Fantastic Fest 2015 Review – 'High-Rise'

September 30, 2015 in Fantastic Fest, Film, Reviews, Robbie Imes

Artful commentary on social structures and class divides are always messy. Oftentimes they end up as lame amalgamations of what the privileged folks think they look like to the less privileged, gnashing their teeth with witty banter and expensive clothes. But High-Rise, the new Ben Wheatley film, is adapted from the cult novel of the same name by legendary author, J.G. Ballard. If you’re not familiar with his work (he wrote the novel Crash), the Ballard influence is in so many director’s works. He’s famous for taking a machete to modern society and all those therein, shredding it all to bits with grace and gore. The source material of High-Rise, needless to say, is second to none.

An Uninvited Wedding Guest – Demon, Fantastic Fest 2015

September 30, 2015 in Fantastic Fest, Film, Reviews, Randall Lotowycz

London-born Piotr (Itay Tiran) moves to rural Poland to marry Zaneta (Agnieszka Zulewska). Her father Zgmunt (Andrzej Grabowski) has gifted them a lovely but rundown house that’s been in the family. Piotr has plans for restoring the house and the wedding ceremony will be held in the adjacent barn. On the eve of the wedding, Piotr discovers buried human remains on the property. Zgmunt casts doubts as to what Piotr found and urges his new son-in-law not to tell Zaneta. Over the course of the wedding reception, the usually cool Piotr sudden;y becomes more and more erratic. Zgmunt and his son Jasny (Tomasz Schuchardt) work to keep the party going and explain away Piotr’s behavior–he’s on something, he’s epileptic, it’s food poisoning, and so on. It’s soon clear he’s been possessed by a dybbuk, the restless spirit of the young woman whose remains he found.

Quickie Review Round-Up from Fantastic Fest 2015

September 28, 2015 in Fantastic Fest, Film, Reviews, Randall Lotowycz

Not every movie we managed to see this year’s Fantastic Fest could get a full review or discussion. There’s just too many and not enough time. However, we wanted to share as much as we could, so here are some quick thoughts and first impressions on films screened.

An Exploration of Art and Beauty - Zoom, Fantastic Fest 2015

September 27, 2015 in Fantastic Fest, Film, Reviews, Randall Lotowycz

If Cloud Atlas and Adaptation had a lovechild who grew up to be the coolest kid in school, it would be named Zoom. This feature directed by Pedro Morelli and written by Matt Hansen dazzles with kinetic style, effectively weaving three narratives together into a singular study of the standards of beauty and the creation of artist works.

The Greatest Story Ever Told Gets Even Greater - The Brand New Testament, Fantastic Fest 2015

September 27, 2015 in Fantastic Fest, Film, Reviews, Randall Lotowycz

“God exists. He lives in Brussels.”

With those lines, The Brand New Testament begins.

Fueled by a playful exuberance reminiscent of Jeunet’s Amélie, this new film by Jaco Van Dormael explores the writing of a “Brand New Testament” by the 10-year-old Ea after she leaves behind her curmudgeon of a father, who is in fact God (the Old Testament one through and through, delighting in creating the annoyances that plague mankind from his relic of a desktop PC) and her quiet mother who sputters around their drab apartment embroidering, vacuuming, and admiring her baseball card collection. Ea wasn’t the first child to leave the household. Her brother JC (i.e., Jesus Christ) left and never returned, though a statue of him comes to life in Ea’s bedroom, offering himself as a sounding board for his younger sister.

A Superman for the 21st Century

August 21, 2015 in Comics, Nerdy, Randall Lotowycz

In 2011, DC Comics made the surprising and controversial decision to reboot their entire line of comics, erasing years of continuity and starting fresh. In promotional images for the reboot, all their main characters had new costumes designs that reflected this new era. No longer were DC’s heroes clad in spandex. The red trunks Superman famously wore for decades were gone. His costume (and the costumes of his peers) more resembled battle-ready armor. But unlike the rest of the Justice League, Superman was featured in a second promotional image with a completely different and even more surprising outfit—a t-shirt and jeans.

'Goodnight, Mommy' Leaves Us In The Dark

August 18, 2015 in Film, Reviews, Robbie Imes

What’s in a trailer? If it’s a horror movie, it’s terror. It’s the exceptional fear of the narrative crammed into a span of two minutes. It evokes the primal need to experience the film, to tiptoe into the unknown and conquer your fears, all with a guarantee that you’ll pee your pants in the process. That’s exactly what the trailer for Goodnight, Mommy, a mysterious new Austrian horror film, accomplishes. The trailer lit up the internet like a house on fire last week, and with very good reason. It features a mummy-like bandaged mom, children in masks, a desolate setting, and most importantly, a giant roach going into a mouth, and a subsequent crunch. Aglow with midday light in milky, shadowed interiors, the trailer encapsulates the fear of something you once knew and loved turning into something foreign and terrifying right before your eyes. But does the movie behind this much-talked about trailer live up to its ominous expectations? Yes and no. We saw a rooftop pre-release screening at Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a very cool venue, and very much worth the trek for those in other parts of the city. Their rooftop screening series hosts an outdoor setting which oddly added to the experience, as did the giant and enthusiastic crowd that came out for the showing.

Smoking.

July 17, 2015 in Robbie Imes, Words

by Robbie Imes

Smoking is a headache before you open your eyes
That ocular throbbing, snooze button lies.

Smoking is thirsty, cotton mouth grumble,
The wrong shoes on, down stairs stumble.

Smoking and bourbon, the night before
Early night promise, but home at four.

'Hungry Hearts' Is a Contemplative, Though Flatline, Thriller

June 24, 2015 in Film, Reviews, Robbie Imes

Being young parents is enough to drive you mad, and that’s just what happens in this quiet little indie from IFC. The story conquers new love, moving in together, getting married, meeting the family, and, finally, having a baby. And that’s just the first half hour. What follows is an unexpected, and deeply complicated, piece of a yuppie couple’s challenging life puzzle. With an intimate gaze at the cozy confines of a New York City apartment, this disturbing, sometimes muddy thriller delves into some big ideas with varying degrees of success.

The Human Centipede Eats Its Own Tail

May 19, 2015 in Film, Reviews, Randall Lotowycz

Few recent films series have successfully infiltrated the collective pop culture consciousness as The Human Centipede series has. Even if you’ve never seen one of the films, you’ve certainly heard of them. More often than not, when bringing up the series, I hear, “I’ll never watch it,” or “That’s disgusting.” Of course, my favorite response is, “They made more than one?” Because after one film in which a depraved lunatic sews his live victims together ass-to-mouth to create the titular human-arthropod hybrid with a single digestive system, is there really more to be said? Writer-Director Tom Six certainly thought so. After unleashing The Human Centipede (First Sequence) in 2009, he upped the ante from a three-person centipede to a twelve-person one in 2011’s The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence). Instead of a traditional sequel where the evil Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser) strikes again, the follow-up went the meta route, taking place in a world like ours, where The Human Centipede is just a film and a deranged fan of the film named Martin (Laurence R. Harvey) set out to make his own horrible, “100% medically accurate” creation. Now Tom Six is back with The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence), making good on his promise (i.e., threat) of a trilogy.

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