// Category Archive for: Movie Reviews

TAD Film Fest Review: Time Lapse

By Siân Melton

Real talk: time travel hurts my brain. Sometimes I sit and wonder about the logistics of it all. If I travel back in time, is there still a Present Me or did Present Me vanish? If the latter, what happens in present time without me there? And how can I, instead of Chuck Berry, end up responsible for the discovery of rock and roll music? I think that’s why I hesitate before seeing a time travel movie. Sometimes I can enjoy the story and time-travely-ness (very official) and not get too distracted by it and other times I’m all, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA.

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TAD Film Fest Review: Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

By Siân Melton

There’s no better signifier of a great movie than being more than willing to see it twice. That was the case with my love affair with Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. Sigh. Seriously, I have so much love for this movie. I saw it at Sundance and was so blown away by well, everything: the story, the cinematography, the music (the music!!), and of course Kumiko herself, played by the ravishing Rinko Kikuchi. There’s also a bunny, but I’ll get into that later.

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TAD Film Fest Review: Open Windows

By Less Lee Moore

Even though I’ve never seen Nacho Vigalondo’s Timecrimes, I’d heard enough good things about it to interest me in Open Windows. The premise was intriguing on its own: the story of an actress, a murderous stalker, and an unwitting voyeur all told through computer screens. The cast was also a draw: Elijah Wood and Sasha Grey. Unfortunately, Open Windows is a huge disappointment.

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DVD Review: The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill

By Brad Henderson

Man, I hope I’m not getting burnt out on found footage films. I can’t seem to find any that are halfway decent these days. Every week I’m faced with one and I just sit there wondering why the hell it feels like I’m watching the same thing over and over again. It seems out of 20 films I see I might find one that’s decent but those aren’t good odds. I’m actually not kidding when I say 20; I’ve watched about 20 found footage films this past month and only found one that I actually liked. The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill is not one of those films.

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DVD Review: The Scribbler

By Brad Henderson

Whenever I hear a film is based on a graphic novel I get a little excited. I love graphic novels and I have enjoyed the majority that have been turned into movies. When The Scribbler came to me I was pumped to watch it because it seemed like a weird and ambitious story.

Before I get into the film I will say this: Filmmakers, stop trying to copy Sin City, Watchmen, and 300.

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Blu-Ray Review: Raw Force

By Brad Henderson

I could go on and on again about how important Vinegar Syndrome is to cinema but I’ll refrain . . . for now. Instead, I’m going to attempt to explain the awesome and completely nutty Raw Force. I first saw this film about a year and a half ago and didn’t know what to say. It has everything that I want in old cheesy B-movies: comedy, action, boobs, karate, rocket launchers, zombies, weird parties, horrendous acting, people breaking ice with their faces. (Seriously, a dude breaks a block of ice with his face, but it isn’t for show; it is actually to get ice for a drink he is making for someone. I shit you not on this.)

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DVD Review: Dracula Sucks

By Brad Henderson

Today I watched John Holmes’s penis get bitten by a vampire. What did you do today?

In the ‘70s and ‘80s many pornographic filmmakers made pornos with stories. Whether it was action, horror, or comedy, there was usually a genre represented by more story and less sexy time. As a horror enthusiast, I get excited more ways than one when the porno has horror elements and Dracula Sucks has more horror than porno. . . and it is freaking weird.

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TAD Film Fest Review: Housebound

By Less Lee Moore

If, like me, your knowledge of New Zealand cinema is limited to Peter Jackson and Taika Waititi, then Housebound will both delight and surprise you. I went into Housebound with zero knowledge of the plot, but you should know that it’s essentially a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a red herring. Just when you think you’ve figured out what kind of movie it’s going to be, it turns into something else. Rather than being confusing, it makes the movie that much more fun to watch.

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TAD Film Fest Review: Suburban Gothic

By Less Lee Moore

Even though it’s a movie that still feels fresh and influential, Beetlejuice came out almost a quarter of a century ago. It’s no secret that many of Tim Burton’s biggest fans feel like he hasn’t done anything in the last 20 years to rival it. Those people need to see Suburban Gothic immediately.

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Blu-Ray Review: Nothing Bad Can Happen

By Less Lee Moore

The cruelly and ironically titled Nothing Bad Can Happen is nothing less than a hard kick to the stomach. Katrin Gebbe’s debut isn’t a horror film, yet it still horrifies. Nothing Bad Can Happen stuns and unsettles the viewer like the also-incendiary debuts of Maury and Bustillo (À l’intérieur) or Du Welz (Calvaire), yet without the gore of the former and the surrealism of the latter.

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