Festival Coverage
Sundance Film Review: Locke
I can’t believe I watched 85 minutes of a man driving a car, at night, by himself, without getting bored. Ivan Locke, played by Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises)—the sole visible actor in the film—begins driving home from a construction site the night before the biggest job of his career as a successful construction foreman. If I had known this film was just a guy in a car, I wouldn’t have seen it. The writing, directing and acting were all spot-on. I could have ridden around with Hardy and listened to him talk for another half-hour, at least. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Copenhagen
Shot in the beautiful city of (you guessed it) Copenhagen, Denmark, the film follows 28-year-old William (Gethin Anthony) as he searches for his grandfather with nothing to guide him besides a letter.
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Sundance Film Review: Only Lovers Left Alive
Only Lovers Left Alive is Jarmusch’s take on the vampire genre, and the Jarmuschian way of underplaying the “mainstream” draw is the film’s strength. Any violence and seduction that usually defines the myth is all implied. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Waiting for Mamu
In Kathmandu, Nepal, the children of convicted citizens are sent to prison with their parents until they are old enough to make it on their own or until their parents are released.
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Sundance Film Review: Lilting
Director Hong Khaou beautifully captures the unique story of Junn, a woman whose son—her only connection to the world around her—dies tragically, leaving her in discomfort and suspension in a rest home as her deceased son’s boyfriend, Richard, struggles to help her while coming to terms with his own loss and guilt. … read more
Think of the Children! Tumbleweeds Joins Forces With Sundance
With the Tumbleweeds Film Festival, now in its fourth year, already making waves with its age-appropriate programming with locals, the efforts of Patrick Hubley and his colleagues were noticed by an even larger organization, the Sundance Film Festival. … read more
DIY or Die: An Interview with Peter Baxter of Slamdance
“I think that over the years, the gatekeepers—the studio gatekeepers—have now become fewer, because I think with a film festival like Slamdance, the way that it’s programmed has shown that you don’t have to then be anointed, as it were, by a studio member to say that you can come in and now you can do this. Slamdance has played its part in helping to break down that barrier.” … read more
Salty Horror International Film Festival 2013
The Salty Horror International Film Festival was conceived by Mario DeAngelis four years ago as an avenue for local and international horror filmmakers to bring their dark and deranged ideas to cinematic life. … read more
The Voodoo Music and Arts Experience
Nowhere else will you see local legends like Dr. John and Preservation Hall Jazz Band perform on the same stages as worldwide phenomena such as The Cure, Nine Inch Nails and Pearl Jam, all the while catering to a younger culture of music lovers with headliners like Bassnectar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Calvin Harris and Paramore at the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans. … read more
Bonkers for Banzai: Anime Banzai 2013
The last panel I went to was “Mega Man: Powered Up!” and was by far the most heated panel of the three. Things got a little out of control when a man dressed in a full-on My Little Pony jumpsuit stated that Mega Man would always be superior to Zero, because supposedly they keep bringing Zero back, while Mega Man is a constant, which caused the other members of the audience to simultaneously start yelling that they agreed or disagreed with this guy’s theory, and why he was right or wrong. … read more