Vampires in Staten Island? It's 'What We Do in the Shadows,' premiering at SXSW 2019.
Read More »Leo Sopicki
SXSW 2019 Preview: Film, Music, Culture and Faster, Maybe
As SXSW enters its 33rd year, the event promises to be bigger, more exciting, and include changes to the mechanics to make it easier and faster to get to the events you want to see. SXSW began as a music festival, added film, then just kept growing. If it’s inspiring, …
Read More »Concert Review: Marty Haggard – A Tribute to My Dad
Marty Haggard brings us joy and memories with his concert, “A Tribute to My Dad, Merle Haggard.”
Read More »Indie Filmmaking: Getting the Cart Before the ‘Black Sheep’
“Getting the cart before the horse” is an English idiom dating back to the 16th Century. It means to do things in the wrong order. In the independent filmmaking world, however, this might be a good idea. In the case I’m considering, two highly creative filmmakers put the cart before …
Read More »Austin Film Fest Film Review: ‘Clara’ Wins Best Narrative
Clara, a sci-fi film, won the Jury Best Narrative Feature award at the Austin Film Festival. The festival, which ran October 25 – November 1, screened more than 180 films, and brought screenwriters and filmmakers together to celebrate the role of the screenplay in film and television. Clara, written by …
Read More »Austin Film Fest Film Review: ‘Ben is Back’ will Shake You Up
Ben is Back is one of those films that break rules and still entertains. Entertain is too mild a word for this film. It grabs you and shakes you and doesn’t let go for 103 minutes. The film was a featured event – The Centerpiece Film – at the Austin …
Read More »Austin Film Fest Film Review: Laughing at ‘Original Sin’
You shouldn’t really laugh at sin. Unless, it was the film Original Sin (Pecado Original), part of the Comedy Vanguard series at the Austin Film Festival, which ran October 25 – November 1. The festival showed over 180 films and brought screenwriters and filmmakers together to celebrate the role of …
Read More »Fantastic Fest Film Review: Really Good ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’
On closing night Fantastic Fest treated attendees to some Bad Times at the El Royale, an almost film-noir by writer/director Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods, The Martian). Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the country shows horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and unusual films that don’t necessarily …
Read More »Fantastic Fest Film Review: ‘An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn’
Fantastic Fest welcomed back festival alumnus writer/director Jim Hosking for his second feature film, An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn. Fantastic Fest ran Sept 20-27, in Austin, Texas, at the Alamo Drafthouse Theater – South Lamar. It bills itself as the largest genre film festival in the country showing horror, …
Read More »Fantastic Fest Film Review: ‘Halloween’ – Not the One from 1978
This sequel to the original slasher flick which introduced the world to Michael Myers exceeded my expectations and the crowd reacted enthusiastically.
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