Category: Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Apostle [Fantastic Fest 2018]
Gareth Evans’ Apostle was, after Halloween, probably the movie I was most looking forward to at Fantastic Fest. Evans first got attention for his Indonesian martial arts movies, Merantau and The Raid, in which he coincidentally debuted an Indonesian martial artist named Iko Uwais, now enjoying his own very well-deserved fame. But it was when ...
Border [Fantastic Fest 2018]
Out of all of the movies I saw at Fantastic Fest, Ali Abbasi's Border stands as my personal favorite - One Cut of the Dead and The World Is Yours were more fun, Burning was more cerebral, and Apostle was far more frightening, but out of the dozen+ films I saw, nothing else even came close to Border for sheer cinematic magic. It was one of the ...
Level 16 [Fantastic Fest 2018]
Danishka Esterhazy’s Level 16 is a fascinating movie. It operates simultaneously as a legitimately affecting thriller that carries a heavy payload of dread, and as a powerful manifesto for society’s simultaneous worship, objectification and destruction of young women. The director came at this with intent, and her intent shows. This is a feminist horror story, ...
Fantastic Fest, Take Me Now
I emerge from my cool, damp cave into the blinding light of day, snarling at the burning day-star above. I take in the world of the living to which I have returned, and let loose a great cry: "FANTASTIC FEEEEEEEEEEST!" Oh, hi! Didn't see you there. After a month(!) hiatus, I have found my way ...
Review: Baahubali 1 & 2
While I definitely know what genres of movies I enjoy - fantasy, sci-fi and horror - I make a point to try and watch movies outside of my usual comfort zones, and I make a special point to watch movies from outside the vortex of Hollywood and US culture, so how the hell did I ...
Castle Rock is Off to a Great Start
Stephen King has achieved that almighty high that I think a lot of writers (myself definitely included) dream of; his world-building has grown so rich, so densely populated and fully conceived, that the world itself can stand as a complex, compelling character all its own - in this case, the haunted (and haunting) town of ...
Cinemaxica 