Author Archives: Paul Gaita

About Paul Gaita

Paul Gaita lives in Sherman Oaks, California with his lovely wife and daughter. He has written for The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Variety and The Fix, among many other publications, and was a home video reviewer for Amazon.com from 1998 to 2014. He has interviewed countless entertainment figures from both the A and Z lists, but his favorites remain Elmore Leonard, Ray Bradbury and George Newall, who created both Schoolhouse Rock and the Hai Karate aftershave commercials. He once shared a Thanksgiving dinner with celebrity astrologer Joyce Jillson, and regrettably, still owes the late character actor Charles Napier a dollar.

Movies Till Dawn: Arthouse Confidential

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Paul Gaita

“Art School Confidential” (2006, MVD Visual) Naïve student Max Minghella is dismayed to find that his dream of becoming the next Picasso is regularly trampled at an East Coast art college by a parade of egos, both dampened and unfettered, … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: The Saturday Morning Strange – A Pair of Queens

Posted on November 10, 2018 by Paul Gaita

“Good Times” (1967, Kino Lorber) After confirming their pop star status by performing “I Got You Babe” (a re-recorded version, not the original single) , Sonny and Cher plot their ascent to movie stardom. But they don’t care for the … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: Mad Monster Party IV (Halloween Screenings A.D. 2018)

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Paul Gaita

“Down a Dark Hall” (2018, Lionsgate) An arson rap spurs the parents of headstrong teen AnnaSophia Robb to ship her off to the Blackwood Boarding School where, under the tutelage of headmistress Madame Duret (Uma Thurman), they discover and hone … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: Mad Monster Party 3 (Swarmed and Malformed Edition)

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Paul Gaita

“Horrors of Malformed Men” (1969, Arrow Video) Amnesiac medical student Teruo Yoshida flees the asylum in which he finds himself imprisoned and immediately finds himself accused of murdering a circus performer. By chance, he discovers that a man to whom … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: Mad Monster Party 2 (Ronald, Molly, Mara and Mario Edition)

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Paul Gaita

“Bad Ronald” (1974, Warner Archives Collection) Taunted for the umpteenth time, awkward, fantasy-minded teenager Ronald Wilby (Scott Jacoby) lashes out at his tormentor – a little girl, to add insult to injury – and accidentally kills her. Fearing that the … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: Mad Monster Party I

Posted on October 23, 2018 by Paul Gaita

“The Evil Dead” (1981, Lionsgate) A quintet of Michigan college students makes the unfortunate decision to read from a book of incantations, which unleashes demonic forces determined to turn them, as the great drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs rightly put … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: Special Beast Rubbish Edition

Posted on October 20, 2018 by Paul Gaita

“Beast” (2018, Lionsgate) Smothered under the emotional rubble of her dysfunctional family and troubled past, Moll (Jessie Buckley) finds what seems like salvation in rough-hewn but ruggedly handsome Pascal (Johnny Flynn); so great is her need to escape that she … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: TV Archaelogy (Part 2 – Martian Sentai Octopus Edition)

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Paul Gaita

“The Martian Chronicles” (1980, Kino Lorber) Six-hour, three-part miniseries attempts to translate Ray Bradbury‘s collection of short stories and prose poems about the fallout of an attempted colonization of Mars by Earth astronauts. Screenwriter Richard Matheson uses mission commander Rock … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: TV Archaeology (Part 1 – Ash, Sid and Joan Edition)

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Paul Gaita

“Ash vs. Evil Dead: The Complete Series” (2016-2018, Anchor Bay) Five-disc Blu-ray set packages the gore-soaked TV adventures of Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell), the bloviating, abuse magnet hero of Sam Raimi‘s “Evil Dead” trilogy. Here, as in the films, it’s … Continue reading →

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Movies Till Dawn: The Other Side of Summer Edition

Posted on October 5, 2018 by Paul Gaita

“Hot Summer Nights” (2018, Lionsgate) Lonely Timothee Chalamet finds distraction from the loss of his father in selling marijuana with small town demi-god Alex Roe and his bad-girl sister Maika Monroe (“It Follows”) on Cape Cod circa 1991. First time … Continue reading →

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