Fantastic Fest 2012: The Reviews and Awards Are In

Published on October 1st, 2012 in: Film Festivals, Horror, Movies |

By Less Lee Moore

fantastic fest 2012 poster

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: June 29, 2012

Published on June 29th, 2012 in: Assemblog, Copyright/Piracy, Horror, Movies, Music, Science and Technology, Science Fiction, TV |

gwdt final title
Image from The Art Of The Title

New this week on Popshifter: an attempt to answer the question regarding sex, violence, and horror in movies: Are we short-charging the teens?; reviews of new releases by Jesca Hoop, DIIV, Ty Segall Band, and Neneh Cherry & The Thing; in praise of singer/songwriter Gillian Welch; and a look at a 1974 John Lee Hooker concert now on DVD.

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Assemblog: June 1, 2012

Published on June 1st, 2012 in: Assemblog, Horror, Movies, Music, Trailers |

holy motors
Holy Motors, 2012

New on Popshifter this week: a review of Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life and the highly anticipated Prometheus. There are also fifteen (!) new articles from our May/June issue, True Patriot Love.

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