Albatross Soup - Short Film Review

The Short Film: Albatross Soup

The Director: Winnie Cheung

The Story: A hybrid documentary film based on an entertaining yet disturbing lateral thinking puzzle.

I Trapped the Devil - Movie Review

The Movie: I Trapped the Devil

The Director: Josh Lobo

The Cast: AJ Bowen, Susan Burke, Scott Poythress

The Story: A man descends into paranoia after trapping what he believes to be the devil in his basement, but things take a dark turn when his family unexpectedly arrive for Christmas.

Avengers: Endgame - Spoiler Free First Impression

Avengers: Endgame is the culmination of over ten years worth of movies set within Marvel's ongoing and ever expanding cinematic universe. Pretty much every significant or semi significant character from all those years is involved in some way shape or form in bringing this story to its ultimate conclusion. The words I will have typed below are not my official review of the movie and do not contain any hint of a spoiler so please feel safe to proceed if you haven't watched the movie yet.

Penguins - Movie Review

The Movie: Penguins

The Director: Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson

The Story: Disneynature's all-new feature film is a coming-of-age story about an Adélie penguin named Steve who joins millions of fellow males in the icy Antarctic spring on a quest to build a suitable nest, find a life partner and start a family.

Pet Sematary (2019) - Movie Review

The Movie: Pet Sematary

The Directors: Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer

The Cast: Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, John Lithgow, Jeté Laurence,

The Story: Dr. Louis Creed and his wife, Rachel, relocate from Boston to rural Maine with their two young children. The couple soon discover a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near their new home.

Missing Link - Movie Review

The Movie: Missing Link

The Director: Chris Butler

The Cast: Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana, Zach Galifianakis, Stephen Fry, Timothy Olyphant, Emma Thompson

The Story: Mr. Link recruits explorer Sir Lionel Frost to help find his long-lost relatives in the fabled valley of Shangri-La. Along with adventurer Adelina Fortnight, this trio of explorers travel the world to help their new friend.

The Curse of La Llorona - Movie Review

The Movie: The Curse of La Llarona

The Director: Michael Chaves

The Cast: Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, Patricia Velasquez, Roman Christou, Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen, Marisol Ramirez, Sean Patrick Thomas, Tony Amendola, Irene Keng

The Story: Ignoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother suspected of child endangerment, a social worker and her own small kids are soon drawn into a frightening supernatural realm.

Guava Island - Movie Review

The Movie: Guava Island

The Director: Hiro Murai

The Cast: Donald Glover, Rihanna, Letitia Wright, Nonso Anozie

The Story: A tropical thriller that casts Donald Glover as a musician with designs on pulling off a scheme to rob his way into the good life, which quickly gets him in over his head.

Hellboy (2019) - Movie Review

Hellboy is a steaming pile of trash that has earned the honor of being the second movie I have ever walked out of. (The other one is xXx: The Return of Xander Cage) It's like a group of studio executives had a meeting and said "Hey, that Deadpool was sure fun and people liked it. Let's do the same thing with Hellboy!" So yeah, they got the profanity and violence right but the dialog is stupid, the acting is atrocious, the special effects are garbage, and everything else about the movie is so bad I have to believe it was somehow intentional.

If you choose to watch this movie, I take zero responsibility.

Now please excuse me while I wash any memory of this movie from my brain.

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Mary Magdalene (2019) - Movie Review

The Movie: Mary Magdalene

The Director: Garth Davis

The Cast: Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tahar Rahim, Denis Ménochet

The Story: The story of Mary Magdalene.

Shazam! - Movie Review

The Movie: Shazam!

The Director: David F. Sandberg

The Cast: Zachary Levi, Djimon Hounsou, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Asher Angel, Marta Milans, Grace Fulton, Cooper Andrews, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen

The Story: Teenager is given magical powers and must face off against a man who has gained control of ancient monsters who represent the seven deadly sins.

The Wedding Guest - Movie Review

The Movie: The Wedding Guest

The Director: Michael Winterbottom

The Cast: Dev Patel, Radhika Apte, Jim Sarbh, Nish Nathwani, Harish Khanna, Sidhu Manpreet, Meherbaan Singh

The Story: A story centered on a mysterious British Muslim man on his journey across Pakistan and India.

The Wind (2019) - Movie Review

The Movie: The Wind

The Director: Emma Tammi

The Cast: Miles Anderson, Caitlin Gerard, Julia Goldani Telles, Dylan McTee, Martin C Patterson, Ashley Zukerman

The Story: A plains-woman faces the harshness and isolation of the untamed land in the Western frontier of the late 1800s.

Dumbo (2019) - Movie Review

The Movie: Dumbo

The Director: Tim Burton

The Cast: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Alan Arkin, Niko Parker

The Story: A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.

Crossbreed - Movie Review

The Movie: Crossbreed

The Director: Brandon Slagle

The Cast: Vivica A. Fox, Daniel Baldwin, Stink Fisher, Devanny Pinn, Vernon Wells, Antoine Lanier, John T. Woods, Jason McNeil, Mu-Shaka Benson, Brandyn T. Williams

The Story: In the near future, the President of the New United States of America hires a team of military veterans to retrieve an alien bio-weapon from a top secret research facility orbiting the Earth.

2018 Recap - The Favorites

Hello, hello! It is once again time to hand out awards for the TwoOhSix.com favorite movies and performances of 2018 and this just so happens to be the 10th edition of this recap post so it has been expanded and broken into categories for your reading pleasure. Thank you for joining me for another year of movie adventures, I hope you are able to find some films you may have missed or look at others you have seen in a different way.

Climax (2018) - Movie Review

The Movie: Climax

The Director: Gaspar Noé

The Cast: Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub, Kiddy Smile, Claude-Emmanuelle Gajan-Maull, Giselle Palmer, Taylor Kastle, Thea Carla Schott, Sharleen Temple, Lea Vlamos, Alaia Alsafir, Kendall Mugler

The Story: French dancers gather in a remote, empty school building to rehearse on a wintry night. The all-night celebration morphs into a hallucinatory nightmare when they learn their sangria is laced with LSD.

2018 Recap - The Movies

Here it is, you guys! My favorite movies of 2018 including the ten films nominated for favorite overall movie and some honorable mentions that were excellent but didn't quite make the cut. Between film festivals, indie projects, and major studio releases, this was a great year for both diversity and variety with films from around the world including France, Singapore, England, Japan, China, New York, Oakland, and Wakanda.

2018 Recap - The Performances

2018 was an impressive year for the film industry with so many great movies and lots of outstanding performances as well. After compiling my nomination list, I realized that the ladies were definitely leading the way this year so I decided to go with female actors in all of the available nomination slots. After scouring all the films I watched this seemed appropriate and an honest appraisal as I couldn't find any men who matched the ten women who were chosen.

In addition to the nominations, I have included a few special categories to start things off. The amazing actresses and actors listed below come from all over the world including England, Mexico, Italy, Japan, and Oakland and a Bay Area duo is where we will start things off.

Fighting with My Family - Movie Review

The Movie: Fighting with My Family

The Director: Stephen Merchant

The Cast: Florence Pugh, Jack Lowden, Dwayne Johnson, Lena Headey, Vince Vaughn, Nick Frost

The Story: The origin story of WWE superstar Paige.

TwoOhSix Recap - 2019 Seattle Asian American Film Festival

This is such a fun and well organized festival and I am thankful for having the chance to cover it every year. The crop of movies I was able to watch was very impressive and the opening night party was a lot of fun including a killer set from Filipina-American rapper Ruby Ibarra. Seriously, check her out, she's about to be real big real soon. The volunteer staff that runs the festival always puts on a smooth production and this year was definitely no exception. See below for a recap of the films I watched and my selection for 2019 TwoOhSix Festival Favorite.

For Izzy - 2019 SAAFF Movie Review

The Movie: For Izzy

The Director: Alex Chu

The Cast: Elizabeth Sung, Jennifer Soo, Jim Lau, Michelle Ang

The Story: The lives of a recovering addict and her single mother change forever when they move in next door to a widowed father and his adult daughter with autism.

Captain Marvel - Movie Review

The Movie: Captain Marvel

The Director: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck

The Cast: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Annette Bening, Lashana Lynch, Clark Gregg, Rune Temte, Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Mckenna Grace, Reggie, Gonzo, Archie, Rizzo

The Story: A cat named Goose saves the galaxy from all out war setting up the events that unfold in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also, Carol Danvers discovers how powerful she really is.

Origin Story - 2019 SAAFF Documentary Review

The Documentary: Origin Story

The Director: Kulap Vilaysack

The Story: When Kulap Vilaysack was 14, she took her father's side in an argument and her mother replied, 'Why are you defending him? He's not your real dad.' Twenty years later, she's finally ready to explore what that means.

Ulam: Main Dish - 2019 SAAFF Movie Review

The Documentary: Ulam: Main Dish

The Director: Alexandra Cuerdo

The Story: The first food documentary following the rise of the Filipino food movement via the chefs crossing over to the center of the American table.

Blowin' Up - 2019 SAAFF Documentary Review

The Documentary: Blowin' Up

The Director: Stephanie Wang-Breal

The Story: Working within a broken criminal justice system, a team of rebel heroines work to change the the way women arrested for prostitution are prosecuted.

Drawn Together: Comics, Diversity, and Stereotypes - 2019 SAFF Documentary Review

The Documentary: Drawn Together: Comics, Diversity, and Stereotypes

The Director: Harleen Singh

The Story: With a lively backdrop of superheroes, comic books, and animated comics, meet three talented artists—a Sikh, a woman, and an African American—who are challenging the racist stereotyping currently endemic in America through their work in comics.

On Happiness Road - 2019 SAAFF Movie Review

The Movie: On Happiness Road

The Director: Hsin-Yin Sung

The Cast: Lun-Mei Kwei, Te-Sheng Wei, Bor Jeng Chen, Hui-Jen Liao, Bella Wu

The Story: Chi earned her American dream after persevering with her studies in Taiwan. Following her grandmothers' death, Chi returns to her family on Happiness Road, where she begins to feel nostalgic about her childhood and starts to contemplate the meaning of "life" and "home".

Alita: Battle Angel - Movie Review

The Movie: Alita: Battle Angel

The Director: Robert Rodriguez

The Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Jackie Earl Haley

The Story: A deactivated female cyborg is revived, but cannot remember anything of her past life and goes on a quest to find out who she is.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - Movie Review

The Movie: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

The Director: Dean DeBlois

The Cast: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, F. Murray Abraham, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig, Kit Harrington, Justin Rupple

The Story: When Hiccup discovers Toothless isn't the only Night Fury, he must seek "The Hidden World", a secret Dragon Utopia before a hired tyrant named Grimmel finds it first.

Happy Death Day 2U - Movie Review

The Movie: Happy Death Day 2U

The Director: Christopher Landon

The Cast: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu, Suraj Sharma, Sarah Yarkin, Rachel Matthews, Ruby Modine, Steve Zissis, Charles Aitken, Laura Clifton, Missy Yager, Jason Bayle,

The Story: Tree Gelbman discovers that dying over and over was surprisingly easier than the dangers that lie ahead.

Tito and the Birds / Tito e os Pássaros - Movie Review

The Movie: Tito and the Birds / Tito e os Pássaros

The Director: Gustavo Steinberg, Gabriel Bitar, André Catoto

Principal Voice Cast (Portugese): Matheus Nachtergaele, Denise Fraga, Mateus Solano, Otávio Augusto, Pedro Henrique

The Story: A socially relevant film and tells a timely tale of a marvelous dystopian adventure of heroic children battling a culture of fear that is infecting their world.

TwoOhSix Picks - 2019 Seattle Asian American Film Festival

The Seattle Asian American Film Festival is back for another round of feature films, documentaries, short films, and special events all organized by a volunteer staff and presented across multiple venues including the Northwest Film Forum, the Broadway Performance Hall, Rhein Haus, and the Washington Hall event space. Below you will find a list of films that have been specially chosen as this year's TwoOhSix Picks. Links below the posters will take you to the film's SAAFF page where you can watch trailers, see photos, and read info!

Pledge - Movie Review

The Movie: Pledge

The Director: Daniel Robbins

The Cast: Zachery Byrd, Phillip Andre Botello, Zack Weiner, Aaron Dalla Villa, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Jesse Pimentel, Joe Gallagher, Erica Boozer, Melanie Rothman, Max Schuster

The Story: A group of college freshmen pledge an exclusive fraternity but soon realize there's more at stake than they could have ever imagined.

The Cannibal Club - Movie Review

The Movie: The Cannibal Club

The Director: Guto Parente

The Cast: Tavinho Teixeira, Ana Luiza Rios, Pedro Domingues, José Maria Alves

The Story: Otavio and Gilda are a very wealthy couple of the Brazilian elite who have the habit of eating their employees. Otavio owns a private security company and is a notable member of The Cannibal Club. When Gilda accidentally discovers a secret from Borges, a powerful congressman and the Club's leader, her and her husband's lives are in danger.

The Wandering Earth / 流浪地球 - Movie Review

The Movie: The Wandering Earth / 流浪地球

The Director: Frant Gwo

The Cast: Qu Chuxiao, Li Guangjie, Ng Man-tat, Zhao Jinmai, Wu Jing, Qu Jingjing

The Story: When the sun begins to die out, humanity decides to move the earth to another solar system.

Donnybrook - Movie Review

The Movie: Donnybrook

The Director: Tim Sutton

The Cast: Jamie Bell, Frank Grillo, Margaret Qualley, James Badge Dale, Chris Browning, Pat Healy, Dara Tiller,

The Story: Two men prepare to compete in a legendary bare-knuckle fight where the winner gets a $100,000 prize.

Happy Hour / ハッピーアワー - Movie Review

The Movie: Happy Hour / ハッピーアワー

The Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

The Cast: Sachie Tanaka, Hazuki Kikuchi, Maiko Mihara, Rira Kawamura, Yoshio Shin, Shuhei Shibata, Hiroyuki Miura, Hajime Sakasho, Hiromi Demura, Shoko Fukunaga, Ayaka Shibutani

The Story: A slow-burning epic chronicling the emotional journey of four thirtysomething women in the misty seaside city of Kobe.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part - Movie Review

The Movie: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

The Director: Mike Mitchell

The Cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill

The Story: It's been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: Lego Duplo invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.

The Drone - Movie Review

The Movie: The Drone

The Director: Jordan Rubin

The Cast: John Brotherton, Alex Essoe, Anita Briem, Neil Sandilands, Simon Rex.

The Story: A newlywed couple is terrorized by a consumer drone that has become sentient with the consciousness of a deranged serial killer.

TwoOhSix Recap - 2019 Slamdance Film Festival

This was my second year covering the Slamdance Film Festival and I would say the selection of films I was able to watch was even better than the year before. Three narrative features and three documentaries came across my screens and each was seemed to raise the bar a little bit higher than the last. Of course, the decision always comes to name one of these films as the festival favorite and that is the point of this post.

Kifaru - 2019 Slamdance Film Festival Documentary Review

The Documentary: Kifaru

The Director: David Hambridge

The Story: Kifaru allows viewers to experience the joys and pitfalls of conservation firsthand through the lens of the men that look into the eyes of extinction on a daily basis.

This Teacher - 2019 Slamdance Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: This Teacher

The Director: Mark Jackson

The Cast: Hafsia Herzi, Sarah Kazemy, Lucy Walters, Kevin Kane, Lev Gore, Gabe Fazio, Rebekah del Rio

The Story: A young Muslim woman's vacation to New York City devolves into a nightmare.

Demolition Girl [JKエレジー] - 2019 Slamdance Movie Review

The Movie: Demolition Girl [JKエレジー] 

The Director: Genta Matsugami

The Cast: Aya Kitai, Hiroki Ino, Haruka Imo, Yura Komuro, Yota Kawase, Ko Maehara, Ryohei Abe, Nobu Morimoto

The Story: A high-school girl who lives in a rural town in Japan struggles to define her own way in life. To help her impoverished family she works as a video fetish performer which leads to problems for her and her family with a criminal underworld.