Urbanworld Film Festival 2024

Movie Review Coming Soon!

Directed by by Frank Sputh, Bin Martha, Kolumbianerin (I'm Martha, Colombian) is a slowcumentary, the nearly three-hour portrait of a young Afro-Colombian woman, a slow, closely observing documentary.

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Expressway Cinema Rentals is Philadelphia's leading photo & video rental resource for the creative community.

Visual Jedi LLC | Specializing in Video Production from concept to creation. Storyboard, audio mixing, editing, graphics design and more!

Pour something different! Premium specialty loose leaf teas sourced in Africa. Sibahle - We Are Beautiful!

The Ultimate Vegan Experience! We are Vegan Soul. Celebrate a new way of life with healthier food.

Fine Art Reproductions - Limited Edition Giclees on Canvas and Limited Edition Prints by World-Renowned Visual Artist and Designer, Synthia SAINT JAMES

 

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*All 31 "Prompts" might not be featured on this blog; I have my own schedule and topics to adhere to.

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Come SUPPORT the makers and SHOP for the holidays at MADE@BOK Small Biz Saturday Market where you can get a head start on The Madlab Post’s Shop Small Treasure Hunt with movie tickets, videogames and more! This is a market featuring crafts from artists, designers, makers and small businesses that create within the walls of the historic Bok building. Free entry!

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:
Perspectives directed by Neer Shelter has qualfied for the 2024 Academy Awards

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FYC: Academy qualified short film 'Perspectives' directed by Neer Shelter | Oscars Shortlist

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📣 MADE @ BOK SPRING MARKET IS HERE 📣 Our first Market of 2022! On Sunday, May 1st from 11-4pm, come grab a gift for mom, a treat for your loves or something to brighten up your life in the way only springtime can like clothing, jewelry, ceramic and vintage wares, a brownie or two (or five), and more! 🤗 We'll be setting up in the gym as well as all the shops in retail row through the (new and improved!) Dudley St door.

See you then! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍

Rent Abyss: The Greated Proposal Ever, a short film made with a diverse cast & crew working together to tell a story about Love, Friendship and PTSD! This urban military homecoming drama is a candid glimpse into the troubles surrounding a U.S. Army Sergeant who gets stranded by SEPTA in the inner city when a wild marriage proposal shakes up his plans to reunite with the only family he knows. 

The 2019 Short Film Slam Round V Championships is showing at Motor House in Baltimore, MD. Visit the Shop for Advance Tickets to our awards showcase!

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Monday
Mar172014

Monday Movie Meme – Say Cheese!

My apologies for last week’s missing theme. Let’s get this Monday Movie Meme started with a new topic: Say Cheese!

Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring photographers. This can include those who do it professionally as well as characters who are hobbyists.

Here are my selections for this week’s Say Cheese! theme.

Road to Perdition

Although it’s been a long time since I’ve watched this crime thriller starring Tom Hanks, I could swear there is a guy who takes pictures of dead people or something, in the movie. Correct me if I’m wrong about this though!

In Search of a Midnight Kiss

Guy meets girl who loves photographing abandoned shoes, in this romantic comedy directed by Alex Holdridge.

Born into Brothels

Filmmakers teach kids in Calcutta how to use still cameras to capture their experiences, which leads to the children’s’ growing interest in photography in this documentary directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman.

Love Jones

Man meets woman who starts working as a magazine photographer but not before she starts snapping nude photos of him in this romantic drama starring Larenz Tate and Nia Long.

Blood Diamond

A journalist uses her photography skills to ease a potentially hostile situation in this thriller starring Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou and Leonardo DiCaprio. I know there are other scenes where she takes pictures, but, the one that comes to mind right now is when a group of village warriors are skeptical about her, Danny Archer and Solomon’s intentions. Oh, and there’s also the scene later in “Blood Diamond” where she takes some investigative photos but you’ll have to watch the movie to find out what that’s all about.

What movies have YOU seen that feature photographers?

Also, I’m over at the A-to-Z Challenge Blog today, in the feature: Meet Your Co-Hosts – A Word (or Two) about Nicole. Check it out to learn some things that you didn’t know about me.

Sunday
Mar092014

Life, Love and the Movies

My fellow LAMB member Nostra at My Film Views hosts Life, Love and the Movies with Karamel Kinema. Here is my entry for their sixteen-question blogfest.

LIFE

1. What was the first movie you saw in the cinema and what do you remember about that visit?

My mother took me and my brother to see “Hocus Pocus,” which is earliest movie theater visit that I can remember making.

2. Are there any movies you have very strong memories of which are not because of the movie (for example something which happened at the time you were watching it)?

When I went to see “Sex and the City 2” at a small independent theater, the movie was already playing before the scheduled Showtime. One of the owners offered a free item from the concessions stand to make up for me missing a portion of the movie, to which I obliged and was happy to munch on some Twizzlers.


3. Which movies had a big impact on you and changed a (small) part of your view on life?

Nobody knows how long he or she has on this earth and “Million Dollar Baby” heightened my awareness of living in a manner that allows you to accept your own mortality. The movie speaks to an importance of living life on your own terms and giving it everything you have in a way that allows no regrets at the end of it all – which had a big impact on me.

It is not often that a movie changes my view on life or any aspects therein but “Blue Valentine” did just that. After watching “Blue Valentine,” I am no longer in favor of abortion as much as I once was and it’s all because this movie brought to me an understanding that sometimes it’s best to follow my heart and other times I’ll have to follow my head but either way, it won’t be easy.


4. Do you have any comfort movies which you return to because you are in a specific mood (for example if you are feeling down/nursing a heartbreak)?

I tend to watch “Mona Lisa Smile” at times when I’m feeling like womanhood is a curse, when I’m just lacking direction, or when I’m seeking hope for the future. The three circumstances are oftentimes mutually exclusive.


5. If a movie would be made about your life, what type of movie would it be and who would you like to portray you?

While it’s difficult to gauge what type of movie would fit a portrayal of my life, I suppose some hybrid of a suspense drama could work.

Ideally, actress Jurnee Smollett would star in such a movie. An old friend once told me that I take life way to seriously; I think Smollett would be able to pull it off.

6. Which existing movie best represents you?

Man, I don’t know how to answer this question.

7. If you knew you would die tomorrow, what would be the last movie you would want to see?
I want to say “Million Dollar Baby” but that is way too easy. If you must go, then you might as well go out with a bang -- so, I’d want to watch “Gladiator.”

8. If you can spend your life working in the film industry, what would you be and why? (you know, director, producer, actor, cinematographer, costume designer, sound designer etc?)

Funny you should ask, because, well – I am an independent filmmaker who wears many hats as a writer, producer and director. If I had my way, I would just direct but writing and producing has gained more traction, so that’s may be the direction I go in.

LOVE

1. Did you ever have a first kiss with someone while at the cinema and if so which movie was playing?

Nope, I haven’t engaged in a kiss with someone while at a movie theater.

2. What is your favorite movie relationship and why?

There are several movie relationships that I favor and of the two that immediately came to mind, I’ll name the most passionate one – Aragorn and Arwen in the Lord of the Rings film series. The unwavering loyalty shared between these two, even through times of uncertainty and war, makes them a badass couple.

3. When did your love for movies start and how has it grown?

Um, let’s see – I think my love of movies started when I wrote short stories and screenplays as a child and then it grew when I received my first video camera for Christmas.

4. If you have to choose one film to watch with your loved one, what would it be and why?

It would be “Love Jones” because the main characters fight for what they want and also learn how to get out of their own way when going after the things they desire. I also like how the characters were able to realize their goals and share these things with each other without playing down their own place in the world.

5. If you can choose one character from a movie to be your significant other who would it be and why?

I would choose Aragorn from Lord of the Rings to be my significant other because he is the shit!

6. What was the first movie that made you fall in in love with film and cinema?

My memory is fuzzy on this, so I’m thinking – maybe “Commando” or “Schindler’s List.”

7. How did your passion for movies turn you into a movie blogger?

Since I didn’t have a website that I could update regularly, needing a place to showcase my movies is how I got into blogging.

8. What is your favorite date from a movie?

For some reason, I don’t recall any dates in a movie that stood out to me, at this time. The gardening scene in “The Town” where Doug tells Claire about his mother missing is about as close to a favorite movie date that I can think of right now.

If you want to participate in this blogfest, Nostra’s instructions are as simple as pie:

- Write a blog post about it

- Include one of the blogathon logos from My Film View’s announcement page in your post

- Add a link to the blogathon announcement, so others can participate as well: http://www.myfilmviews.com/2014/01/20/announcing-LLM-blogathon/

- Leave a comment at My Film Views with a link to your post

Special shout out to Sydney Aaliyah who was the source of how I found out about Nostra’s blogfest!

Monday
Mar032014

Monday Movie Meme – Best Picture Snubs at the Oscars

For every Oscar winning film, there is often one or more that we wish took home the gold instead. So let’s celebrate these films in the theme for this week’s Monday Movie Meme: Best Picture Snubs at the Oscars.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, the movies you’d wish had won an Oscar for Best Picture.

Meaning, films that were obviously nominated but still lost to another (better or worse) motion picture. I’m drawing a blank for picks, so, courtesy of some mentions by Herman at Terrible Analogies, here is a selection of Oscar nominees for Best Picture that were snubbed at the Academy Awards. He picked the movies. I’m just elaborating on them in the descriptions.

Goodfellas

Of the six Oscar nominations this crime drama received in 1991, it lays claim to one – Joe Pesci’s win for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. It’s almost hard to imagine such a favorite gangster flick being snubbed, but alas, “Goodfellas” was upstaged by the adventure movie “Dances with Wolves.” Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather: Part III” was also in the running for best picture. Maybe it wasn’t a good year for mob movies, as far as awards season goes. It’s a damn shame.

Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino’s crime thriller is a cult favorite and arguably one of the best films ever made; nominated for seven Oscars in 1995. It took home one golden statue for Best Writing (basically, Best Screenplay!) but was snubbed in the Best Picture category, where it was up against another goodie – crime drama “The Shawshank Redemption.” However, the romantic drama “Forrest Gump” scored the win for Best Picture that year.

Saving Private Ryan

The Academy could not deny this war movie by Steven Spielberg -- or could they? The World War II film did win five of its eleven Oscar nominations in 1999. Those wins just didn’t include Best Picture, an honor that went to the romantic comedy drama “Shakespeare in Love”.

What Best Picture nominees would YOU say were wrongly snubbed at the Oscars?