I love movies. Does that make me crazy? Yes, Filmcraziest.
Directed by: Ryan Spindell. Starring: Clancy Brown, Caitlin Custer, Christine Kilmer. Runtime: 1h 48 min. Editor's note: This review was originally posted on Sept. 1 for its release at the Fantasia Film Festival. I am reposting this because it has just been released on Shudder in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia and New Zealand. I watched this [...]
On this episode, I chat with AFI alum writer and director Austin Rourke for his short film A Strange Calm, which had its Canadian Premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival last month (and this is when we conducted this interview), and played at the Nightstream virtual film festival this past weekend, as a part of [...]
Directed by: Kiel McNaughton. Starring: Uli Latukefu, Nathanial Lees, Jay Laga’aia. Runtime: 1h 43 min. Released: This film had its North American Premiere at Fantasia Film Festival on September 2, 2020. In Kiel McNaughton’s directorial debut, The Legend of Baron To'a, he creates a larger-than-life world on a small cul-de-sac in New Zealand, where the [...]
My last batch of short film reviews out of Fantasia Film Festival, including Austin Rourke's "A Strange Calm," Rioghnach Ni Ghrioghair's "Break Us," Santiago Menghini's "Regret" and Johnny Kenton's "Dead Birds."
I knew very little about Anything for Jackson going into the film and did not know that this was an exorcism film. Well, it’s actually a reverse exorcism. Basically, this scenario is born out of the idea of there being someone you would do absolutely anything to see again. For Audrey (Sheila McCarthy) and husband Henry (Julian Richings), that’s their two-year-old grandson Jackson. They need to find a host for Jackson to bring him back, and luckily Henry works as an obstetrician and they grab a woman named Shannon Becker (Konstantina Mantelos), a soon-to-be mother.
Directed by: Christian Alvart. Starring: Trystan Pütter, Felix Kramer, Nora von Waldstätten. Runtime: 2h 7 min. Released: This film had its Canadian Premiere at Fantasia Film Festival on August 20, 2020. Detectives Patrick Stein (Trystan Pütter) and Markus Bach (Felix Kramer) are called to the small town of Lowitz in Eastern Germany to investigate the [...]
Directed by: Gabriel Carrer, Reese Eveneshen. Starring: Lora Burke, Nick Smyth, Colin Paradine. Runtime: 1h 20 min. Released: This film had its World Premiere at Fantasia Film Festival on September 2, 2020. We’re thrown right into the action of For the Sake of Vicious in the opening scene as a disgruntled man, Chris (Nick Smyth) [...]
The most impressive thing about Chino Moya’s Undergods is its world building as he creates a Europe in decline, a blue world that is filmed beautifully by cinematographer David Raedeker. Moya takes us on a journey of five different stories through his world, taking place when hope is either already lost or will soon be lost.
Middle age is a funny thing, something that writer/director Quoc Bao Tran understands well as it’s the main crux of his film The Paper Tigers. His main characters are former martial arts gurus who trained under the revered Sifu Cheung (Roger Yuan). 30 years removed from their glory days, the Three Tigers of Sifu Cheng – Danny (Alain Uy), Hing (Ron Yuan) and Jim (Mykel Shannon Jenkins) – are brought together by Cheung’s death, which they start to investigate.
Reviews of different short films that premiered with features at Fantasia Film Festival, including Ben and Jacob Burghart’s “Suspense” (pictured), Parker Finn’s “Laura Hasn’t Slept,” Andrew Rutter’s “Peter the Penguin” and Kaye Adelaide and Mariel Sharp’s “Don’t Text Back.”
