Cold Blooded Directed by Jason Lapeyre Written by Jason Lapeyre Canada, 2012 Writer/director Jason Lapeyre delivers a simple but fierce crime flick in Cold Blooded. This low budget Canadian thriller is one of those movies in which pacing, dialogue and the right cast bring life to a familiar setup. The cast is uniformly strong and …
Red Dawn Directed by Dan Bradley Screenplay by Carl Ellsworth and Jeremy Passmore 2012, USA Jed Eckert (Chris “Thor” Hemsworth) returns home from service in Afghanistan to Spokane, Washington. His father (Brett Cullen) is the sheriff in town, and his brother, Matt (Josh Peck), is the maverick high school quarterback. The morning after his return …
American Mary Directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska Written by Jen and Sylvia Soska 2012, Canada Steeped in pulp and hardcore imagery, horror allusions, and fetishistic gore, American Mary is a film that has emphatic reverence for its form. And as a collection of horror set pieces and bizarre characters, it is a success. Unfortunately, …
Sightseers Directed by Ben Wheatley Screenplay by Steve Oram, Alice Lowe, and Amy Jump 2012, UK Ben Wheatley just keeps making great movies. Furthermore, they keep getting better. Continuing in the naturalistic direction of his first two film’s while softening the sharper edges, Sightseers is Wheatley’s prettiest, funniest, and most mature film yet. If it …
Aftershock Directed By Nicolás López Written By Eli Roth and Nicolás López USA, 2012 A disaster-survivalist thriller or a horror film? Aftershock is a bit of both. From director Nicolas Lopez (making his English-language debut), Eli Roth (Inglourious Basterds) headlines this slick but tasteless genre entry. Inspired by the Chilean earthquake, which killed a reported …
The Conspiracy Directed by Christopher MacBride Screenplay by Christopher MacBride 2012, Canada Though it boasts a fictional storyline and plenty of fabricated found footage, The Conspiracy is fascinated with the earnest yet untenable obsession of the real conspiracy theorist. Ostensibly a straight-faced mockumentary about two filmmakers (Aaron Poole and Jim Gilbert) interviewing local conspiracy theorist …
Crave Directed by Charles de Lauzirika Written by Robert Lawton & Charles de Lauzirika USA, 2012 Genre movies express and nourish the unconscious thoughts, fears, and desires of their audience. Fans of thrillers or action films first find their morbid curiosities sated and then their dreams of heroism and personal strength. Crave might be the …
Antiviral Directed by Brandon Cronenberg Screenplay by 2012, Canada One doesn’t wear the Cronenberg name lightly. David Cronenberg has had one of the most odd and respected careers in the business, and any conversation about body horror begins and ends with his name. Naturally, Brandon Cronenberg’s first feature film–a body horror film, at that–comes loaded with …
Frankenweenie Directed by Tim Burton Screenplay byJohn August 2012, USA Tim Burton’s original Frankenweenie short–which Disney shelved until Pee-Wee, Beetlejuice, and Batman, you know, all happened right in a row–was shot 28 years ago. Now established as a household name and Hot Topic’s raison d’etre, Burton is officially un-fired from the Frankenweenie project. Burton’s return …
Dredd 3D Directed by Pete Travis Screenplay by Alex Garland 2012, USA Based on the very popular and long running British comic strip, Dredd 3D is fuelled by highfalutin violence, nonstop gunfire and hyper-stylized 3D action sequences. But any creativity that went into formulating the premise never found its way to the script writing stage. …
Headhunters Directed by Morten Tyldum Screenplay by Lars Gudmestad by Ulf Ryberg 2011, Norway Summit Entertainment recently picked up the production rights to Jo Nesbo’s novel “Headhunters”. Clearly, somebody just saw Morten Tyldum’s awesome film adaptation. Headhunters begins dubiously. The opening voice-over and montage suggest a smarmy, stylishly self-satisfied heist film, but this reveals itself …
Sleep Tight Directed by Jaume Balagueró Screenplay by Alberto Marini 2011, Spain It’s no easy task to conduct a captivating, exhilarating film around an absolutely horrendous human being. But in his first follow up to the Rec films, Juame Balagueró not only pulls this off, but, in a nasty piece of filmmaking magic, implicates the …
While Emmett and I will spend the next few days catching up on posting our reviews from Fantastic Fest, tonight Alamo Drafthouse owner and Fantastic Fest Creative Director Tim League announced the 2011 Fantastic Award winners. It’s great to see Adam Wingard’s You’re Next take home best film and best director in the category of …
One of the many ways Fantastic Fest sets itself apart from other film festivals is by organizing events that don’t necessarily involve watching movies. Every year, one of the highlights from the festival is something they like to call Fantastic Debates, which features feuds between filmmakers, critics, and festival runners, settled during a night of …
The people behind the merging of SXSW with Austin’s all horror festival Fantastic Fest, have posted short interviews with the directors of the 5 films screening as part of the SXFantastic midnight series. You can see the line-up for all the midnight screenings at SXSW this year here. Click on the name of each film …
As the Poet Said Dir. Nasri Hajjaj (2009, Palestine, 65 mins.) Mahmoud Darwish was one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. He is regarded as the Palestinian national poet. His poems – set to songs – have become Arab anthems. He is included in the appendix of literary critic Harold Bloom’s iconic book …
The Time That Remains Dir. Elia Suleiman (2009, France/Belgium/Italy/UK, 109 mins.) A little over halfway into The Time That Remains, an ambulance pulls up to a hospital and the paramedics rush their patient inside. While camera remains fixed, a police car pulls up, and the audience watches through the hospital windows as paramedics and police …
Love Exposure is often gratuitous, low-brow, and even tasteless–you will never again see as many shots of young girl’s panties in one place–but is also sneakily poignant. Directed by Shion Sono Sion Sono’s new film covers a lot of territory. It’s a romance, a revenge tale, a heartbreaking tragedy, a truly zany comedy, a blood-splattered …