Are you an Outlaw or a Regulator? Christian Gudegast’s Den of Thieves (2018) pushes the viewers to choose. The movie premiered at Regal Cinemas of South Beach with noteworthy appearances from stars O’Shea Jackson Jr., Pablo Schreiber, Curtis “50 cent” Jackson, and Gerard Butler. Before the picture began, Butler, who also produced the film, discussed the feature’s six-year filmmaking process. Comedically, 50 cent continued with explaining their two weeks of military and police tactical training. As the laughter and applause slowly diminished simultaneously with the lights, the widescreen lit with the viewer promptly thrown right into the action.
January 10th marked the Monsters in the Shape of Water: An Exploration of Genre discussion panel, hosted in collaboration between the Coral Gables Art Cinema and Books & Books. Moderated by Javier Chavez, the Associate Director of the Coral Gables Art Cinema, Miami Herald writer Rene Rodriguez as well as directors Andres and Diego Meza-Valdes assembled at Books & Books to discuss Guillermo Del Toro’s film, The Shape of Water (2017), as well as the nuances of genre with the attending audience. Despite additional seating being brought out twice, the packed panel discussion saw additional members of the audience standing to the sides of the room to listen and engage in the conversation.
The Man Who Invented Christmas, based on the book by FIU’s own creative writing professor Les Standiford, closes its theatrical run with five matinee screenings at the Coral Gables Art Cinema this Thursday, December 28 through Monday, January 1. Come out this Friday afternoon (12/29) at 1:30 for a special screening and Q&A with Les Standiford and the film’s executive producer, Mitchell Kaplan (of Books & Books). Tickets available here.
The Twenty-First Annual Miami Jewish Film Festival, among South Florida’s premier cultural events, will run from January 11 through 25. Screening over 60 films from 20 countries in venues throughout Miami, the festival will also host numerous filmmakers and special guests, and including one event sure to interest many FIU students.
The next movie from filmmaker Guillermo Del Torro, The Shape of Water, has already generated buzz as the winner of the 74th Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Lion for Best Film, with some critics going so far as to call the film Del Torro’s best since Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). An advanced screening on December 13th has been made available to FIU students on a first come, first serve basis. There’s only a few tickets available, so get your reservations now!
Screening takes place on December 13th at AMC Aventura, with check-ins for reserved seating taking place before 7:15pm. You can reserve your seat for this screening here.
To apply an overused turn of phrase, good mystery stories are typically not about the destination, but rather the journey. Despite this, the ending should still be a satisfying reveal, or else the journey would’ve been for nothing. Unfortunately based on the Agatha Christie novel of the same name, Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express could’ve been an okay film, had it not managed to fumble its way to a disappointing ending.
Batman. Superman. Wonder Woman. The Flash. Cyborg. Aquaman. These are some of comic book history’s most storied heroes ever who have saved infinite dimensions from countless cataclysmic events — but they just can’t seem to beat public perception. Justice League takes place shortly after the events of Batman vs Superman. Superman’s death in the battle against Doomsday seems to have made the rounds on the inter-galactic Internet and the grossly overly-CGIed big bad Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) randomly shows up on Earth to do comically generic bad guy things. Guilt-ridden by his role in Superman’s death, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) attempt to recruit some new metahumans to help them push back against Steppenwolf’s invading army of parademons.