By Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent   “Imagine today’s Society as a branch of civilization about to reach a dead end.” You want to defend and explain Francis Ford Coppola’s MEGALOPOLIS just as much as narrator Laurence Fishburne, who tries to make the case during the movie that this oddball gorgeous landscape of mildly psychotic imagery is historic. You want to love Adam Driver and his maniacal urban hive-builder genius as someone amazing and heretofore...

Papillon, Review: Watchable remake of impressive 1973 prison escape saga A hard act to follow, Papillon 2017 finds release a year after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Michael Noer and starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek, reprising the roles of late Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman in the original made 44 years earlier, this prison escape epic nearly manages to match the original, but the operative word here is “nearly”. Based on the intern...

The Program, Review: Enhanced performances First, there was a musician called Louis Armstrong. Then most of earth and all of moon heard about Neil Armstrong. Much later, we read and saw the exploits of cycling champion Lance Armstrong. Louis remains a musical great. Man-on-the-moon was an unimaginable theory that captured the hearts and minds of the whole world, but has now found its detractors, probably growing steadily in number, who claim the whole program (American spelling intended) was ...

 This was my first year covering the LA Film Festival.  I first remember going to some screenings in past years when it was held at the Sunset 5 in Hollywood, and later some parties and mixers in Westwood and at the W Hotel.  After Cannes, June is also a busy month for film festivals around the world.  This year, there was a greater focus on international film at the Festival. I spoke with new Executive Program Director Rebecca Yeldham at the award brunch, and shared how we enjoyed meeti...