Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opened strong at the box office despite mostly negative reviews. After watching the film, it’s safe to say the reviewers might have been kind. The film is such a shallow mess, devoid of charms, character development, and a basic level of coherency that it doesn’t warrant an in-depth discussion (Madeline Kahn in Clue: The Movie sums up my feelings perfectly). My expectations were low from the start. Its predecessor, Man of Steel, was a flawed film, though I didn’t have many of the issues others did. The film’s execution aside (not necessarily a pun), it offered the promise of something greater. I’ll paraphrase Grant Morrison’s excellent All-Star Superman, when his father Jor-El says, “You will give the people of Earth an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun, Kal.” At the time, I hoped Man of Steel was just a rough first step toward a stronger series of films with a much more inspirational Superman. Now, with Batman v Superman released, it’s clear this series is not striving toward anything close to Jor-El’s words. The franchise is has its feet firmly planted in mediocrity.
Read MoreSometimes when I’m bored, I browse upcoming DVD releases. Often I come across something incredibly strange and debate whether I need to watch it. Typically I move on to the next release. But, now and then, the impulse to buy the DVD is overwhelming and my wallet suffers from the likes of Dickshark
Read MoreAfter watching the insane promotional music video for Excess Flesh last fall, the film immediately jumped to the top of my “must watch” list. Blood, sex, psychosis, and all the other things that make a genre film exciting were there, all infused with a song.
This debut feature film, directed by Patrick Kennelly–co-written by Kennelly and Sigrid Gilmer–centers on Jill (Bethany Orr), a young woman who has struggled to find her footing in Los Angeles. She’s become a shut-in, much to the frustration of her beautiful and outgoing roommate Jennifer (Mary Loveless). Jennifer is highly critical of Jill and her inertia, and often targets her with abusive comments. Jennifer rationalizes her cruelty as being direct and no nonsense, but it chips away at Jill until she snaps one day and chains Jennifer to a wall. While Jill descends into madness, Jennifer’s chances of surviving the ordeal grows increasingly unlikely.
Read MoreRocky Balboa is up there with Superman as one of the greatest fictional characters of the 20th century, the original Rocky is generally considered one of the greatest American movies ever made. It spawned a franchise with an inspiring but uneven legacy. Watching Rocky IV, the character, though still written and portrayed by Sylvester Stallone, is unrecognizable compared to who he was in the first couple of films. Rocky V was an attempt to correct that, but was deeply flawed and very poorly received. To this day, when most people think of Rocky, they think of the utter ridiculous that was Rocky IV. Even if Rocky V was a much better film, I still do not believe it would have been embraced at the time of its release due to audience expectations of what a Rocky film should be. The franchise was all but dead (as the character would have been if Stallone went with his initial idea to have Rocky die at the end of the fifth film). Fortunately the failure of Rocky V paved the way for the sublime Rocky Balboa in 2006. No one, myself included, expected the film to be much of anything. Stallone wisely used that perception to his advantage, crafting the most fitting companion piece to the original film and giving the character a most deserved and well-earned send-off. But just as Rocky’s story comes full circle, the story of Adonis Creed begins.
Read MoreThe story of a girl and her monster is perhaps one of the most classic horror stories of all. There’s Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Bride of Frankenstein. These are stories of need, of love, acceptance and connection. The monster is at first reviled, then loved in some way, lest he have his revenge.
I recently connected with filmmaker and artist Akiz to discuss his latest project, Der Nachtmahr, a story not so dissimilar from these classic tales. A German horror/coming of age hybrid, the film is the tale of Tina, a girl who may or may not be losing her mind. Or perhaps more simply, experiencing her last phase of puberty. When a little monster appears, a curious creature that at first scares her, then intrigues her, things start to get very weird. Is the monster real? Is it a figment of her imagination? Is it connected to her is some way? The result is a fascinating, engaging entry into the subgenre that I won’t soon forget.
Read MoreStanding out among the glut of indie horror films is never an easy task. A strong trailer is typically a safe and effective way to grab audiences’ attention and build buzz, but every film has a trailer. It’s hardly unique. Perhaps that is why I was so pleasantly surprised to hear about the upcoming film Excess Flesh not from a trailer, but a music video.
Music video tie-ins to films were prevalent throughout much of the 90s, garnering frequent airplay on MTV and showing off a hard-to-ignore tune folks would find in the film once it was in theaters. In that tradition, Patrick Kennelly, the director of Excess Flesh, and the film’s composer Jonathan Snipes teamed up to create this excellent video for the track “I Don’t Race” featuring the film’s star Mary Loveless.
Read MoreThe Witch is a calculatedly slow burn. It’s setting is one of serenity, deep-wooded seclusion, of stark, eerie isolation. It takes place in the time of the pilgrims and folklore, of god, suspicion and lawlessness. This is how American life came to be.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie because few horror films with such an audacious setup have succeeded. There are none that come to mind, in fact. And yet with an unflinching confidence, first time film director/writer Robert Eggers takes us on an unsettling, terrifying journey into the deterioration of one family’s way of life. It is a bold, surprising, and dare I say, original, modern genre film.
Read MoreAs a serious film fan and admitted cinefile (fine, nerd), there are fews movies that leave such a strong impression on me. I love extreme cinema, and the weirder and/or more unusual and mind-blowing, the better. I like the rush of something new and shocking, a journey so original that I’m left speechless.
Walking into Green Room, the only thing I really knew was that Anton Yelchin and Patrick Stewart were both in it. What starts off as an innocent, though slightly scuzzy, road trip film quickly turns into a claustrophobic bloodbath with a single turn of the screw. When the credits rolled and my speech returned, I was left with two words: holy and shit. This is one of those movies that come around once in a decade, leaving legions of film fans raving mad for more.
Read MoreAcclaimed Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn is no stranger to Fantastic Fest, appearing in 2013 with Jodorowsky’s Dune and again last year for the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn directed by his wife Liv Corfixen. He returned once again this year with Fantastic Fest serving as the perfect launching pad for his new book Nicolas Winding Refn: The Act of Seeing.
Read MoreWill (Logan Marshall-Green) is invited to a dinner party thrown by his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) in the home they once shared. Neither Will nor the rest of the guest list has seen Eden in two years, not since she attempted suicide following the accidental death of their young son. Both Will and Eden have moved on: Will brings along his new girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi); Eden is remarried to David (Michiel Huisman), someone she met during her recovery. The reunion of Will and Eden, along with their closest friends, is expected to be painful, but even Will can’t expect what comes next.
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