I love movies. Does that make me crazy? Yes, Filmcraziest.
On this episode of The Filmcraziest Show, I was joined by New Zealand director Kiel McNaughton to talk about his newest film The Legend of Baron To’a, which was released On Demand on December 3.
In Minor Premise, a reclusive neuroscientist, Ethan Kochar (Sathya Sridharan), tries to surpass his brilliant father’s legacy by continuing an experiment that deals with memory and attempts to understand the brain, using a machine called the R10 that Ethan is perfecting for a university study. Doing so, he becomes entangled in his own experiment where he inadvertently separates his consciousness into 10 fragments that are pitted against each other.
Writer/director Larry Fessenden gives the classic tale of Frankenstein a modern spin as he places the story in Brooklyn, where a disillusioned field surgeon suffering from PTSD creates a living man from body parts in his Brooklyn loft. From the loft itself to just every set, the film looks great. Fessenden’s style lends itself to the film well, too, with some aesthetic showing up occasionally like when Adam (Alex Breaux), the “monster,” is first getting adjusted to the world and it sounds like he’s hearing gibberish instead of real language when he’s first learning about everything. This is mostly through visuals like light patterns on the screen, or when you have a squiggly in your line of sight and can’t shake it… Constant thunder in the style also help set the mood in this film, as well.
Chris (Mikelen Walker), Adam (Erich Lane) and Barrett (Henry Alexander Kelly) are aspiring entrepreneurs trying to sell the latest indie board game hit, the titular Murder Bury Win, where the premise is to kill someone and get away with murder. After their fundraising campaign on a site called Game Changer isn’t successful, they’re invited by a mysterious caller (Craig Cackowski) to his cabin in the middle of nowhere. He wants to publish their game, with the understanding that he is the sole owner and he will just give them cold hard cash. A freak accident occurs here, and the trio have to use everything they’ve learned from their game to dispose of the body so they can keep their dreams of board game fame alive. I love these kinds of films that start with innocent games that then become a little too real. Think recent hits like Game Night, Ready or Not, or even Jumanji. The charm of this film definitely comes from its screenplay (written by Michael Lovan, who also directs, with a story by credit to John Hart), as the film itself was partially funded by Kickstarter, which really helps make the film’s commentary on the struggles of indie creators feel more authentic.
On this episode of Filmcraziest Interviews, I chat with Adam Rehmeier, the director, writer and editor for the new film Dinner in America, which had its World Premiere at Sundance and has recently won the Audience Award at Nightstream, a virtual genre film festival. The plot: An on-the-lam punk rocker, Simon (Kyle Gallner) and a young woman, Patty (Emily Skeggs) obsessed with his band unexpectedly fall in love and go on an epic journey together through America’s decaying Midwestern suburbs. It also stars Griffin Gluck, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Pat Healy, and others.
If you’ve ever wanted a movie with the abrasive punk rock attitude of Green Room, or the quirky comedy of films like Napoleon Dynamite, you need to look no further than Dinner in America. Simon as a character is in-your-face, abrasive and offensive, and just everything that’s cool about punk rock. Patty is everything sweet and nice but gets bullied for not being the smartest person. She doesn’t even get bullied at school – she’s a 20-year-old who gets picked on by high schoolers because they’re on the same bus route. She totally seems like a character that could fit in that Napoleon Dynamite world, but she’s totally her own person.
I just love films that can find a balance between moody horror and powerful family drama, and My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell it To is just the latest to do this so well as it takes a look at vampirism as a disease and how it affects a family. Thomas (Owen Campbell) is the afflicted member who survives on blood. He gets this blood because of his brother Dwight (Patrick Fugit) and sister Jessie (Ingrid Sophie Schram), who spend their existence taking care of Thomas and killing homeless people or prostitutes to keep Thomas going, and they quite literally take it day by day. It is not much of an existence, but it is theirs.
On this episode of Filmcraziest Interviews, I’m joined by producer Alok Mishra, as well as stars Naomi Grossman who plays Janice; and Celeste Sully who plays Lisa for their horror/thriller film 1BR, described by this group as the “little indie that could.” The film is directed by David Marmor and follows Sarah (Nicole Brydon Bloom), [...]
Adam Bird (James D’Arcy) is still getting used to a technologically advanced world. Humans can’t go out normally in the day because the sun is too toxic, but he does go out while wearing a Hazmat suit. He feels like the only human in the world that still lives a regular life, doing his job in the day and interacting with clones – necessary workers because they have augmented pigmentation that protects them from the sun. To make matters worse, Adam learns that he’s dying, so he tries to figure out a way to ensure that his family will be taken care of when he’s gone.
Directed by: Reinaldo Marcus Green. Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Connie Britton, Reid Miller. Runtime: 1h 30 min. Released: This film premiered at TIFF as a part of the Gala Presentations on Sept. 14, 2020. This review contains minor spoilers. Good Joe Bell is a moving story of a father, Joe Bell (Mark Wahlberg), taking a walk from [...]
