Little Women (2019) - Movie Review

The Movie: Little Women

The Director: Greta Gerwig

The Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Chris Cooper, Meryl Streep, Louis Garrel

The Story: Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Us - Movie Review

The Movie: Us

The Director: Jordan Peele

The Cast: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Anna Diop

The Story: A family's serene beach vacation turns to chaos when their doppelgängers appear and begin to terrorize them.

Weathering with You 『天気の子』 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Weathering with You 『天気の子』

The Director: Makoto Shinkai

The Cast: Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori, Kentaro Araki, Chieko Baishô and Kana Hanazawa

The Story: A high-school boy who has run away to Tokyo befriends a girl who appears to be able to manipulate the weather.

The Fable / ザ・ファブル - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: The Fable / ザ・ファブル

The Director: Kan Eguchi

The Cast: Jun'ichi Okada, Fumino Kimura, Koichi Sato, Mizuki Yamamoto, Ryo Kimura

The Story: An legendary assassin from Tokyo is forced to live as a normal person in Osaka for one year without killing anyone.

Mina-Anud - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Mina-Anud

The Director: Kerwin Go

The Cast: Dennis Trillo, Jerald Napoles, Matteo Guidicelli, Alvin Anson and Mara Lopez

The Story: Paradise is upturned when 3 tons of cocaine wash up on the peaceful shores of a fishing village. Two local surfers must decide if the lure of a richer tomorrow is really worth risking family and freedom.

Yesterday - Movie Review

The Movie: Yesterday

The Director: Danny Boyle

The Cast: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Sophia Di Martino

The Story: A struggling musician realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate timeline where they never existed.

21 Bridges - Movie Review

The Movie: 21 Bridges

The Directors: Brian Kirk

The Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Sienna Miller, J.K. Simmons, Stephan James, Taylor Kitsch, Keith David, Alexander Siddig

The Story: An embattled NYPD detective is thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers after uncovering a massive and unexpected conspiracy.

Charlie's Angels (2019) - Movie Review

The Movie: Charlie's Angels

The Director: Elizabeth Banks

The Cast: Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska, Elizabeth Banks, Patrick Stewart, Djimon Hounsou, Sam Claflin, Jonathan Tucker, Nat Faxon, Chris Pang, Luis Gerardo Méndez

The Story: When a young systems engineer blows the whistle on a dangerous technology, Charlie's Angels are called into action, putting their lives on the line to protect us all.

Exit / 엑시트 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Exit / 엑시트

The Director: Lee Sang-geun

The Cast: Cho Jung-seok, Im Yoon-a, Ko Du-shim, Park In-hwan, Kim Ji-Young

The Story: A rock climber tries to save the day when a mysterious white gas envelops an entire district in Seoul, South Korea.

Yellow Rose - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Yellow Rose

The Director: Diane Paragas

The Cast: Eva Noblezada, Princess Punzalan, Dale Watson, Libby Villari and Lea Salonga

The Story: Rose, an undocumented 17 year old Filipina, dreams of one day leaving her small Texas town to pursue her country music dreams. Her world is shattered when her mom suddenly gets picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Signal 100 / シグナル100 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Signal 100 / シグナル100

The Director: Lisa Takeba

The Cast: Kanna Hashimoto, Yuta Koseki and Toshiki Seto

The Story: A group of high school students are forced into a game where they are hypnotized to commit suicide on an unknown command. Where no one is safe from a sudden death, how can they avoid their fates?

Blood Machines - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Blood Machines

The Director: Seth Ickerman

The Cast: Elisa Lasowski, Anders Heinrichsen, Christian Erickson, Natasha Cashman, Joëlle Berckmans, Noémie Stevens, Alexandra Flandrin, Garance Silve and Walter Dickerson

The Story: An artificial intelligence escapes her spaceship to turn into a female ghost and challenges two blade runners to a galactic chase.

The Serengeti Rules - Documentary Review

The Documentary: The Serengeti Rules

The Director: Nicolas Brown

The Story: Exploring some of the most remote and spectacular places on Earth, five pioneering scientists make surprising discoveries that flip our understanding of nature on its head, and offer new hope for restoring our world.

Moon Hotel Kabul - 2019 Romanian Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Moon Hotel Kabul

The Director: Anca Damian

The Cast: Florin Piersic Jr., Florin Ghioca, Alexandru Nagy, Rodica Negrea

The Story: An investigative journalist who bends the truth finds his reality shaken after a translator who he had a one night stand with ends up dead the following day.

TwoOhSix Picks - 2019 GeekGirlCon

GeekGirlCon is a really fun convention in downtown Seattle that focuses on empowering women and girls to pursue their passions all within the context of geek culture. There are panels, vendors, exhibits, and all kinds of stuff for people to do all in a safe and inclusive environment that anyone would enjoy. Here is my TwoOhSix Picks list of the things you don't want to miss while you're there.

Frozen II - Movie Review

The Movie: Frozen II

The Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

The Cast: Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Evan Rachel Wood, Jason Ritter, Idina Menzel, Sterling K. Brown, Alan Tudyk, Josh Gad, Rachel Matthews, Ciarán Hinds, Alfred Molina

The Story: Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven leave Arendelle to travel to an ancient, autumn-bound forest of an enchanted land. They set out to find the origin of Elsa's powers in order to save their kingdom.

Feast of the Seven Fishes - Movie Review

The Movie: Feast of the Seven Fishes

The Director: Robert Tinnell

The Cast: Skyler Gisondo, Madison Iseman, Josh Helman, Addison Timlin, Ray Abruzzo, Andrew
Schulz, David Kallaway, Lynn Cohen, Joe Pantoliano, Paul Ben-Victor

The Story: In a Rust Belt town on the Monongahela River on Christmas Eve, 1983, a nice, working-class boy brings an affluent, Ivy League girl to his family’s raucous traditional Italian seafood feast, setting off a chain reaction of romantic, comedic and cultural conflicts.

Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos / 나쁜 녀석들: 더 무비 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos / 나쁜 녀석들: 더 무비

The Director: Son Yong-Ho

The Cast: Ma Dong-Seok, Kim Sang-Jung, Kim Ah-Jung, Jang Ki-Yong, Kang Ye-Won

The Story: Bad guy prisoners are sent on a mission to capture bad guy escaped prisoners.

The Report - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: The Report

The Director: Scott Z. Burns

The Cast: Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, Linda Powell, Corey Stoll, Maura Tierney, Michael C. Hall, Joanne Tucker, Ian Blackman, Douglas Hodge, T. Ryder Smith, Tim Blake Nelson, Scott Shepherd, Ted Levine, Matthew Rhys, Kate Beahan

The Story: Idealistic Senate staffer Daniel J. Jones, tasked by his boss to lead an investigation into the CIA's post 9/11 Detention and Interrogation Program, uncovers shocking secrets.

Nina Wu / 灼人秘密 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Nina Wu / 灼人秘密

The Director: Midi Z

The Cast: Wu Ke-Xi, Sung Yu-Hua, Hsia Yu-Chiao and Shih Ming-Shuai

The Story: Struggling actress gets dream role and the experience comes with unexpected consequences.

Kampai! Sake Sisters - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Documentary Review

The Movie: Kampai! Sake Sisters

The Director: Mirai Konishi

The Cast: Miho Imada, Rebekah Wilson-Lye and Marie Chiba

The Story: Once forbidden to set foot into sake breweries, today women are the ones driving the most exciting changes within the sake industry in Japan. This documentary delves into the passionate lives of three pioneering women.

Doctor Sleep - Movie Review

The Movie: Doctor Sleep

The Director: Mike Flanagan

The Cast: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran,

The Story: Years following the events of "The Shining," a now-adult Dan Torrance meets a young girl with similar powers as he tries to protect her from a cult known as The True Knot who prey on children with powers to remain immortal.

The White Storm 2: Drug Lords / 掃毒2天地對決 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: The White Storm 2: Drug Lords / 掃毒2天地對決

The Director: Herman Yau

The Cast: Andy Lau, Louis Koo, Michael Miu and Karena Lam

The Story: A wealthy businessman tries to take down a drug kingpin that he used to work with, while a policeman tries to find justice without breaking the law.

Dark Place - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Dark Place

The Directors: Kodie Bedford, Perun Bonser, Rob Braslin, Liam Phillips, Bjorn Stewart

The Cast: Tasia Zalar, Katherine Beckett, Luka May Glynn-Cole, Leonie Whyman and Clarence Ryan

The Story: Australian genre cinema takes an exciting leap forward with a quintet of tales that approach postcolonial Indigenous history through the lenses of horror and fantasy, all made by filmmakers of Aboriginal origin.

Ford v Ferrari - Movie Review

The Movie: Ford v Ferrari

The Director: James Mangold

The Cast: Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Caitriona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Tracy Letts, Ray McKinnon

The Story: American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference, the laws of physics and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford and challenge Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.

Midway (2019) - Movie Review

The Movie: Midway

The Director: Roland Emmerich

The Cast: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans

The Story: The story of the Battle of Midway, told by the leaders and the sailors who fought it.

Last Christmas - Movie Review

The Movie: Last Christmas

The Director: Paul Feig

The Cast: Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Emma Thompson, Michelle Yeoh,

The Story: Kate's latest bad decision is taking a job as a Santa's elf in a department store although meeting Tom while on the job might just be the turn of luck she's been looking for.

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool - Documentary Review

The Movie: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

The Director: Stanley Nelson

The Story: Miles Davis: Horn player, bandleader, innovator. Miles was a singular force of nature, the very embodiment of cool. The central theme of Miles Davis' life, and of this film is Davis' restless determination to break boundaries and live life on his own terms.

Countdown - Movie Review

The Movie: Countdown

The Director: Justin Dec

The Cast: Elizabeth Lail, Jordan Calloway, Talitha Eliana Bateman, Peter Facinelli, Tichina Arnold, Matt Letscher, P.J. Byrne

The Story: When a nurse downloads an app that claims to predict the moment a person will die, it tells her she only has three days to live. With the clock ticking and a figure haunting her, she must find a way to save her life before time runs out.

TwoOhSix Picks - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Presented by Halekulani

This is now my fifth year covering the Hawaii International Film Festival and I am so excited for this year's lineup of films, I wasn't sure how I was going to narrow it down for my TwoOhSix Picks selections. Well, here we are, I've done the work, and the list is complete. Check out the twenty films that have been chosen to be this year's TwoOhSix Picks.

Terminator: Dark Fate - Movie Review

The Movie: Terminator: Dark Fate

The Director: Tim Miller

The Cast: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Diego Luna, Diego Boneta, Fraser James

The Story: Sarah Connor and a hybrid cyborg human must protect a young girl from a newly modified liquid Terminator from the future.

TwoOhSix Picks - 2019 Romanian Film Festival

In case you weren't aware, the city of Seattle has non stop schedule of film festivals throughout the year thanks to SIFF, the Northwest Film Forum, and many other film related organizations, most of which are in business as non profits. The 2019 Romanian Film Festival is organized by the American Romanian Cultural Society in partnership with the SIFF Cinemas Uptown Theatre and, thanks to crowdfunding efforts, will be enjoying their largest version of the festival ever.

Parasite (기생충) - Movie Review

The Movie: Parasite (기생충)

The Director: Bong Joon-ho

The Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik and Park So-dam

The Story: All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

Motherless Brooklyn - Movie Review

The Movie: Motherless Brooklyn

The Director: Edward Norton

The Cast: Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bobby Cannavale, Cherry Jones, Michael Kenneth Williams, Leslie Mann, Ethan Suplee, Dallas Roberts, Josh Pais, Robert Ray Wisdom, Fisher Stevens, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe

The Story: Set against the backdrop of 1950s New York, Motherless Brooklyn follows Lionel Essrog, a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome, as he ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend, Frank Minna.

Harriet - Movie Review

The Movie: Harriet

The Director: Kasi Lemmons

The Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Clarke Peters, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Omar J. Dorsey, Henry Hunter Hall, Tim Guinee, Nick Basta, Joseph Lee Anderson, Antonio J. Bell, CJ McBath, Janelle Monáe

The Story: The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.

Knives Out - Movie Review

The Movie: Knives Out

The Director: Rian Johnson

The Cast: Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell

The Story: A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.