The Curse of La Llorona THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA (2019) Starring Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, Patricia Velásquez, Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen, Roman Christou, Marisol Ramirez, Sean Patrick Thomas, Tony Amendola, DeLaRosa Rivera, Madeleine McGraw, Sierra Heuermann, Sophia Santi, Oliver Alexander, Jethan Camarena, Irene Keng, John Marshall Jones and Paul Rodriguez. Screenplay by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. Directed by Michael Chaves. Distributed by New Line Cinema. 93 minutes

Gustavo Steinberg Gustavo Steinberg Setting Free Tito and the Birds By Jay S. Jacobs Brazilian director Gustavo Steinberg has finally broken through to the American market, and it is with his first animated film. However, even though it has been made for children, Tito and the Birds is a trenchant and surprisingly nuanced film about the modern political landscape. Essentially, it is a movie about fear. About dealing with fear. About how certain people will use politics and me

Tami Stronach Tami Stronach The Childlike Empress Has Grown Up But is Still Neverending by Bonnie Paul I was 11 years old when The Neverending Story premiered in theaters in 1984. I remember, vividly, that as soon as I returned from the theater, our family pulled out paper and started writing and illustrating our own neverending stories. We were not going to be responsible for the demise of Fantasia; we were not going to let the Childlike Empress down. If you are reading this

Paddington 2 PADDINGTON 2 (2018) Starring Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Hugh Grant, Brendan Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, Simon Farnaby, Peter Capaldi, Joanna Lumley, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Tom Conti, Noah Taylor, Eileen Atkins and the voices of Ben Whishaw, Michael Gambon and Imelda Staunton. Screenplay by Paul King and Simon Farnaby. Directed by Paul King. Distributed by Studiocanal. 103 minutes. Rated PG-13. Many of us grew up with Pad

Emelie EMELIE (2016) Starring Sarah Bolger, Joshua Rush, Carly Adams, Thomas Bair, Susan Pourfar, Frank Rossi, Dante Hoagland, Elizabeth Jayne, Randi Langdon, Chris Beetem, Carl Bailey, Brian Mysliwy, Doreen Donovan Corkin, Daniel James, Michael Joseph Dugan, Sara Kow-Falcone and Robert Bozek. Screenplay by Rich Herbeck. Directed by Michael Thelin. Distributed by Dark Sky Films.  80 minutes.  Rated R. Emelie is a parents’ worst nightmare made real: What if the babysitter task

Robert De Niro at the Q&A celebrating the 20th Anniversary of “A Bronx Tale.” Robert De Niro The Actor and Filmmaker Shaped Chazz Palminteri’s A Bronx Tale As His Directorial Debut by Brad Balfour On February 26, 2014, the First Time Fest team held a special event in tandem with Tribeca Enterprises in anticipation of the 20th anniversary of A Bronx Tale, Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro‘s directorial debut. Since the concept of the fest is to celebrate directors and their d

Bryan Callen Bryan Callen It’s A Man’s, Man’s World by Jay S. Jacobs Stand up comedian.  Actor.  Podcast host.  Father.  Occasional color commentary guy.  Seeker of knowledge.  Chronicler of sexual roles. You don’t want to be the dude responsible for keeping Bryan Callen’s résumé current. You’ve seen him on TV, or on the big screen, or in the comedy clubs.  His filmography veers wildly from a recurring role in The Hangover films to doing serious time in Oz to being an origina

Come Out and Play Come Out and Play We like to believe that small children are sweet and innocent, but the truth is between the ages of 8 and 15, children can be pretty cruel and heartless. The idea of psycho kids has a long history in film, with stuff like The Bad Seed, Village of the Damned, The Omen, The Good Son, Children of the Corn, Joshua and others.  Come Out and Play is a fairly faithful remake of one of the better ones, a little-known Mexican film from 1976 by Narci

Shontelle Shontelle Making Her Battle Cry by Abraham Kuranga The easiest thing to do, when listening to Shontelle, is to compare her to another island songstress.  The quick comparison to Rihanna is nothing new to Shontelle, but is definitely something she is about to shed. “It doesn’t bother us,” says Shontelle of the comparison to her good friend. “We both expect it.  It’s natural to compare us.” Hot off the heels of her fresh single, “T-Shirt,” she ushers in the new album

“Hidden Palms” — Pictured Gail O’Grady as Karen Hardy stars in HIDDEN PALMS on The CW. Photo: Frank Ockenfels/ The CW © 2007 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Gail O’Grady Roles of a Lifetime by Ronald Sklar “I did Celebrity Poker, and it was the first time I ever played,” actress Gail O’Grady tells me, and this should surprise me, shouldn’t it. You would think that the beauty and the brains were enough to get her by in life, that those heavy doors swing wide open for

The Wiggles The Wiggles Wiggling Around the World By Deborah Wagner When you mention the fab four, most people think of long hair and the 60’s.  But, if you have children under five, then you know there are only four fab musicians that matter to your kids.  Those are without a doubt the brightly-colored Australian exports, The Wiggles! Starting in 1991 as sort of a hobby, the Wiggles went from classroom educators to educating performers. They met at Macquarie University in Sy