CINEFANTASTIQUE HORROR, FANTASY, & SCIENCE FICTION PODCAST – v1n4: ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Dan Persons, Steve Biodrowski, and Lawrence French follow Tim Burton down the rabbit hole, analyzing his live-action redo of the Disney animated classic, ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Is it Burton at his best – or another blunder? Does it surpass the original, or does it fall flat as a knave of hearts? Also on the bill, [...]

Read More About - CINEFANTASTIQUE HORROR, FANTASY, & SCIENCE FICTION PODCAST – v1n4: ALICE IN WONDERLAND »

ell, “next to” the Spirit Awards might be more accurate. We weren’t actually at the ceremonies, but over the past year we’ve been fortunate enough to cover a fair number of the 2010 winners.
So if the acceptance speeches didn’t get anywhere close enough to satisfying your curiosity about how these films came about, [...]

Read More About - MMP at the 2010 Spirit Awards »

Every now and then there’s a casting choice that seems predestined, a true chicken/egg situation. A role it’s impossible to believe wasn’t written with a particular actor in mind. Or a case where it seems cosmic forces must have been at play, birthing the perfect star for a role just waiting to [...]

Read More About - ReelzChannel Video: The Deppage Factor: Other Mad Hatter Perfect Roles »

Sometimes it feels as if 2010 so far can be summed up as an ongoing quest to avoid discussing AVATAR. (Okay, you want my one-word review? Meh.) Fortunately, a number of filmmakers have stepped up to offer heartening proof that the whole of cinema isn’t henceforth going to be consigned to the twin plagues of [...]

Read More About - Jessica Hausner on LOURDES »

Any science-fiction movie is predicated at least a little on the suspension of disbelief. But then there are points where what we’re presented with so defies logic, physics, or natural human behavior that the mind rebels. At that point, the credibility of an entire movie can be at risk.
For example, early in the new, sci-fi/vampires-rule-the-world [...]

Read More About - Top Ten “Oh, Come On!” Moments in Sci-Fi Movies »

To put it bluntly, the holidays bum me out. I don’t think it really has anything to do with the occasion — y’know, all that stuff about how we instinctively reject the incessant pressure towards merriment and good will (aka Holly Jolly Complex) — I think it’s more physical. The extended darkness and the plummeting [...]

Read More About - Kevin Heffernan on THE SLAMMIN’ SALMON »

So you go into this room at New York’s Museum of Modern Art’s Tim Burton exhibit, and it’s like striking gold: the Jack Skellington figure is there, along with a choice selection of the replacement heads that were used to animate dialogue; there’s the creepy, completely covered baby Penguin wicker stroller from BATMAN RETURNS; you [...]

Read More About - Tim Burton at MoMA »

Richard Curtis had a death in the family. I’d flown in to London to do the interviews for my PIRATE RADIO coverage, and the director was at the top of my list. Some things, though, take precedence over spending fifteen minutes with a dumpy New York journalist, and for Curtis, this had to be one [...]

Read More About - PIRATE RADIO Part 2: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Richard Curtis »

So here’s what I did on my class trip to London: shoot a video featuring people on the street discussing whether they preferred PIRATE RADIO or THE BOAT THAT ROCKED as the title of the latest Richard Curtis film; interview some of the stars of the film itself; and eat British airport pizza. Two of [...]

Read More About - PIRATE RADIO Part 1: Nick Frost, Talulah Riley, Tom Sturridge »

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the poster for TURNING GREEN lies. It showcases Tim Hutton, Colm Meaney, and Allesandro Nivola, but while they’re prominent figures in the film, it ain’t about them. Off in the lower right, with his back turned towards the camera, there’s your protagonist: A teenage boy, [...]

Read More About - Michael Aimette and John G. Hofmann on TURNING GREEN »