This may sound very old-man-shouting-at-the-clouds, but when did comedy diffuse itself into pretty horrible people enmeshed in uncomfortable situations abetted only by dialogue comprised of witty quips and abrasive reactions? That seems to be the shift of ‘funny’, and Claire Scanlon’s The People We Hate at the Wedding deals in this modern cache of comedy completely. If it’s not the most apt title for a … Continue reading Review: ‘The People We Hate at the Wedding’

Is it simple luck or does the adage that we make our own luck apply to the thin barrier between notoriety and anonymity? What creates a David Lynch or a Harmony Korine while the weird humanity of someone like Charles Carson (or thousands of others) is lost in the film (tape) strip abyss? Whatever the cosmic algorithm, perhaps Oscar Harding’s documentary A Life on the Farm … Continue reading Festival Files- Fantastic Fest 2022: ‘A Life on the Farm’, ‘Attachment’, ‘Lynch/Oz’

It seems every horror film nowadays has to be tinged through the lens of trauma. David Hebrero’s Everyone Will Burn takes that concept to wicked places, mixing in folk horror and telekinetic violence for good measure. If the film doesn’t quite completely escape its derivative nature, it does get points for trying. And it looks terrific. Taking place in a small Spanish village where an … Continue reading Festival Files- Fantastic Fest 2022: ‘Everyone Will Burn’, ‘Deep Fear’, ‘The Antares Paradox’

If a theme emerged in the opening night of Austin’s 2022 Fantastic Fest, it’s the manner in which young adults deal with grief and the general ugliness of the world. Whether it’s a cramped Japanese city on the verge of fear from a roaming serial killer or a perfectly manicured homes in Spain where an intruder has the tables sexually turned on him, both films … Continue reading Festival Files- Fantastic Fest 2022: ‘Missing’, ‘Amazing Elisa’, “Unidentified Objects”