Originally I was only going to list my five favourite films of the entire fourteen year history of Fantasia. Only after last night’s screening I couldn’t help but add on Scott Pilgim vs. The World. These six films are without a doubt my SIX FAVORITE FIRST RUN FEATURES to ever screen at the festival. Look …
——– Memento Directed by Christopher Nolan Narrative complexity, today, is firmly the domain of thrillers (read: hyperkinetic activity). Entire projects hinge on “gotcha” plot twists, powered at best by unnecessary opaqueness and at worst by sheer contrivance. The moment I realized that Inception would be a merely good movie, and not the great movie that …
—————— Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World Directed by Edgar Wright Over the last decade, everyone from Zack Snyder to Ang Lee to the Neveldine/Taylor crew have attempted to draw inspiration from geek culture in order to create innovative, bleeding-edge films. Efforts like these wind up feeling compromised at best and ill-fated at worst, either because …
Dream Home Directed by Ho-Cheung Pang Probably the only horror film to involve the housing crisis, Dream Home wastes its creative concept by being unfortunately muddled. Though the protagonists’ obsession with owning a home at the sacrifice of her family and moral integrity could have been fascinating, the film is ultimately shallow and confusing. Despite …
This past Saturday, July 24, at the San Diego Comic-Con, shall be marked as one of the most epic gatherings for a film collaboration in geek history. The full major cast of The Avengers appeared on stage at the end of the Marvel Studios panel with confirmation of Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Mark Ruffalo as …
The Last Exorcism Directed by Daniel Stamm Thanks to its wicked humor and unexpected smarts, The Last Exorcism sets itself apart from many recent attempts at faux-documentaries. In the film, documentary filmmakers follow a disillusioned preacher who hopes to expose the danger exorcism poses in the modern age. He attempts to reveal the ignorance and …
Fantaisa has expanded its programming in the past five years and with that the festival has become even longer – perhaps too long. Ranging anywhere from three to four weeks, it leaves me pretty much brain-dead by the end of the month. Bloodshot eyes, Sleep deprivation and repetitive dinners at Al-Taib aren’t exactly a recipe …
Sucker Punch has been described as Alice in Wonderland with machine guns, but I would like to believe, coming from Zack Snyder’s mind, that it will be so much more than that. Little has been said or revealed about this production until the San Diego Comic-Con hit this weekend. Not only has the website launched …
Interweaving seemingly irrelevant storylines, Fish Story is about the interconnectedness of all aspects of our existence. It isn’t, however, a film about fate. It is about finding splendour in irrationality, and our individual potential to shape the world.
Before Tucker & Dale, director Eli Craig impress film fests with his short film The Tao Of Pong starring Paulo Costanzo. Watch his short after the break. Synopsis: Hank Houska can’t get over the fact that he lost the Junior National Table Tennis Championship 15 years ago. It destroyed his life, wrecked his confidence, and …
Thanks to Neil Marshall’s 2005 horror film The Descent, about a group of spelunking women attacked by hideous carnivorous bat-boy monsters, my wife is now afraid of caves, Weekly World News covers, and girls’ nights out. If Marshall’s latest film Centurion, in which a Roman legion is attacked by Picts in 2nd century England, is …
The new decade showcased some of the very best of genre filmmaking and Fantasia was one step ahead of all other genre film fests in picking up some extraordinary films. Unfortunately, in 2002, the Imperial theater, which had housed the fest since its inception, was unexpectedly late on renovations and repairs. The festival had to …
Clash Directed by Le Thanh Son It’s never a good sign when even non-fans of a given genre can spot the clichés pervading a particular piece. Whether you own a collection of imported martial arts movies, or you wouldn’t even see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon despite its Oscar nominations, it’s hard to imagine any viewer …
Horror, fantasy, Hong Kong action, animation, strange documentaries, gored-up science-fiction, Japanese Pink films and martial arts flicks are just among the many genres Fantasia has covered in its fourteen years of programming. Famous for being the largest genre film festival in North America, Fantasia is packed with Canadian, North American and worldwide feature-length premieres as …
The Violent Kind Directed by The Butcher Brothers In The Violent Kind, members of a motorcycle gang are terrorized by supernatural forces while at an isolated cabin. A mostly disappointing evocation of classic b-movies, the film nonetheless shows a lot of creative potential. Blending gang violence, apparent demonic possession and crazy science fiction, the film …
Don’t worry. Though director Chris Smith—who made a name for himself with tense, tightly scripted genre gems Creep, Severance, and Triangle—may be tackling lofty themes of right, wrong, and the religions in between with his new film Black Death. But there’s still plenty of necromancy and “heads on sticks,” he promises. Which is great. I’ve …
———- Air Doll Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda A bizarre but not entirely alien blend of social commentary, fairy tale, and old-fashioned tragedy, Air Doll helps to further cement Hirokazu Koreeda as an effective conveyor of unique, memorable imagery, even if it doesn’t quite cohere into the emotionally wrought masterpiece it seems very much to be …
Some 3D movies can be done pretty well, Avatar and How to Train Your Dragon proved this point. But with this rising trend there has been an increasing decline. Movie after movie, audiences are being bombarded with 3D films, but most of them are all post converted. Films that were not meant to be in …
Like Freddie Wong’s “Light Warfare,” Clinton Jones doesn’t hold back on creativity and fun independent film making. With a good mixture of special effects, well shot action sequences, intense music and suspenseful moments, “Cardboard Warfare” was really exciting and I hope these guys create more fun short films in the future. Check out Jone’s aka …
“It’s hard to pigeonhole Symbol in any particular genre, but I would best describe it as a live-action Looney Tunes cartoon on crack.” Symbol Directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto While watching Symbol, for a fleeting moment I wondered if someone had slipped something in my drink or sprinkled an illicit substance on my popcorn. What else …
The Devils Directed by Ken Russell Nearly forty years after its release, The Devils remains shocking. It is both unabashedly critical of establishment while also refusing to adhere to the commonly accepted conventions of “serious” cinema. Stylistically, the film employs an unconventional score, an overzealous use of zoom (to be fair, it was the 70s) …
Austin’s beloved genre film festival, Fantastic Fest, last seen awarding The Human Centipede with massive accolades, has begun to reveal its 2010 lineup. The thus far revealed films are suitably intriguing, promising aural terrorism (Sound of Noise), a telepathic killing machine that is also a tire (Rubber), at least a couple young ladies who will …
“There’s a potentially great movie trying to get out of the mediocre one that is Doghouse, a trashy horror comedy that’s disappointingly refined.”Doghouse” Doghouse Directed by Jake West While Jake West’s Doghouse would not be the first low-rent horror movie to be accused of misogyny, the British horror comedy’s claim to fame is that it …