Far from being one-dimensional, South Korean cinema is recognized for tackling every possible genre with intelligence and success. The industry continues to prove itself as a cradle of creativity as confirmed by the numerous selections and awards garnered by South Korean movies on the international circuit this year. Hailing from The Land of the Morning …
(500) Days of Summer Directed by Marc Webb (500) Days of Summer begs you to love it. Its marketing campaign has been so tirelessly micromanaged, its leads are so adorable, its namechecks of generic pseudo-outré touchstones (Belle and Sebastian, The Smiths, The Seventh Seal, turn-of-the-century architecture) so artfully placed, that its many gimmicks actually wind …
The Just for Laughs Film Festival, in collaboration with SCENE™, has just announced the jury members who will be selecting winners of the short film prizes for its 13th edition taking place in Montreal, from July 16 to 26. This year’s jury will be made up of 5 members of the entertainment industry, including David …
Originally Posted in Creative Loafing. 2009 is already halfway over, and the fall movie season (with all the originality and Oscar-bait it has to offer) is just around the corner. What follows is my list of the 25 films I’m most interested in seeing in the second half of 2009. Read all the way to …
Dread Directed by Anthony DiBlasi Clive Barker has a less than sterling record when it comes to having compelling films made from his novels and short stories, and Anthony DiBlasi’s Dread, despite some appealing performances and at least one sequence of pin-drop anxiety, isn’t able to buck the trend. Ultimately, a series of questionable screenplay …
Dead Snow Directed by Tommy Wirkola Written by Tommy Wirkola and Stig Frode Henriksen 2009, Norway Norway is known for a couple of things. The Fjords, Vikings and a wave of satanic arson and murder in the early 90’s that propelled black metal from its status as low-fi extreme metal to the most abrasive, evil music …
Must Love Death Directed by Andreas Schaap *** The first feature by director Andreas Schaap has had made some big impressions amongst Fantasia movie-goers. Clearly one of the more surprising and original films of the festival, it blends two seemingly opposite genres, the romantic comedy and extreme horror. These are the horror films one expects …
Undertones: Volume 3 From the beginning of cinema theatre owners tried a variety of methods in which to add sound to film. Initially the reasons for the addition of sound varied from people being weirded out by seeing mute folks onscreen to utilizing it as a means in which to mask the noise made by …
Originally Posted in Creative Loafing Tampa. Very few filmmakers are known for their casting power. Woody Allen may be one of the best. He is always great at getting Hollywood’s biggest movie stars and the latest indie up and comers into his films (and with perfect timing). He worked with Sally Hawkins and Samantha Morton right …
Brüno Directed by Larry Charles It’s hard to root against Sacha Baron Cohen. In the summer of The Hangover, a mildly funny film undercut by some unseemly homophobia and an over-reliance on comfy frat-boy humor, he’s got the gall to unleash not only the season’s most outlandish comedy, but most likely the most audacious film …
Fantasia Film Festival 2009 – World Premiere Must Love Death Directed by Andreas Schaap Offhand, it’s difficult to think of another film that features both a “meet cute” and a nail gun, but in his first feature, Andreas Schaap manages to unite the two. Must Love Death, for better or worse, belongs to a genre …
Body Count: Volume 13 Horror has seen its fair share of hacks. The genre may not necessarily have its roots in exploitation, but it didn’t take hucksters long to figure out that you can make a simultaneously schlocky and profitable movie on whatever currency happens to be jingling around in your pocket. So for all …
Awkward Kissing on Harry Potter set Emma Watson (“Harry Potter’s Hermione) recently commented that “…in a new interview on the BBC’s “Friday Night with Jonathan Ross,” the 19-year-old revealed kissing Rupert (Grint), who plays teen wizard Ron Weasley, was just about the most uncomfortable filming experience she’s had in her career so far.” Emma commented: …
1)Nashville (1975) Robert Altman’s Masterpiece captured America in the 70s like one else: All its confusion, disappointment, and uncertainty. The film follows 24 different characters over a period of as few days in Nashville just before a political fundraising concert. We take a peak in the lives of country music superstars, hippies, aspiring singers, mothers, …
The critically and publicly acclaimed second edition of the DOCUMENTARIES FROM THE EDGE series proved last year that it holds a distinguished place at Fantasia. This section returns this summer with five debut films taking on curious and disturbing social phenomena. A debate over a video game, a modern out-law family, a site dedicated to …
Public Enemies Directed by Michael Mann Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral) brings his usual directorial flair to the well-worn story of John Dillinger and his dogged pursuers – but not much else. Shot in bracing digital with a weight and sense of gravity desperately missing from similar genre efforts as of late, Enemies nevertheless winds up …
Fantasia Festival is North America’s premiere (and largest) genre film festival. It is also my favorite film festival and so I could not wait to share the highlights of this years line up. Below is just some of the films we will be reviewing on our upcoming podcasts. THE CHILDREN – North American Premiere UK …
Fantasia Festival is North America’s premiere (and largest) genre film festival. It is also my favorite film festival and so I could not wait to share the highlights of this years line up. Below is just some of the films we will be reviewing on our upcoming podcasts. BEST WORST MOVIE – Montreal premiere, hosted …
Fantasia Festival is North America‘s premiere (and largest) genre film festival. It is also my favorite film festival and so I could not wait to share the highlights of this years line up. Here is a sneak peek at what we will be reviewing in the upcoming week of our podcast. CRUSH AND BLUSH – …
Taken out of context, it seems like Bringing Up Baby should have been a blockbuster in its day. It had all of the necessary elements: big name stars playing unique characters, a wacky plot, hilarious dialogue and a large handful of plot twists – but when the movie premiered in 1938, it bombed. Director Howard …
Cult Cinema: Volume 13: Dear Internet, I’m sorry that we don’t like the same movies. I’ve let you down. After all that you’ve given me, from the questionably legal pornography, to the gory photos of car crash victims and dead celebrities, to the endless hours spent trolling creationist message boards and acupuncture websites, I’ve done …
Yes, he was the punchline of approximately a quarter-million Tonight Show jokes. But Michael Jackson’s stop-on-a-dime dance moves and sensual soprano have influenced generations of musicians, dancers and entertainers, and the man was so much more than what the tabloids made him out to be. One of entertainment’s greatest icons, he was incredibly gifted, and …
Racist Caricatures in Transformers 2 under scrutiny: A controversy has arisen since the blockbuster release “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” It surrounds the portrayal of two of the robots, which some of deemed a racist caricature. The robots are named “…Skids and Mudflap…” and “…both characters speak with voices that sound like urban black stereotypes, …