24x36 (now on video)

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Shown here at the 2016 Cleveland International Film Festival, director Kevin Burke's feature is now available for the small screens, so you don’t have to risk getting shot going downtown to see it. Not that the movie isn’t good – but not quite at intensive-care unit level. Which would be a pretty cool criteria for seeing a worthwhile movie, these days.

24X36 isn't the first documentary by far to dwell on the nerd-tastic topic of Hollywood movie-poster art – I recommend DREW: THE MAN BEHIND THE POSTER and THE MAN WHO DREW BUG-EYED MONSTERS - but it covers the subject nicely and comes up with a fresh 21st-century twist.

Rules Don't Apply

Review by George M. Thomas

Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich in Rules Don't Apply.

A larger than life figure whose influence touched aviation, general business, and Hollywood married to an old fashioned love story.

Written and directed by an old school Hollywood icon whose career has now spanned almost 60 years, RULES DON’T APPLY is Warren Beatty’s homage to the Tinseltown that existed during post-World War II, when men like Howard Hughes, a captain of industry, aviation, and film held sway over the country.

And men of such power enjoy being in control of all things at all times no matter who the person may be. That’s the observation from RULES.  But Beatty decides to have more than his share of fun tinged with poignancy in some respects with that fact.

Hail Caesar

Review by Bob Ignizio

The Coen Brothers have long shown a fascination with old Hollywood. Classic cinema runs through the veins of almost all of their films, sometimes subtly as in their neo noir debut BLOOD SIMPLE, sometimes more overtly as in their homage to Hollywood screwball comedies THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, or in straight up remakes of classic films like THE LADYKILLERS and TRUE GRIT. But no Cohen Brothers film to date has given them the opportunity to celebrate old movies and old movie making techniques to the extent that their latest effort, HAIL, CAESAR!, has.

Listen to Me Marlon (opens in Cleveland August 28th at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

[LISTEN TO ME MARLON opens in Cleveland on Friday August 28th exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Hearing the premise of the new documentary LISTEN TO ME MARLON, thrilling though it was, still brought to my jaded mind the sideshow come-ons when someone announces they've got exclusive cine footage of a crashed-UFO retrieval at Roswell in 1947, or long-lost Bigfoot celluloid.

The pitch: it turns out that the legendary Marlon Brando, before his 2004 death, had squirreled away hundreds of hours of secret audio narration. Everything from psychotherapy sessions to phone-answering machine messages to what I might imagine were dry runs to the autobiography he published in 1994 (that critics found somewhat unilluminating, if my memory serves). There was even some attempt at DIY sleep-hypnosis - poignantly urging him to shed the obesity that had made him a distorted caricature of himself.

The Last of Robin Hood (opens in Cleveland September 5th at the Cedar Lee and Capitol Theatres)

[THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD opens in Cleveland on Friday September 5th at the Cedar Lee Theatre and the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

It's doubtful there was a need for a film about Errol Flynn's late in life fling with teenage aspiring actress Beverly Aadland, but nonetheless we have just that in THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD. As the film starts, Flynn (Kevin Kline) is already dead and Beverly (Dakota Fanning) is being bombarded with questions from reporters. The pressure proves to much, and the young girl faints. Or is it all a staged performance orchestrated by Beverly's mother, Florence (Susan Sarandon)? Perhaps flashing back in time will shed some light.

Book Review: Confessions of a Casting Director

Book review by Pete Roche

There’s no business like show business, particularly when you’re just starting out.  Sure, other professions (medicine, law, etc.) may require massive outlays of time and money for training and promotion before one sees any return on the investment—but that’s presuming there’s any return forthcoming. 

Becoming an actor or actress is a crapshoot.  Even if you aren’t looking to become the next Tom Hanks or Sandra Bullock, you could easily sink tens of thousands of dollars into the process with no guarantee you’ll ever make a proper living from it.  If you can’t afford drama school or voice lessons now, the cost of transforming into Olivier could land you in the poorhouse.  And if you’ve already stretched your dollar as far as it’ll go, well, acting will most certainly and irreparably break you.

Hooray for Hollywood!