By Mark Saldana

Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars)

Prior to viewing this documentary, my knowledge about Suzi Quatro was mostly limited to the small series of appearances she made on television’s Happy Days durting the 1970s. I was also aware that she was a rock musician and singer, but I honestly had no idea that was the first female bass player to become a successful rock star. The problem is that, while Quatro was a huge success in Europe and Asia, she struggled to make a true name for herself in the United States. Director Liam Firmager tells Suzi’s life story in this fascinating and highly enjoyable documentary titled Suzi Q.

In the doc, Firmager allows Suzi to talk about her life and career, in addition to interviews with her family members, closest loved ones and ardent admirers. Some of these admirers are major players in their own rights too. People like Joan Jett, Lita Ford and Deborah Harry were inspired and influenced by Quatro. Men who knew her or worked with her like Alice Cooper and Henry Winkler have nothing but praises for Suzi. Suzi may have had a large impact on women aspiring to be rockers and was certainly a trailblazer. However, the rock and roll lifestyle is a grueling one.

Still, Suzi Quatro had the strength and determination to thrive and persevere. Even when it came time to scale things down for the sake of raising a child. Liam Firmager has done an exceptional job in telling Quatro’s inspirational story in this film. It is a documentary I highly recommend for rock fanatics, especially young women interested in becoming future rock musicians.

Utopia Distribution is hosing a Suzi Q virtual event on July 1st featuring the film and an exclusive Q&A featuring Suzi Quatro and Special Guests TBA (available for 24 hours only) in advance of the film’s traditional release on VOD and DVD on July 3rd. To buy your ticket for the July 1st event powered by Altavod, visit: 
https://www.altavod.com/movies/suzi-q

By Mark Saldana

Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars)

“Just when you thought it was safer to take a flight,” could have easily been a corny tagline for this hijacking movie. It would’ve been appropriately corny, given that there have been plenty of entries already in this thriller subgenre. Still, I have to give some credit to the filmmakers of 7500. They have taken a simple, no-frills approach that limits the settings and relies mostly on the power of the script and the tremendous performances by the cast, particularly lead actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Though material is formulaic and the choice of villains is tired and problematic, the movie does make for 92 minutes of intense drama, and nail-biting suspense.

Gordon-Levitt stars as Tobias Ellis, an American First Officer/Co-pilot for a commercial German airline. On one fateful night Ellis and his captain Michael Lutzmann (Carlo Kitzlinger) have the controls of a night flight from Berlin to Paris. Their take off goes well; however, a small group of terrorists on-board attack the cockpit leaving Ellis moderately injured, and Lutzmann incapacitated. Nevertheless, Tobias manages to take control of the situation and lockdown the cockpit once again. Though injured and shaken, Ellis does his best to follow standard procedure by keeping the cockpit secure and the plane headed to an emergency landing. Unfortunately, however, the hijackers then threaten to begin killing the passengers, including someone very close to Tobias.

Written and directed by Patrick Vollrath, who co-wrote the story with Senad Halilbasic, 7500 will definitely keep its audiences on edge and thrilled, but doesn’t offer any story material that is much different to what they’ve seen previously. For one thing, the terrorists portrayed in this movie are once again of the Muslim faith. I know that the Islam religion does have its problematic extremist offshoots, but I feel that picking on this religion has grown tiresome and old. To the story’s benefit, one of the hijackers gets better character development than in other films, and doesn’t get the more offensive caricaturesque treatment.

Another positive element that benefits the movie is the filmmakers’ decision to limit the movie mostly to the cockpit and the area just outside of it. This gives it a more tense and claustrophobic feel that allows cast to utilize the script well and deliver superb work. Though all of the supporting cast performs well, actor Omid Memar who portrays hijacker Vedat gives a phenomenal performance. He shares some amazing scenes with star Joseph Gordon-Levitt who gives a fantastic performance as well.

Between the performances by Gordon-Levitt and Memar and the intense way the story is presented, this movie is definitely watchable and moderately memorable. Still, I feel that the filmmakers should have made some more interesting and atypical choices when it came to the villains. The movie will be available for streaming on Amazon starting Thursday, June 18, 2020. It isn’t a movie I’d strongly recommend, but one that I would softly recommend. It is pretty good, but not amazing.

By Mark Saldana

Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars)

Retro sci fi meets indie, character/dialogue-driven drama in this exciting and riveting thriller. Though that might sound like an unusual mix to some people, cinephiles and science fiction enthusiasts should already know that some of the best genre movies and shows have exceptional writing and compelling character development. Some of the better examples of character-driven genre entries probably come from the 1950s and 1960s when filmmakers were limited by technology and budget constraints. Well, director Andrew Patterson definitely takes a mostly low fi/no frills approach to his feature film debut, The Vast of Night, a thoroughly exciting and utterly creepy science fiction thriller. Patterson draws much inspiration from science fiction anthology shows like The Twilight Zone and blends it with skillfully executed indie film stylings that alow the actors to shine and give outstanding, though demanding, performances. 

The movie begins on what otherwise be just another night in the small town of Cauuga, New Mexico. The era is the late 1950s a time whem both the “red scare” and the space race are fueling the imaginations and fears of the people. Teen friends DJ Everett (Jake Horowitz) and Fay Crocker (Sierra McCormick) work their respective jobs as radio host and switchboard operator. Through their night begins mundanely as usual, a bizarre audio frequency not only gives the kids an exciting diversion, it forever changes their lives.

Written by James Montague and Craig W. Sanger, The Vast of Night delivers sci fi thrills and chills, but keeps its focus mostly on the interactions and dialogues between the two leads and their reactions to the strange happenings and discoveries they make on that fateful night. The character development and dialogues between Everett and Fay could actually be reworked into an entertaining and powerful stage play. The material is that good. However, director Andrew Patterson, cinematographer M.I. Littin-Menz, and editor Junius Tully do some outstanding work to keep the scenes from remaining too static. The filmmakers composed, executed and seamlessly put together sequences of extended takes and shots with a clever and enjoyable framing device. Even though the movie wears its inspirations obviously and proudly, it also stands apart as a remarkable mix of these inspirations.

It is this style of filmmaking and storytelling that allows actors the room to give tremendous performances and I must say that both Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz step up wonderfully. McCormick portrays the sweet wallflower Fay Crocker, a girl who craves a more exciting and fulfilling life outside of New Mexico. She has a bit of a crush on brash and witty classmate Everett, a teen whose life isn’t much mote exciting, but at least enjoys his night job as local radio dee jay. Actor Jake Horowitz has a natural charisma and screen presence mixed with the vocal abilities of a voice talented and the comedic and dramatic chops his character requires here. Speaking of voicework, the movie has a truly amazing vocal turn by Bruce Davis in addition to an emotionally charged and unnerving cameo by actor Gail Cronauer.

The Vast of Night played Slamdance and other film festivals last year where it earned much critical acclaim and created a discernible buzz among science fiction enthusiasts. The film will be available for streaming via Amazon on Friday, May 29, 2020. It is a movie I definitely recommend especially for fans of mysterious and spooky science fiction thrillers.