Oct
21
You gotta love an alien invasion film where the aliens make the serious mistake of trying to invade some council estates (read, “projects”) in London and discover that the street-tough kids there are not going to yield the territory without racking up a body count. That’s the idea behind ATTACK THE BLOCK, Joe Cornish’s directorial …
Aug
30
DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, the title urges, but you know they’re lying. There are things hiding in the dark, little things, nasty things, things that want nothing better than to drag you down, down to the caverns where they dwell in order to, well, let’s just say you won’t need your library card …
Aug
26
Guillermo del Toro says that, as a kid, he harbored great affection for the TV-movie version of DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, enough so that he and his friends used to creep each other out merely by whispering the name, “Salllllleeeee.” The years have passed and audiences have (maybe) become more sophisticated, but the …
Jun
30
Before everyone larks out for the long, long weekend, I just wanted to let NY’ers know that Marc Singer’s debut documentary, DARK DAYS is having it’s re-release at the Cinema Village starting July 1. The film will be out on homevid in a couple of weeks, but for those of us in Manhattan, seeing a …
Jun
24
I tend to lose patience with people who go the “words cannot describe…” route when they’re talking about something. There are always words, if you know how to use them. I gotta admit, though, GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9, the enigmatic debut work of filmmaker Robert Persons (no relation), is something of a challenge. A meditation …
Jun
10
Sex, violence and… gasoline? Yeah, that’s the blend you get when your setting is Kinshasa and limited fuel supplies make the stuff as good as gold. Riva (Patsha Bay Mukuna) knows: He’s just snuck into the Congo with a healthy supply of the stuff and plans to leverage it into a handsome payday. The problems: …
Jun
03
Shot on the proverbial shoestring over seven quick production days, DO NOT DISTURB is a curious little anthology film with some interesting names attached. Mali Elfman — daughter of Danny — wrote and produced, as well as starring in a couple of segments; Eric Balfour (SKYLINE) directs one segment and stars in another. Other helmers …
Dec
20
In the latest episode of the THE CINEFANTASTIQUE PODCAST, Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons attempt to build their own consensual reality after a viewing of Disney’s return to the gaming grid, TRON: LEGACY. Has visual artistry overrode engaging narrative in this sequel? Who should preside over the new, cyber civilization: a young, menacing, …
Nov
26
The triangles just keep getting more complicated, don’t they? In the new Peruvian film, UNDERTOW, fisherman Miguel (Cristian Mercado) is eagerly awaiting the arrival of his child by his wife Mariel (Tatiana Astengo), while at the same time carrying on an affair with his male lover, the artist Santiago (Manolo Cardona). But when Santiago dies …
Nov
08
It’s not really necessary that you be fully schooled in the great Australian action films of seventies and eighties — or even in American westerns — to enjoy Patrick Hughes’ RED HILL, but it wouldn’t hurt. Hughes has taken the immortal, mythic figure of the lone lawman standing up for decency and right in untamed …
