We are in dire need of tales about Superman that are more thoughtful and awe inspiring. Superman can inspire hope and heroism and act as an avatar for humanity, and “It All Goes Away” proves it. Director Zachariah Smith adapts the short Superman story “Sam’s Tale.” Penned by comic book writer Jeph Loeb, the story was written him as a form of grieving for his son Sam who, very sadly, died of bone cancer in 2005, just as he was beginning to break out in the comic book world. Originally titled “Sam’s Story,” Loeb takes a very contemplative look at Clark Kent living in a world where death is an inevitability.
Category Archives: A+ Indie
Tales of Halloween (2015) [Blu-Ray/2-DVD/CD]
Just in time for Halloween 2016 comes one of the best horror indie anthologies of the last six years. “Tales of Halloween” is a sick, demented, and fun ode to the thrill of Halloween and its mythology and brings together up and comers and veterans of the horror film world to spin their own twisted yarns concerning the holiday many horror buffs hold so dearly to them. Epic Pictures grants fans a wonderful box set edition that holds all sorts of goodies for them. The best prize of all is “Tales of Halloween,” a movie that pays tribute to everything fun and horrifying about the holiday with ten short tales starring folks like Lin Shaye, and Adrienne Barbeau who unofficially reprises her role of Stevie Wayne as the film’s Halloween DJ who narrates every story. The neat touch to the movie is that every story unfolds within the vicinity of a normal suburban neighborhood on Halloween night.
Swiss Yodeling: 30 Years Later (2015)
In 1984, documentary filmmaker Hugo Zemp traveled to Muotatal in the Pre-Alps region of Switzerland to create a nonfiction feature on the traditional local style of yodeling known as “yootz,” which differed in many aspects from the more theatrical yodeling presentations that most people associate with Switzerland. After restoring his film, Zemp decided to return to Muotatal in 2014 as a follow-up, and he connected with Bernhard Betschart, who was a seven years old in Zemp’s original production.
CarousHELL (2016)
I never would have believed it if I didn’t see it for myself. Director Steve Rudzinski is a man who is not satisfied with creating your typical indie fare, and while his films may be a bit rough around the edges, you’re almost always assured an original film that has a keen sense of what kind of entertainment it wants to be. “CarousHELL” is a movie I, for some reason, assumed was some kind of horror anthology, and boy was I way off. Not prone to just delivering a slasher movie you’ve seen a thousand times, Steve Rudzinski offers up a slasher movie you’ve never seen before. Duke is a sentient carousel unicorn who has spent years and years being ridden on by nasty, smelly, and ungrateful children.
DOOMED! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s THE FANTASTIC FOUR (2016)
This is the story of 1994’s “Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four.”
Adapted from the iconic Marvel Comic, the film iteration was made on a measly budget of a million dollars with a joint venture by Fox, Marvel and Neue Constantin Films. After casting and initial filming was conducted, “The Fantastic Four” was a highly anticipated film covered in major magazines like Wizard and Film Threat. After a long tour of fan meetings and interviews with the press, the cast and crew learned that their hard work would result in a film that was cancelled by the studios and never to be released. Shortly after, the folks that took part in “The Fantastic Four” learned that, much to their horror, the film was never intended to ever be released. Worse, much of the struggles to conceive a fantastic cinematic vision in a decade bereft of epic comic book movies were merely to secure the rights for the comic book property and nothing more.
Boris Godunov (2016)
Modest Mussorgsky’s opera receives a lavishly imaginative interpretation in this production from Bulgaria’s Sofia Opera and Ballet. Director/producer/stage designer Plamen Kartaloff brings the work to an open air setting in front of Sofia’s towering Aleksandr Nevskj Cathedral, and he fills his stage with an opulent parade of grandly costumed figures of the monarchial and religious hierarchies, offering a visual feast worthy of conductor Konstantin Chudovksi’s presentation of Mussorgsky’s towering music.
Enclosure (2016)
Fiona Dourif is one of the premiere actresses making waves in the horror genre, and she continues delivering powerhouse performances in one of the more creative and complex horror films director Patrick Rea has ever given fans. After her powerhouse performance in “Curse of Chucky,” Dourif stars in “Enclosure,” a film that’s teeming with tension, terror, and mystery and ends as a pretty original twist on the lost campers in the woods trope. I initially assumed “Enclosure” was another big foot or yeti horror tale, but director Patrick Rea strives for so much more, and delivers a film that’s so much more meaningful than a simple monster in the woods tale. “Enclosure” is very much a Patrick Rea film with his usual injection of tension, twists, and subtle humor, along with a premise that transforms in to a whole other beast mid-way.