ABCs of Death 2 promises 26 short films, each delivering a different method or theme surrounding death. Some shorts are light, some play like a cautionary tale and others deliver a strong, sometimes heavy handed message through the voice of the filmmaker. Overall the sequel offers a more focused approach when compared to its predecessor. ABCs of Death was all over the…
Fantastic Fest Day 2. 8:30 am. I am seated for a press screening of David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows without a single bit of caffeine in my body. I pray to the Fantastic Fest gods that they will keep my body awake for the movie so I can reward myself with coffee after the film ends. About 107 minutes later, my heart was still …
Anchored by a stellar performance by Essie Davis, The Babadook is a creepy, nightmarish tale packed with plenty of twists and turns to keep its audience invested. Davis plays a widow whose young boy Samuel is nowhere near recovering from the death of his father, a problem that only worsens when a book filled with …
It would be easy to assume that one’s enjoyment of My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn is dependent on how much they loved Only God Forgives, but those less fond of Refn’s previous effort would be doing themselves a disserve by missing out on Liv Corfixen’s fantastic film. Filming every facet of her husband’s involvement in the film from its early days in filming to its…
The foundation of The Tribe will intimidate and shock audiences. The film is shot with an all-deaf cast with no acting experience and there are no subtitles to tell you what they’re saying. Accept the premise and the content as a challenge to enhance your love of cinema. It would be reckless to dismiss this as a gimmick. The Tribe works because of the skillful direction of Miroslav…
2012 was a crummy year. There really isn’t a nicer way of putting it. Every aspect of my life had seemingly gone up in flames, making getting out of bed every morning feel more like a chore than the first step to a day full of joy. In fact, joy was something so incredibly foreign to me I was almost convinced maybe I had never felt it at all. What was so great about living anyway? What…
Belgian director Jonas Govaerts makes his feature-length debut with Cub, a tale about a group of boy scouts and their leaders who go on a trip into the woods and get more than they bargained for in the form of a mean-spirited being. The buildup in the first act is great, with Govaerts creating a dark brooding atmosphere and showing us characters that are more than his biggest…
Kung Fu Elliot is about a man with illusions of grandeur. He tells the camera that he’s going to be Canada’s first action star. Perhaps he isn’t familiar with Keanu Reeves or Ryan Reynolds, both Canadian actors that have starred in high profile action films. The subject is Elliot Scott, a man who boasts throughout the film that he’s a Canadian martial arts champion. He tells…
John Wick is a refreshing take on a familiar story. The film opens with a broken John Wick (Keanu Reeves) after the loss of his wife due to illness. To help him cope with his loss, her final gift is a puppy to keep him company. The opening fifteen minutes are largely unspoken. The audience learns that Wick is a cold man with little regard for the dog at first. He drives a kickass ’69 Ford…
September 18-25 marks the 10th anniversary of Fantastic Fest. This year’s opening night film is Tusk. To mark the occasion we attended the red carpet event, took photos and spoke with Tim League (Fantastic Fest Co-Founder, CEO of Alamo Drafthouse) and Kevin Smith (Director of Tusk). The energy could be felt in the air. Both men have a lot to say, it was an honor to have a chat…