Yep. That’s really the title and just another reason why this festival has such a large draw and wide appeal, especially for those film fans who want something outside the norm. With Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman, writer/director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza makes a fine addition to the series of Grindhouse films that have popped up in the last decade or so. While some sub-par releases have diluted this fun throwback sub-genre and B-Movie revival, Espinoza, like he has with Mirageman and Mandrill, gives hope for the movement and an example for those who will follow his footsteps. There’s an authenticity that rises above gimmick or fun solely for inebriates, possibly because it’s…
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[Fantastic Fest Recap]…’Drawn and Quartered: Animated Fantastic Fest Shorts’
One of the many fun and surprising events at the 2012 Fantastic Fest are the three short film sessions. The animated shorts series, humorously titled Drawn & Quartered, was a mixed bag to say the least with wildly diverse mediums and surreal subject matter. Out of the 9 or so shown the following 5 were the real standouts for a variety of reasons…most of which were because they didn’t make the audience feel like they were have a bad acid trip (I’m looking at you Bobby Yeah and Follow the Sun…essh!). ————————————————————————————————————————————————— Attack of the Killer Mutant Chickens – Based in India, Mutant Chickens follows a team of expert chicken hunters dealing with…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…Sinister
From the production team behind Paranormal Activity comes Sinister, easily one of the scariest films since Insidious (which was also produced by the same people). Less of a jump scare factory, Sinister makes its bones with legitimately scary sequences that are mostly reserved. Add to that a tangible family drama and the result is a full-bodied, entirely creepy and moody thriller. Not for the faint of heart, this film has succeeded in impressing some of the harshest horror fans, many of whom call Fantastic Fest home. Ethan Hawke stars as Ellison, father, husband and famous crime novel author. Modeled similar to Capote’s work with “In Cold Blood”, Ellison is a true-crime…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…Frankenweenie 3D
Tim Burton has created so many fun and wonderful universes over the years. However, it isn’t until now, in the feature length adaptation of his short film of the same name, that Burton takes us to a place he’s rarely let us see – his childhood. Made purely with kids in mind, and as this is a Disney film, Frankenweenie is a heart-warming kid friendly flick full of Burton’s patented frights, fun and his distinctive look. Still slightly odd-ball, he goes a little esoteric and the result is a playful mash up of two things he’s very familiar with; his love of monster movies and the pressures of being an awkward…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…Antiviral
With this being his first feature film (beyond his two written/directed short films), like his father before him Brandon Cronenberg is no stranger to an odd style of filmmaking. That is to say with Antiviral, despite what Brandon says in the Q&A about not wanting to make a film like his father, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Right off the bat, family name not withstanding, Antiviral will be a tough sell for most audiences. Yet, underlying all the weird and macabre elements and a brutally focused performance from Caleb Landry Jones is something brilliant. Like Videodrome, this Cronenberg takes a common societal theme and analyzes it under such scrutiny that the result is a wild exaggeration of celebrity…
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G-S-T Review…The Perks of Being A Wallflower
In the feature film adaptation of the popular (and semi-controversial) young adult novel of the same name writer/director Stephen Chbosky recounts part of his younger life as puts a difficult time in his life on display for the world to see. A bold film told in a retrospective manner we, through a series of letters Chbosky has the main character write to himself, get to know and see life through the eyes of a troubled high schooler named Charlie (Logan Lerman). A kind of therapy for the author who lived through some of the events depicted this story is about balancing friendship against estrangement and inner turmoil. It becomes a fascinating…
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G-S-T Review…Liberal Arts
If you’ve ever mused on the appeal of Josh Radnor, Liberal Arts quite handily offers the most succinct, sincere answer possible. Why do people like him so much? Because he’s likeable. Maybe this is an unsatisfactory conclusion to a burning question for some of you, but regardless, it’s true. Whatever other qualities Radnor possesses as an actor (and a writer, and a director), he has amiable, if snooty and uptight, charm in spades. Whether he’s giving a physical presence to Bob Saget’s voice-overs in How I Met Your Mother or serving as the centerpiece and the architect of his own films, he’s harmlessly agreeable, though for some that could be…
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G-S-T Double Take Review…End of Watch
What’s better than one GST staff writer’s perspective on a film? How about two? For this round of Double-Take reviews, Bill and Andrew crack their knuckles and dig into David Ayer’s latest street cop drama, End of Watch: By Andrew Crump: If insanity can truly be defined as doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results, then Einstein would’ve immediately pegged David Ayer as a bona fide lunatic. Since his runaway success with Training Day in 2001, Ayer has done nothing but write and, more recently, direct crime films set in Los Angeles at large or South Central in the specific, crafting narratives that are embedded either…
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G-S-T Review…The Master
Sitting down to write about Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest cinematic marvel can make you feel inadequate. There’s so many things going on in this 138-minute film that it stays with you hours, if not days, after walking out of the auditorium of your choice. Putting that kind of experience into words can be disorientating. Yet, the film begs to be expounded upon and dissected. If you’re familiar with Anderson’s films, you’ll know the familiar themes here. The film may receive a lot of press and talk because the setting is based in and around “The Cause,” which seems to bear striking similarities to Scientology, but the film is not about that as much as it is about…
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G-S-T Review…Finding Nemo 3D
Andrew Stanton’s colorful and delightful film literally bursts off the screen in its 3D re-release. A massive hit for Stanton and the animation powerhouse, Finding Nemo significantly raised the bar not only for the studio but for computer animation in general. Impressive world building, Shakespearean like story and characters, the film is endlessly endearing and layered ever so subtly for the kid and adult audiences . Really it was Pixar finding their groove. It showcased hundreds if not thousands of dynamic digital elements, was the biggest jump in story and quality for the studio at the time and would further propel their meteoric success. It also made Ellen DeGeneres a household name (well that…
