October 27, 2021
Brian Fanelli
Austin Film Festival (AFF) - On paper, Spaghetti Junction has potential. The teenage protagonist is so lonely that she befriends an alien desperate to get back home and save his planet. It's never quite clear if the alien is real or a product of the lead's imagination. Regardless, it’s an interesting premise. The problem is [...]
October 25, 2021
Brian Fanelli
After serving twelve years for armed robbery, poor Jimmy (Jason Sudeikis) just wants to get his life on track. To complicate matters, his fiancé, Annie (Evangeline Lilly), is dying of lung cancer. There’s plenty at stake in director Aharon Keshales' South of Heaven and a lot of things that go wrong in Jimmy’s life, muddling [...]
October 18, 2021
Brian Fanelli
What if there was an app that allowed people to hook up anonymously without fear of consequence or being canceled? That’s generally the premise of The Beta Test, a zany thriller that plunges its protagonist into a world of paranoia, infidelity, and data mining. Jim Cummings stars as Jordan, a soon-to-be-married Hollywood agent who receives [...]
October 12, 2021
Brian Fanelli
Over the last few years, there’s been a wave of indie horror anthologies, a reboot of Creepshow, and sequels to Tales from the Hood. Even the V/H/S franchise is back. Most anthologies have one or two segments that are strong, while the rest are forgettable. That’s not the case with Grave Intentions. To my delight [...]
October 7, 2021
Brian Fanelli
I’ll admit that prior to watching Detention, I was unfamiliar with Taiwan’s “White Terror Period,” during which the repressive Kuomintang (KMT) authorities executed or imprisoned anyone they labeled a communist sympathizer while inflicting martial law that lasted decades. Yet, the narrative’s plea to remember the past and to live feels so, so relevant, considering the [...]
October 5, 2021
Brian Fanelli
It’s difficult to tell what exactly The Secret of Sinchanee wants to be. Is it a ghost story? Is it a detective story and thriller? Is it a film that leans into folk horror? The film contains all these various elements, with a bit too much plot stuffed into its run time. Steven Grayhm plays [...]
September 26, 2021
Brian Fanelli
What’s that old saying? The waiting is the hardest part? That’s certainly the premise of F.C. Rabbath’s endearing little indie movie, The Waiting. While the film may not have the uber budget of a film like Halloween Kills or Malignant, it still manages to worm its way into your heart through its likable characters and [...]
THAT COLD DEAD LOOK IN YOUR EYES–A Surreal Arthouse Thriller
SPAGHETTI JUNCTION–A Tedious Sci-Fi Journey–AFF
SOUTH OF HEAVEN–A Sentimental Crime Drama
THE BETA TEST–A Wildly Creative & Offbeat Thriller–AFF
GRAVE INTENTIONS–An Impressive Horror Anthology
DETENTION Is Hair-Raising Historical Horror
THE SECRET OF SINCHANEE Tries To Do Too Much
THE WAITING–Man Meets Ghost, Man Falls In Love With Ghost
THAT COLD DEAD LOOK IN YOUR EYES–A Surreal Arthouse Thriller
SPAGHETTI JUNCTION–A Tedious Sci-Fi Journey–AFF
SOUTH OF HEAVEN–A Sentimental Crime Drama
THE BETA TEST–A Wildly Creative & Offbeat Thriller–AFF
GRAVE INTENTIONS–An Impressive Horror Anthology
DETENTION Is Hair-Raising Historical Horror
THE SECRET OF SINCHANEE Tries To Do Too Much
THE WAITING–Man Meets Ghost, Man Falls In Love With Ghost
THAT COLD DEAD LOOK IN YOUR EYES–A Surreal Arthouse Thriller
SPAGHETTI JUNCTION–A Tedious Sci-Fi Journey–AFF
SOUTH OF HEAVEN–A Sentimental Crime Drama
THE BETA TEST–A Wildly Creative & Offbeat Thriller–AFF
GRAVE INTENTIONS–An Impressive Horror Anthology
DETENTION Is Hair-Raising Historical Horror
THE SECRET OF SINCHANEE Tries To Do Too Much
THE WAITING–Man Meets Ghost, Man Falls In Love With Ghost