A review of the new coming-of-age film, from the Fantasia Film Festival — Mark H. Rapaport’s tragicomic debut film Hippo takes place in the late 90s. Thanks to voiceover narration from Eric Roberts, we are introduced to Hippo (Kimball Farley) and his stepsister Buttercup (Lilla Kizlinger), an adopted Hungarian girl. They’ve had an unconventional childhood, to say the least. They’ve been raised almost…

A review of the new essay film, from the Fantasia Film Festival — When I was a kid, I was terrified of break-ins. I remember my parents listening to me say my prayers one night and asking me what I meant by “God, please protect me from both kinds of burglars.” (“The ones that kill you now, and the ones that save you…

A review of the new film, from its world premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival — Judy Greer has built a career out of being the best friend, the sidekick, the comic relief. She knows it; her memoir was titled I Don’t Know What You Know Me From: Confessions of a Co-Star. She’s got a pretty thankless role in Halloween (2018) and Halloween Kills as Laurie’s…

A review of the new horror film, from the Fantasia Film Festival — Cult horror icon Larry Fessenden’s new werewolf film Blackout is an odd one. For a horror movie, it’s pretty slow; the actual werewolf scenes are few and far between, especially at first. Much of the movie is spent on discussions of local environmental land-use studies and how they relate to…

A review of the new thriller, from the Fantasia Festival — I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of “trust” lately, especially on a societal level. Our trust in our institutions has been falling, of course, but I’ve been thinking about our trust in each other. The whole point of living in a civilization is that, on some level, we’re…

An interview with the writer/director/star of The Haunting of Hype House — Matt Farren moved to Los Angeles shortly after he turned 18, a little over six years ago, because where else does someone move if they want to be a filmmaker? “I’ve always known this is what I wanted to work on, and in,” he tells me over a recent Zoom…

A preview of six exciting films at the upcoming Fantasia Festival, from July 20 — August 9, 2023 — This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being covered here wouldn’t exist. I’m in full support of the ongoing strikes. To the best of my knowledge, none of the films previewed here were…

A review of the gritty crime drama, out of the Chattanooga Film Festival — Anthony Edward Curry’s new film TRAP depicts life on the streets of Asbury Park, New Jersey, a city that seems to be on the verge of total anarchy. It’s a kaleidoscopic, lyrical look at crime and punishment, full of elliptical, expressionist editing, gritty performances, and some stunning photography. …

A review of the new horror film, which played at the Chattanooga Film Festival — A few weeks ago, I reviewed Follow Her, a new movie where an influencer finds herself in peril while trying to film a YouTube video. In my review, I pointed out that the film’s climax felt familiar. “It’s executed well,” I wrote, “so I am tempted to write it off…