Fantastic Fest Archives - Awesome Friday!

11 September 202217 December 2022

Podcast: Pinocchio & Saloum

Greetings programs! We’re back after a two-week break with two new movies, one hot off the presses from the largest media conglomerate in history and the other finally seeing wide release after a successful festival run last year. First up is Robert Zemeckis’ live-action remake of Disney’s Pinocchio, followed by the Senegalese action horror movie Saloum. One of these movies we really didn’t like, listen to find out which and then watch the other!

You’ll find JustWatch-powered streaming links below, as well as our ratings, how you can listen, how you can support us, and all of our other content. Join us!

12 November 20218 January 2022

Book Review: ‘Warped & Faded: Weird Wednesday and the Birth of the American Genre Film Archive’ examines a specific film nerd subculture

Every city has its film culture, and every film culture has its devotees of the weird, the wonderful, ad the out there. In their new book Warped & Faded: Weird Wednesday and the Birth of the American Genre Film Archive, Austin Film Society (and former Alamo Drafthouse) programmer Lars Nilsen (with help from many Austin film lovers) explores that particular niche in Austin, Texas.

10 October 202117 January 2022

Awesome Friday Movie Podcast: ‘Muppets Haunted Mansion’ & ‘There’s Someone Inside Your House’

Greetings programs! It’s Awesome Friday, on a Sunday, because it’s a state of mind and not a time or place. This week Simon and I are talking about Disney’s new Halloween special, Muppets Haunted Mansion and Netflix’s new teen slasher, There’s Someone Inside Your House.

6 October 20218 January 2022

Fantastic Fest Review: ‘Mad God’ is a trip into a deranged nightmare. Do with that information what you will.

I don’t even know where to begin. Phil Tippett, a genuine living legend, has been working on Mad God in some way, shape, or form for literal decades. Conceived in the 1980s, shelved in the 1990s, and resurrected in the 2010s with the help of Kickstarter, the release of this film is the culmination of untold hours of artistry and technical wizardry. It features the kind of stop motion animation and compositing that we haven’t seen the likes of in ages.

Also, it is disturbing, disgusting, and deranged, and I can’t tell if I mean that in a good way, even if I don’t exactly mean it in a bad way.

4 October 20218 January 2022

Fantastic Fest Review: ‘Knocking’ has a great central performance

How do you deal with anything if no one will believe you. How do you proceed with life if everyone tells you that what you are experiencing is all in your head? This is the process of gaslighting, an abuser forcing someone to question their thoughts and beliefs.

From this place comes the film Knocking, in which a woman recovering from a devastating emotional trauma who is trying to re-enter society is forced by those around her to question her very reality. It’s a hell of a premise for a horror movie.

3 October 202117 January 2022

Awesome Friday Movie Podcast: ‘Lego Star Wars Terrifying Tales’ & ‘Titane’

Greetings programs! Welcome to this weeks episode of the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast. Join us for 50 minutes this week as we discuss two titles that couldn’t be more different: Lego Star Wars Terrifying Tales and Titane.

2 October 20218 January 2022

Fantastic Fest Review: ‘Barbarians’ is a brutal but familiar take on toxic masculinity

Imagine for a moment a dinner party. Four friends coming together after an absence to celebrate the purchase of a home and the beginnings of a new chapter in all their lives. This is the setting of Barbarians. It is a simple enough setup, and with the right characterisations and right narrative push, it’s the kind of setup that a compelling story can be told from, and Barbarians (mostly) pulls that off.

1 October 20218 January 2022

Review: ‘Titane’ is one of the most unforgettable cinema-going experiences of the year

Let me say that at least some of what you have heard about Titane is true. I can’t tell you which parts because I don’t know which parts you have heard, but yes, they’re true. They’re all true. This film is a singular work and one of the most original and absurd, and touching films of the year. While I can’t promise that it will work for all of you, what I can promise is that seeing it will be one of the most memorable cinema-going experiences you have.

29 September 20218 January 2022

Fantastic Fest Review: ‘The Trip’ is fun, funny, and mean-spirited as hell.

We’ve all been there. That feeling of being trapped in a relationship and not seeing a way out, knowing that you need to act but not knowing exactly what to do. The characters in The Trip are in this place, but rather than taking an ordinary course of action, they separately decide to kill each other. Things only go downhill from there, and the movie that follows takes this couple and puts them through the wringer. It’s brutal, and it’s problematic, and it’s pretty fun.

27 September 20218 October 2021

Fantastic Fest Interview: Junta Yamaguchi on his one-take time travel film ‘Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes’

One of my favourite films at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival, Junta Yamaguchi’s Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is now playing for US audiences as part of Fantastic Fest 2021. I had the opportunity to sit down with the director via zoom (and with a translator) to speak about the film.

25 September 20218 January 2022

Fantastic Fest Review: ‘There’s Someone Inside Your House’ is a solid teen slasher

Here’s a hot take: I love teen slasher movies. There is a wide range of quality in the genre, but mystery killer killing teens one by one is a genre that I almost always enjoy. There’s Someone Inside Your House is a solid entry in this genre, with some fun kills that will let you compare it to the classics, and a healthydose of Gen Z wokeness to make it feel more modern.

23 September 202121 September 2021

Heads Up: Fantastic Fest 2021 starts today!

Good news, everyone! Fantastic Fest 2021 today, September 23rd 2021 and runs through September 30th. Even better, I will be covering the festival (remotely) for the first time –albeit in a limited fashion.

The online portion of the festival will be geo-locked to viewers in the united states, so wherever I can, I will provide Canadian release information.

You can follow the coverage of the festival here on the site using the Fantastic Fest 2021 tag.

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