“We’re coming to get you Barbara!“. The 10th Annual Fantastic Fest is a mere two days away, which is reason enough to celebrate. But aside from that, the Fest will also be home to the first ever MondoCon! If by chance you’re a movie fan and have not heard of Mondo (or, egads, the Alamo Drafthouse!) it’s possible you’ve been living under a rock. Not to fear, we’re here to help spread their good word for both those wonderful companies. “Mondo” is an art gallery and online store devoted to a passionate love of film, art, music and toys. They continually champion vinyl releases and as we too are fans of keeping turntables…
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Final Wave of Fantastic Fest Programming Announced!
It is exactly 8 days and counting until Austin, Texas explodes from the awesomeness of weird and wild films, talent and fans descending upon on it. To make this year all the sweeter (aside from the first ever Mondo-Con), Fantastic Fest is back in the newly renovated South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse where it belongs!! This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Alamo’s film fest which the programmers are simply calling FFX. We’ve started looking at the line up and are as excited about the films as the filmmakers who will be in attendance. For now we’ll just drop three big names on you: Nicolas Winding Refn, Nacho Vigalondo and, woah,…
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Fantastic Fest Announces Work-In-Progress Selections and Film Previews for Latin American Genre Film Market
Today is the first day of September and that means we are just about two weeks from Fantastic Fest! We recently got our hands on a press release for some exclusive programming happening in Austin and it sounds awesome. Sure the Fest is home to the likes of Robert Rodriguez (Machete) and Ernesto Díaz Espinoza (Mirage Man) but the festival is further championing genre filmmakers from counties near and far. As such FFX patrons will get to view selected Work-In-Progress and Film preview projects for the second edition of Fantastic Market | Marcado Fantastico. The market runs from September 18 through September 20, 2014 in Austin, Texas. “These work-in-progress selections represent a broad range of…
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‘Nightcrawler’ to Close FANTASTIC FEST 2014!
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Fantastic Fest is excited to announce the second wave of events, special guests and film programming. Fantastic Fest 2014 takes place September 18–25th in Austin, Texas at the newly reopened Alamo South Lamar and Highball. Get ready to be blown away by Lionsgate’s latest action-packed thriller, John Wick starring Keanu Reeves, with a red carpet gala screening with Reeves and directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski in attendance. JOHN WICK is the story of a former ex-hitman who comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him. With New York City as his bullet-riddled playground, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a fresh and stylized take…
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MondoCon 2014: Panels, Screenings, Exclusives and More!
Looking at the calendar we are less than a month away from the 10th Annual Fantastic Fest. Based in Austin, TX the Alamo Drafthouse will not only be celebrating a decade of genre films but the first ever MondoCon to showcase their amazing artwork, vinyl and other incredible merchandise. The convention is set to coincide with the first weekend of Fantastic Fest on September 20 & 21 at The Marchesa Hall & Theater in Austin, TX. The first wave of films was released earlier this month and recently the Fantastic Fest website just posted tons of info about MondoCon. Panels and screenings will take place in the theater and the…
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Announcing The First Wave Of Fantastic Fest 2014!
The sleepy little town of Austin, TX has been home to lots of businesses and startups but, in the eyes of film fans the world over, the Alamo Drafthouse takes the cake. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Alamo’s film fest aptly named Fantastic Fest. If you ever thought that there’s nothing like the Alamo experience then you better believe a film festival under the same banner would be no different. We attended in 2012 and had our minds blow (check out our coverage here). So as the Fest kicks off next month (it runs September 18th-25th), have a look at the line up of spectacularly wild, weird…
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[USAFF Review]…Finding Neighbors
Director Ron Judkins draws from personal experience in his latest film, Finding Neighbors. His latest effort is a story about an author who has reached the end of his professional career. Caddyshack’s Michael O’Keefe (in the film) has rode out his wave of fame, and, over a period of 30 years, has seen all that the entertainment industry has to offer. Yet, after so much time, as he looks back he feels he’s been sleepwalking through it all. It’s only after waking up – three decades later, and in what feels like a hangover – he’s able to assess where he is in life. Suffice to say she’s not happy.…
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[USAFF Review]…Fading Gigolo
John Turturro writes and directs his fifth film, Fading Gigolo, and weaves an interesting narrative to say the very least. In short, Fading Gigolo is about John Turturro and Woody Allen playing, no joke, “a pimp and a prostitute.” Let that sink in, because you probably won’t believe it until you see it. No, this is not a ’70s revival film, nor is it a wacky Austin Powers inspired narrative. This is quite a sophisticated, upscale, and frank story about people looking for a connection, and a very particular one at that. With ‘Giggilo’ in the title, one might think that connection means sex and all the escapades that go…
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[USA Film Fest Interview]…’Frontera’ Writer/Director Michael Berry
Michael Berry is an actor and director of stage and film and most recently completed production on the feature film Frontera. Directed and co-written by Berry, the film stars Ed Harris, Michael Pena, Eva Longoria and Amy Madigan. Previous to that he directed and co-produced two award winning short films, Mira and Day of the Grackle. As an actor Berry appeared as an original cast member of the Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize winning “Next To Normal”. Other Broadway and national tour appearances include Les Miserables, Sunset Boulevard, Tommy and Mamma Mia. Off Broadway Mr. Berry appeared as Starbuck in a critically acclaimed production of Moby Dick, and was nominated for a…
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[USAFF Review]…Frontera
Michael Berry, an actor and stage performer in a past life, comes out of nowhere with his directorial debut Frontera. A gripping drama, his passion project follows on the heels of just two short films, award winning though they may be. Frontera is an emotionally gripping narrative about a family in Mexico struggling to make it to America, by any means necessary, and it is as taut as it is sobering. Over the course of the film each of the characters deal with extreme hardships – the family of immigrants deal with problems crossing the border (difficulties finding a guide, coming up with the money, putting trust in someone they…
