The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence presents this reenactment of George Zimmerman shooting Trayvon Martin in order to express opposition to controversial “Stand Your Ground” laws which are on the books not only in Florida where Martin died but also in 25 other states.
Heightening the short film’s poignancy is audio from the real emergency calls made that fateful night which reflect the perspectives of different observers of what happened in the tragic confrontation between Zimmerman and Martin.
However, after we hear gunfire, this advocacy short pulls back to reveal other dead victims laying on the ground, each from a different state–Texas, Louisiana, Nevada, Alabama, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Alaska–where Stand Your Ground laws are in place.
A super reads, “Our laws should protect victims, not create more.”
The film was created by an ensemble of ad industry collaborators, including some creative from Grey NY acting independently. One of the writers, Floyd Russ from Grey, directed the short via Narrow Margin Films. Sonejuhi Sinha of Final Cut edited the piece.
Review: Writer-Director Mark Anthony Green’s “Opus”
In the new horror movie "Opus," we are introduced to Alfred Moretti, the biggest pop star of the '90s, with 38 No. 1 hits and albums as big as "Thriller," "Hotel California" and "Nebraska." If the name Alfred Moretti sounds more like a personal injury attorney from New Jersey, that's the first sign "Opus" is going to stumble.
John Malkovich leans into his regular off-kilter creepy to play the unlikely pop star at the center of this serious misfire by the A24 studio, a movie that also manages to pull "The Bear" star Ayo Edebiri back to earth. How both could be totally miscast will haunt your dreams.
Writer-director Mark Anthony Green has created a pretty good premise: A massive pop star who went quiet for the better part of three decades reemerges with a new album — his 18th studio LP, called "Caesar's Request" — and invites a select six people to come to his remote Western compound for an album listening weekend. It's like a golden ticket.
Edebiri's Ariel is a one of those invited. She's 27, a writer for a hip music magazine who has been treading water for three years. She's ambitious but has no edge. "Your problem is you're middle," she's told. Unfortunately, her magazine boss is also invited, which means she's just a note-taker. Edebiri's self-conscious, understated humor is wasted here.
It takes Ariel and the rest of the guests — an influencer, a paparazzo, a former journalist-nemesis and a TV personality played by Juliette Lewis, once again cast as the frisky sexpot — way too much time to realize that Moretti has created a cult in the desert. And they're murderous. This is Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" crossed with Mark Mylod's "The Menu."
It's always a mistake to get too close a look at the monster in a horror... Read More