Director Cyrus Neshvad’s The Red Suitcase is a heartbreaking story of a 16-year-old Iranian girl who is visibly terrified after picking up her red suitcase at the airport. She is seen to be lost in thought and taking her time to leave the departure lounge. What awaits her on the other side of the automatic doors is even more daunting than we thought. In the story, Neshvad uses the narrative as a metaphor for things the main character Ariane (stunningly played by Nawelle Ewad) faces culturally and personally; she does not accept how things are, the life her parents gave her, or the traditions that exist in her own country.…
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Interview…Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead Dig Deep into Sci-Fi with ‘Something In the Dirt’
Filmmaking dynamic duo, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead are scientific anomalies in cinema. Their stories are so uniquely their own and so much so, they find themselves at the forefront of the genre landscape. But they’re also at the forefront of their own cinematic lens. If infamous is when you’re more than famous, then “in cinema” means, they are actually IN the movies. Yet for all the intergalactic yarns that have endeared them to scores of festival crowds, they try to dive into people more than plots. And when they do, even something as seemingly simple as that becomes a huge hot pot of thought-provoking ideas and genres. Sci-fi, comedy,…
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Interview…Composer Theodore Shaprio on ‘The School for Good and Evil’, ‘The Pirates! Band of Misfits’ and Cracking Musical Puzzles
For more than two decades, Shapiro has been solving cinematic puzzles both light and dark. He scored some of Hollywood’s classic comedies—including Idiocracy, Old School, Tropic Thunder, and Dodgeball—with regular collaborators such as Paul Feig, Todd Phillips, and Jay Roach. He’s also cracked the code of political dramas (the Emmy-nominated Game Change, Trumbo), adventures both animated (Spies in Disguise), and unconventional (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), as well as sexy, stylish mysteries (A Simple Favor). Shapiro is like a character actor, putting on different musical costumes and adopting accents to disappear into roles much like Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which he scored with rays of…
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Interview…Composer John Debney on the Wicked and the Whimsical Worlds of ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ and ‘Luck’
One of our very favorite composers out there is John Debney. A great friend of the site, we’ve spoken to Mr. Debney over the years (including an awesome hour-long discussion about his unparalleled 40+ year career) and just love chatting about film, music and more. John has a true knack for scoring and because of his talents, time, and energy he has helped transform the soundscape of modern film music. Whether it’s a tent pole blockbuster or something more quaint and intimate, John digs deep, gives his all and the feature is so much better for his contributions. He’s also a chameleon; there isn’t one composer we can think of…
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Ohhh, Look… ‘Halloween Ends’ The Final Battle Featurette
After 45 years, the most acclaimed, revered horror franchise in film history reaches its epic, terrifying conclusion as Laurie Strode faces off for the last time against the embodiment of evil, Michael Myers, in a final confrontation unlike any captured on-screen before. Only one of them will survive. Icon Jamie Lee Curtis returns for the last time as Laurie Strode, horror’s first “final girl” and the role that launched Curtis’ career. Curtis has portrayed Laurie for more than four decades now, one of the longest actor-character pairings in cinema history. In this unexpected final chapter, set four years after the events of last year’s Halloween Kills, Laurie is living with her granddaughter…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…’The Visitor From the Future’
You can tell from the very first few seconds that The Visitor From the Future (Le visiteur du futur) is going to be different. And at Fantastic Fest, this is our kind of different. François Descraques brings his film to FF where it was met with applause, acclaim and plenty of split sides and ticked funny bones. In the story, young Alice protests against the construction of a nuclear plant created by her father and soon after a strange visitor takes them in 2555 – a future devastated by the explosion of the facility – in an attempt to convince him not to build it in the first place. It is…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…’The Banshees of Inisherin’
For those needing a change of pace, and prefer something with subtlety and substance, The Banshees of Inisherin is your cup of tea. Tea? Feck tea! In Ireland, they drink something stronger. So serve up a pint and prepare to enjoy every last drop of this hoppy, foamy, and delicious slice of cinema from Martin McDonagh. Set just about 100 years ago, on a fictional island just off Ireland’s west coast, we jump to the end of two characters’ lives – who never really had much going on – when one decides that the banality of life is just not enough. As time is slipping away for all of us,…
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…Jason Eisener on ’Kids Vs. Aliens’
Jason Eisener’s passion for fun filmmaking oozes right through the screen. Fun, furious and fast-paced, KIDS VS. ALIENS is like a kids playset come to life. An inventive alien abduction flick that really commits to its concept with the right amount absurdly over-the-top elements. If you love Treevenge and Hobo With A Shotgun, this flick offers is a wild look into what makes Eisener’s mind tick is one of the best playing. You’re gonna want much more. Promise! Enjoy our fun chat with Jason about kids, aliens, toys and Rutger Hauer’s improv. If you weren’t at FF this year to enjoy all the pint-sized fun, worry not. It’s been picked…
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…Carter Smith and Mark Patton on ’Swallowed’
Whether it’s at Fantastic Fest, or anywhere else, it’ll be hard to find a tighter or more claustrophobic narrative than Carter Smith’s Swallowed. With four key cast members thrown into a no-win scenario, it’s like a vice that tightens every second of this solid story. It gives me chills just thinking back on it. Of course it also doesn’t help (or maybe it does) that Smith shot this in 4:3 which only puts the characters that much closer to uncomfortable situations and Jena Malone‘s ferocity. That certainly amplifies the intensity and helplessness but man, oh, man it this a great ride. We sat with star/veteran horror icon Mark Patton and…
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…Turmoil and Family Terror in ’Spoonful of Sugar’
One of the best and biggest surprises of the festival is Mercedes Bryce Morgan‘s acid-fueled stunner, Spoonful of Sugar. People like to say that a movie sticks with them after seeing it, but in this case we really and truly mean it. Unsettling, stunning and serious as cancer, Spoonful of Sugar makes you question family, friends, even horticulture in a film that shows that monsters exist everywhere…even within each of us. But it also asks an important question: do we nurture a monster in an attempt to manifest the life that we want? Answer that how you will, but in the meantime check out the film which, in a mark…
