BELATED REVEIW OF FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S 'MEGALOPOLIS'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZ8q1Mj5PLZ2Jt-JuoO5u4jqZLviofcQxOYzOC8-RG5sdumUM440AcfZJJOmFmASpPpNpxbD1QuUz0cwx3-T1DnDDhRnR1-TIghhKtBRnNUYLK6t5-OR5Z44v9IUhP6tMqOcKnwwXGrPIGy4Vwm_AYaE5XXv09zVRVFFIH6NQPXaOg4PBqSfIgf3kPiK7/s2102/Screen%20Shot%202026-06-19%20at%2011.42.19%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="2102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZ8q1Mj5PLZ2Jt-JuoO5u4jqZLviofcQxOYzOC8-RG5sdumUM440AcfZJJOmFmASpPpNpxbD1QuUz0cwx3-T1DnDDhRnR1-TIghhKtBRnNUYLK6t5-OR5Z44v9IUhP6tMqOcKnwwXGrPIGy4Vwm_AYaE5XXv09zVRVFFIH6NQPXaOg4PBqSfIgf3kPiK7/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-06-19%20at%2011.42.19%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nathalie Emmanuel and Laurence Fishburne in MEGAOLPOLIS Year: 2024 Rating: *1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With theatrical trailer/promotions promising the Francis Ford Coppola who made THE GODFATHER and APOCALYPSE NOW, the infamous MEGALOPOLIS is actually a reworking of Coppola's SE Hinton adaptation RUMBLE FISH: as a giant clock beneath rolling clouds shadow an urban city skyline with a massive metronome-like clock ticking; an overall theme about time; and Laurence Fishburne as a narrating tagalong/bodyguard to a misunderstood dark-haired male lead... </p><p>And the only two characters that actually seem to matter are Adam Driver, the utopian creator of a gelatin-like substance to build cities, with his rival mayor's beautiful daughter Nathalie Emmanuel, who loves him — particularly since a superpower to literally stop time only occurs if she's around... </p><p><span></span></p>

2024, adam driver, aubrey plaza, dustin hoffman, francis ford coppola, jon voight, laurence fishburne, neo noir, new, science-fiction, shia labeouf

BELATED REVEIW OF FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S 'MEGALOPOLIS'

Nathalie Emmanuel and Laurence Fishburne in MEGAOLPOLIS Year: 2024 Rating: *1/2 With theatrical trailer/promotions promising the Francis Fo...

FINAL SKYWALKER SAGA 'STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismp375nOwTKGdaL84rVBK-RA_ZGLzSgPnNFh7TatvVOhkzws89_YiQyD-GK-tEyBzLmCqENk4Q5gLJPZ9nl7zs7xQlg_K1towNyywfofLY7v29NEMUWUVYCdTjwQyhMobhJ4gYVG1BdN1/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-12-19+at+10.35.57+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1180" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismp375nOwTKGdaL84rVBK-RA_ZGLzSgPnNFh7TatvVOhkzws89_YiQyD-GK-tEyBzLmCqENk4Q5gLJPZ9nl7zs7xQlg_K1towNyywfofLY7v29NEMUWUVYCdTjwQyhMobhJ4gYVG1BdN1/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-12-19+at+10.35.57+PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Retro artwork for Star Wars THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Year: 2019</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> There's a popular term in internet circles for THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, calling it "fan service" i.e. providing fans what they'd want or expect from a STAR WARS movie. Imagine if The World Series was lambasted for the players using wooden bats to hit a white ball around a grassy field... <br> <br> So compared to Rian Johnson's understandably maligned THE LAST JEDI, director J.J. Abrams hits it out of his own safe ballpark in a hybrid/rehash of RETURN OF THE JEDI with similarities to another Lucasfilm classic, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: in particular, a Staff of Ra type device that, maneuvered strategically against an adjoined-perspective-backdrop, can pinpoint another, more important device (i.e. McGuffin) that will locate a lost Sith planet, where a resurrected Emperor Palpatine has poised more Star Destroyers than we've seen in all three trilogies combined...<br>

action, adam driver, adventure, billy dee williams, carrie fisher, daisy ridley, fantasy, harrison ford, mark hamill, oscar issac, science-fiction, star wars

FINAL SKYWALKER SAGA 'STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER'

Retro artwork for Star Wars THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Year: 2019 There's a popular term in internet circles for THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, c...

FLY CASUAL W/ 'STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI' AKA 'STAR WARS VII'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3f22A3HU061rMd0WlgEB9sO_BsYakg4Mmtb_Gcuyt80kMjXShqjLxhpGWoW0Q2_36-nwzivzfzJlh0wF8BnFzGjRMQrDidY42593X25cVdaBwK_PjEcBrlhItO5-TlB5xB4Tr7pHGYU7/s1600/25299972_408534939575688_8594711449107748584_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim3f22A3HU061rMd0WlgEB9sO_BsYakg4Mmtb_Gcuyt80kMjXShqjLxhpGWoW0Q2_36-nwzivzfzJlh0wF8BnFzGjRMQrDidY42593X25cVdaBwK_PjEcBrlhItO5-TlB5xB4Tr7pHGYU7/s1600/25299972_408534939575688_8594711449107748584_o.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Why not make use of the little big cards given out for fanatics who bought the earliest tickets available YEAR: 2017</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Since J.J. Abrams' THE FORCE AWAKENS (albeit criticized for being too unoriginal) introduced a band of endearing, worthwhile characters, writer/director Rian Johnson obviously knew he had to make the second new STAR WARS get right down to business and, although the first fifteen minutes halts more than flows, there's a point where things open up nicely...<br>

2017, adam driver, carrie fisher, daisy ridley, fantasy, franchise, jj abrams, mark hamill, new, oscar issac, rian johnson, science-fiction, sequel, star wars

FLY CASUAL W/ 'STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI' AKA 'STAR WARS VII'

Why not make use of the little big cards given out for fanatics who bought the earliest tickets available YEAR: 2017 Since J.J. Abrams...

CRITERION DELVES INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0M2c4Iih-U3Nn8DQEqtKXEK9hyRtUef2GrleQdH9Nz8sJBPXlnO9DBAgGrccx3bptGKlBGj2TS9Csea_u-tVxPkQ6KTRzdg1mGFR4Q17-FvWqEvoqMU0N0QMQzEhTqD6hI0RdMs4dZg/s1600/794_DVD_box_348x490_original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0M2c4Iih-U3Nn8DQEqtKXEK9hyRtUef2GrleQdH9Nz8sJBPXlnO9DBAgGrccx3bptGKlBGj2TS9Csea_u-tVxPkQ6KTRzdg1mGFR4Q17-FvWqEvoqMU0N0QMQzEhTqD6hI0RdMs4dZg/s640/794_DVD_box_348x490_original.jpg" width="452"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover to the Criterion Edition of INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS</td></tr> </tbody></table> Popular movie blogs that get much more hits than the wordy, passionate Cult Film Freak will merely promote particular covers of genre Blu Rays, DVDs, and even VHS covers, and while The Coen's comeback (at least to some of us who have been dying since THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE) titled <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/12/inside-llewyn-davis.html">INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS</a>, taking place in 1961, before Bob Dylan both made and broke the Folk genre in New York's Greenwich Village, centering on the most flawed of flawed anti-heroes in Oscar Issac's stubborn and selfish folk singer who, as we begin with him crashed hungover at a friend's house, which he winds up doing anywhere and everywhere, after an egg breakfast sleepily walks out the door when the family cat scrams outside along with him, wherein a desperate Lewis quickly grabs the feline in the outside hallway and, since the front door is locked, the orange tabby and the title character takes off to the Village via subway car, where our lonely misadventure begins. Actually the movie starts with what might have been the night before with Issac playing a lovely standard before getting punched-out, outside in the club's alleyway, for a mysterious reason learned later on. And the man of the hour, Oscar Issac, an actor who has yet to make it as big as he deserves, sings and plays guitar himself; he's the real deal, very rare and adding something incredible and palpable to a movie that came and went in the box office. But Cult Film Freak first bought a cheap DVD, then a slightly pricey Blu Ray, with the same boring cover. And, as happens with Criterion, they emerge outta nowhere with an incredible cover, and this one is, amongst a long list of incredible artwork from <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/11/love-streams.html">LOVE STREAMS </a>to <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2015/12/in-cold-capote.html">IN COLD BLOOD</a> (purchased after the original standard yet cool blu ray cover got signed by Scott Wilson) to <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2011/04/repo-man.html">REPO MAN</a> to our tribute to David Bowie in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/01/bowie-MCML.html">MERRY CHRISTMAS MR LAWRENCE</a>... by far, in this reviewer/collector's opinion, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/11/pop-culture-2.html">INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS</a> is the very best of the eclectic series. In the movie itself, two future (and now, present) <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/01/jedi-rambles.html">STAR WARS FORCE AWAKENS</a> actors appear in the film. The new X-Wing Ace, filling the boots of Wedge Antilles, is the star of DAVIS while the new galactic villain, Adam Driver, plays a low-voiced singer named Al Cody, equally a failure in the folk music business, and in one great scene, so very Coen Brothers in their usually silent-hilarious fashion, has Llewyn crashing at Driver's pad, carrying a box of left-over albums... There's no room to place the box under a table where there's another box, which happens to be full of Al Cody's non-sold misfire LP's of his own.<br>

adam driver, coen brothers, oscar issac, tribute

CRITERION DELVES INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

Cover to the Criterion Edition of INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Popular movie blogs that get much more hits than the wordy, passionate Cult Film F...

BEN STILLER & NAOMI WATTS IN WHILE WE'RE YOUNG

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UgDmPkYy_gbO8A2mk82CEOBXhkcMXKwmbEbod9FKQOvxBNq6MnuazSK20cJhlZtaWjH3u6QyWMUBYzFxhhxvyA44xl9VBNvGsnJJrAWRY84pQ6YdoCfdzqEcaOa2j4r8FLP69VS1V2g/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UgDmPkYy_gbO8A2mk82CEOBXhkcMXKwmbEbod9FKQOvxBNq6MnuazSK20cJhlZtaWjH3u6QyWMUBYzFxhhxvyA44xl9VBNvGsnJJrAWRY84pQ6YdoCfdzqEcaOa2j4r8FLP69VS1V2g/s1600/Picture+1.png" width="180" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> After an excruciating all-night spiritual exercise of literally cleansing the body and soul by using peyote, the next morning Ben Stiller’s struggling New York based documentarian Josh points out to his wife Cornelia, played by Naomi Watts, that the Shaman has a Vespa; reminiscent of Woody Allen’s quip to Shelley Duvall about the Maharishi at Madison Square Garden in ANNIE HALL: “Look, there’s God coming out of the Men's Room.” <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHt-SlI12ltzdaUM_9Pmw-j-tBT0f4lCItFfGmz9eekRrTFaf590N8HAz-gWvWGkTv3q1wHo8wEa6FUgWeMWD1NPFmzuFr1DqaLnQagFtP0Vz0FvGjd-9kPIodxNG8PNgcBFZrPz8hA4/s1600/Picture+2.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHt-SlI12ltzdaUM_9Pmw-j-tBT0f4lCItFfGmz9eekRrTFaf590N8HAz-gWvWGkTv3q1wHo8wEa6FUgWeMWD1NPFmzuFr1DqaLnQagFtP0Vz0FvGjd-9kPIodxNG8PNgcBFZrPz8hA4/s1600/Picture+2.png" width="129" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Stiller</td></tr> </tbody></table> Clever and strategic for writer/director Noah Baumbach to, from the very beginning, admit his WHILE WE’RE YOUNG is inspired by... some classic play, distracting from the similarity to Allen’s neurotic style including a barrage of self deprecation, navel gazing and an eventual envious competition between one failed and one lucky filmmaker straight from another Woody classic, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. Although Adam Driver’s 25-year-old inspiring documentarian, Jamie, is anything but a roaring success…<br /> <br /> Especially when he first meets his mentor, Stiller’s 44-year-old Josh, who winds up going through a crash course mid-life crisis ranging from hipster clothing to a brand new appreciation for the pop culture he grew up on (from ROSEMARY’S BABY to THE GOONIES to "Eye of the Tiger" to Carvel Ice Cream) and that this generation knows only from You Tube clips. <br /> <br /> The friendship between old and young artist is more interesting than the trite connection of Cornelia and Jamie’s girl Darby, played by Amanda Seyfried, and yet either odd couple hardly wields enough intriguing humor to make YOUNG as inspired as it tries too hard to be. Thankfully for the audience and our put-upon hero, there’s a nice pivotal twist involving Jamie’s integrity as a filmmaker, making Ben Stiller rise above the clichés and finally, actually, <i>need</i> something.

2015, adam driver, ben stiller, comedy, naomi watts

BEN STILLER & NAOMI WATTS IN WHILE WE'RE YOUNG

year: 2015 rating: *** After an excruciating all-night spiritual exercise of literally cleansing the body and soul by using peyote, th...

JASON BATEMAN IN THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oth40IG52DraxDhOHyt0vLKPgvH0dowB0e6a8xOuCRihpg_3K9MDE_yxbPUpkcrhR_pj69hHfPN-w9AfDOiFv8rc2HvIYBEX_uOc04UK2bOdqojz5lnJYso2FzjgkVFb4H6K7cBLJ0U/s1600/MV5BMjkzNzQ2NDMyNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTY3MTcxMjE@._V1_SY759_SX512_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oth40IG52DraxDhOHyt0vLKPgvH0dowB0e6a8xOuCRihpg_3K9MDE_yxbPUpkcrhR_pj69hHfPN-w9AfDOiFv8rc2HvIYBEX_uOc04UK2bOdqojz5lnJYso2FzjgkVFb4H6K7cBLJ0U/s1600/MV5BMjkzNzQ2NDMyNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTY3MTcxMjE@._V1_SY759_SX512_AL_.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2014 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> While seeming like another AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, where an eclectic lot reunites after the death of a beloved yet mysterious patriarch, both films are reminiscent inspirations of THE BIG CHILL… A collection of polar opposites gathered in one place where personalities collide, but in an ultimately optimistic, life-affirming sense… The usual. <br /> <br /> In SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, Bradley Cooper went to the nuthouse after catching his wife having sex with another man – so let’s give Jason Bateman’s Judd Altman some credit… He keeps it all inside, and remains pretty cool, but is forced to spend a week with people he’d much rather avoid… An equal penance, maybe.<br /> <br /> Judd is the clean slate main character, allowing the other family members to shine and/or attempt stealing scenes, especially black sheep little (yet very tall) brother Philip, played by Adam Driver, who gets all the best lines but there’s something missing. His wild card is too forced, contrived. And Bateman relies on his usual glib reactions for every unpredictable element... <br /> <br /> Which also includes blunt advice from Tina Fey’s Wendy, his older sister and a somewhat wasted character throughout, given a quickie affair with a neighbor that amounts to little. Tina deserved better. And their famous author mom, Hillary, who has a brand new set of breasts and a secret revealed later on… Veteran actress Jane Fonda, in playing a woman too open-minded to everything around her, isn't very interesting. <br /> <br /> While the situations are often humorous, and the dialogue is natural and laidback, this particular reunion feels a bit staged, showcasing an American family the director assumes we know more than we actually do. Never given a chance to delve into these people beyond their lusty one-liners and worldly bantler, it’s like over-hearing a party next door instead of actually attending.

adam driver, ensemble, jane fonda, jason bateman, rose byrne, tina fey

JASON BATEMAN IN THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU

2014 rating: **1/2 While seeming like another AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, where an eclectic lot reunites after the death of a beloved yet myst...