There’s something depressingly relatable in seeing art about housing crises from other countries as it’s something that hits people so personally, knowing that we’re not alone. The sad part is obviously that it’s happening at all, with little social security, and this is the feeling that dominates The Tenants – […]
Pop Culture
Cuckoo (Fantasia 2024) (Review)
Cuckoos are brood parasites that lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species and, once hatched, the chicks are raised by the unsuspecting host parents, who frequently reject their own eggs and young as a result. To Gretchen (Hunter Schafer), a teenage girl forced to move to the […]
Hollywood 90028 (Fantasia 2024) (Review)
Whereas many will undoubtedly be raving about the wonderful selection of new premieres at the 2024 edition of Fantasia Fest for weeks to come – and for good reason, as its lineup is tremendous – I’d certainly advise genre film fanatics to not ignore the restored and resurrected titles on […]
Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs (2024) and the Long Legacy of His Father, Anthony
CONTAINS SPOILERS The shadow of Psycho looms long over many things. What would, say, the modern movie twist be without it? Rug pulls don’t come much more severe than the true nature of Mrs Norma Bates, let alone Alfred Hitchcock’s brutal decision to cut down his protagonist less than halfway through the runtime. Would […]
The Beast Within (Fantasia 2024) Familial and Familiar Take on Werewolf Legend (Review)
There’s no attempt to hide what the titular Beast Within is in Alexander J. Farrell’s first horror feature (co-written with Greer Taylor Ellison), which opens with the quote “There are two wolves inside all of us … they’re always at war”, followed by the classic “lone person killed by monster” […]
Dark Match (Fantasia 2024) – A Wrestling Picture for the Old-School Fans (Review)
The inherent contradiction of the most successful movies about wrestling (The Iron Claw and The Wrestler to name just two examples), is that they tend to be high-level productions that set their sights on major awards contention, which puts them somewhat at odds with the real-life sports entertainment industry they […]
Adrianne and the Castle (Fantasia 2024): Clinging onto a Lifetime of Fantasy When Reality Takes Over (Review)
Adrianne and The Castle is a fascinating oddity of a documentary from filmmaker Shannon Welsh, a fantastical love story told from the perspective of a fairytale that is sadly over. It follows Alan St-George, an artist and entrepreneur of a world famous mascot company, responsible for numerous iconic cuddly heroes […]
Alex’s 2024 Favourites (So Far)
I set myself a challenge at the start of 2024: see as many new films as I possibly can, whether that’s in the cinema, or any new releases in streaming services. Personally, I think I’ve done pretty well in that regard: 48 films seen in the cinema, a couple more […]
Fantasia Film Festival 2024 (Curtain Raiser)
In centuries past, wealthy eccentrics would sometimes entertain, shock, and astound dinner-guests by showing them collections of intriguing, and frequently downright bizarre, items known as “Cabinet(s) of Curiosities”; these could contain anything from fragmentary relics of dead civilizations to some crude taxidermied chimera constructed by sewing the torso of a […]
One Last Trip Inside No 9 (2024) Final Series Roundup
Binge-watching Inside No. 9 last summer is one of the best viewing decisions I’ve ever made. Within just a few days, I was three series in and the show had become one of my all-time favourites and, though some episodes are weaker than others and some of their experiments feel […]