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Dreaming Hollywood (2021)

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• Turk Matthews

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Cleopatra Entertainment

Dreaming Hollywood

Blu-ray: $21.99

by Kevin Hall

October 12, 2022

Rating: 3 of 5

Production Company Cleopatra Entertainment

Genre Action

Rating Not Rated

Duration 122 minutes

At its core, Dreaming Hollywood is a movie about movies. You have a main character dead set on making it big in Hollywood, trying to sell his screenplay. But soon his Hollywood dream becomes a nightmare, and it makes for a…unique viewing experience.

The main character Ray Balfi (Turk Matthews) is a puerile ex-convict trying to make it big as a screenwriter. He soon completes a script for an animated feature called The Dog’s Meow and tries to sell it to various studios. No luck. Balfi supports himself by dealing drugs while he waits to hear if anyone has an interest in the script. He then discovers someone has taken his work and is producing a film without crediting him.

Things get…frantic from here.

The film, now about one man's quest for...revenge, of sorts, gets haphazard after Balfi discovers this. Part dream sequence/drug hallucination/flashback/stream of consciousness, the film demands its viewers' attention. Things get violent. We are introduced to various characters that quickly disappear, and who offer no resolution or meaning to the plot at all. Dreaming Hollywood isn’t sure if it wants to be a crime drama or a surrealist, absurd nightmare, and it gets muddled as it tries to find its footing.

Ray, however, is a very compelling antihero, even if his bizarre odyssey does drag a little bit. The Tarantino influence is very blatant here, and those who aren’t fans of his may be put off. However, the film would work for those interested in “gonzo” media, as well as those who are interested in movies about…well, movies.

Star Ratings

As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.

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Dreaming hollywood - movie review.

Crackheads unite!

They say every writer has at least one story in them worth chasing, completing, and profiting from . . . no matter if the talent is there or not.  For Ray Balfi ( Turk Matthews) , whose crazy, drug-fueled world is already filled to the brim with bizarre shenanigans, crazy people, and even wilder experiences, that ONE STORY gets stolen from him and turned into a movie . . . even while he is cleaning up his act for this new life direction and shopping it around Los Angeles.

What?!  Someone made his movie, “The Dog’s Meow” behind his back?!  What the hell?!  I mean, with friends like these . . .

Who stole it from him is the answer he pursues in this left of center, rollicking comedy from writer/director Frank Martinez.  Set for release on March 22 from Cleopatra Entertainment , this dark action-drama delivers some gut-busting laughs as catastrophic mayhem follows his tract for revenge.  It is one hell of a misadventure, too!  Dark, demented, and full of a lot of unexpected twists and turns when it comes to its heaviness and its use of themes, Dreaming Hollywood is a wild romp that is both unexpected and wildly entertaining.

Described as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas meets Tarantino -inspired action, Dreaming Hollywood (originally titled Fade Out Ray ) takes a deep dive into Ray Balfi's bizarre world of drug dealers, prostitutes, dirty cops and social rejects as he tries to begin a new life-direction and shops his cartoon screenplay to a whole bunch of L.A. production companies. Interested or not, he's there offering them the chance of a lifetime while facing a massive wall of reflection.  

When Ray learns that someone has stolen his script and made his movie, “The Dog's Meow” without his permission, his life takes a wild turn. Now, Ray's already messed-up life is thrown into catastrophic mayhem as he seeks revenge. Who stole his script? Everyone he meets is suspect as Ray is now motivated with a new lust for life…and for blood. 

Starring Turk Matthews ( CSI:NY, ENTOURAGE, CRIMINAL MINDS ), Eliot ( STAND AND DELIVER, 21 JUMP STREET ), Link Ruiz ( THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, NCIS, RAY DONOVAN ), Madelyn Allen ( DUKE AND DAMMIT, NATURAL DISASTERS ) along with appearances by Rafael Sigler ( GENTEFIED ), Ben Lin ( FRESH OFF THE BOAT, LAW & ORDER, MORTAL COMBAT ) and Thomas Evans ( THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, GENERAL HOSPITAL, CRIMINAL MINDS ), this all-star madcap misadventure is a roller coaster of a flick as Balfi goes for broke in his search and is met with denial and bloodlust, searching for the poor bastard that double crossed him.  

Dark humor, crazy characters, and extreme situations follow in his wake, proving this well-shot feature film will more than likely earn repeat viewings as a future cult classic, especially among anyone who considers themselves a fan of the Cohen Brothers filmography.  This strange journey into film obsession is both masterfully done as it operates its satire sneakily and just a whole lot of fun as comedy is mixed with violence and wild musical numbers!

D reaming Hollywood will see a limited domestic theatrical run commencing with a Hollywood premiere at the Laemmle Royal Theatre on Tuesday, March 15th followed by a March 22nd, 2022 release on VOD Platforms and also as a deluxe Home Entertainment Blu Ray package that also includes (as a bonus) a blistering audio soundtrack CD, featuring the music of DMX, ONYX and more! 

When it comes to the wild exploits of "Fade Out Ray", be prepared for anything!

MPAA Rating: Unrated. Runtime: 122 mins Director : Frank Martinez Writer: Frank Martinez Cast: Turk Matthews; Eliot; Madelyn Allen Genre : Crime Tagline: What's Your Story? Memorable Movie Quote: Theatrical Distributor: Cleopatra Entertainment Official Site: Release Date: March 15th, 2022 DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: March 22, 2022 VOD + blu-ray. Synopsis : A deranged ex-con seeks revenge when he discovers that his screenplay has been stolen.

Review: ‘Dreaming Hollywood’

Quentin Tarantino might be wacky, but there’s a method to his madness. Although the ethics of his films are often questionable, his extravagant style is supported by solid narrative structure, steady character development, and themes that are accessible to the audience. In other words, his movies have both style and substance. To imitate Tarantino’s style without maintaining a substantive story would be to create an unbalanced and inaccessible movie that keeps the audience at a distance — and that’s exactly what happens with Dreaming Hollywood. This odd and ambitious film from first-time feature writer and director Frank Martinez is a peculiar animal that revels in absurdity, surrealism, grime, sweat, and decay. It’s the kind of movie in which, for better or worse, style takes the lead. While Dreaming Hollywood has a number of strong elements, it never quite reaches its full potential.

Dreaming Hollywood starts off as a textbook imitation of Tarantino’s style. There’s voice-over narration, an ominous and slightly twangy score, a desolate landscape, unflattering camera angles, confusing jumps between intertwined plotlines, and self-deprecating humor that arises from uncomfortable situations. From the dust of the grungy landscape arises our main character, Ray Balfi (Turk Matthews), a socially awkward and childlike ex-convict with a big dream: becoming a screenwriter. While waiting for his big break, he’s making ends meet as a drug dealer in a complex network of competing crime bosses and corrupt cops. He’s just finished the screenplay for an animated movie called The Dog’s Meow , which he sends out to 100 studios. Things take a sharp turn, both dramatically and stylistically, when Ray realizes that his beloved screenplay, or “movie screenplay script,” as he calls it, has been stolen by a rogue studio. At this point, the Tarantino-style narrative breaks down into an absurd sequence that is part fever dream, part flashback, and part cinematic stream of consciousness. Then, much like a Tarantino film, the stylistic awkwardness gives way to violence. 

There’s plenty of inherent charm and sentiment in this story, and the overall plot map is quite clever. The movie requires its audience to pay close attention as it jumps between realistic scenes, dream sequences, and what appear to be drug-induced collective hallucinations. While these narrative jumps aren’t necessarily a bad thing, the story is padded with so much stylistic fluff that it’s difficult to follow. The first half of the movie is intriguing, quirky, humorous, and fun, but it’s offset by odd editing choices and meandering dialogue. The sudden cuts are more jarring than effective, and the peculiar dialogue doesn’t pack the punch that it was intended to. Plus, the strange side characters don’t add much to the story other than absurdity for absurdity’s sake. Dreaming Hollywood can’t decide whether it wants to be a crime drama with a complex plot or a surrealist piece with little to no plot — in fact, it tries very hard to be both. As a whole, the movie is like one long journal entry — every word is meaningful and important to the author, and snippets of it are brilliant, but it hasn’t been shaped and edited into something that’s accessible to everyone else. 

One of those more brilliant snippets is Ray himself. In terms of craft and technique, Ray is one of the strongest parts of the movie. He’s just downright interesting to watch – and this is mostly due to Matthews’ dedicated performance. Matthews embraces Ray’s childlike quirks and makes his odd dialogue sound natural. Much like the overall cinematography, Matthews isn’t afraid to get ugly. He doesn’t shy away from Ray’s awkwardness and immature emotions, but he doesn’t go over the top. Ray is also interesting to watch because he’s completely out of touch with the world around him, and his misunderstandings about the real world make for some charming and chuckle-worthy moments. Plus, he’s dead-set on getting his screenplay made into a movie, and his optimistic determination is endearing. 

But Ray is also a controversial character, and he’ll set off your incel radar faster than Joaquin Phoenix in Joker . At first, his childlike approach to the world is charming — but his immature emotions don’t get him very far. He’s so focused on his own little world that he’s oblivious to the needs and troubles of others. He’s quick to blame the people around him for his misfortunes — and when he doesn’t get his way, he turns to violence. Plus, there’s something sinister about the way he looks at and speaks to Maureen (Madelyn Allen), a local sex worker whom he frequently visits. As the events of the story unfold, his actions toward her become more and more disturbing. Dreaming Hollywood gives its audience the difficult task of weighing Ray’s childlike innocence with his distasteful and, at times, horrific actions.

Over the course of 122 minutes, Dreaming Hollywood comes close to greatness over and over again. It frequently teases the line between meaningless chaos and artistic absurdity — and as soon as we think the film is going to cross that barrier, it shrivels up on itself and retreats into nonsensical dialogue. It’s a memorable celebration of style, but it lacks the supportive substance needed to be accessible to an audience. 

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Dreaming Hollywood

There are a thousand movies just like Dreaming Hollywood , a film about the crushing reality of that very fact. Ray Balfi (Turk Matthews) is an ex-convict making his way in the world by selling drugs, with a side gig of writing scripts he hopes will make him millions of dollars. He has a, um, romance with a prostitute named Maureen (Madelyn Allen) and a troubled relationship with his parole officer, who happens to be one of his suppliers. It’s not a great life. Ray’s not terribly smart, either, but he believes in the viability of his script, The Dog’s Meow , more than just about anything. That’s why it really hurts when he sees it stolen and produced by a real Hollywood bigwig. It hurts his ego, it hurts his heart and, most of all, it hurts his mind. Beyond repair.

Writer-director Frank Martinez is pretty upfront about his influences, in particular the quirky crime comedies that basically defined a generation of independent filmmaking in the 1990s. He has characters talk about moving to Los Angeles with big dreams and a perfect script only to meet disappointment and disillusionment. OK. Maybe we’ve seen this movie a million times before. Even by the time Ray fully loses it, Dreaming Hollywood isn’t going anywhere new . That’s unfortunate because, within the two-hour running time, there are some great sequences and character bits that feel like they would benefit from a tighter story (like the films it actively venerates). Although the film acknowledges its creative reality, it doesn’t succeed at surpassing it as a story.

Then again, Martinez still got to make his script, and that counts for something on a metafictional level. It is, despite being overlong and not quite as funny as it wants to be, a generally well-shot film. The grime of Ray’s life and the filming locations work well for the story and never seem cheap or rushed. Trust me: That can’t be said for very many low-budget crime thrillers. It’s a testament to Martinez’s dedication that, at the very least, his independent crime film does feel like a crime thriller. That said, the best portions are when Ray speaks and interacts with visions of the odd cartoon characters from his script, who poke and prod at his existential impotence. There are some strange, crazy-making images that invoke the dumpster man in Mulholland Dr. , one of the quintessential modern films about the futility of pursuing Hollywood dreams. Still, in many ways it feels like Dreaming Hollywood is the container for a punchier, maybe even odder version of Ray’s story.

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Fade Out Ray (2021)

122min - English

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A deranged ex-con seeks revenge after his screenplay has been stolen.

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Exclusive: Dreaming Hollywood Trailer and Poster for Dark Drama

By Tyler Treese

ComingSoon is excited to debut the Dreaming Hollywood trailer and poster art for Frank Martinez’s dark action-drama from Cleopatra Entertainment. The film is out in North America on March 22, 2022, on VOD platforms. There will also be a deluxe Blu-ray package that includes the soundtrack, which features music by DMX, Onyx, and more.

“Described as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas meets Tarantino action, Dreaming Hollywood takes a deep dive into dive into Ray Balfi’s bizarre world of drug dealers, prostitutes, dirty cops and social rejects as he tries to begin a new life-direction and shops his cartoon screenplay to 100 L.A. production companies,” says the synopsis. “While facing rejection after rejection Ray learns that someone has stolen his script and made his movie, “The Dog’s Meow” without his permission. Now, Ray’s already messed-up life is thrown into catastrophic mayhem as he seeks revenge. Who stole his script? Everyone he meets is suspect as Ray is now motivated with a new lust for life…and for blood.”

Check out the exclusive  Dreaming Hollywood trailer below:

Dreaming Hollywood stars Turk Matthews ( Criminal Minds ), Eliot ( Stand and Deliver ), Link Ruiz ( Ray Donovan ), and Madelyn Allen ( Duke and Dammit ) , plus appearances by Rafael Sigler, Ben Lin, and Thomas Evans. The film previously won the Audience Award at the Erie International Film Festival and the Best Feature Film at the London International Monthly Film Festival.

Tyler Treese is ComingSoon and SuperHeroHype's Editor-in-Chief. An experienced entertainment journalist, his work can be seen at Sherdog, Fanbyte, Rock Paper Shotgun, and more. When not watching the latest movies, Treese enjoys mixed martial arts and playing with his Shiba Inu, Kota.

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DREAMING HOLLYWOOD (HD) - Ex-con Ray seeks revenge when he discovers that his original screenplay has been stolen and made into a movie. Starring Turk Matthews and Eliot. (CC)(HD)

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Dreaming Hollywood

• There are no locations currently available for this title

• Midwest Film Journal Evan Dossey A quintessential low-budget Hollywood crime story that might be too ambitious for its own good.
• About Boulder Tim Brennan Frank Martinez has made a film thats hallucinatory, unpleasant, and occasionally funny. With a stronger degree of focus and a greater willingness to kill his darlings, he could make something significant in the future.

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The 35 Best Movies About Lucid Dreaming

Movies about lucid dreaming have captivated the imagination of viewers for years. These films focus on controlling one's own dreams, offering stories that are both thrilling and thought-provoking. Exploring subjects from subconscious desires to dream worlds, these movies bring to light the complexities of human psychology while providing gripping entertainment. The best movies about lucid dreaming showcase storytelling prowess, strong character development, and innovative visual techniques. 

Lucid dreaming has been the subject of classic titles that have left a lasting impact on audiences worldwide. Among these are works that capture the essence of what makes a great lucid dream film: narratives, characters, and dreamscapes brought to life through special effects. 

Take, for example, Christopher Nolan's Inception - a blend of action and psychological intrigue. This blockbuster hit takes viewers on a journey through various layers of dreams as its protagonist seeks redemption and closure. Another standout title is Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - an unconventional love story that questions the true nature of memory and self-discovery. And let's not forget Wes Craven's chilling classic A Nightmare on Elm Street - a plunge into the world of nightmares where reality and fantasy blur. These films offer just a glimpse into the possibilities within the realm of lucid dreaming. 

Movies about lucid dreaming provide more than just entertainment; they offer insights into how our minds work. Combining striking visuals with emotive storytelling, these films redefine cinema with their bold approach to the medium. It's no wonder so many are drawn to these works of art - they offer an escape from the mundane and a chance to explore new worlds.

For Fans Of : Sci-Fi, Heist, Thriller, Mystery, Adventure Reasons to Watch if You're Interested in Lucid Dreaming: Christopher Nolan's mind-bending masterpiece takes lucid dreaming to a whole new level, as skilled thief Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) enters people's dreams to steal their secrets. The film showcases the concept of dream manipulation, including altering physics and creating complex environments, which will leave viewers pondering about the potential power of their own subconscious.

• Released : 2010
• Directed by : Christopher Nolan

Vanilla Sky

For Fans Of : Drama, Sci-Fi, Romance, Mystery, Thriller Reasons to Watch if You're Interested in Lucid Dreaming: Tom Cruise stars as David Aames, a wealthy playboy who becomes trapped within his own lucid nightmares after disfiguring car accident in this psychological thriller. Inspired by Spanish film Open Your Eyes ,  Vanilla Sky merges elements from sci-fi and drama genres to create an enigmatic exploration of reality versus dreams, making it an ideal watch for those fascinated by conscious control over their subconscious domain.

• Released : 2001
• Directed by : Cameron Crowe

Waking Life

For Fans Of : Animation, Drama, Fantasy, Philosophy Reasons to Watch if You're Interested in Lucid Dreaming: Directed by Richard Linklater and animated through rotoscope technique, Waking Life follows its unnamed protagonist as he engages in philosophical discussions about life while drifting through various dreamscapes. This visually stunning film delves deep into topics such as existentialism, free will, and the nature of dreams themselves - sparking reflection on one's own ability for lucidity during sleep.

• Directed by : Richard Linklater

Eyes Wide Shut

For Fans Of : Mystery, Drama, Thriller, Erotic Reasons to Watch if You're Interested in Lucid Dreaming: Directed by legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, this erotic drama follows Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) as he embarks on a surreal journey through his subconscious desires while questioning his own reality. Filled with vivid imagery and dreamlike sequences, Eyes Wide Shut is a captivating examination of the intersection between fantasy and reality that lucid dream enthusiasts are sure to appreciate.

• Released : 1999
• Directed by : Stanley Kubrick

Source Code

For Fans Of : Sci-Fi, Thriller, Mystery, Action Reasons to Watch if You're Interested in Lucid Dreaming: Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, this fast-paced sci-fi thriller revolves around a soldier who repeatedly enters an artificially created dream world to prevent a terrorist attack. The concept of jumping between realities and manipulating time within a simulated world will surely capture the imagination of those captivated by lucid dreaming.

• Released : 2011
• Directed by : Duncan Jones

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

For Fans Of : Drama, Romance, Comedy, Sci-Fi Reasons to Watch if You're Interested in Lucid Dreaming: This surreal romantic drama focuses on a man (Jim Carrey) who undergoes a procedure for erasing memories of his former lover (Kate Winslet), only to find himself fighting against the process while inside his own dreamscape. The inventive visual representation of memory and dream navigation in this movie offers an intriguing exploration of the human psyche and how it intertwines with emotion.

• Released : 2004
• Directed by : Michel Gondry

The 20 Best Movies about Dreams and Dream Worlds

Dreams are the sleeping routine for most of humanity. One takes a physical rest from the world and from their fears and desires, only to encounter these same elements of existence in magnified or softened versions. Distorted universes and members of one’s life, sometimes added to old regrets and wishes, or simply the absurdity of an action that one would never imagine doing, but whose consolidation is quite realistic during the experience.

It is the state of consciousness in which one is separated from visions of the palpable world and closest to reflections of the unconscious. Yet we can hardly conceive anything close to many of them being a part of us.

Many an art form has explored the theme, and cinema has done it in various versions and using various strategies. Some of them envision dreams as the paradise of the psyche, others prefer to engage in the representations of nightmares, or suffocating experiences full of symbolisms and self-reflections.

20. The Bothersome Man (Jens Lien, 2006)

This Norwegian production is an underground piece of uncanny qualities. Its bright lighting and dull colour palette converge well with its desire to represent a world of emptiness. Andreas is an apathetic man who mysteriously arrives on a bus at a checkpoint shack in the middle of a cold, rocky desolation. He is welcomed by a driver who takes him to a strange city; strange in its boredom, and strange in the apparent flamboyance and materialism of its inhabitants.

Andreas soon realises that the food has no taste, the drink does not inebriate, and the sex does not generate emotions. He witnesses a man commit suicide by throwing himself out of a window and falling onto a spiked fence. Nobody on the street seems to notice the blood and bowels scattered about. He does. And he worries about it.

He ultimately finds his salvation and his pleasure in listening to a distant melody deep within the foundations of an old building. While trying to excavate and reach the source of the song, he is stopped by the film’s “thought police” and carried away to be left in the middle of the cold desert again.

Its rendition of a veritable nightmare – probably the worst nightmare of many of us; the loss of sensibility in its various forms – is serious and comedic at the same time, and easily convinces the spectator about the despair of living in a world without taste.

19. Wristcutters: A Love Story (Goran Dukić, 2006)

How would you react if you committed suicide and woke up in another world, much the same as the previous, but with the intensity of the little things of life glorified? Wristcutters: A Love Story has that odd a plot.

The protagonist Zia slits his wrists after a sequence portraying the boredom of his life in his messy bedroom. He “wakes up” in a surreal afterlife, where other suicidal individuals are, where nobody smiles, and where the logic of physics – very much like in dreams – is distorted. He meets Eugene, an impetuous man in a never-ending quest to fix his car’s headlights. Zia’s new world is apathetic, filled with solitude and silence, but also with solemnity and innocence.

The lack of smiles is quickly compensated for by the calm countenances, the friendly glances of relief that usually precede a smile, but without the consolidation of the happy act. Like in a dream, strong emotions are hard to come about, and when they come they cause utter astonishment.

Zia is looking for his girlfriend, who he finds out has committed suicide shortly after himself in the up there in the “real” world. During such a quest – slow-paced and full of uncanny apparitions and people –, he starts feeling at home, much like when we are introduced to fond memories or desires during a deep sleep.

Wristcutters is about reconciliation, and how our deepest projections of our own universe may elucidate our views on life. Zia does not want to wake up from his dream. When he does wake up, however, he also does reconcile with his own reality and the effortlessness of his search for happiness.

18. Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven, 1990)

Far into the future, humanity has come to the point of profiting from the sale of dreams. Douglas Quaid has had many layers of his memory erased over time, and lives a life of lies. His wife, his employment, his knowledge on his past… all such things were fabricated by people who did not want him to spy about their important and dodgy businesses.

But memories oftentimes resurface during one’s sleep. Quaid, from the very beginning of the storyline, has odd dreams with a mysterious woman, and such dreams always take place on Mars, already colonised by humankind in the film’s mythos. He seeks Rekall, a company that sells “vacation packages” based only on one’s memories, and finds out that he has been tricked during much of his life after going through an incident in the clinic and bursting through an army of foes.

Every secret is progressively revealed to him, and ultimately he escapes to Mars, finding the mysterious woman of his dreams and defeating the corrupted forces that chased him all along, also dissipating oxygen across the planet’s atmosphere in the process.

Total Recall is a straightforward action sci-fi. Verhoeven is responsible for other endeavours of such a calibre, among them RoboCop. Here, he picks up where Philip K. Dick left off in his short story “We Can Remember it for You Wholesale” and adds elements of suspense and frantic conflicts. A must-see for audiovisual science fiction aficionados, it also brings up to the table the interesting tale of a man whose trust can only be put in his own dreams.

17. Dreams (Akira Kurosawa, 1990)

Kurosawa is one of the most renowned filmmakers in cinema history. Dreams is one of his last contributions to the art form that he so much loved and helped build. The film-loving world is thankful to Mr Kurosawa for having shared his recurring dreams in this aesthetically stunning piece.

into chapters, the dreams follow a maturing process of the main characters – always resemblances of the director. A young boy is caught spying on foxes as they carry out a wedding ceremony under summer rain; a man is lost in a post-apocalyptic world where demons embody sins and sorrows of humanity; an avid artist crosses European landscapes to meet Vincent Van Gogh, here played by Martin Scorsese, who discusses the complexities of his art; among other images.

A film that feels like a painting in constant motion, Dreams is a memorable anthology of human failures to realise the importance of our connection to nature, and how a break of such a connection can only take us far into our own oneiric fears and our material demise. However, the film sends the message in a rather solemn, sweet way. Instead of shocking, it instils thought; instead of warning, it ponders our true needs.

16. The City of Lost Children (Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, 1995)

Jeunet and Caro went on to create a curious little steampunk city to put in front of the camera and entertain the spectator with slapstick characters and uncanny close-ups that add to the grotesque visual elements of the film’s fantasy. But more than that, this production – written by Gilles Adrien and Jeunet himself – carries quite an interesting plot.

In this fictional city, located in the middle of the ocean, an insane and bitter scientist named Krank can never dream, and lives among a troupe of monstrous characters created to make company to him and aid in his search. His search, by the way, consists of kidnapping children so that he can have their dreams.

The problem is that the dreams he steals from them are mostly nightmares, and his relationship with the rest of his “family” is as problematic as the dilemmas with their identities and their notions of self-importance; therefore, it is only natural that his ill-tempered personality would scare the children and darken their sleep.

Jeunet and Caro make once more an ingenious partnership to film this creative enterprise. La Cité des Enfants Perdus, with its eye-appealing costumes, set design and colour palette, also impresses with a tidy narrative and an interesting approach to issues of innocence and self-righteousness, all of them portrayed in the light style of child fantasy.

15. The Matrix (The Wachowskis, 1999)

The cyberpunk imaginary that the Wachowskis brought to the silver screen suggested that humanity lived an illusion, deep into its consciousness to realise the nuances that differed it from the true, wrecked reality. The film shows a post-apocalyptic planet where high-AI machines have overwhelmed society and brought cities and nations to utter devastation.

Meanwhile, the protagonist Thomas Anderson is a displaced man who carries out a regular job and a shady side-activity as a hacker. Thomas sees the world differently, as a veil of uncanny elements of “reality” tearing apart. As with many individuals with such a perspective who usually fall into the category of insanity, Anderson is a recluse, and never seems to blend in anywhere.

One day, a mysterious message reaches his computer. The message turns out to be from an unknown stalker who identifies himself as Morpheus. As with the Greek mythological figure, Morpheus knows well how dreams work, particularly how the dream called life does; the Matrix itself.

He warns Anderson about the illusion that his supposedly real life actually is, and the rest of the storyline is an unfolding of the film’s universe as a meta-materiality of sorts, with a horrible layer of destruction underneath to shake up Anderson’s existential conceptions.

The elements of science fiction in The Matrix caught the cinema world’s attention back in 1999. The sequels did not fare quite well, but the first instalment is still very much alive in sci-fi lovers’ minds. To imagine our lives as mere dormant states of consciousness in which our minds are trapped, while our bodies lie elsewhere, serving as fuel for the sentient functioning of dominant machines, is indeed a singular, if horrifying, scenario to fathom.

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‘the union’ review: mark wahlberg and halle berry star in a standard netflix action flick that gets the job done.

A blue-collar construction worker is recruited by a secret spy organization in this film co-starring Jackie Earle Haley and J.K. Simmons.

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

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Much like fast-food chains make sure their menu items have just the right amount of sugar, salt and fat to make their products addictive, Netflix delivers action movies that feel as if they were created in a lab.

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Wahlberg plays to his (shirtless) strengths as Mike, who only deviates from the actor’s usual working-class persona in that he’s a Jersey boy rather than a Southie. A construction worker (natch), he’s the sort of blue-collar, regular guy who throws back beers with his buddies at the local tavern and sleeps with his former 7th-grade English teacher (Dana Delany, sadly underutilized). Needless to say, Bruce Springsteen songs accompany him on the soundtrack.

His normal routine is suddenly interrupted by the unexpected appearance of Roxanne, his old high-school flame whom he hasn’t seen in 25 years. She walks into his usual watering hole, amazingly not causing too much of a stir despite the fact that she’s played by Halle Berry wearing a skin-tight black leather outfit. The two enjoy a warm and friendly reunion that they take outside, where she injects him with a sedative and knocks him out.

After meeting the other members of the team, including medical expert Athena (Alice Lee), combat specialist Frank (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, reuniting with Simmons after Oz ), and tech whiz Foreman ( Jackie Earle Haley ), Mike takes part in the obligatory training montage. This one differs from most in that his exercises seem to take place in only the most prominent London locations, with at one least notable landmark, such as the Tower Bridge, seen in the background at all times. For a supposedly secret organization that’s headquartered in the prominent BT Tower, the Union doesn’t exactly court anonymity.

Mike quickly fits in with the team members who make sure their missions are peppered with amusing wisecracks. In his first venture with them, he makes a few mistakes — including somehow winding up onstage during a West End performance of Matilda: The Musical — but he sufficiently demonstrates his secret agent bona fides to embark on a mission with Roxanne during which old romantic sparks start to fly. It all leads to a stunt-filled action climax in a gorgeously picturesque seaside village location (actually, Piran, Slovenia, which should enjoy a boost in tourism after this), ably orchestrated by director Julian Farino ( Ballers , Entourage ).  

The Union proves as entertaining as its Netflix algorithms would have predicted, balancing its impressive star wattage with lavish production values to remind viewers of the value of their monthly subscriptions.

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‘Toxic’ Review: Unstinting Lithuanian Teen Drama Follows Catwalk Dreams In a Concrete Nightmare

A Locarno competition standout, Saulė Bliuvaitė's hard-edged debut observes two 13-year-old aspiring models as they put their bodies through hell — and their souls through something darker still.

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Kristina is already enrolled at a local modeling school, the squat gray premises of which belie their claims of sending successful graduates to catwalks in Paris and Tokyo. Given her disability, Marija hasn’t ever considered modeling, but in an effort to stay close to her new sort-of-friend, she follows suit — only to swiftly be singled out as an especially promising candidate. The education on offer, such as it is, is a soul-sapping routine of endless walking instruction and daily body measuring, with gold stars for weight loss. This priority is so all-consuming that even the already reed-like Kristina seeks dangerous extra credit, dumping her dinners outside her bedroom window, and procuring a black-market tapeworm to further hollow out her insides.

It’s an unnerving reminder of the punishing physical standards to which young women are still held, even as body positivity has superficially taken hold in popular culture. Marija’s rising social stock as a potential supermodel gets the two girls increased attention from older local boys, though they’re unprepared for the intricacies of sex as currency — while Kristina naively attempts to barter her body for money, as the modeling school’s financial demands predictably and extortionately spiral.

Bliuvaitė’s script doesn’t go deep into the corrupt specifics of an industry everyone already knows is rotten. She’s more interested in the fraught, complex relationship between two girls who become emotionally dependent on each other, even as they stoke each other’s most damaging insecurities — leading the audience to consider for themselves whether a possibly toxic friendship is better than none. An extraordinary pair of performances by the two leads (Matulytė achingly recessive and physically tranquil, Rupeikaitė a pinwheel of belligerent, fretful energy) gradually suggest two halves of one more collected being. It’s hard not to be moved as Marija and Kristina’s regard for each other evolves from a kind of conditional mutual exploitation into something more candid and wounded: no sparkly friendship bracelets here, just fragile, hard-earned care.

Reviewed at Locarno Film Festival (Competition), Aug. 15, 2024. Running time: 99 MIN. (Original title: "Akiplėša")

• Production: (Lithuania) An Akis Bado production. (World sales: Bendita Film Sales, Santa Cruz de Tenerife.) Producer: Giedrė Burokaitė. Executive producer: Justė Michailinaitė.
• Crew: Director, screenplay: Saulė Bliuvaitė. Camera: Vytautas Katkus. Editor: Ignė Narbutaitė. Music: Gediminas Jakubka.
• With: Ieva Rupeikaitė, Vesta Matulytė, Giedrius Savickas, Vilma Raubaitė, Eglė Gabrėnaitė.

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Review: In ‘Skincare,’ cutthroat competition in the L.A. beauty industry leads to a face-plant

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Director Austin Peters makes his narrative feature debut with “Skincare,” a slice of nasty L.A. noir set within the beauty industry, starring Elizabeth Banks as a celebrity aesthetician whose reputation crumbles around her over the course of two weeks. The film calls to mind other dark, salacious thrillers that satirize a city seemingly obsessed with image — think of “Nightcrawler” or even “American Gigolo” — and Peters wields the style and tone of this subgenre with skill.

The sunbaked Los Angeles of “Skincare” is not the glowing, golden fantasy that we often seen on screen, an impossibly beautiful escapist fantasy. No, the light in “Skincare” is harsh and revealing: bright UV rays, fluorescent bulbs and neon signs beating down on the face of Hope Goldman (Banks), a facialist with a high-profile client list who’s on the verge of breaking through to the big time with her own skincare line.

Hope has been desperate to keep up appearances with her product launch, taping a TV segment that she expects will catapult her into fame and fortune, but as we come to find out, her finances are in disarray. She’s behind on the rent for her storefront and spa in the iconically kitschy Crossroads of the World complex in Hollywood, and when a competing aesthetician, Angel (Luis Gerardo Méndez), sets up shop on her turf, an already frazzled Hope begins to unravel.

But Hope’s undoing isn’t entirely her fault: A mysterious stalker simultaneously starts to interfere with her reputation, sending creepy texts with videos of Hope attached, hacking her email and slashing her tires. Hope turns to her only allies, a group of lecherous men that includes a TV news anchor (Nathan Fillion), her mechanic (Erik Palladino) and a new friend, Jordan ( Lewis Pullman ), a young, amped-up life coach.

“Skincare” becomes a two-hander, alternating between the floundering Hope and the equally flailing Jordan, who desperately wants to be seen as a hero to her. Pullman is delightfully slimy as an unhinged delusional narcissist, high on his own supply of motivational word salad that he spews into his laptop camera. He’s a descendant of Tom Cruise’s “Magnolia” character Frank T.J. Mackey, but with all the wits of one of Michael Bay’s lunkheaded “Pain & Gain” crew.

Banks, on the other hand, brings a flinty mean streak to the striving Hope. Though she’s a victim here, she’s not entirely sympathetic and Banks tiptoes that fine line carefully. There’s a dash of schadenfreude here, since she cares more about what people think and how she looks than anything else. Her own assumptions and accusations add to the pile-up of miscommunication that lead to destruction in “Skincare.”

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Banks’ and Pullman’s deliveries of these tragicomic characters elevate what could have been merely a genre exercise into something more fascinating and satirical. The script, written by Peters with Sam Freilich and Deering Regan, is less interesting. The coincidences and twists fit together, but there’s no deeper reason why this story had to be set in the beauty industry except that it’s a business built on facade, fantasy and seeming frivolity. “Skincare” doesn’t dig into any of these themes in a significant way. There is also no discernible reason why this story is set in 2013, except that it makes it feel slightly dated and cheesy; the diegetic Maroon 5 and Katy Perry songs that weave throughout the movie give it an ironic humor and sense of time, but this film did not have to be a period piece.

Despite his screenplay’s limitations, Peters (like Hope) is a master of aesthetics and with cinematographer Christopher Ripley and editor Laura Zempel, he‘s crafted a compellingly sleazy ‘80s-style thriller — or at least a convincing facsimile of one. The story may be only skin-deep, but Banks and Pullman find something truthfully hopeless in these surface pleasures.”

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

'Skincare'

Rated: R, for sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, some violence and brief drug use Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes Playing: In wide release

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The tricky part with a docuseries like “Hollywood Black,” particularly if you have a deep reservoir of knowledge about its chosen subject, is realizing that it’ll probably never be as comprehensive as you’d like. After all, the four-part series directed by Justin Simien (“ Dear White People ”), adapted from the same-titled book by film historian Donald Bogle, is slated to premiere on MGM+—which isn’t really a historically minded network or streamer like TCM or Criterion Channel. Recalibrating one’s expectation, in that regard, is crucial.

And yet, a documentary series can’t be judged on intention alone. Simien assembles an impressive roster of talking heads (academics, stars, directors, and producers) to talk about the history of Hollywood from a Black perspective. His thesis is sound—Black people are imperative to Hollywood’s existence—and the joy he injects into the subject is pure. But it never feels like there’s quite enough substance to match his enthusiasm.    

The abbreviated length of “Hollywood Black” often betrays its noble desires. Take, for instance, the first hour, which attempts to cram over sixty years of Black cinematic history into less than an hour. As such, the chronology of early Black filmmaking is simplified into a neater timeline. A pioneer like Nina Mae McKinney isn’t mentioned, while Josephine Baker only receives a passing nod (the docuseries instead turns its focus to Fredi Washington, an equally imperative figure). At one point, Issa Rae claims that no other Black director was producing and directing films except Oscar Micheaux. The broad statement ignores creators like Richard D. Maurice and brothers Noble and George Johnson .

There is an early tension to the first episode. While scholars like Racquel Gates, Jacqueline Stewart, and Bogle are providing in-depth context, the celebrity talking heads, who, armed with some basic historical grounding, reduce the past to broad, generic observations That tension is emblematic of Simien trying to balance the research component of the docuseries and the approachability, with the latter party decided by spotlighting the celebrity participants. 

While the docuseries includes plenty of Black women directors as talking heads: Ava DuVernay , Gina Prince-Bythewood , Cheryl Dunye, Melina Matsoukas , Lena Waithe , and more—the actual screen time directed at films by Black women is hardly sufficient. How does one make a documentary about Black filmmakers and not include Kathleen Collins? Outside of “The Watermelon Woman” and “ Daughters of the Dust ,” when the series talks about Black women directors, it’s those who mostly operate in Hollywood. While that decision is understandable, to a point, after all, the series is called “Hollywood Black,” it does erase core pieces of Black cinematic history. Barely any contemporary Black women directors are included—the same with creatives like Ayoka Chenzira, Cauleen Smith, Zeinabu irene Davis, and more. 

Once again, Simien only had so much time, and aiming for comprehensiveness is almost a fool’s errand. And yet, what is cut to conserve time is nevertheless telling. Ultimately, “Hollywood Black” is a history lesson told from a male perspective with only a few diversions to Black women’s contributions.  

There is enough missing from “Hollywood Black” that it very nearly blinds one to the wealth of history that is present. Very few mainstream documentaries, for instance, have tried to provide context to Blackface and the practice of minstrelsy. The genius of Bert Williams is noticed. The little-known, unreleased silent feature “Lime Kiln Field Day” (1913), starring Williams, is placed in its proper context as the oldest surviving Black-cast feature (it’s presently streaming on Criterion Channel ). Charles Lane , the director of “ Sidewalk Stories ,” is also spotlighted. And while it’s heartening to see Bill Greaves’ boundary-pushing mockumentary “Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One” talked about, the conversation between Simien and DuVernay, where the former gives their own odd interpretation of Greaves’ film can be painful to watch, if only because the critique provided doesn’t appear well-considered.  

That doesn’t mean Simien’s first-person perspective isn’t worthwhile. The series is especially strong when he talks about the impact “ The Wiz ” had on him. As Simien stares up at the footage of the still-underrated Blaxploitation musical, there is a palpable joy to the proceedings. It’s clear Simien wants the series to be a celebration of Black creativity—hence cutting Bill Cosby ’s presence in Black Hollywood’s history by uplifting the importance of Richard Pryor and also remaining deferential to Tyler Perry ’s achievements—and his side steps keep him out of relative trouble, so to speak. 

Still, I wish there was more in this film about the how versus what of cinema. When Ernest Dickerson talks about how the lighting of Black skin has changed over the years, it’s incisive and stimulating. But Simien, unfortunately, doesn’t dig that deep into the craft. Rather, he sticks to the broad beats of what these steps forward to progress mean. It’s worth noting that the craft in Simien’s own series slips. Simien critiques how Hollywood co-opted Blaxploitation only to cut to Rudy Ray Moore (an independent filmmaker). At another point, he makes a broad point about films during the late-70s but cuts to “Black Belt Jones” (released in 1974). These mistakes are compounded by the fact that in charting the rise of Blaxploitation, he skips over Ossie Davis ’ “Cotton Comes to Harlem,” the film that kicked it all off. 

Many of these grievances come with the knowledge that many people watching “Hollywood Black” will not be looking for deep-cut references or notice the many confusing nips and tucks used to tailor the history. This is a series meant to serve as an entry point. You just hope it primes enough people’s curiosity to look for more. In that regard, “Hollywood Black” might be moderately successful.    

Whole season screened for review.

Robert Daniels

Robert Daniels is an Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com. Based in Chicago, he is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) and Critics Choice Association (CCA) and regularly contributes to the  New York Times ,  IndieWire , and  Screen Daily . He has covered film festivals ranging from Cannes to Sundance to Toronto. He has also written for the Criterion Collection, the  Los Angeles Times , and  Rolling Stone  about Black American pop culture and issues of representation.

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Hollywood Black (2024)

• Justin Simien

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