Hey, GST fans. Today is a special day in Internet history. I’m proud to share with you that it’s been a full decade since I started this site! For this anniversary/editorial post, I wanted to write more than a catch-all piece recapping highlights from the previous year. Well, there is some of that below, but I hope this look back can also offer a way forward – tips along with lessons learned – for aspiring film journalists or hobbyists like myself. In a way, I’m speaking to me in 2009, and on that note, I can’t help think of Christopher Lloyd’s famous line from Back to the Future, “My God. Has…
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Video Interview…Nacho Vigalondo On the Large and Small Themes of ‘Colossal’
For years, Fantastic Fest has been a venue for independent and auteur filmmakers to showcase their latest features. 2016 was no different, as we saw stellar debut efforts from some talented directors (Nicolas Pesce for instance) and welcomed back friends of the Fest. Chief among them is a genre filmmaker so famous and beloved, he has been dubbed the unofficial mascot of Fantastic Fest. I’m not sure that anyone ever sets out to be a “mascot”, but Nacho Vigalondo is happy to oblige…he’s even gotten two themed tattoos while at the Fest if that tells you anything. Vigalondo’s style has endeared himself to many a genre fan, but he’s also…
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Interview…’V/H/S: Viral’ Directors Gregg Bishop, Marcel Sarmiento, Nacho Vigalondo
V/H/S: VIRAL screened at the 2014 Fantastic Fest, and fans of this horror anthology series just love it. Each segment offered something unique, dark and twisted and this leg of the purported trilogy really went for the throat. We had the chance to speak with directors Gregg Bishop, Marcel Sarmiento, and Nacho Vigalondo who share their experiences filming their violent, intense and jaw-dropping sequences. This installment might have fans and critics split, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Click here to read our review from Fantastic Fest. FYI, the bulb on our light kit went out halfway through the interview session. Instead of starting over, we decided to run with it and…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…V/H/S: Viral
Horror anthologies don’t come along all that often. But thanks to Brad Miska, fans of Creepshow, and similar short-form storytelling would no longer lament the lack of fantastic but short glimpses into strange horror themed universes. V/H/S, and its sequel, went all out and brought the idea of “found footage” horror to new levels. Depending on who you talk to, you’ll likely find people praising one film over the other, but each has its fair share of exceptional segments that stay with you long after lights come up. So here we are with an equally enjoyable and effective third outing which shows strong signs that this series has found its…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…Confetti of the Mind: The Short Films of Nacho Vigalondo
They say that there’s no experience like the cinema. Further, a film is all the more enjoyable in the company of like-minded film fans who get to share in the adventure together. It’s interesting, however, to sit through a series of short films with no theme among them save for one commonality – they all are wonderful nuggets from the brilliant mind of Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo. To put it simply, the man is crazy – crazy brilliant, crazy inventive, crazy mysterious, and crazy about his craft. Not sure who came up with it, but Nacho is the unofficial mascot of Fantastic Fest and his vision, ingenuity and inventiveness are…
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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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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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“The CineMagic 8-Ball” – In Theaters 03/08/13
When so many movies are released each week and trailers often seem better than the movie itself, what should one do? In this precarious situation, we consult the The CineMagic 8-Ball (TM) to help us see through the nebulous marketing haze. Doing so just might save us all a disheartening trip to the cinema and spare us the shelling out for $7 popcorn and ridiculous concession stand prices. See what the 8-Ball says about this week’s releases… ——————————————————————————————————————————————- DEAD MAN DOWN In New York City, a crime lord’s right-hand man is seduced by one of his boss’s victims and the two strangers, who are irresistibly drawn to one another, share…
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[DIFF Review]…Extraterrestrial
Timecrimes (or Los cronocrímenes) is perhaps one of the best loved time travel films out there, aside from Back to the Future, The Time Machine and Primer of course. In Nacho Vigalondo’s latest feature, Extraterrestrial, he treats us to a more humorous affair with a mixed bag of great romantic comedy-esqe tropes. There’s a lovely female lead, the unsure of himself male lead, even a quirky neighbor. But the difference here is that all those familiar elements are set against the back drop of an alien invasion. To fans of Vigalondo’s previous work, the Cary Grant/Merna Loy level of goofball antics in this film might seem like something out of left field, but that’s…
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Groovers & Mobsters Present: "Time Travel"
Groovers and Mobsters is back with another installment and today we focus on one of the most fun elements in the sci-fi genre; Time Travel. DISCLAIMER: Timecrimes (Los cronocrímenes) is one ultra effective and yet amazingly simplistic look at time travel. I have reservations about writing anything as this fantastic film benefits from going in completely blind. As such I feel telling anything about it would be a spoiler so I’ll keep this as exposition free as possible…although those of you who’ve seen it should know how great it is.
