Articles written by debbie lynn elias


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  • Exclusive Interview-Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich

    debbie lynn elias|Oct 10, 2013

    The Observer’s Debbie Elias Sits Down for an Exclusive Interview with Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich Robert Reich is considered to be one of the foremost experts on economic policy. Former Secretary of Labor to President Clinton, cabinet member for Presidents Carter and Ford, author of 14 books and currently Professor of Public Policy/Wealth & Economics Berkeley, in 2008, Time Magazine named Reich one of the “Ten Best Cabinet Members in US History” while The Wall Street Journ...

  • Movie Review

    debbie lynn elias|Sep 26, 2013

    The “Schoolhouse Rock” on the Economy, INEQUALITY FOR ALL is a “Must See” for every American. With few exceptions, each of us has been affected by the financial collapse of America in 2008 and the resulting “Great Recession.” But how many of us actually understand “how” this could happen not only to America, but to each of us? We work hard, save a little, spend a little (or in some cases, save a lot, spend a lot). We go along our daily lives like good worker bees as we’ve been taught by our par...

  • MOVIE REVIEW: A MIXED BAG OF MOVIES THIS WEEK

    debbie lynn elias|Sep 19, 2013

    There’s something for everyone this week with a mixed bag of movies opening at the box office and some of them concurrently airing on VOD. Offering up everything from pee-in-your-pants laughter to reflective contemplation, let’s take a look at some of your movie choices this week. JEWTOPIA Many of you may have heard of and/or experienced the phenomena called JEWTOPIA. What began as a small stage production in Los Angeles ten years ago morphed into a smash Broadway hit and spawned an hil...

  • MOVIE REVIEW: HORROR & HUMOR DOUBLE FEATURE

    debbie lynn elias|Sep 12, 2013

    INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 & HELL BABY by debbie lynn elias Welcome to Friday the 13th! Always a fun day for the superstitious and horror movies, leave it to writer/director James Wan along with co-writer Leigh Whannell, and co-directors/writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, to satisfy our cravings with two of my faves of the year, INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 and HELL BABY, respectively. While both are terrifying, INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 takes possession of us with terror, fear and scares, as opposed to...

  • Movie Review Special: Salinger And Touchy Feely

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Sep 5, 2013

    MOVIE REVIEW SPECIAL: SALINGER and TOUCHY FEELY Post-Labor Day movies head into the final lap for Oscar consideration as the “awards season” unofficially kicks off this week with some interesting and fun films. While the hysterically funny HELL BABY and the fascinating and heartfelt documentary GOOD OL’ FREDA about The Beatles longtime trusted secretary/ friend/confidante/fan club president Freda Kelly, along with the insightful documentary OUR NIXON, (all of which are “Must Sees” and which I’l...

  • Movie Review: Drinking Buddies

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Aug 29, 2013

    MOVIE REVIEW: Drinking Buddies Like any good beer or alcoholic beverage, it's all in the recipe. With DRINKING BUDDIES, take one part Ben Richardson's cinematography (which, let's face it, after the masterful Beasts of the Southern Wild, shows us a wider range of Richardson’s talent on a "closed", varied and internally intimate setting), two parts of an OUTSTANDING performance by Jake Johnson (and a nice little cameo by Ti West as co-worker Dave) and some great observational storytelling by J...

  • Movie Review: Paranoia

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Aug 16, 2013

    MOVIE REVIEW: PARANOIA An adaptation of Joseph Finder’s best seller of the same name, Robert Luketic’s PARANOIA is a riveting, taut, tense thriller. With the same page turning excitement and intrigue as found with Finder’s book a decade ago, director Luketic and screenwriters Jason Hall and Barry L. Levy draw one deep into a web of corporate espionage and intrigue that is not only timely and topical, but will have one looking over their own shoulder at every moment of the day and night. Uppin...

  • Movie Review: Disney’s Planes

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Aug 8, 2013

    MOVIE REVIEW: DISNEY’S PLANES It was only a matter of time before Disney • Pixar’s “World of Cars” courtesy of “Cars” and “Cars 2" went up and up and away into the wild blue yonder and with DISNEY’S PLANES and the artisans of Disneytoon Studios, that realization is achieved. A high-flying fun-filled adventure directed by Klay Hall, executive produced by John Lasseter and written by Jeffrey M. Howard, while immensely likable and entertaining and filled with engaging characters complimented by s...

  • Movie Review: Turbo

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Jul 18, 2013

    MOVIE REVIEW: TURBO Who doesn’t love an underdog story? You cheer, your heart races, you slowly rise up out of your seat in the theater as if willing your hero to victory. Well, now it’s time to cheer for one of the most unlikely of underdogs - and heroes - TURBO! A little garden snail with big dreams, TURBO wins the box office race this week, crossing the finish line first with humor and heart!! Theo is your average garden snail. Together with his brother Chet and about a hundred other sna...

  • July 4th Movie Review Special: The Lone Ranger And The Way, Way Back

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Jul 3, 2013

    JULY 4th MOVIE REVIEW SPECIAL: THE LONE RANGER and THE WAY, WAY BACK While air temperatures may be cooling down a tad for this 4th of July weekend, things are heating up at the movie theatre as some long awaited blockbusters, THE LONE RANGER and DESPICABLE ME 2, join an already crowded field of popcorn goodness which currently heralds MONSTERS UNIVERSITY with the beloved Mike and Sulley; THE HEAT - Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy hit the streets of Boston in what can easily be called a...

  • Los Angeles Film Festival 2013: Must See Festival Films

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Jun 12, 2013

    LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL 2013: MUST SEE FESTIVAL FILMS I’m so excited, literally and figuratively, as it’s time for the 19th Annual Los Angeles Film Festival! Running from June 13th to 23rd, setting the exciting tone for this year’s Fest, LAFF takes to the skies opening night with the North American premiere of Pedro Almodovar’s I’M SO EXCITED! What could be more appropriate! A high-flying comedy of hilarious proportion, you’ll find yourself wishing you were flying the friendly skies of Peninsu...

  • Movie Review: Much Ado About Nothing

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Jun 7, 2013

    There’s much ado to be made about the latest film foray into the world of William Shakespeare as The Bard becomes a part of Whedon’s World; as in Whedon, Joss Whedon. Leader of the “Buffyverse”, commander-in-chief of “The Avengers”, Joss Whedon has proven his innate ability time and time again to capture, nay, celebrate, the rhythmic dance of characters and relationships, giving each room to breathe and constructing visuals around the heartbeats of those interactions. It’s this gift that he now...

  • Movie Review Special: There’s Something For Everyone This Week!

    Debbie Lynn Elias|May 2, 2013

    With over 9 films opening this weekend, suffice it to say there is definitely something for everyone. From thoughtful reflective films that meld the lives of a father and son like “Greetings From Tim Buckley” to the observations of family fracture through the eyes of a child in “What Maisie Knew” to the documentary feel/student film look of “Generation Um”, quiet little indies may be taking a supporting role to the week’s tent-pole blockbuster IRON MAN 3, but in many ways, are superlative s...

  • Movie Review Special - Two Films To Spark The Psyche

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Apr 19, 2013

    ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY and SIMON KILLER ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY Always a treat is actor Michael Eklund and for Eklund fans, the past year has been an ongoing Christmas present. Starting out 2012 with “The Divide”, written by Eron Sheean who now brings us ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY, we also saw Eklund in a second apocalyptic thriller, “The Day” in which he co-starred with Ashley Bell. Reteaming with Bell for 2013's “Marine 3", he can also currently be seen in “The Call” with Halle Berry. And no...

  • Movie Review: Holiday Special Trifecta

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Mar 28, 2013

    THE HOST - MENTAL - TEMPTATION With Spring Break either winding up or winding down, the convergent celebrations of Easter and Passover, not to mention the hopeful blooms of springtime, it’s the perfect time to hit your local movie theatres. Although opening last week, if you haven’t yet seen OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, run don’t walk to one of the most exhilarating action rides of the year. And for a fun-filled adventure of mammoth proportion for the whole family, you can’t beat the pre-modern stone a...

  • Movie Review: Olympus Has Fallen

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Mar 21, 2013

    MOVIE REVIEW: OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN Topical, timely, frightening, flag-waving inspiring, OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN is a non-stop explosive thriller that leaves you breathless! But, just how accepting will the American public be of a film that has North Korea attacking the US - in Washington, D.C. - taking the President, Vice-President and Secretary of Defense hostage - in the White House - and decimating the Washington Monument a la 9/11 by flying a plane into it; especially given the current political...

  • Movie Review: Upside Down

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Mar 13, 2013

    It takes both a visionary and visualist to create a film like UPSIDE DOWN. And that’s exactly who Juan Solanas is. A writer/director with a strong visual background in photography and art history, plus over 10 years work as a cinematographer, Solanas never ceases to amaze with his outside the box approach to life. With brilliant conceptualization from start to finish, a perfect blend of creativity, intellectual and emotional stimulation, and stunning, seemingly impossible, visuals, there is t...

  • Movie Review: Oz The Great And Powerful

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Mar 6, 2013

    Click your heels together and repeat. “There’s no place like Oz. There’s no place like Oz. There’s no place like Oz.” Then fly to your local movie theater and you’ll find yourself right in the middle of the merry old land of Oz quicker than you can say, “Wicked Witch of the West” - and all without the necessity of a tornado. Tapping into imagination and the literary world of L. Frank Baum, Sam Raimi and his own band of Ozian tinkers, tailors and painters bring us Disney’s OZ THE GREAT AND POWERF...

  • Movie Review: Stoker

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Feb 28, 2013

    STOKER throws down the gauntlet for the 2013 Oscar race. Thanks to the vision of director Chan wook Park who makes his long-awaited English speaking film debut, superlative and edgy cinematography by Chung-Hoon Chung, and Nicholas de Toth’s rapier editing, STOKER stokes the fires of excellence on every level. This is hands down a potential Oscar nod for Park, Chung, possibly de Toth, and an acting nod to Matthew Goode, as well. Nicole Kidman enthusiastically recalls being “amazed at the fil...

  • Movie Review: Snitch

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Feb 20, 2013

    I'm gonna be the first one to "snitch" on SNITCH. Knowing writer/director Ric Roman Waugh, brother director Scott Waugh and their dad, Fred, it was my privilege to not only work on second unit with Fred 30 years ago, but get to know Ric and Scott and watch them move from being stuntmen following in their father's footsteps, and then becoming first rate writers and directors - Scott with “Act of Valor” and Ric with films like “Felon” and now, SNITCH. While many believe that "stuntmen" turned...

  • Movie Review: Safe Haven

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Feb 14, 2013

    When it comes to SAFE HAVEN, I can safely say without hesitation, The Best Romance Since “The Notebook”. And although an adaptation from the Nicholas Sparks best-seller of the same name, SAFE HAVEN stands on its own legs as a true adaption for the screen, altering the plot point time line, creating a taut psychological thriller of an opening that sets the film in motion, and then stealing your heart with sparks flying in one of the sweetest film romances to bloom on screen since, well, “Th...

  • Movie Review: Side Effects

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Feb 6, 2013

    As I stated to Steven Soderbergh, writer Scott Z. Burns and the cast of SIDE EFFECTS at the film’s recent press day, if SIDE EFFECTS is indeed the last movie any of them ever make, they are all going out on top because...damn..they nailed it! SIDE EFFECTS is brilliant! A script by Scott Z. Burns so intricate, so twisted (in more ways than one), so intriguing, so fascinating - it is elevated to even greater heights by superb camera work and editing. Rooted in duplicitous intrigue and tension t...

  • Movie Review Special:something To Warm You On A Cold Winter Night As You Get Ready For The Oscars!

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Jan 31, 2013

    MOVIE REVIEW SPECIAL: Something to Warm You on a Cold Winter Night as You Get Ready for the Oscars! WARM BODIES A post-apocalyptic zombie story told from a zombie’s point of view? And a love story at that? With a living human? For producer Todd Lieberman, that’s exactly what spurred him onward with the production of WARM BODIES. “I remember vividly reading the first three pages and keying in a tone that I had never seen before, and an idea that I had never seen before - a zombie movie told...

  • Movie Review: Parker

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Jan 24, 2013

    What’s not to love when you’ve got Taylor Hackford behind the camera and Jason Statham, Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Clifton Collins Jr., Micah Hauptman, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Lopez and Patti Lupone in front of it! Stepping into the action genre for the first time in his storied career, Hackford is charged with bringing the beloved Richard Stark (one of the pseudonyms for Donald E. Westlake) character of Parker to the big screen and, for the first time in film adaptation history of the boo...

  • Movie Review: The Last Stand

    Debbie Lynn Elias|Jan 17, 2013

    MOVIE REVIEW: THE LAST STAND We got a taste with Expendables and then he left us salivating for more with Expendables 2, but now, with THE LAST STAND, it’s official - Arnold is back with a vengeance, proving that he is not at all expendable when it comes to movies and the action genre. Older, perhaps a bit wiser, and definitely a bit slower and more stunt cautious, Arnold Schwarzenegger slips into the character of Sheriff Ray Owens with the ease of a well-oiled trigger. In many ways, Ray O...

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