Disconnect (2012)

Released July 5, 2013 in the US.

Filmed entirely in New York.

The story: Four groups of people that do not know each other, are all connected by one thing. The internet.

Ben is a talented smart kid who keeps to himself and doesn't exactly have any friends.

His father Rich is an attorney, who is never too far from his cell phone, which makes him even further away from his family.

While wandering around a martial arts studio, Ben has a run-in with bullies Jason and Frye.

When Frye looks on Facebook to find Ben, he learns that Ben is a 10th grader just like them and also goes to their school.

They decide to make a fake Facebook account to mess with Ben, which goes horribly wrong.

Jason's dad Mike, is a widowed ex-policeman who is struggling to raise Jason on his own.

Jason thinks his dad is too hard on him, doesn't understand him, and worst of all, doesn't care about him.

Mike works taking down people who steal others' identities through the internet.

He is currently trying to help married couple Derek and Cindy, whose marriage is suffering since the passing of their infant son.

To make matters worse for Derek and Cindy, their bank accounts were hacked into, due to Derek's online gambling problem and Cindy befriending someone on a chatroom out of loneliness.

Nina is a journalist who has recently got the bright idea to do a piece on the people who make a living on adult webcam sites.

When her piece gets picked up by CNN, trouble strikes because unknowingly at the time and without that intention, what Nina really uncovered is underage sex workers.

When the FBI gets involved, Nina is in hot water.

Attorney Ben is called in to advise Nina on what she can and cannot do to help solve the case.

Stars Jonah Bobo, Colin Ford, Aviad Bernstein, Jason Bateman, Haley Ramm, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Alexander Skarsgard, Paula Patton, Andrea Riseborough, Norbert Leo Butz, Max Thieriot, Michael Nyquist, Teresa Celentano, Kasi Lemmons, John Sharian, Marc Jacobs

Directed by Henry Alex Rubin

Rated R
DRAMA

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul (2022)

Released September 2nd in the US.

Filmed in Georgia.

The story: Pastor Lee Curtis Childs and First Lady Trinitie Childs were the proud leaders of their self-made Southern Baptist Megachurch.

Everyone loved and admired the couple and gave freely.

The Pastor and First Lady also gave so much more back.

But when Pastor Lee was involved in a scandal, everything surrounding the church changed.

They lost their congregation, which has really taken a toll on them.

Years later, after they believe everything has blown over from the public eye and they paid their dues, the couple are aiming to rebuild and reopen their church.

At the same time, they have hired a film crew to commemorate their progress, which doesn't always go as the couple planned.

But they carry on, with high hopes and expectations even though it seems they are continuously struck down at every turn.

Stars Sterling K Brown, Regina Hall, Nicole Beharie, Conphidence , Austin Crute, Devere Rogers, Robert Yatta, Greta Glenn, Andrea Laing, Selah Kimbro Jones, Crystal Alicia Garrett, Perris Drew

Directed by (& story written) Adamma Ebo

Rated R
DRAMA

Renfield (2023)

Released April 14th in the US.

Filmed entirely in Louisiana.

The story: Renfield was once a married man with a daughter who was trying to make a living selling insurance.

That is until he met the Prince of Darkness...

Dracula took a liking to Renfield right away, claiming him for his servant.

Present day, after a serious accident, Renfield has taken Dracula to an unsuspecting city, where they can fit in and find food.

But lately, Renfield is feeling like he needs to get out of his servantry.

He has been attending a self-help group at a local church and there he learns there is hope for him.

When Renfield gets the idea that he can feed the "monsters" in the lives of his fellow self-help group to his boss, he believes he has solved all problems.

But that idea backfires on him.

Renfield ends up getting involved with helping a policewoman who feels like she is a one-person police force while trying to take down a powerful local drug kingpin and his family.

Stars Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Camille Chen, Adrian Martinez, Brandon Scott Jones, Jenna Kanell, Danya LaBelle, Rhonda Johnson Dents, Bess Rous, Christopher Matthew Cook, Michael P Sullivan, Rosha Washington, James Moses Black

Directed by Chris McKay

Rated R
COMEDY/FANTASY/HORROR

Play Dead (2022)

Released April 7, 2023, in the US.

Filming location(s) unknown.

The story: Chloe is a young woman juggling school and payments on her family home with very little money.

Her younger brother TJ is no help.

To make matters worse, Ty gets himself into trouble, going along with his friend Ross on a robbery. 

But TJ is only the driver.

When Ross gets shot, TJ gets away. But, Ross's phone connects him to the robbery.

When TJ tells Chloe what happened and how they need to get Ross's phone, they try to get into the town morgue but are unable.

So, Chloe comes up with the crazy plan to "play dead" so she can get into the morgue.

Unfortunately, when she's finally inside, the situation is even worse than she would have guessed.

Stars Anthony Turpel, Chris Lee, Chris Butler, Sterling Beaumon, Stephanie Rojas, Bailee Madison, Jerry O Connell, Jorge Luis Pallo, Kyler ONeal, Haley Pilz, Josh Harp,  Coco Fenton, Ashad Hashine

Directed by Patrick Lussier

Not Rated

THRILLER/MYSTERY/HORROR

The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022)

Released May 27th in the US.

The story: Today is the day that Bob and Linda are to try to get another loan to help pay for their burger business.

Bob is completely worried but Louise positively encourages him that they will get the loan.

When they do not get the loan, both Bob and Linda really become worried. 

The only solution is to sell as many burgers as possible in a month to pay off the loan they already have.

But when a giant sinkhole opens up right in front of the business, selling burgers doesn't exactly become any easier.

Meanwhile, at school, Louise is called a baby for not wanting to play on the monkey bars because her hat will fall off and everyone knows she never takes off her hat.

Louise gets the idea to be recorded climbing down into the sinkhole, to show her bravery.

While in there, she finds a skeleton which becomes big news and gets the kids thinking that they can uncover who the killer is.

Stars (voices by) H John Benjamin, John Roberts, Dan Mitz, Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, David Wain, Zach Galifianakis, Kevin Kline, Larry Murphy, Gary Cole, John Q Kubin, Nick Kroll 

Directed by Loren Bouchard & Bernard Derriman

Rated PG

ANIMATION/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Meeting Evil (2012)

Released March 30th in the US.

Filmed entirely in Louisana.

The story: John is a real estate agent who just lost his job.

When he arrives home, he cannot find anyone but the back door is open...

Suddenly his wife Joanie and their kids pop up out of nowhere, trying to surprise him with a birthday cake.

Instead, John is just annoyed by the whole thing.

He explains that he didn't sell the house he hoped to sell but ceases to mention that he lost his job.

Problem is , their home is going into foreclosure and John really needed to make a sale.

Disappointed and worried, Joanie takes the kids to the park.

Then there's a knock on the door.

A stranger claims that his car has stalled right out front and he wants John to help him jumpstart it.

John doesn't exactly want to help, but he does, getting hurt in the process.

When the stranger approaches John, he has opened up his trunk and is holding a gun, but John sees none of this.

Because there is a little girl who happens to be walking her dog nearby, the stranger gets John in his car, claiming he will take him to the hospital.

But the stranger doesn't take John to the hospital. Instead, he takes him on a hell ride that only gets worse as time goes on.

When John tries to get away, he is unable. Apparently, there is no stopping the stranger who seems to have it in for John and his family. But John has no idea why.

Stars Luke Wilson, Bret Roberts, Leslie Bibb, Sam Robbins, Gabrielle Harvey, Samuel L Jackson, Tina Parker, Jason Alan Smith, Peyton List, Muse Watson, Tracie Thoms, Ryan Lee, Allie McConnell

Directed by Chris Fisher

Rated R
MYSTERY/THRILLER

Kajillionaire (2020)

Released September 25th in the US.

Filmed in California.

The story : Old Dolio Dyne is a 26-year-old woman who lives with her parents in an office building in L.A...

Her parents ,  Robert and Theresa Dyne, are small-time scam artists , who have been taking Old Dolio along for that ride since she's been alive.

Recently they have been struggling with getting results from their latest heist ideas until Old Dolio comes up with an idea that's sure to pay off.

It involves flying to New York together then flying right back , Robert and Theresa together, Old Dolio alone.

While on their flight back to L.A.  , Robert and Theresa befriend chatty Melanie.

Robert and Theresa let Melanie in on their plan , which doesnt exactly work out but gets Melanie thinking of her own small time scams that they can all go in on together.

Instead of any of their ideas working out, Melanie ends up teaching Old Dolio a lot about living outside the small , comfortable box that her parents have been keeping her sheltered in for so long.

Stars Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger, Evan Rachel Wood, Rachel Redleaf, Randy Ryan, Mark Ivanir, Patricia Belcher, Kim Estes, DaVine Joy Randolph, Gina Rodriguez, Diana Maria Riva, Betsy Baker

Directed by (& story written) Miranda July

Rated R

DRAMA/COMEDY

"I don't have any regrets. Youre gonna have regrets though because you're gonna miss sex and dancing and pancakes. I just had that one pancake , so I'm not gonna be sad."

The High Cost of Living (2010)

Released April 20, 2011 in the US.

Filmed entirely in Canada.

The story: Henry is an American, living in Canada on an expired visa.

He lives a life of running FDA-approved drugs and fixing locks while setting up camp above a Chinese food restaurant.

At the same time, in the same area, Nathalie is a married Canadian woman who is a few short weeks away from giving birth.

Nathalie is struggling with her marriage but is also keeping things together, hopeful that after the baby arrives things will get better.

After Nathalie's baby shower is just about over for the evening, her work-a-holic husband Michel makes a short appearance. Then is back off to work.

On that same evening, after everyone has left for the night, Nathalie believes she is in labor.

She tries calling Michel but gets no response. She calls a girlfriend who advises her not to worry because it's too early.

But, to make herself feel better, Nathalie calls a taxi to take her to the hospital.

While frantically looking around in the street for the taxi, Nathalie is hit by Henry - who happens to be driving in the wrong direction down a one-way street and not exactly watching the road.

The next thing Nathalie knows, she is in the hospital with a minor concussion but she has lost the baby...

Henry, scared to death and feeling extremely guilty, tries to find out what happened, if anything to Nathalie and her baby, which starts a whole new chapter in both Nathalie and Henry's lives.

Stars Zach Braff, Isabelle Blais, Julian Lo, Patrick Labbe, Aimee Lee, Pierre Gendron, Sean Lu, Anick Lemay, Nicole Braber, Graham Cuthbertson, Tony Robinow, Kyle Switzer, Mylene Savoie

Directed by (& story partly written) Deborah Chow

Rated PG13

DRAMA

Get To the Heart : The Barbara Mandrell Story (1997)

Made for CBS, airing September 28th in the US.

Filmed in California.

Based on truths.

The story: From the beginning, Barbara was a star.

Born to two musically inclined parents, by the time Barbara could walk she could play just about every instrument as well as sing.

After being noticed while helping her father sell amplifiers, Barbara found herself performing onstage.

Next, she was performing on stage in front of millions of TV viewers.

Soon all the hecticness of performing took its toll on her parents, and instead of becoming rich and famous, they were all content to just continue performing locally.

At sixteen, Barbara was still performing with her family, along with the love of her life Ken, for the locals.

When Barbara and Ken married, she decided to retire and just live as Ken's wife.

But when Ken had to go away on leave, Barbara got the performing bug once again.

Soon, she was famous, touring her album, and then, she was the star of her own TV show, taking her two younger sisters along for the ride.

This time around, Barbara became tired of being away from her family so much.

When she was ready once again to finally give up show business, she was involved in a horrible accident that almost cost her everything.

Stars  Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, Dwight Schultz, Lisa Blout, Tonya Watts, Lisa Haun, Maureen McCormick, Portia Dawson, Jaime Dudney, John Doe, Greg Kean, Brittney Lee Harvey, Evan Rachel Wood, Jesse Littlejohn, Robert Clothworthy, Leonard Kelly Young, Kenny Rogers, Joe Bays

Directed by Jerry London

Rated PG
BIOGRAPHY/HISTORY/DRAMA

The Stand at Paxton County (2020)

Released May 3rd in the US.

Filmed entirely in California.

Based on truths.

The story: Janna is a US Army combat medic away in Afghanistan.

She gets a call after working a 36-hour shift from her best friend back home in North Dakota.

Her father Dell who lives and works on his ranch has suffered a heart attack.

Janna gets the next flight home, although she has not seen Dell in quite some time and their relationship is a bit strained.

Quickly, Janna learns that many of the local ranchers, including her father are being targeted by animal abuse officials.

None of it makes any sense, as the officials, working along with the local sheriff have been seizing all the horses from all the ranches they visit.

After catching up on all the required protocols from the officials and still being aggressively harassed, Janna digs deeper.

She, along with Dell and some friends learn that the so-called animal abuse officials have been confiscating the horses from their owners with the legal claims of abuse and illegally selling them off for massive profits.

Stars Jacqueline Toboni, Zoe Kanters, Blake Sheldon, Greg Perrow, Michael ONeill, Christopher McDonald, Marwa Bernstein, Tanner Thomason, Tyler Jacob Moore, Trent Loos, David Michael ONeill

Directed by Brett Hedlund

Rated R
DRAMA/MYSTERY/HISTORY

The Ex (2006)

Released May 11, 2007 in the US.

Filmed in New York and California.

The story: Tom and Sofia are an adorable married couple that are expecting their first baby.

Living in New York, Tom works as a chef and Sofia is a lawyer.

When the baby is born, the plan is for Sofia to stay home and Tom will continue working.

Tom is up for a promotion but instead gets fired.
While trying to figure out what he is going to do now, Sofia goes into labor.

After the baby is born, Sofia learns Tom lost his job. 

They decide to move to Ohio, where Sofia's dad has got Tom a job at the advertising company he works at.
There, Tom meets and has to work under over-achiever Chip.

Chip also happens to be an ex-boyfriend of Sofia's, which doesn't help matters because Chip has a real mean streak and he's all about taking Tom down.

He also still has the hots for Sofia.

Tom tries his best at his new job, but Chip does not make anything easy for him.

The last straw comes when Tom gets the company a major campaign and Chip does everything he can to sabotage all Tom's efforts.

Stars Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Yul Vazquez, Paul Rudd, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Jason Bateman, Fred Armisen, Bob Stephenson, Lucian Maisel, Donal Logue, Amy Poehler, Robert John Burke

Directed by Jesse Peretz

Rated PG13

COMEDY

Saltburn (2023)

Released December 22nd in the US.

Filmed in England and Oxford UK.

The story: Oliver Quick is a new student at Oxford University.

He knows no one there and he is a bit socially awkward.

One day, while riding his bike to the library, Oliver finds popular guy around campus Felix, sitting next to his bike.

Oliver asks what's going on and learns that Felix has a flat tire but he really needs to be somewhere important right now.

Without hesitation, Oliver offers his bike. When Felix refuses, Oliver insists.

This starts in motion a quick friendship between the two.

Felix immediately lets Oliver into his world, spending hours getting to know him.

Oliver explains much about his life, including the fact that his parents are users and he has no siblings...

Others warn Oliver that in time, Felix will forget all about him. But Oliver ignores the warnings, even though Felix does begin to give him the brush-off.

When Oliver gets a call from his mother, Oliver goes to Felix, his only friend, with the tragic news of his father's passing.

Now Felix and Oliver are closer than ever once again.

So close that Felix invites Oliver to his family home with him.

Felix's home is unlike anything Oliver has ever experienced but he makes a good effort at fitting in and relaxing.

Felix's family immediately takes a liking to him, even going as far as planning his birthday party.

Just when Oliver is getting the hang of things around Felix's home, Felix surprises Oliver on the day of his birthday with a surprise that is anything but a happy one.

Stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Archie Madekwe, Sadie Soverall, Reece Shearsmith, Paul Rhys, Rosamund Pike, Richard E Grant, Carey Mulligan, Alison Oliver, Dorothy Atkinson, Shaun Dooley

Directed by (& story written) Emerald Fennell

Rated R
DRAMA/MYSTERY