Shorts Round Up of the Week: Art Under Quarantine

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Felix Vasquez

It’s the middle of the summer and quarantine is still under way, sadly. We hope you and yours are doing well during these bizarre, frightening times. “Shorts Round Up of the Week” once again goes back to Quarantine, visiting a list of short films of varying genres that were created during quarantine. This scenario allowed a lot of great filmmakers to build genuinely beautiful, fun, and sometimes horrifying cinema, and it’s managed to be a great twist in such unusual circumstances.

For this edition we have some great short films including a documentary, a horror comedy or two, and yes, a zombie flick.

If you’d like to submit your short film for review consideration, submissions are always opened to filmmakers and producers.

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The Bootleg Files: Jesus and Daya Sagar

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 732: “Jesus” and “Daya Sagar” (1973 and 1978 films from India about the life of Jesus).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No perceived commercial value for the U.S. market.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely in the U.S.

India’s film industry never placed great emphasis on Christian-themed films, which is understandable since less than 2.5% of the country’s population identify as Christian and the perceived commercial value of such productions are considered minimal. During the 1970s, a pair of feature films were produced that offered retellings of Jesus’ life through the distinctive spectrum of India’s cinematic styles.
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Stadium Anthems (2018)

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Felix Vasquez

Scott Douglas Brown’s “Stadium Anthems” is a movie that is just fine when all is said and done. The direction and production values are very good, and most of the cast keeps the film afloat with their charisma. It’s an okay movie that ultimately feels like with a bit of alterations it could have been great. I am always a fan of mock documentaries about rock bands, and varying shades of egos, et al. It’s just that “Stadium Anthems” suffers from feeling like there are just too many ideas struggling to rise to the surface, and it drags it down big time.

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Relic (2020)

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Emilie Black

As she returns to her childhood home to care for her mother with her daughter there to help, a woman is faced with a haunting presence in the house that will force all three of them to look at their lives and themselves.

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Gutterballs (2008) – The Plotdigger Collection: Limited Edition [2 Disc Blu-Ray]

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Felix Vasquez

Director Ryan Nicholson’s slasher throwback is thankfully a horror film that, while imperfect, has managed to appreciate in value since its release in 2008. While we may be well past the age of the eighties revival in horror cinema, “Gutterballs” is a nice look at the fad done well and with some semblance of substance over style. It’s still not a masterpiece, but it’s definitely midnight movie fodder that should be appreciated with its cinematic contemporaries. Frankly I’m surprised slasher BBK’s signature look never caught on with the horror community, but I digress.

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Another Plan from Outer Space (2018)

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Felix Vasquez

Despite the title which weirdly made me think this was an homage to “Plan 9,” Lance Polland’s science fiction thriller is quite an impressive survival film. Director Polland obviously has great affection for and knowledge of classic science fiction television, thus he creates an interesting character study that feels like a more sophisticated take on the original “Star Trek.” In many cases, so much of the scenes feel like something directly ripped out of “Star Trek” (and I mean that as a compliment).