Author Archives: Liz Whittemore

About Liz Whittemore

Liz grew up in northern Connecticut and was memorizing movie dialogue from Shirley Temple to A Nightmare on Elm Street at a very early age. She will watch just about any film all the way through (no matter how bad) just to prove a point. A loyal New Englander, a lover of Hollywood, and true inhabitant of The Big Apple.

Review: ‘Banana Split’ is the sweet treat we all need right now.

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SYNOPSIS: April (Hannah Marks) has spent the last two years of high school in a relationship with Nick (Dylan Sprouse), from first frantic make-out session to final tear-stained breakup. In the aimless summer between graduation and college, the newly single April mends her heartbreak by striking up an unexpected friendship with an unlikely candidate: Nick’s new girlfriend, Clara (Liana Liberato). Writers Read More →

SXSW 2020 review: ‘I Used To Go Here’ is an emotional second chance.

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I Used To Go Here Synopsis: Following the launch of her new novel, 35-year-old writer Kate Conklin (Gillian Jacobs) is invited to speak at her alma mater by her mentor and former professor (Jemaine Clement). After accepting the invitation, Kate finds herself deeply enmeshed in the lives of an eccentric group of college students. Gillian Jacobs is charming as ever Read More →

Review: ‘International Falls’ explores the fine line between comedy and tragedy.

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A woman stuck in a small, snowbound border town has dreams of doing comedy when she meets a washed-up, burned-out comedian with dreams of doing anything else. International Falls is funny from the very first scene. The jokes are witty and rapid-fire. But you can feel a sense of sadness lingering over the comedy. Rachael Harris and Rob Huebel experience Read More →

Review: ‘M.O.M. (Mothers Of Monsters)’ is ominous warning.

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Synopsis:  A distraught mother (Hamilton) suspects her teenage son (Edwards) is plotting a school shooting, but when he slips through the cracks of the system, she is forced to take matters into her own hands. After installing an elaborate spy camera system in their home, Abbey captures a series of disturbing videos that confirm her worst fears. Torn between a Read More →

Review: ‘The Postcard Killings’ keeps things twisted.

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In The Postcard Killings, based on the James Patterson and Liza Marklund #1 New York Times bestselling novel, NY Detective Jacob Kanon’s (Jeffery Dean Morgan) world is destroyed when his daughter and son-in-law are brutally murdered in London. Unable to sit idly by and do nothing, Jacob travels to London get the answers he needs. As he learns of similar Read More →

Review: ‘Escape From Pretoria’ is a story of courage and engineering at its best.

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Based on the real-life prison break of two political captives, ESCAPE FROM PRETORIA is a race-against-time thriller set in the tumultuous apartheid days of South Africa. The film is based on Tim Jenkin’s autobiography Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison. With the engineering of escape solutions being created and tested in what feels like real-time, the anticipation pulls you in. Your heart races at Read More →

Review: ‘Transference’ is the beginning of something powerful.

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SYNOPSIS: A twelve-year-old boy, Joshua, is charged with the protection of his twin sister when their father passes, but she possesses a special ability and his greatest challenge will not be keeping her safe but keeping her hidden. Twenty years later, Joshua is struggling to cope with the events of his childhood and the choices he has made since. Out Read More →

Review: Karma is a real killer in ‘The Dare’, On-Demand and VOD now.

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Synopsis: When a childhood prank goes wrong, four strangers are forced to relive a cruel game at the hands of a masked psychopath. Torture porn at it’s finest, The Dare is genuinely gagworthy in its practical FX. Without reading the synopsis, the film’s full plot doesn’t reveal itself until halfway through. This allows you to become invested in the mystery Read More →

2020 Cinequest Film Festival review: ‘Seven Short Films About (Our) Marriage’ has its world premiere tomorrow night!

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  A tempestuous romantic drama in seven vignettes that chronicles an interracial marriage, telling a story of turmoil and tenderness as two people try to make their relationship last. The authenticity of this script is genuinely astounding. These words are coming from a place of experience, they have a lived-in feel that is palpable through the screen. Each vignette represents Read More →

Review: ‘Run This Town’ is a successful look at who does the dirty work in truth telling and true suppressing.

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A young journalist and a young political aide become entangled in a larger-than-life political scandal as they struggle to navigate adult life. Like all their friends, Bram and Kamal are struggling to climb the ladders at their respective workplaces: Bram at a newspaper, Kamal at City Hall. When Bram learns of a scandal involving Kamal’s larger-than-life boss, he seizes the Read More →

Review: ‘Blood On Her Name’- a killer neo-noir brimming with tension.

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SYNOPSIS: The dead body lies at her feet, its blood still draining onto the floor. It was an accident, borne of self-defense, but its discovery could have devastating consequences for local garage owner Leigh Tiller and her son. Feat. Bethany Anne Lind (REPRISAL, OZARK), Will Patton, (REMEMBER THE TITANS, ARMAGEDDON) and Elizabeth Röhm (AMERICAN HUSTLE, JOY) There is a heavy Read More →

Review: ‘The Night Clerk’ keeps you guessing until the very final moment.

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SYNOPSIS: While on duty, a young, socially challenged hotel clerk (Tye Sheridan) witnesses a murder in one of the rooms but his suspicious actions land him as the lead detective’s (John Leguizamo) number one suspect. Tye Sheridan is immensely talented, this is a solidly indisputable fact. In The Night Clerk, he takes on the role of Bart, a young man with Asperger syndrome, Read More →

Review: ‘You Go To My Head’ has a long lasting psychological effect on its audience.

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In a desolate stretch of the Sahara, a mysterious car accident leaves a young woman lost and alone. Jake, a reclusive architect, finds her unconscious. He drives her to the nearest doctor, to discover that she’s suffering from post-traumatic amnesia. Intoxicated by the woman’s beauty, Jake claims to be her husband. He names her Kitty and takes her to his Read More →

Review: Based on the children’s novel, ‘Waiting For Anya’ comes to theaters tomorrow.

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Adapted from the novel by the author of War Horse, Waiting for Anya follows Jo Lalande (Noah Schnapp), a thirteen-year-old shepherd boy, and reclusive widow Horcada (Anjelica Huston), who come together with their village to help smuggle Jewish children into Spain during the harrows of WWII. This powerhouse cast gives earnest performances. That being said, some things are amiss with Read More →

Review: ‘Toxic Beauty’ documentary reiterates that beauty is pain… and the industry knows all about it.

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Synopsis: Toxic Beauty reveals the harmful health consequences of chemicals found in everyday cosmetic and beauty products, the huge corporations that knowingly use them and the lack of governmental regulations to protect consumers. The first thing I did after the credits of Toxic Beauty rolled was rabidly google chemical names of the ingredients on the labels of our products. I filled Read More →

Panic Fest review: ‘Greenlight’ – Making movies takes a killer instinct.

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A young director is looking for his big break, but when a producer asks him to goes beyond his limits the opportunity could break him. Coming this month to Kansa City, MO’s Panic Fest, Greenlight is an industry thriller you’ll want a ticket to. Jack’s passion for filmmaking is put to the test when he is hired to direct his Read More →

Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020 review: The world premiere of ‘The Night’ is as captivating as it is terrifying.

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Kourosh Ahari’s THE NIGHT The Iranian-American Ahari makes a startling feature directorial debut with a stylish psychological thriller about a young couple trapped in a mysterious hotel that hungers for their secrets and may not release them or their child back into the world. The film stars Shahab Hosseini (star of A SEPARATION and THE SALESMAN). What a knock out Read More →

Review: Indie Sci-Fi Comedy ‘The Wave’ starring Justin Long and Donald Faison, directed by Gille Klabin is one insanely weird trip.

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Justin Long (Die Hard 4.0, Accepted) and Donald Faison (Scrubs, Clueless) lead the unique modern-day parable that follows Frank (Long), an opportunistic insurance lawyer, who thinks he’s in for the time of his life when he goes out on the town to celebrate an upcoming promotion with his co-worker, Jeff (Faison). But their night takes a turn for the bizarre Read More →

Review: ‘Three Christs’ brings heavenly performances.

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In 1959, psychiatrist Dr. Alan Stone (Richard Gere) arrives at a mental hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan armed with the radical belief that schizophrenic patients should be treated not with confinement and electroshock therapy but with empathy and understanding. As his first study, he takes on the particularly challenging case of three men—Joseph (Peter Dinklage), Leon (Walton Goggins), and Clyde (Bradley Read More →

Review: ‘Reality Queen’ is funnier than actual reality.

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In the tradition of Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, and inspired by today’s obsession with reality TV and social media stars, writer-director Steven Jay Bernheim’s clever mockumentary fixes on a Paris Hilton-esque heiress named “London” (newcomer Julia Faye West) who is struggling to regain fame after being pushed out of the limelight by three Kardashian-type sisters named “The Read More →