Festivals
Friday One Sheet: HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE
Let there be no criticism of clarity on the key art for Daniel Goldhaber's eco-thriller, How To Blow Up A Pipeline. Large fire-engine red stencil letters, overlaid onto black smoke, foreground the title of the film that tells any prospective...
Neuchâtel 2023: Swiss International Fantastic Film Festival Unveils This Year's Poster
Our friends at Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival are busy preparing for this year's 22nd edition of their Swiss-based genre film festival. As the programming comes together the festival has unveiled this year's poster. It is a slick and shiny work...
Calgary Underground 2023: Festival Lineup Announced
Over the past two decades, the Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) has quietly become western Canada's largest showcase of genre programming. Operating out of the upstairs/downstairs Globe repertory Cinema in the heart of Calgary, the festival fills a sweet spot in...
Kaboom Animation 2023: UNICORN WARS Is Awesomely Bonkers
Today sees the start of the 2023 edition of the Utrecht-and-Amsterdam-based Kaboom Animation Festival, which focuses on animation worldwide. All audiences are catered for: the festival's programme has a kids section, a great selection of queer movies, many amazing shorts,...
SXSW 2023 Review: BLOODY HELL, What Even Is a 'Normal' Body?
A woman's body is a battleground: not for her, necessarily (though it can be), but more for a society that wants to keep women narrowly confined and strictly controlled. From the moment that the patriarchy decides that it is convenient...
SXSW 2023 Review: SATAN WANTS YOU, Examining The Birth Of The '80s Satanic Panic
We don’t often cover documentaries here, but once in a while a film will cross our paths that it makes sense to discuss. Directors’ Steve J. Adams & Sean Horlor’s new film definitely fits that bill. An exploration of the...
SXSW 2023 Review: TETRIS, Taron Egerton Anchors Fun Cold War Thriller About Legal Contracts
When we think of video game movies these days, the first mental images that surface are inevitably garish, computer generated characters, over the top, cartoonish performances; maybe the occasional survival horror adaptation. Rarely does one imagine a procedural thriller about...
SXSW 2023 Review: FURIES, A Confused Uber Sleazy Actioner Misses The Mark
We all love Ngô Thanh Vân, better known in the West by her professional name, Veronica Ngô. First introduced to savvy genre film fans in the ‘00s through her kickass collaborations with Johnny Tri Nguyen in The Rebel (Dòng máu...
SXSW 2023 Review: CHRONICLES OF A WANDERING SAINT, A Magical Realist Triumph From First Time Filmmaker Tomás Gómez Bustillo
A magical realist fantasy, first time director Tomás Gómez Bustillo’s Chronicles of a Wandering Saint imagines the path to heaven for a pious woman with dreams of sainthood. Combining old world, small town charm with modern technology and gentle humor, Saint...
SXSW 2023 Review: MONOLITH, Single Setting Sci-Fi Delivers Creeping Dread
A disgraced journalist tries to claw her way back into the game through a podcast on the metaphysical mysteries of the unexplained in first time feature director Matt Vesely’s Monolith. A single character, single location science fiction thriller, Monolith delivers...
SXSW 2023 Review: EVIL DEAD RISE, A Gloriously Blood Soaked New Direction For An Old Fave
Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise confidently tackles the beloved franchise with new vigor and violence, opening up a world of possibilities for one of horror’s most cherished franchises. Much like Raimi’s third entry in the original series, Army of Darkness,...
Berlinale 2023 Review: GOLDA, Biopic Becomes War Drama
Helen Mirren and Liev Schreiber star; Guy Nattiv directed.
Berlinale 2023 Review: WHEN WILL IT BE AGAIN LIKE IT NEVER WAS BEFORE, A Family Saga on the Edge
Camile Loup Moltzen, Laura Tonke, Devid Streisow star in Sonja Heiss eccentric tragicomic family coming-of-age that defies normalcy.
SXSW 2023 Review: BROOKLYN 45, Ghosts Of The Past Bring The War Back From The Dead
It’s two days after Christmas, 1945 and the war is over, or at least it’s supposed to be. When Colonel Clive Hockstetter (Larry Fessenden) invites his old army buddies over for dinner, they all suspect it’s just a simple get-together...
BLACKBERRY Trailer: Jay Baruchel And Glenn Howerton Star in Matt Johnson's Latest
‘BlackBerry’ tells the story of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the two men that charted the course of the spectacular rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone. Matt Johnson's BlackBerry is coming exclusively to theaters on May...
SXSW 2023 Review: ABERRANCE, A Bold Debut Thriller From Mongolian Director Baatar Batsukh
You can’t really trust anyone, including your narrators, in the twisty new Mongolian thriller Aberrance, making its international debut at this year’s SXSW. Written, directed, and shot by Baatar Batsukh, Aberrance is a visually dynamic, at times perplexing film that...
Overlook 2023: Three More Titles Added! THE DEAD ZONE, IT LIVES INSIDE And It's a Secret!
With just over two weeks to go before this year's edition of the Overlook Film Festival three more titles have been added to the program. We can tell you what two of them are: a 40th anniversary screening of...
Berlinale 2023 Review: #MANHOLE, From Claustrophobic Horror to Social Satire
Nakajima Yuto stars in director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's genre-bending psychological thriller.
SXSW 2023 Review: IT LIVES INSIDE, An Indian American Teen Faces A Monster From The Old Country
It’s a banner year for debut filmmakers at SXSW, and Bishal Dutta’s It Lives Inside is one of the reasons that we can make that claim. A horror story centering around first generation Indian-American teens, It Lives Inside balances the...
Berlinale 2023 Review: IN WATER Dazzles
Shin Seokho, Kim Seungyun, and Ha Seongguk star in director Hong Sang-soo's latest contemplation on creativity and art.