In 1972, Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) and his then-lover Scott Smith leave New York for San Francisco, with Milk determined to accomplish something meaningful in his life. Settling in the Castro District, he opens a camera shop and helps transform the area into a mecca for gays and lesbians. In 1977 he becomes the nation’s first openly gay man elected to a notable public office when he wins a seat on the Board of Supervisors. The following year, Dan White (Josh Brolin) kills Milk in cold blood.
Welcome to your new favorite pop-art explosion. Stewardess Yoriko is kidnapped by a team of deadly female assassins who use vinyl records as weapons. Now, it’s up to photographer Hondo to uncover the conspiracy while dealing with go-go dancing ninjas and bullets made of chewing gum. The bubblegum reference isn’t a coincidence — Black Tight Killersis an ultra-stylish, candy-coated amusement park ride in the form of a movie. This overlooked crime-noir delight shares the visual inventiveness of Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik and the pulp thrills of Seijun Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter. An essential big screen experience.
A sequel of sorts to Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead tells the story of a group of survivors during a zombie outbreak who take refuge in a suburban shopping mall while mass hysteria wreaks havoc on their town.
Continuing the autobiographical story he began in The Dance of Reality, Endless Poetry is an ode to the quest for beauty and inner truth, as a universal force capable of changing one’s life forever, written by a man who has dedicated his existence to creating spiritual and artistic awareness, told through Jodorowsky’s unique surreal and psychedelic visual language.
Bounty hunter Mack “Truck” Turner (Isaac Hayes) almost always finds his target, but his latest prize — a pimp called Gator (Paul Harris) — is killed while Turner is chasing him. Gator’s girl, Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols), vows to avenge his death and offers ownership of her successful call girl operation to anyone who can knock off Turner. Upscale pimp Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto) steps in, upping the ante with professional assassins. Turner, however, isn’t going down easily.
After coming in under budget at the completion of SMOKE, Wayne Wang and screenwriter Paul Auster managed to convince their producers to make an immediate sequel, this time shot almost entirely on the fly with no script in just five days. Despite the constraints, Wang and Auster, serving as co-directors, deliver a satisfying follow up, returning once again to Auggie Wren’s Brooklyn tobacco shop, and assembling another impressive cast, including Harvey Keitel, Victor Argo, Keith David, Giancarlo Esposito, Roseanne Barr, Michael J. Fox, Lily Tomlin, Mira Sorvino, Lou Reed, Mel Gorham, Jim Jarmusch, Malik Yoba, and Madonna. What emerges is yet another funny, moving, and authentic portrait of a Brooklyn neighborhood.
