// Category Archive for: Film Festivals

Toronto After Dark 2012: American Mary Review

By Less Lee Moore

If you remember Jen and Sylvia Soska from their feature debut, Dead Hooker In A Trunk, their new film American Mary will provide plenty of pleasant surprises. It’s a remarkably solid effort for this pair of up and coming young horror filmmakers and one that bodes well for their future.

Mary Mason is a cash-strapped medical student who gets sucked into the world of strip clubs and underground body modification surgeries after a traumatic experience. Katherine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps) portrays Mary with an immense amount of subtlety and charm. She’s studying to be a surgeon and right away, her deadpan voice, sarcastic sense of humor, and fashion sense (including interior decorating skills) prove that she is serious and mature. Wisely, the Soska sisters (who also penned the script) have chosen to make Mary a convincing character, not a bimbo with a tacked-on med school plot device.

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Toronto After Dark 2012: Top Five Picks – American Mary

By Less Lee Moore

What:

American Mary: A disillusioned medical student decides to ply her trade in the shady underworld of unregulated surgeries and body modification with horrifying consequences. (Synopsis from the Toronto After Dark Film Fest website)

Who:

Written and directed by The Twisted Twins, a.k.a. Jen and Sylvia Soska.

Why:

At the risk of restating the oh-so-obvious, women do not frequently get taken seriously in the film industry, especially in genre films. Although there are many strong female characters throughout the history of horror, there are more Final Girls and Scream Queens than horror heroines, much less writers and directors. The film also boasts women behind the camera including casting, production, art and set decoration, production and costume design, and effects makeup. American Mary should ace the Bechdel Test.

Twins Jen and Sylvia Soska were born in Vancouver, where they filmed 2011’s exploitation smash, the ultra-violent (and controversial) Dead Hooker In A Trunk. The appeal of a female Canadian horror director—much less two—cannot be overstated. American Mary received a lot of positive attention at this year’s Fantastic Fest, including the performance of lead actress Katherine Isabelle (from horror cult classic Ginger Snaps).

When:

American Mary‘s Canadian premiere takes place on Thursday, October 18 at 9:45PM.

Where:

Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West.

Toronto After Dark 2012: Full Schedule

By Less Lee Moore

Only one day left until the 2012 Toronto After Dark Film Fest!

This year’s nine-day event includes twenty feature films, many of which are premiering in Canada for the first time.

All the films will be screening at the glorious, newly remodeled Bloor Cinema in Toronto, at 506 Bloor Street West. Here’s the schedule:

Thursday October 18

Grabbers, 6:45PM
American Mary, 9:45PM

Friday October 19

Crave, 6:45PM
Inbred, 9:45PM

Saturday October 20

Shorts After Dark, 3:45PM
[REC] 3: Genesis, 6:45PM
Cockneys vs. Zombies, 9:45PM

Sunday October 21

Doomsday Book, 1:00PM
Lloyd The Conqueror, 3:44PM
Universal Soldier: Day Of Reckoning, 6:45PM
After, 9:45PM

Monday October 22

Grave Encounters 2, 6:45PM
Citadel, 9:45PM

Tuesday October 23

My Amityville Horror, 6:45PM
Resolution, 9:45PM

Wednesday October 24

Sushi Girl, 6:45PM
Dead Sushi, 9:45PM

Thursday October 25

In Their Skin, 6:45PM
Wrong, 9:45PM

Friday October 26

A Fantastic Fear of Everything, 6:45PM
Game of Werewolves, 9:45PM

For more info on the films, trailers, and tickets, please check the Toronto After Dark Film Festival website.

I’ll be profiling my Top Five Picks of the festival over the next few days, so stay tuned!

Toronto After Dark 2012: Full Lineup Released

By Less Lee Moore

Like I said in the interview with Paul Corupe and Andrea Subissati from The Black Museum, Toronto is a wonderful city for genre fans, especially horror fans like me.

The 7th annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival is quickly approaching. This year’s TAD Film Fest starts on October 18 and runs through October 26. TAD Film Fest has expanded from four to nine nights since its inception in 2006.

There are 210 features screening this year, along with 29 short films, many of which are making their North American or Canadian premieres and the list of features this year is spectacular.

The full lineup includes: A Fantastic Fear of Everything, After, American Mary, My Amityville Horror, Citadel, Cockneys vs. Zombies, Crave, Dead Sushi, Doomsday Book, Game Of Werewolves, Grabbers, Grave Encounters 2, In Their Skin (formerly known as Replicas), Inbred, Lloyd the Conqueror, REC 3: Genesis, Resolution, Sushi Girl, Wrong, and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning. If you’ve been reading my Assemblogs for the last few months, you’ll recognize quite a few of these titles.

You can watch all the feature trailers on the TAD Film Fest YouTube page here.

This year will also be the first for the Toronto After Darkcade, which will feature independent horror, sci-fi, fantasy, action, and cult video games.

The complete festival schedule, which includes all feature and short screening times will be announced on Tuesday, October 2, so check the Toronto After Dark site for details. You can also by all-access passes from the site to get the most out of the festival.

Fantastic Fest 2012: The Reviews and Awards Are In

By Less Lee Moore

Another Fantastic Fest has come and gone. Congratulations to the people behind all the films that won awards, especially Here Comes The Devil which won Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress in the Horror Feature category. A well deserved round of applause! (You can read my Here Comes The Devil review on the TIFF Vanguard blog here.)

For a complete list of all the award winners, check the Fantastic Fest website.

I’ve also picked my favorite reviews of each film that I’ve previously mentioned on Popshifter, along with a couple of movies that weren’t on my radar but which I now want to see, based on the reviews coming out of the Fest.

No doubt you’ll be hearing more about these movies on Popshifter in the coming months. Enjoy!

American Mary (Fear.net)
Horror Feature Best Actress Special Mention: Katherine Isabel

The American Scream (Indiewire and Theater Thoughts, because I couldn’t choose a fave.)
Best Documentary: Director Michael Stephenson

Antiviral (Complex)

Combat Girls (Twitch’s review was so wonderful it made me add this to my “must see” list.)
AMD “Next Wave” Spotlight Competition Winner for Best Actress: Alina Levshin

The Conspiracy (Very Aware)

Frankenweenie (Bloody Disgusting)

Holy Motors (Screen Crush)

Looper (Geek Nation)

Sinister (Bloody Disgusting)

Taped (Film School Rejects)

Tower Block (Fear.net)

Vanishing Waves (I am not posting any reviews here because the few I started to read were spoiler-heavy. Here’s the trailer again to refresh your memory, though.)
Fantastic Features Best Picture, Best Director: Director Kristina Buozyte
Fantastic Features Best Screenplay: Bruno Samper, Kristina Buozyte
Fantastic Features Best Actress: Jurga Jutaite

Wake In Fright (Another outstanding review from Twitch on this rarely seen Australian film from 1971 put this on my radar. Drafthouse Films picked up the film and it will play in New York on October 5 at The Film Forum and again in L.A. on October 19 at The Nuart. A national release will follow with VOD and home video releases in early 2013.)

Assemblog: September 28, 2012

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, 1970

New on Popshifter this week: I strongly recommend Richard Crouse’s new book Raising Hell: Ken Russell and the Unmaking of The Devils; a concerned citizen lays down some rules on proper Facebook etiquette; Julie can’t find a song to dislike on Gemma Ray’s Island Fire; Emily deems The Very Best Of Vince Guaraldi and The Very Best Of The Bill Evans Trio as “essential” and praises Timi Yuro’s The Complete Liberty Singles as a “wonderful collection”; Paul explains why only hipsters hate hipsters; and Jemiah has good news for people who don’t know the difference between “grisly” and “grizzly” in her review of The Wrong Word Dictionary.

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Assemblog: September 21, 2012

Grease 2: “Friday night . . . talent show!”

New this week on Popshifter: Danny calls Bob Mould’s Silver Age “flawless;” Cait thinks Coal Porters’ Find The One is “gorgeous;” Elizabeth Keathley introduces a new series on “linear television” I look at the art of Frankenweenie; chat with Andrea and Paul of horror lecture series The Black Museum; give you the goods on Fantastic Fest 2012; and review Jason Lapeyre’s great new film Cold Blooded.

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Fantastic Fest 2012: What’s It All About?

By Less Lee Moore

What is Fantastic Fest? If you’re a film superfan, especially a fan of what’s commonly known as “genre films” (horror, sci-fi, action, anything that doesn’t fit neatly into the mainstream), then you probably already know. For everyone else, I’ll just quote from the Fantastic Fest website: “Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. Fantastic Fest is held each year in various venues, but primarily at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on South Lamar in Austin, Texas.”

Ah yes, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Founded by Karrie and Tim League (who is famous for his zero tolerance policy on bad behavior in theaters) in 1997. It began as a second run theater but eventually became a first run theater specializing in distinctive and unusual programming. Although it now includes nine locations across the US, the Austin location is perhaps the best known, and it’s also Fantastic Fest central.

This year’s Fantastic Fest started on Thursday, September 20 and runs through next Thursday, September 27.

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Movie Review: Cold Blooded

By Less Lee Moore

Jason Lapeyre‘s Cold Blooded is only his second feature film, but it’s already obvious that he’s a director to watch. The film has a terrific trailer that gives hints at the goodness within; it doesn’t spoil anything but it does leave you wanting more. Cold Blooded is definitely more than your average indie thriller.

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The Art Of Frankenweenie: From FanExpo to Fantastic Fest

By Less Lee Moore

At this year’s FanExpo Canada, I was fortunate enough to take a trip through the mind of Tim Burton. No, I wasn’t shrunk down like Fantastic Voyage or anything. The kind folks at FanExpo worked with Disney and Mr. Burton to present an exhibit of the artwork for the movie. Since Frankenweenie will premiere at Austin’s Fantastic Fest tonight (and will open in wide release October 5), I thought it was a good time to share these terrific photos with you.

First some history: Frankenweenie was a 29-minute short Burton made in 1984. The story is about a kid named Victor Frankenstein who decides to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life after poor Sparky is hit and killed by a car.

Like the original, the full-length Frankenweenie is in black and white, but the new version is much longer and will also be released in 3D.

These photos do not do the exhibit justice. The detail was amazing and I literally wanted to play with everything there, even the fake Tim Burton desk.

Take a look at these images and don’t forget to check out the movie in October!