FANTASIA Review: SUPER DARK TIMES Takes Us Back To A Kinder, But Still Darker Time
SXSW Interview: M.F.A. Hunts The Campus Grounds For A Little Revenge
Fantasia Interview: WE GO ON Asks If We Really Do, and If So, Do We Really Want To Know That?
One of the true standouts from this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival, WE GO ON follows one man’s search for proof of the afterlife. Miles Grisson (Clark Freeman) lives in fear. His trepidation prevents him from even driving a car. But armed with a large sum of money in his hand, he decides to overcome his terror, not by facing it, but by offering a reward to anyone … [Read more...]
‘Any Bullet Will Do’ Writer, Director Justin Lee, On Why A Western, Joe Carnahan, Oregon, Montana, Sets, Locations, And War
Sundance Interview: UNDER THE SHADOW, Babak Anvari And The Horror Of The Iran/Iraq War (and of Djinns)
A mother protects her daughter from a supernatural force that has somehow gotten inside their home. It is the basic plot of hundreds of films, but in this case, the home is in 1988 Tehran in the midst of the Iran/Iraq war and the mother is a former political activist now blacklisted under a repressive regime. Babak Anvari’s first feature, which made its world premiere at … [Read more...]
Fantastic Fest Review: THE DEVIL’S CANDY Leaves Sour Taste In The Mouth
THE DEVIL'S CANDY has a lot going for it. A stellar cast including the star of my favorite show on television Shiri Appleby, (Unreal), Ethan Embry so good at playing between good and evil and newcomer Kiara Glasco all shine as a family who buys a house with a history. Also the film has probably the best source music and score of any film playing Fantastic Fest this year with a … [Read more...]
PhxFF Interview: BREAD AND BUTTER, Or How To Make An Anti-Romance Sandwich
Considering how few people seem to get relationships right in the real world, it’s not surprising we turn to movies for inspirations (and instruction). The romantic-comedy genre feeds off our dreams and disappointments, and writer-director Liz Manashil would like to give us a little of that back – consider it an upchuck of sentiment. Making a triumphant traverse around the … [Read more...]
Interview: FRANK THE BASTARD Writer/Director Brad Coley And His Northern Gothic Aesthetic
Families like to keep secrets. So do small towns. When the small town is essentially run by one family, you can guess there’re a lot of secrets there to be uncovered. Brad Coley’s new mystery FRANK THE BASTARD follows a young woman’s return to her birthplace after her father's death. What she unearths are distant memories and long-buried secrets that come to change everything … [Read more...]
Slamdance Interview: Houston Team Makes CLINGER An Unforgettable Love Affair With Death
Ah, first love. We have all experienced it. I’m sure for some people it is a pleasant memory, but I think for most of us it is a series of mistakes, embarrassments, and regrets. Slamdance hit CLINGER captures all the horror of young love, and delivers it back to the audience as, well, a horror film. In Clinger, Robert and Fern have a perfect relationship… for the first week. … [Read more...]
WARREN: Alex Beh’s Portrait Of A Stalled Young Man
Not being a coffee drinker, I feel like I’ve missed out on a mass cultural commonality, the relationship between a venti junkie and their Starbucks barista. The caffeine pusher is this generation’s bartender, but instead of having an open ear and a piece of advice, they have a scowl and barely contained resentment. But see it from their side: you can’t be bothered to even get … [Read more...]
PUTZEL: A Bagel And Lox Delivery For The Whole Film Festival Circuit
Many of the films out on the festival circuit are niche films, films that maybe don’t have the massive appeal of shape-morphing robots destroying large parts of Chicago, films that come from very singular and independent voices. Sometimes these so-called niche films discover that actually, the more particular the story, the more universally loved it ends up … [Read more...]
WHERE WE STARTED: Writer/Director Chris Hansen On Being Stuck In A Motel With Two Miserable People Looking For Freedom
A man and a woman, married, but not to each other, cross paths at check-in at a roadside hotel one, long, life-changing night. It’s a simple story, but one expressed to its fullest in writer/director Chris Hansen’s micro budget feature drama, WHERE WE STARTED. The film, set entirely in and around a hotel over the course of one night, follows Will and Nora, both at a … [Read more...]
‘BLUE RUIN’: Revenge Never Had It So Good
BLUE RUIN is that rare film that fulfills all the genre expectations and yet still delivers arthouse quality of performance, script and cinematography. Starring Macon Blair as homeless man turned avenging killer Dwight Evans, writer/director Jeremy Saulnier’s BLUE RUIN keeps the tension running from the opening minutes (Dwight has like one line over the first twenty minutes) to … [Read more...]
Love in the Age of Laptops: ‘THE HEART MACHINE’ (Interview with Zachary Wigon)
There is no doubt technology has brought us closer together: the telegram, the telephone, skype. SXSW featured a number of films this year about how the pace of digital love has outrun our own mastery of the emotion. 10000 KM showed a couple’s year apart as a series of skype conversations, with their time together on either end. It was both fascinating and heartbreaking. CREEP … [Read more...]
