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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Indiegogo Campaign: Ink Is A Body Horror/Creature Short Film That Needs Your Help

By Less Lee Moore

Although horror is often considered a masculine domain, there are many female horror fans who can quickly disprove that stereotype. One is photographer Ashlea Wessel, who is currently working on her short film debut, Ink. As a huge fan of monster movies, Ashlea always wanted to make her own movie; such cinematic ideals have frequently seeped into her photographs over the years.

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Blu-Ray Review: Cold In July

By Less Lee Moore

It’s best not to know a whole lot about the plot going into Jim Mickle’s latest film Cold In July. If you haven’t read the Joe R. Lansdale novel upon which the movie is based (like me), try not to form any preconceived notions from the tag line or cover art and just go with it. If you’re about ten minutes in and thinking, “Damn, this is just a whole bunch of stalker-revenge movie clichés that aren’t really doing it for me,” keep watching. There’s no M. Night Shyamalan-style twist, just a lot of well-crafted narrative turns that will keep your attention even after the movie ends. It’s that good, and easily the best of Mickle’s last three films.

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Music Review: Lowell, We Loved Her Dearly

By Less Lee Moore

You live in a man’s world, I live in my own world.
I tell you I don’t want you anymore.
—Lowell, “I Love You Money”

Imagine if there were a female singer/songwriter/musician who’s a Britney Spears-loving feminist, a former stripper who self-identifies as bisexual, and who has synasthesia. And imagine that her music is poppy and provocative and that she sings like both an angel and a banshee. That person is real and her name is Lowell.

Lowell first came to my attention earlier this year with her dynamic and delightful EP I Killed Sara V. (review). Its first track, “Cloud 69,” is a unique slice of sugary, sexy pop and like nothing else I’ve heard. We Loved Her Dearly contains that EP’s five tracks plus seven more and it’s going to blow your mind and break your heart.

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Music Review: Death From Above 1979, The Physical World

By Less Lee Moore

I can’t sell you if no one buys.
Point out your heroes, click and they die.
—Death From Above 1979, “The Physical World”

Death From Above formed and later added the 1979 (under a bit of duress, mind you). The duo released some EPs and an album. Then they broke up for a decade and during that time, didn’t speak to each other for five years. Eventually, they started emailing each other again and took steps towards reforming. They toured for a couple of years, including a set at Coachella in 2011. Now they are back with a second album of new material and as much as it pains me to say this, I like it better than everything else they’ve ever done.

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Music Review: Brian Reitzell, Hannibal Original Television Soundtrack Seasons 1 & 2

By Less Lee Moore

Fans of both Hannibal Lecter and Brian Reitzell will be thrilled by the recent release of nearly five hours of music from the soundtrack to what may become known as the most compelling interpretation of Thomas Harris’s iconic character, NBC’s Hannibal. With 27 tracks, one representing each episode from both seasons (and an extra track highlighting some of the music in Season 2’s killer finale), there is much to absorb here. Even those who have never seen the show, or who have perhaps avoided it because they can’t imagine anything living up to Anthony Hopkins’s cinematic portrayal, will be seduced by the exquisite sounds contained within this collection.

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Music Review: Merchandise, After The End

By Less Lee Moore

O nostalgia is just a looking glass
It’s for us to distort and mold
Won’t someone please help me
I’m too young to feel this old.
—Merchandise, “Looking Glass Waltz”

The first track on Merchandise’s new album is called “Corridor,” a stunning instrumental track that feels like the introduction to a concept album. While After The End is anything but, it’s not a stretch to imagine the band tackling something like that one day. They’re full of surprises.

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Movie Review: Honeymoon

By Less Lee Moore

Leigh Janiak’s first directorial effort, Honeymoon, wants very much to successfully blend the feel of an indie dramedy with science fiction films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t succeed in either capacity.

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