It is that time of year again. Mid-to-late July means two things if one is a film fan either living or visiting the city of Montréal. The blockbuster season is in full swing, although that can be applied to just about any city in the universe, and the Fantasia film festival is mere days away. …
One thing that has become clear as Ricky, Edgar, Justine and myself work through the 396 page Fantasia program book (seriously this thing is massive) is that to pick your list of films to watch at Fantasia, you need a system. As it happens, I have been going to Fantasia since the festival started in …
While Ricky, Edgar, Justine and myself work on our pieces about the films that we are most looking forward at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival, I thought that I would talk about the experience that every film-goer to Fantasia experiences: the films that for one reason or another you have to miss. Sometimes it is …
How big is this year’s Fantasia Film Festival? Funny you should ask… Years Fantasia has been around: 17 Number of Fantasia Festivals: 16 Year we had no Fantasia (Annus Horribilis): 2002 IQ of the Management of Imperial Cinema in 2002 and 2003: Impossible to measure. Years Fantasia has been at Concordia: 10 Percentage of Journalists …
The Fantasia Film Festival held their press conference today to unveil their 2012 line-up and honestly we are still processing the information dump. Mitch Davis said during the press conference that the only way to properly describe the festival would be “to tie you to chairs, force feed you caffeine and sugar and talk to …
It’s that time again. The Fantasia Film Festival is once again imminent, ready to take over Montreal for three weeks with a barrage of genre films and oddball features from all over the world. Running from July 19th to August 7th, this year’s iteration promises to be another insane smorgasbord of the world’s wildest movies. …
Exciting news in the world of film for Montrealers as the two most exciting film festivals come together to present their first collaboration. The Fantasia International Film Festival and The Festival du Nouveau Cinéma will be presenting a much sought after retrospective on the 100 Years of the Nikkatsu production and distribution studio from Japan. …
On June 9th at the Bloor Cinema, you can catch a three-pronged program of ghastly shorts entitled The Night Shift. Part of the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival (running from the 5th to the 10th) and co-presented by Fantasia, it showcases the latest and gnarliest in international work, from Toronto to Estonia. The full program …
The Fantasia Film Festival is officially over and we here at Sound On Sight will always remember it as the year of brilliant first time features with the likes of Bellflower, Absentia, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, You Are Here, Beyond The Black Rainbow, Attack The Block and Retreat, to name a few. The …
Visit the official Fantasia Film Fest website Well we are officially through the third and final week of the Fantasia Film Festival, so I figured we should do a quick look back at all the reviews we have posted in the past seven days. In seven days our crew has managed to post over …
The Woman Directed by Lucky McKee Written by Lucky McKee and Jack Ketchum USA, 108 min. Opening with a phantasmagorical montage of the beginning of life, The Woman first emerges. She moves with a primal grace and an impossible focus propelling her forward in the dark wilderness. A montage of super-impositions and rapid cuts present …
Absentia Directed by Mike Flanagan Written by Mike Flanagan 2011, USA Writer/director Mike Flanagan’s partially Kickstarter-funded feature debut is without a doubt one of the best independent films of the year, an instant indie gem from a director to watch out for. The film’s title is Latin for “in the absence,” and is a legal …
Brawler Directed by Chris Sivertson Written by Chris Sivertson, based on a story by Nathan Grubbs USA, 2011 Fantasia imdb “As a kid, I had a record with the story of Cain and Abel on it. I used to play that record all the time – it really creeped me out.” – Chris Sivertson Brawler …
In the fifteen years of the Fantasia Film Festival, I can’t recall any filmmaker who has visited Montreal and remained for the entirety of the fest (three and half weeks) – until now. Swedish filmmaker Filip Tegstedt has graced us with his presence from day one and has quickly become one of the more familiar …
The Whisperer in Darkness Directed by Sean Branney Written by Sean Branney and Andrew Leman, based on the story by H.P. Lovecraft USA, 2011 Fantasia imdb The Whisperer in Darkness is an extraordinarily well-crafted film and it completely achieves its objectives. Oddly, the film’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. The Whisperer in Darkness …
The Final Destination series which began as an unproduced script written by Jeffrey Reddick for the X-Files television series, has not only been financially successful but also popular amongst horror aficionados world-wide. The films have always pushed the boundaries centering on themes of determinism, predestination, and precognition, in relation to death. Innovative and unexpectedly influential, …
Director Joseph Kahn has been directing music videos for two decades, working with big-time efforts like U2, Britney Spears, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, 50 Cent, The Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, and many, many more. Now he’s combined that experience with his love of all things pop culture to create one …
The Innkeepers Directed and Written by Ti West USA, 2011 Fantasia imdb Chuck Jones directed a trilogy of horror cartoons (Scaredy Cat, 1948, Claws for Alarm, 1954 and Jumpin’ Jupiter, 1955) featuring Porky Pig blissfully unaware that his life is in danger, while his pet cat, – Sylvester, naturally – only too aware of the …
Visit the official Fantasia Film Fest website Well we are officially through the second week of the Fantasia Film Festival, so I figured we should do a quick look back at all the reviews we have posted in the past seven days. In seven days our crew has managed to post over another eleven …
Cine-Asie has done a wonderful job programming some of the best Korean films at the Fantasia Film Festival. Each and every year we find new gems to champion including last year’s Castaway On The Moon, which made our end year list of best films. Founded in 1996 by visual media artist Mi-Jeong Lee, Ciné-Asie aims …
Burke and Hare Written by Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft Directed by John Landis UK, 2010 There have been several films about the infamous true-life grave robbers William Burke and William Hare, including Freddie Francis’s 1985 The Doctor And The Devils and John Gilling’s 1959 The Flesh and The Fiends. Perhaps the most famous is …
Monster Brawl Written and Directed by Jesse T. Cook (2011) Canada Fantasia imdb It is only too appropriate that the World Premiere of Monster Brawl at Fantasia was presented by Tony Timpone, former editor of Fangoria Magazine, because if any film could be described as inspired by arguments from Fangoria it’s Monster Brawl. Or even …
True Legend aka Su Qi-Er Directed by Woo-ping Yuen Written by Chi-long To (2010) Hong Kong Fantasia imdb Beggar Su is the old man who trains Wong-Fei Hung (Jackie Chan) in the drunken fist style in the first Drunken Master, not coincidentally also directed by Woo-ping Yuen, so this film acts as a prequel to …