Like anyone or anything just beginning to recover from the metaphoric or literal ravages of a global pandemic, the 2022 iteration of …
Author: Tony Kay
Foo Fighters Go to Hell (sort of) in Studio 666
In an era where artists like Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake engineer their crossover film success with algebraic levels of calculation, there’s something almost endearing about a big rock band farting out a schlocky horror comedy as their first fictional feature. So the scrappy contrarian in me was rooting hard for Studio 666, the debut narrative showcase for arena-alternative rock band Foo Fighters.
Tony’s Favorite Films of 2021
If there is a unifying trait to my favorite films of the year, it’s that I either saw them in a theater, or that they offered the kind of visual storytelling that richly merited viewing them on a theater screen. Wonderful as streaming is, there’s a seismic visceral impact to meeting a movie on its own terms, in a darkened theater. And the ten films that most rocked my world in 2021 richly deserved presentation in that forum.
Emotional catharsis and dark fantasy inform The Blazing World
Any truly personal and genuinely ambitious film that manages to get made in this safe-bet, profit-driven cinema landscape deserves a round of applause. And The Blazing World, actor Carlson Young’s feature film directorial debut, possesses both ambition and a decidedly personal touch in spades.
Dachra Treads Familiar Ground with Fearsome Panache
Scores of film buffs in the west know and love Tunisia, whether they realize it or not. The North African country’s enjoyed a rep as a popular location for outside movie productions for decades. Its arid but picturesque deserts provided suitably exotic backdrops for scores of international hits, including Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Star Wars series, The English Patient, and many more.
SIFF 2021, WTF Division: Censor, Strawberry Mansion, Too Late, Get the Hell Out!, and the Horror Shorts program
SIFF’s midnight screenings comprise some of my favorite experiences in a movie theater (usually The Egyptian) over the last two decades. That made looking at the 2021 Fest’s crop of WTF (Weird! Terrifying! Fantastic!) entries a bit of a bittersweet experience.
Will your day be enhanced if you watch Enhanced?
Expect some goofy, cheap genre fast food fun, served up with a smidge of polish and not much else, and you won’t be disappointed.
Martha: A Picture Story is worth a Thousand Words
Martha: A Picture Story (2019 | Australia | 82 minutes | Selina Miles) Everyone’s a photographer now. And thanks to our cell …
The Mimic aims for absurdist screwball heights
The Mimic (2021 | USA | 82 minutes | Thomas F. Mazziotti) The Mimic doesn’t feel very much like a modern movie, …
I Blame Society brings on the gruesome giggles
I Blame Society (2021 | USA | 85 minutes | Gillian Wallace Horvat) Dark times tend to give birth to dark comedies. …