Take a minute to think about this question: who inspires you? For many, there are different answers and several of you can probably cite a laundry list of individuals who fit the role. No matter who helps motivate you – be they real or fictitious, young or old, familiar or not – just one small change can affect the trajectory of our life. It’s probably safe to say we all are and have been inspired by someone in a special or important way. In an era where superheroes dominate pop cutlure, there is another kind of hero we are happy to call attention to in this post: teachers. There are…
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Interview…Composer Fernando Velázquez on the Sophistication and Simplicity to ‘Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow’
I don’t know if anyone else has been keeping track of what’s hit screens in 2023, but we’ll just count down a few extraordinary or otherwise noteworthy releases. We got Barbie, The Flash, a new Ninja Turtles, the next Mission: Impossible, the last Indiana Jones, and before the end of the year, we’ll get a Dune sequel, a Willly Wonka prequel and a…wait for it…a David Fincher film, a Ridley Scott film, a Martin Scorsese film, annnd a Hayao Miyazaki film. Let that sink in as this is just a hint of the callbacks to a year that really and truly had it all. But one kind of film that…
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Interview…Director Conor Allyn on Themes, Identity, and Location Shooting on ‘In the Fire’
We spoke with writer/director and former Dallas native Conor Allyn about his work on this captivating new feature from Saban Films. In the Fire is an affecting story, one that walks more than one direction; it’s a spiritual movie, heavy on drama/suspense, and even touches on horror so it will certainly keep you questioning it until the end. But it’s also surprising how captivating the film can be with just three leads. One element which elevates the intensity of the film is the cinematography and set design. Set in and amongst some gorgeous and nearly otherworldly backdrops of Italy and South America, Conor talks to us about location shooting as…
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Interview…Jasmine Myra on Spiritual Jazz, Personal Journeys, and ‘Horizons’
As an art form, music does what it does best when it moves you. But just what does it move us to do? Do we climb a snow-capped mountain because we listened to Vince DiCola‘s music for Rocky IV? Do we enlist in the military after hearing “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood? What about when the music is so mellow, you just want to have a coffee with the person who made it and get to know them better? Well, that last one is why we’re here today. Jasmine Myra is a Leeds-based composer, saxophonist, and bandleader – while she may look incredibly youthful, make some no mistake,…
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Interview…’Jessica’s Big Little World’ Co-Creators and Star on Inspiration, Messages and Growing Up
Ask any kid what’s the biggest challenge about being a “kid”, and they’ll probably say it’s not being big. So enter a highly creative and adorable show from Cartoon Network about that very thing. From the creators of Craig of the Creek comes a show all about Craig’s lovable little sister, the one-and-only Jessica. Jessica’s Big Little World hooks you quickly, and it’s because of the material. Sure, it’s a kids show, but it’s about relevant topics to very young kids. With touches of fantasy and lots of fun it deals with role models, responsibility, and then the biggest hurdle for any kid: doing things themselves. It’s not about geography,…
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…Director Francis Galluppi on ‘Last Stop In Yuma County’
I sat down with Francis Galluppi to discuss his first feature film, a neo-noir (do not call it a western) pressure cooker that I really loved. How can you not be intrigued by this log line or the clever poster below? “When a traveling knife salesman is forced to wait for fuel at an isolated rest stop, violence erupts around him when two bank robbers arrive during their getaway from a big heist.” We discussed his unexpected inspirations, the injury that kickstarted his filmmaking career, and the amazing cast he collected for this film.
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…’Spooktacular!’ Documentary Team
Long before Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, there was Spooky World. Spooktacular! tells the story of America’s first Halloween Theme Park and the people behind it. This includes employees, guests, and horror icons that played a part in the park’s history including Tom Savini, Linda Blair, Kane Hodder, and Robert Englund. I sat down with the team behind the documentary to discuss the process and the passion involved: Quinn Monahan (Director), Gail Jorden (Writer), Anthony Landry (Halloween Event Historian/Producer), and David Bertolino (Hauntrepreneur/Founder). This makes for a great Halloween season watch and will join the list of past Fantastic Fest haunt documentaries such as American Scream, and Haunters: the Art of…
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Fantastic Fest 2023…Day 1 Recap
Editor’s Note: We’d like to introduce our newest contributor, Atlanta-based cinephile Alex Spivey covering this year’s Fantastic Fest. Hi, everyone! Alex here, bringing you all the fun and mayhem happening in Austin this Fall. 2023 marks the 18th year that the best damn fest in the world has been celebrating and pushing genre cinema. Over the years, I’ve been here to witness the calamity, insanity, brutality and hilarity from filmmakers like Scott Derrickson, Bong Joon Ho, David Gordon Green, Rian Johnson and many, many others. This year Austin is again flooded with spectacular titles (and Secret Screenings!) that pull no punches, and the opening night film of this year’s fest…
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G-S-T Review…’A Million Miles Away’
In the past ten or so years, one of the more resonant film quotes that I hope rings out to young children across the globe is from Disney’s Zootopia. You have to love that inspiring and simple phrase, “anyone can be anything!” Well, when it comes to movies, especially fanciful children’s yarns, not everybody gets to live out their dream, find the treasure, or have an ambitiously emotional dance number to save the farm. But whoever says dreams don’t come true has never heard of one Jose Hernandez – the astronaut and real life hero highlighted in Prime Video’s A Million Miles Away. The words “unforgettable” and “inspirational” get thrown…
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Music Review…’Severance’ Soundtrack Is Chock-Full of Lumon Goodies
If you’re a fan of soundtracks and film scores, the team at Mondo has you covered. They take great pride in crafting physical media, they produce vinyl with audiophiles in mind, and they also care about the packaging. Like a lot! In fact, their slipcases have just as much detail as their amazing posters. Yet the cool thing about their albums is that the team gets to do way more than silk screen their work on foil variants. Albums give these artists/creatives a smaller yet more complex canvas than a poster and the team tries their darnedest to use every square inch (inside and out) to tell their story. The…
