Friday , April 19 2024

Leo Sopicki

Writer, photographer, graphic artist and technologist. I focus my creative efforts on celebrating the American virtues of self-reliance, individual initiative, volunteerism, tolerance and a healthy suspicion of power and authority.

SXSW Film Reviews: ‘The Diabolical’ and ‘Roar’ – Learning from Mistakes with Tipi Hedren and Ali Larter

Film fans and writers we can learn something from other people’s mistakes, for example, the SXSW screenings of 'The Diabolical' and 'Roar.'

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SXSW: Movie Review – ‘Manglehorn’ – Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, and a Cat

Most movies are the merging of technology and short stories, novels or sagas. Manglehorn is technology merged with a poem. It is the story of a locksmith who has lost the love of his life because of something he has done and lives in self-imposed isolation. Manglehorn has constructed a cocoon of memories and fantasies, keeping his son, a former protégé, and the hope of new love at arm’s length.

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SXSW: TV Review – Christian Slater and Lucy Lawless Get Creepy in ‘Mr Robot’ and ‘Salem’

Christian Slater and Lucy Lawless were on hand at SXSW 2015 to explain just why they are so creepy. Not, personally, of course, but in their new roles. Slater in the new sci-fi series Mr. Robot (SXSW Audience Award Winner – Episodic) premiering on USA Network. Lucy Lawless (Xena, Spartacus) joins the cast of WGN America's Salem for its second season.

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SXSW: Movie Review – ‘The Last Man on the Moon’ and ‘Love and Mercy’

Two remarkable biographies premiered on the screens of SXSW this year. 'The Last Man on the Moon,' profiling Astronaut Gene Cernan, and 'Love and Mercy,' which brings us into the life of Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.

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SXSW: Movie Review – Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy Come Back to ‘The Breakfast Club’

SXSW hosted the premier of the restored classic, The Breakfast Club, written and directed by John Hughes. But the event wasn't so much a premier as it was a celebration of a movie that has touched a generation or two. With its upcoming special theatrical showings and release to Blu-ray and video, it is sure to touch a few more. When the doors opened, we were given Breakfast Club t-shirts and treated to a breakfast of donuts, coffee and mimosas. Thank you, Universal Studios.

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SXSW: Fire, Rodriguez, and Frazetta

It's a rare moment when two artistic talents you have admired for decades intersect in your presence. Robert Rodriguez has been one of my favorite directors since I saw 'From Dusk Till Dawn'. Frank Frazetta has been my favorite artist since his paintings began appearing on the covers of Tarzan and Conan books in the 1960s. At SXSW, I participated in a tour of the Robert Rodriguez Museum, conducted by Rodriguez. He explained how, like many others, he found the paintings of Frank Frazetta amazing and inspirational for his own art. He recalled how when he first met Frazetta, and saw his original paintings up close, he was amazed at the depth and detail that never appeared in any of the prints or book covers.

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