Upon first glance, this period piece, directed by Alexander Payne and set in a New England prep school over the 1970/71 Christmas break gives off a whiff of the boarding school classic DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989). Yet it quickly morphs into a very different film which goes in totally unexpected directions. The boarding school here […]
Author: Anna Hanks
Fantastic Fest Reaction – COBWEB
Kim Jee-woon is the mastermind behind this dark, dark comedy about the making of a film in 1970s South Korea. “Described as an experimental and genre-defying drama shot entirely on sound stages in support of a film-within-a-film narrative,” on IMDB, that only begins to explain the contours of this fabulous period piece. Here, Director Kim […]
TIFF and Fantastic Fest Reaction – SLEEP
Both myself (Jason) and my lovely writer Anna Hanks both saw SLEEP at the respective Toronto International Film Festival and Austin’s Fantastic Fest and we both had some very positive reactions! ABOUT: A marriage is tested after expectant mother Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi) awakens one night to the eerie sight of her husband Hyun-su (Lee Sun-kyun) […]
Fantastic Fest Reaction – THE TOXIC AVENGER
What do a big bad chemical company, an old school mop and sense of vengeance give us when they are combined? THE TOXIC AVENGER! The brisk and sprightly new film had its World Premiere as the Opening Night Film at Fantastic Fest 2023 in Austin, Texas. When making a movie based on an earlier property, […]
Fantastic Fest Reaction – SAW X
SAW X, the newest instalment of the 20 year-old Saw franchise had its World Premiere as the fourth and final Secret Screening at the 2023 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. (Though to be fair, it was a general but unsubstantiated rumor at the festival that Saw X was to be the final secret screening.) Despite […]
Fantastic Fest Reaction – SALTBURN
It’s a familiar tale: a poor student goes to an elite institution filled with the offspring of very wealthy families and desperately wants to be on the other side of the class divide. On first glance, SALTBURN is one of these stories. But the deeper you get into the exclusive and disturbing world, things are […]
TALK TO ME Review – Don’t Talk To The Hand
Where would horror movies be as a genre without teenagers making dumb choices about fooling around with the occult? We certainly wouldn’t have TALK TO ME, the new A24 film about how grasping an embalmed hand (ick!) and uttering a couple of incantations can pierce the veil between our world and the shadow world. Australian […]
JOY RIDE Review – Fresh & Funny & Totally Different
Every so often you will see a film that manages to do something fresh and different in a totally unexpected way. JOY RIDE is that film. It’s the girl gang, road trip, K-Pop, Asian -American raunchy feel -good, viral video comedy that we didn’t know we needed. This wild fresh comedy is the debut feature […]
SxSW Reaction: GOING VARSITY IN MARIACHI
One of the gala screenings at the heavenly Paramount Theatre this year, the documentary GOING VARSITY IN MARIACHI has had strong reactions from everyone we have met at SxSW has seen it. ABOUT: In the competitive world of high school mariachi, the musicians from the South Texas borderlands reign supreme. Under the guidance of Coach […]
SxSW Reaction: HYPNOTIC (Work-In-Progress Edition)
One of the big screenings this year was Austin’s own Robert Rodriguez celebrating the 30th anniversary of his first movie, EL MARIACHI, with a work in progress screening of his latest picture HYPNOTIC. Note that this is touted as a work-in-progress, but in this movie buff’s opinion this seemed pretty final except for possibly a […]
SxSW Reaction: SATAN WANTS YOU
Creating quite the stir around SxSW this year with a LOT of good reactions from people we have spoken to in lines and in seats waiting for shows to start, our Anna Hanks gives us a reaction for SATAN WANTS YOU from SxSW Film & TV this year. ABOUT: Satan Wants You tells the untold […]
THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER Featuring Brandi Carlile Review – From 70s to Now
Country singer Tanya Tucker has been part of the sonic landscape of America since the release of the iconic song, “Delta Dawn” in 1972, when she was just 13 years old. Since then, she’s been a fixture of radio, television and the tabloids (thanks to her very public relationship with a much older musician Glen […]
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON Review – Big Things Come In VERY Small Packages
The pandemic revealed that many of us have a strong need for companionship and close relationships and that we suffer when those things are removed. The feature film MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON is ostensibly about a mollusk named Marcel, but it’s mostly about the importance of family and community. MARCEL started life as a YouTube […]
SxSW Review – WATCHER
In the expat community, there is the problem of the trailing spouse. That’s because half of an expat couple usually arrives in a foreign country with a new job, a new office and new responsibilities. Meanwhile, the other partner, often a woman, doesn’t have a work permit in the county, doesn’t know anyone, often doesn’t […]
SxSW 2022 Review – The Return of Tanya Tucker, Featuring Brandi Carlile
Country singer Tanya Tucker has been part of the sonic landscape of America since the release of the iconic song, “Delta Dawn” in 1972, when she was just 13 years old. Since then, she’s been a fixture of radio, television and the tabloids (thanks to her very public relationship with a much older musician Glen […]