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Showing posts with the label Phoenix Film Festival

Phoenix Film Festival 2018 - DOWNRANGE review

2107 Directed by: Ryuhei Kitamura Starring: Kelly Connaire, Stephanie Pearson, Anthony Kirlew, and Rod Hernandez Kitamura wastes no time in DOWNRANGE . The tension in the film starts almost immediately and never lets up. I felt like I was holding my breath for 89 minutes, this film is utterly relentless. Six college-aged students are taking a cross-country trip when they have a blow out on one of their tires. In the middle of changing that tire, they happen across the shell casing from a long range rifle and realize, it wasn't a blowout. The tire had been shot. Within moments bullets are flying towards the young travelers and they are pinned down. Unable to move out from behind the vehicle, the elusive sniper unloads a barrage of fire. On an empty rural road, in the middle of nowhere, with inconsistent cell service, they are alone with this determined assassin. Their only hope seems to wait him out, to see if another car happens along their path. The marksman is frustrati

Phoenix Film Festival 2018 - CHIMERA review

2018 Directed and Written By: Maurice Haeems Cinematographer: David Kruta Starring:  Henry Ian Cusick, Kathleen Quinlan, Jenna Harrison, Karishma Ahluwalia, and Erika Ervin Films are often gateways to curiosity. Entry points for abstract concepts and a way for opaque theories to be presented in a palatable format. Science Fiction lives in the world of our collective imaginations and introduces us to the "what if's" we have yet to conceive. In CHIMERA director, Maurice Haeems has taken years of real-world research from labs and universities around the planet to contemplate the next major breakthrough in medical innovation, stem cell research. This contentious area of work presents one of the most controversial and potentially significant therapies introduced in generations. Quint (Cusick), an equally ingenious and desperate scientist pushes (and crosses) the borders of ethical behavior in an attempt to save his children. The good doctor first experiments with