From the World of John Wick....this is techically a spin-off which takes place between the events of John Wick Chapter 3 and Chapter 4, the focus here is on Eve who is played by Ana De Armas. Eve is an assassin who was initially trainied as as a ballerina, hence the title! The Director of her "academy" is Angelica Huston who was also featured as a character in Chapter 3. Eve is seeking revenge against a rival organization which murdered her father when she was a young child - that organization is lead by The Chancellor played by Gabriel Byrne. And off she goes from New York City throughout Northern Europe on an increasingly violent adventure where she is tasked with defeating rival assassins through a variety of methods including her fists, grenades, flame throwers, knives, and dishes. ;) Along the way, she also encounters the "Baba Yaga" himself, John Wick once again played by Keanu Reeves. Ken Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard, Underworld) directs with a supporting cast also including Ian McShane, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and in sadly his final on-screen appearance, the late great Lance Reddick.

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon

Editor: Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Twenty years ago, this tragic romantic drama took the world by storm by becoming a suprise international box office hit along with garnering massive acclaim. It even eventually won a few Academy awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Socre, and most importantly Best Director for Ang Lee who was coming off of directing two more action-oriented blockbusters before this, Hulk and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. This film's story focuses on two ranchhands just trying to make a living as they embark on herding a massive flock of sheep around the titular Brokeback Mountain. They are Ennis DelMar (Heath Ledger nominated for his performance) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal, also nominated for his) and over severals alone together on this journey, they develop a friendship which eventually becomes something more....

And then we watch over the next twenty years as they keep periodically meeting up even as their lives get increinaly complicated with jobs, marriages, kids, and feelings. :o What results is a beautifully crafted tragic love story which not only broke some barriers given its subject matter but also built up a strong legacy over time as one of a select few modern classics which infamously lost the Best Picture Oscar to a far inferior film. (Crash) What better way to kick off Pride Month 2025 than to revisit this iconic love story!

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the rest of the IMF crew are back for ONE last mission....to save the world from The Entity, a massive artificial intelligence collective which has spread so far it is now on the verge of taking over every major nuclear weapons arsenal. And the President (Angela Bassett) is running out of options as Ethan still has possession of ONE key item which our AI overlord still needs....a cruciform key. As this is a direct continuation of the previous Mission: Impossible sequel (Dead Reckoning) from a couple of years ago, most of that film's key cast returns including series stalwarts Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, along with Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, and Esai Morales as the villainous Gabrial. Also returning is director Oscar-winning writer/director Chris McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, Jack Reacher) who has now helmed his fourth Mission:Impossible film in a row. Once again, the stunts gets crazier and The Cruise Missile seems to put his life on the line even more for the sake of pulling them off-screen - this leads to crazy action both underwater and up in the air!

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Twenty-five years ago, director John Woo (Hard Boiled, Face/Off) joined this franchise to helm this long-awaited sequel to the first cinematic adaptation from '96. And whereas the first film was a paranoid espionage thriller, he and star/producer/mastermind Tom Cruise decided to shift THIS entry in the direction of ramped up operatic action mixed with forbidden romance. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back for his next mission where he must prevent a now disavowwed former IMF-rival Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) from doing something nefarious with a mysterious bio-weapon/virus nicknamed "Chimera." And to get closer to this new villain's burgeoning operation, Ethan must enlist a beautiful jewel thief named Nyah (Thandiwe Newton) who has a past with Ambrose but....the ONE thing he didn't count on was falling in love. :o

And what results is a rip-roaring, mostly-set-in-Australia action EPIC filled with rock climbing, fast cars, roundhouse kicks, and.....DOVES. This was a major smash upon release and remains one of the more successful films in this long-running franchise....however a backlash has developed since then with many now calling it the WORST of the Mission: Impossible saga. Our mission - should we choose to accept it - is to determine as to whether it lives up OR down to the hype!

See below for a link where you can hear the rare instrumental version of this movie's theme song, cited within this review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfBiktIrDnQ

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Based upon the comic strip created in 1931 by Chester Gould, this eye-popping live-action adaptation was long planned by Oscar-winning director Warren Beatty (Reds, Heaven Can Wait) who also elected to star as the titular square-jawwed crime fighter sporting a bright yellow jacket. Finally green-lit and released by Disney in the wake of the breakout success the prior year of Tim Burton's Batman, the studio was hoping that it could duplicate the mega-blockbuster success of that comic book adaptation, backing its release with loads of marketing hype AND three different soundtrack albums including an assortment of original songs written by Tony-winning songwriting stage legend Stephen Sondheim (West Side Story, Into the Woods) and performed one of its co-stars....that would be Madonna who played Breathtless Mahoney, who is also a key femme fatale for the story. She is joined by completely STACKED cast by Paul Sorvino, Mandy Patinkin, Glenne Headley, Charlie Korsmo, Charles Durning, James Caan, Dustin Hoffman, AND Al Pacino who plays the film's main villain Big Boy Caprice.

Alas the film did solid box office but did not live up to the Batman-level hype...though it DID set a record for most Oscars won by a comic book adaptation with three for Best Makeup, Best Original Song, and Best Art Direction. This record of three Oscars would not be matched for another 28 years until it was eventually tied by another Disney comic book release, Black Panther.

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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During the waning days of World War II, a group of American soldiers find themselves without a leader nor a mission so they decide to sneak behind enemy lines to attempt to steal a hidden cache of gold which even most Nazi's are aware of. Clint Eastwood (who plays the titular Private Kelly) leads an all-star cast including Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Donald Sutherland, Carol O'Connor, and Harry Dean Stanton. Directed by Brian G. Hutton (Where Eagles Dare), this is as much of a comedic heist film as war movie, let's see how they pull off their mission.

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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Welcome to the LIVING FOR THE BOYLE review series! Daniel Francis Boyle originally hailed from Manchester, England and his filmmaking career took off thirty years ago in 1995 with the release of acclaimed cult thriller Shallow Grave. And ever since then, Danny Boyle (as he’s officially known) has carved out a uniquely successful career not only achieving box office success several times but also winning a few Oscars along the way. During this time period, he has also become one of MY personal favorite directors, having helmed excellent ORIGINAL stories spanning several genres including children’s fantasy, science fiction, crime drama, horror, and biopic. Over the next few months, I will be reviewing some of my favorite entries from his filmography in the lead-up to the long-awaited sequel to one of his more successful films….28 Years Later which will be released in the U.S. on June 20!

From the Oscar-winning writer (Aaron Sorkin) of The Social Network comes another "Based Upon a True Story" exploration of one of the titans of the digital revolution, this time the titular Steve Jobs played by Oscar-nominee Michael Fassbender (Shame, Black Bag). This story takes behind the scenes in the lead-up to three VERY different product launches headlined by the eventual Apple CEO in 1984, 1988, and culminating in 1998 with the launch of the revoluationairy IMac computer for home and office use. Along the way, we not only learn about the various ups-and-downs of the Apple/Mac brand as overseen by Jobs but much of his personal drama as well, especially his tumultuous relationship with his daughter Lisa. This Oscar nominated drama was directed by Boyle and featured a stellar cast including Kate Winslet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jeff Daniels, and Seth Rogen.

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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The beach town of Amity Island has been experiencing some mysterious attacks from a mysterious entity within the nearby ocean, resulting in some brutal deaths. And the local police chief Brody (Roy Scheider) is concerned that it MIGHT be sharks....and he's not the only one, there's also the visiting marine biologist Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) who suspects that it MIGHT be a Great White Shark. :o And besides them, there's the local sea-dog Quint (Robert Shaw) who not only believes that it's a Great White Shark but that ONLY he can kill it. And we're off to the sea in Steven Spielberg's classic mega-blockbuster which is about to turn 50! We're gonna need a BIGGER boat indeed.....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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