Fantastic Fest 2018 was one for the books. A blur of films, fun, and memorable experiences, it was the best 84 hours I’ve spent at a film festival yet. My time in Austin was limited, but I got a lot done: I saw eleven films, wrote four full reviews and sat for three interviews. The “quick takes” below are capsule reviews for a bite-size run down. Covering a festival means you have to split your time and put focus on what you feel is important and worthwhile. The brevity of each of these does not mean they aren’t worth seeking out. They totally are. I mean, if I didn’t like…
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Sweet Trailer…’13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi’
If there’s one filmmaker who makes the films that he wants to see, regardless of what the critics say, it’s got to be Michael Bay. A bit of a change from his standard overblown (emphasis on both over and blown) blockbuster fare, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is a slightly more sophisticated Bay film. We are fans of his Bayness and while it already looks like he’ll dazzle us with his visuals and cinematography, Steve Jablonsky is also on board to offer his musical energy to this pensive and action-packed thriller. Enjoy the first trailer below… An American Ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound…
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G-S-T Review…Parkland
For those of us who weren’t alive in the 60s, the assassination of John F. Kennedy was a very, very, very bad thing for the United States of America, and for the entire world. So bad, in fact, that Peter Landesman took upon himself the task of dedicating an hour and a half’s worth of narrative solely to convey that exact idea. The result of his blunt-force artistry is Parkland, a movie that bursts with promise on the page but never manages to fully live up to its latent potential on the screen; branding the film a total failure would be dishonest, but so too would calling it anything above…
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G-S-T Review…The Lone Ranger
Poor, poor Gore Verbinski. The man who made waves with Pirates of the Caribbean a decade ago, an unexpected hit in its time, will forever be chasing that lightning in a bottle. Sure the sequel Dead Man’s Chest was a step up but At World’s End was a bloated mess. Sadly The Lone Ranger shares much in common and suffers the same fate as the third Pirates outing that finds the story lumbering under the weight of the plot. It can’t get out of its own way and that keeps what should be a really fun time just out of reach. It’s a fun Western, something for kids and adults,…
