By Elias Savada. Two-thirds broad comedy, one part chase film, it’s also a gimmick and an enjoyable bromance. Yeah, this is one nutty film. Its premise revolves around a famous actor named Nick Cage, played by the real Nicolas Cage. Two-thirds broad comedy, one part chase film, it’s not the […]
You Can’t Stop a Wave: Lorcan Finnegan’s The Surfer
By Jonathan Monovich. For its Australian setting and premise of a man’s descent into insanity, The Surfer unsurprisingly has similarities to the late Ted Kotcheff’s Wake in Fright (1971), but the charm of The Surfer comes from its overt love for Frank Perry’s The Swimmer (1968)….” Though marketed as a […]
Things They Don’t Do on Broadway: Selections from the 59th Chicago International Film Festival
By Jonathan Monovich. Reporting from the U.S.’s ‘Second City,’ the home of the North America’s longest running film festival….” The Chicago International Film Festival is the longest running film festival in North America. This year marks the festival’s 59th anniversary. Founded by Michael Kutza, the history of the festival is […]
New Voices During Labor Unrest: Selections from the 48th Toronto International Film Festival
By M. Sellers Johnson. The presence of exceptional domestic screenings surely attests to the saliency of the Canadian film industry – a reminder of the importance of local creatives, amidst the large collection of international filmmakers and audiences.” In the early weeks of September, Toronto found itself once more engulfed […]
Living Through Hell on Wheels: Yuval Adler’s Sympathy for the Devil (2023)
By Thomas M. Puhr. Cage enthusiasts might get a kick out of this film’s meager offerings (if you managed to make it through Willy’s Wonderland, then this one should be a cinch). Others may find themselves daydreaming about Collateral or The Hitcher. If you’re going to set your film almost […]
Remember When I Killed You, Darling? Darren Lynn Bousman’s Death of Me
By Thomas Puhr. Wicker Man retreads can be a lot of fun…. but Bousman lacks the compositional sophistication of an Ari Aster or the confrontational gender politics of a LaBute.” A husband and wife vacationing in Thailand wake up bruised, muddied, and lacking any memory of how they got back […]
The Language of Lovecraft: Richard Stanley’s Color Out of Space
January 24, 2020
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. To say that the US premiere of cult filmmaker Richard Stanley’s much-awaited return to feature filmmaking was one of the most buzz-laden events at this year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, is an understatement. On one hand this was driven by the enigma of Stanley alone, director […]
An Old Soul Gone Too Soon: Love, Antosha
August 16, 2019
Yun-hua Chen
By Yun-hua Chen. Paying tribute to the late actor Anton Yelchin’s life, this biographical documentary extends far beyond his acting career. As Garret Price’s directorial debut premiered at the Sundance three years after the freak car accident in 2016 which took Yelchin’s life at the age of 27, the film […]
Home Sweet Homicide: Mom & Dad
January 23, 2018
By Elias Savada. Nicolas Cage, like Bruce Willis, seems to be trying everything and anything to reinvent his career. Or find a wider audience, like the ones that once flocked to the back-to-back-to-back hits (The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off) which followed his Oscar-winning performance in Leaving Las Vegas, a distant 23 […]
Everything’s Game: An Interview with Filmmaker/Historian John Gallagher
September 13, 2017
By Melissa Webb. Born in 1955 in Flushing, New York, John Gallagher has been an integral player in New York City cinema and theater for over 30 years. Over the course of his career, he’s served as a director, writer, producer, author, historian, and educator. Notable film-credits include his 1997 cult-classic […]