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DANCES WITH FILMS 2023 – GOODBYE TANGO – Interview with Writer Director Jason Laurits

The 26th annual DANCES WITH FILMS festival opens today June 22nd, 2023.  The festival runs through July 2nd at the iconic Chinese Theater in the heart of Hollywood.  Our Gadi Elkon interviewed filmmakers and talent from the festival’s films this year.  Writer/Director Jason Laurits talked with Gadi about his short film, GOODBYE TANGO.

DANCES WITH FILMS 2023 – HEIGHTENED – Interview with Writer Director Actress Sara Friedman

The 26th annual DANCES WITH FILMS festival opens today June 22nd, 2023.  The festival runs through July 2nd at the iconic Chinese Theater in the heart of Hollywood.  Our Gadi Elkon interviewed filmmakers and talent from the festival’s films this year. Writer /Director/Actress Sara Friedman talked with Gadi about her feature film HEIGHTENED.

NO HARD FEELINGS – A Review by Jenn Rohm

NO HARD FEELINGS – A Review by Jenn Rohm

In the ‘80s a large portion of movies were made about male first-time experiences or additional conquests to boast about.  As a female growing up and watching those films, they did influence my thoughts of what being female was and the expectations males had.  I was glad to see the trend fall away.  The information filtering in about No Hard Feelings had me fearing progress had been lost.

Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) was born and raised in Montauk.  She is a bartender and Uber driver trying to make as much as she can during the summer season when the well-to-do tourists and seasonal residents come to town.  With homes being bought up and torn down for McMansions, property taxes have skyrocketed.  With a court order for asset seizure, she has to find a new vehicle.  While searching on Craig’s List she finds an ad placed by Allison (Laura Benanti) and Laird (Matthew Broderick), two overly involved parents, to “date” their son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) in exchange for a used Buick.  The twist to the plan is Percy is a social recluse and doesn’t have dating, let alone losing his virginity, on his summer list.

Lawrence is a strong talent that is given a chance to show her skill at slapstick comedy. The character has layers, and we get to see them in large and small moments.  From rollerblading to work, risky driving to avoid getting pulled over, having a very honest conversation about her Prom with Percy, and in moments hanging out with friends to her showing how much she cares for them.  This bigger picture of the character shown throughout the helps to overcome the eww factor in an over-30 woman attempting to seduce a just out-of-high school 19-year-old. 

Feldman is someone to watch.  His comedic timing is shown in scenes like when the crack of a break from a game of pool caused him to jolt like it was a gunshot, to his drinking wine with his parents, and his facial expressions while driving a car.  He also brings an innocence to the character that allows the audience to fall under his spell and want to be his friend. 

There were some good parts to this film, yet it could have been so much more.  No shame to Lawrence, she looks amazing, and it shows she has worked hard to have the body she has.  Letting everyone fully see said body disappointed me.  There were other ways to still have the scene or even take it out altogether.  The nudity did not add to the story and, to me, it is more of an attempt to draw people to pay just like in the ‘80s.  Interactions involving the character Jody, while humorous, were predictable and didn’t add enough to the story.  Leaving them out would have provided time to see more growth by Percy.  And maybe even lessons learned by Allison and Laird over their parenting style.

 

Director: Gene Stupnitsky

Written By: Gene Stupnitsky, John Phillips         

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Matthew Broderick

MPAA Rating: Rated R for sexual content, language, some graphic nudity, and brief drug use.

Genre: Comedy

Selig Rating: 2.5 stars

Runtime: 1h 43m

Release Date: June 23, 2023

Movie Site: No Hard Feelings movie site

Trailer: No Hard Feelings official trailer

 

The Selig Rating Scale:

5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.

4 Stars – Good movie/show

3 Stars – OK movie/show

2 Stars – Well there was nothing else . . .

1 Star – Total waste of time.

DANCES WITH FILMS 2023 – GOOD SIDE OF BAD – Interview with Director Alethea Root and Actress Producer Jules Bruff

The 26th annual DANCES WITH FILMS festival beings tomorrow June 22nd, 2023.  The festival runs through July 2nd at the iconic Chinese Theater in the heart of Hollywood.  Our Gadi Elkon interviewed filmmakers and talent from the festival’s films this year.  First up is the opening night film of DWF 2023, GOOD SIDE OF BAD.  Director Alethea Root and Actress/Producer Jules Bruff talked with Gadi about DWF, their film and so much more!

LOCKED OUT – Interview with Filmmakers Kate Davis and Luchina Fisher

Documentary Locked Out just won the best documentary feature at American Black Film Festival in Miami.  Filmmakers Kate Davis and Luchina Fisher talked with our Gadi Elkon about the film, the team and much more!

Interview with Author Ariana Godoy

Author Ariana Godoy talked with our Gadi Elkon about the NETFLIX film versions of her Through My Window series.

PRUNING – Interview with Writer Director Lola Blanc

The 29th Palm Springs International ShortFest begins today and runs through June 26th.  Filmmaker/Podcaster/Musician Lola Blanc talked with our Gadi Elkon about her short film PRUNING.

HERE. IS. BETTER. – Interview with Producer Sian Edwards-Beal and Director Jack Youngelson

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HERE. IS. BETTER is in theaters this Friday June 23rd followed by Amazon & Apple TV on June 27th.  Producer Sian Edwards-Beal and Director Jack Youngelson talked with our Gadi Elkon about their award-winning documentary.

ELEMENTAL – Interview with Actress Shila Ommi

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DISNEY & PIXAR’s ELEMENTAL is now in theaters and Actress Shila Ommi (Cinder) talked with our Gadi Elkon about the film and so much more!

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT – Interview with Producer Frank Spadafora and Director David Sabshon

Documentary COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT had its world premiere this past week at the Brooklyn Film Festival.  Producer Frank Spadafora and Director David Sabshon talked with our Gadi Elkon about the film, artist CJ Hendry and so much more!