Click the image above to purchase directly from Lionsgate Limited First, full disclosure: Roy Frumkes, owner of this publication, conceived the idea for THE SUBSTITUTE and co-wrote the screenplay for this 1990s action classic with Rocco Simonelli, who also contributes to Films in Review. When I got my class list the summer before starting freshman year at SVA, I remember reading off the names of my professors to my father: “…Roy Frumkes, Storytelling 101.” Then I read the cre

By John Larkin One of my favorite aspects of great filmmaking has always been the choice of music that closes out a film. The right song becomes the final statement of the story. It is the emotional conclusion and the last feeling an audience carries with them after the screen fades to black. When used well, a song that bridges the final scene into the end credits can leave a powerful and lasting impression. It shapes how the ending is remembered and gives the film a sense of

Review by John Larkin MARTY SUPREME is a reminder that the work of a great director is not merely technical. They do not simply assemble strong production design, confident cinematography, or skilled performances. At their highest level, they transmit something less tangible, an energy, a frequency, directly through the screen. When it works, the audience does not simply observe the film; they absorb it. Josh Safdie understands this instinctively. With UNCUT GEMS, the Safdie

Purchase by clicking the image above or HERE AWAKENINGS captures the spirit of early 1990’s New York filmmaking in a way few films of that moment did. Even though the story takes place in 1969 and 1970, the production feels steeped in the atmosphere of the city in which it was made: the outer boroughs, the institutional buildings, the scuffed linoleum floors, the light falling through aging hospital windows. Penny Marshall shot in real locations throughout Brooklyn and the Br

The Americas: Complete Limited Series 4K UHD can be purchased HERE Review by John Larkin After years spent behind a camera and staring at timelines, scopes, and screens, I didn’t realize how much distance I’d put between myself and the living world those images are meant to reflect. THE AMERICAS, narrated by Tom Hanks, reconnects me to something essential. Watching it in 4K feels less like consuming content and more like being reminded of the Earth’s scale, patience, and quie