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With HBO Max rebranding itself as Max, viewers may expect specific changes to the streamer, which may be true to some extent. However, the one consistent thing with the streaming service is that it is constantly on the hunt for innovative ways to keep its subscribers engaged with new TV shows.

This year saw the release of numerous intriguing series, including The Last of Us, which was based on a highly successful video game, and The Idol, which starred The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp and probed the dark secrets of Hollywood pop culture. In order to maintain its current momentum, Max plans to release a series titled Full Circle in July.

Full Circle is an upcoming television series directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon. The project was first announced as a six-episode miniseries on June 17, 2021. The series, shot in New York, was later set...

Trouble in Mind: Onah’s Homage to Neo Noir an Indie Echo of Device

In development for the past five years since it was initially announced, director Julius Onah’s directorial debut The Girl is in Trouble at last reaches a theatrical release. Impressive as a first feature, Onah’s homage to vintage New York noir looks to explore modern examples of urban fugue in the fluctuating metropolis. In several regards, this is a refreshing example of tried and true tropes, focusing on the perspective of a black character (an uncommon element in noir) and conveying Onah’s familiarity with his inspirations. However, like many of the titles it invokes, style can’t compensate entirely for substance, and third act inevitabilities find the film’s initial energy plummeting before the end credits.

August (Columbus Short) is a down-on-his-luck DJ, desperately in need of a job after a series of...

Recently, CBS delivered the new, official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Person Of Interest" episode 16 of season 4. The episode is entitled, "Blunt," and it turns out that we're going to see some pretty dramatic and intriguing stuff take place when Reese has to use his skills to protect a thieving girl after her plans for a medical marijuana dispensary robbery, fall way short, and more. In the new, 16th episode press release: Reese is going to have to protect a street smart grifter when her plan to steal cash from a medical marijuana dispensary goes up in smoke. Press release number 2: Reese and Finch will have to protect Harper, a street-smart grifter, when her plan to steal cash from a medical marijuana dispensary goes up in smoke. Guest stars feature: Connor Hines (Trey), Annie Ilonzeh (Harper), William DeMeritt (Noah), Kareem Savinon (Jorge), Mickey Solis (Renaldo), Shabazz Ray (Ike), Trevor Zhou...

Los Angeles Film FestivalAudiences have shied away from gritty dramas about Sept. 11 and its aftermath, as evidenced by the lackluster boxoffice response to "A Mighty Heart". So there are challenges facing "Liberty Kid", a powerful drama that had its premiere in the narrative competition section at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Writer-director Ilya Chaiken deserves credit for offering a novel slant on the tragedy. Instead of confronting the attacks head-on, the film focuses on two young men whose lives are drastically affected by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Working with tact and subtlety, Chaiken reminds us of the wide-ranging repercussions of this national trauma.

Derrick (Al Thompson) and Tico (Kareem Savinon) are Latino friends from Brooklyn who work in the concessions stand on Liberty Island. When the Statue of Liberty is closed down after Sept. 11, the guys find themselves unemployed and increasingly desperate. Tico leads Derrick into some small-time drug dealing and insurance scams, but Derrick wants to make a respectable living and eventually is tempted to join the Army on the eve of the Iraq invasion.

Without a large budget at her disposal, Chaiken is forced to deal indirectly with the momentous political events of the past five years. Still, she manages to tell us a great deal about the diverse lives affected by these national crises.

Chaiken, the director of the 2001 Sundance Film Festival hit "Margarita Happy Hour", works with a delicate touch. She has a gift for oblique storytelling, which pays off in the surprise revelation that a girl courted by Derrick ends up living with Tico. The treatment of Derrick's devastating experiences in Iraq confirms the director's skill. There was no budget for combat scenes, so the film focuses on his disorientation after his return. A brief scene in which he hears gunshots and is startled by a couple of hooded figures does an economical job of capturing his post-traumatic stress disorder. For a while, he is reduced to living in his car, which makes its own comment on the losses faced by so many Iraq War veterans.

There are times when the film might be too enigmatic. Some of the back stories are frustratingly unexplored. We learn little about Derrick's family or what happened to the mother of his two children. The film also veers perilously close to cliche in episodes of the drug dealing and petty crime. But these banal stretches are more than balanced by the effectively natural acting.

Thompson as the responsible but impressionable Derrick and Savinon as the more volatile Tico give potent, thoroughly believable performances. Much of the byplay between them has a relaxed, improvisatory feel, and the actors convince us of the solidity of the bond between them. Supporting performances also are strong, though one wishes some of the family members were more carefully delineated in the script.

Despite the low budget, the technical credits are proficient. Even though "Liberty Kid" is a small film, much of it is deeply poignant; it enhances our compassion for all the ghosts of Sept. 11. Its cautiously optimistic conclusion also strikes a welcome note without falling into sentimentality.

LIBERTY KID

Glass Eye Pix in association with Ring the Jing Entertainment

Credits:

Director-screenwriter: Ilya Chaiken

Producers: Larry Fessenden, Mike S. Ryan, Roger Kass

Executive producers: Claude Wasserstein, Andrea Van Beuren

Director of photography: Eliot Rockett

Production designer: Jesse Cain

Music: Jeff Grace

Co-producer: Mike King

Costume designer: Nyka Milburn

Editor: Dave Rock

Cast:

Derrick: Al Thompson

Tico: Kareem Savinon

Denice: Raquel Jordan

Awilda: Rosa Ramos

Sister: Anny Mariano

Nelson: Johnny Rivera

Mike: Rayniel Rufino

Running time -- 90 minutes

No MPAA rating...