CHICAGO – In the history of “Reality TV” there has been periods of up-and-down popularity, shows that have been around seemingly forever (“Big Brother,” “Amazing Race”) and spinoffs to new styles like “documentary series” as networks like the National Geographic Channel emerged. In all those permutations, producer Stephanie Buxbaum has experienced it all, and has the career and stories to prove it.
Prison
Film Review: The Tumbling Delicacy of Life in ‘Blindspotting’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 20, 2018 - 10:22amCHICAGO – How can we understand the day-to-day factors of men and women who continued to be judged by their skin color, economic circumstances, difficult jobs or gender fluidity, if we are not any of those categories? Our art can help us, as given a great example in the new film “Blindspotting.”
Podtalk: Co-Stars Daveed Diggs & Rafael Casal of ‘Blindspotting’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 18, 2018 - 9:33amCHICAGO – If there are themes emerging in the 2018 film year, a couple of them are incorporated in Oakland, California, and African American identity. Like the recent “Black Panther” and “Sorry to Bother You,” the new film “Blindspotting” – written by and featuring Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal – involve those themes.
Film Review: American Legal System is Put on Trial in ‘Crown Heights’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on September 1, 2017 - 9:41amCHICAGO – There is no justice for the poor. That should be carved in stone on courthouses beside all the platitudes of American “equality” and “law.” In an eye-opening narrative film based on a true story, “Crown Heights” explores just how an impoverished individual can be found guilty and imprisoned unjustly for years.
Film Review: ‘Get Hard’ is Less Than the Sum of Its Parts
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 27, 2015 - 6:20pmCHICAGO – Will Ferrell is a funny guy. Kevin Hart can be a funny guy. But the prison buddy comedy “Get Hard” is woefully less than the sum of its comedic parts. It fires buckshot of lame jokes at its audience, but precious few come anywhere near their targets as it squanders nearly every comic opportunity that comes its way.
Blu-ray Review: Dated ‘Riot in Cell Block 11’ is Beautifully Filmed
Submitted by PatrickMcD on June 2, 2014 - 2:13pmCHICAGO – The Criterion Collection has added “Riot in Cell Block 11” (1954) to their stellar Blu-ray family, and the transfer is absolutely gorgeous, especially if you’re an admirer of the stark cinematography of the late black & white film era. Although dated, it still packs a gritty wallop.
Film Review: Two Old Dogs Prove Very Entertaining in ‘Escape Plan’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 18, 2013 - 4:55pmCHICAGO – Great action movies have one truth in common – they mix their face-offs with a psychological battle, which complements the pyrotechnics of invincible super humans. “Escape Plan,” with grizzled veterans Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is true to that form.
