunset. Then go and lay on the beach together.
G: They’d go out for ice-cream. Jesus is not a fighter.

giphy(gif via giphy)

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#31in31 2016: They’re Watching

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Denise

theyre-watching-poster“…but the folks are much nicer now!”

Story: House Hunters International – or in this film’s case, a knock-off version to please their attorneys – helps big city gal Becky (Brigid Brannagh from Kindred: The Embraced!) find a place in the country.  That country being Moldova.  She buys a place that looks 1 step away from being reclaimed by the wilderness, and the show promises to come back to check on her in 6 months.  Cue update; the camera and production crew of 3 (plus the diva-y show host) come back and see her amazingly refinished home.  But the townspeople don’t seem friendly.  If those pickaxes meany anything.  Is it too late to head to Paris instead?

Scares: Few.  This is a fun rather than frightning jaunt. But there are several scenes that deliver some high-quality creepy.

Splat factor: Um…sorta?  SyFy Channel-level special effects give what could be a totally bloodbath a cheesy feel.  Which is fine if you like cheese. (I do.)

Closing scene “shocker”?: Nay.  But there is a twist around the start of the climactic end scene.  Sharp(ish) eyes could spot this one coming, but it’s still fun.

Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Original, though this film does steal from its betters. Continue reading →

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“Birth of a Nation” controversy link round up

Posted on October 4, 2016 by solaana

I am all about those link posts. Denise’s review of Birth of a Nation is coming, but while we wait, here’s a list of opinions on whether or not to even go see it, given the controversy surrounding Nate Parker, the director, and the allegations that he and a friend raped a woman  while still students at Penn State:

This is in no way a comprehensive list of discussion on the subject, but I think it’s a good start. I personally won’t be seeing it – will you?

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“The Birth of a Nation” – the battle between Important and Good

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Denise

birth-of-a-nation-posterNutshell: A very important story, beautifully – and horrifically – told. Nate Parker may seem a bit too happy to throw on the messianic robes of Nat Turner, and his storytelling often goes overboard with heavy-handed symbolism. Yet, even with all the negative press on Parker, it’s an important story that has finally gotten its day. Grade: B

“Where is he, Nat?  Where’s God now?”

Story: A man born in slavery rises up to become a preacher.  But his faith in gods is at odds with the senseless, cruel actions of slave owners.  What else can a man do when he hears the call to right these wrongs by any means necessary?

Genre I’d put it in: Heartbreaking Truth Telling Not Everyone May Be Able To Watch

Remake, Sequel, Based-On, or Orignal: Based on Nat Turner’s Rebellion in August, 1831.

Gotta say: There’s a difference, sometimes, between Important, and Good. Sometimes we round one up for the sake of the other. Here, without a doubt, is a story that is Important. One that should be told, discussed, and remembered. Continue reading →

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