After reaching new heights in her internet fame, a college student looking for more is kidnapped and her roommate is once again reluctantly roped into helping as she seems to be the only one available.
Tag Archives: Comedy
My Monster (2018) (Final Girls Berlin Film Festival)
“Tainted Love” Shorts Block
I love the whole plot twist that ensues in the middle of “My Monster,” a short film basically about finding the right mate, and them showing up when they least suspect it. Brea Grant is always a pleasure to see pop up in these genre pictures, and she’s great in Izzy Lee’s holiday set fractured love tale.
United We Fan (2019)
I wasn’t aware of the idea of the fan campaign until 1999 when the quest to save the science fiction show “Farscape” made a ton of headlines. I soon realized that what happened wasn’t an isolated incident, especially as “Firefly” earned a ton of fan support. While fan campaigns like petitions and mail in campaigns have become common place on the internet, fan campaigns reach far back before even home computers were ever made available. “United We Fan” is an original and quite fantastic look at the birth of fan campaigns, how the entire concept represents the best of fandom and the fan community, and the destruction of stereotypes that’s followed the concept of fan campaigns for years.
Tony Curtis is Da Man!
Those blue eyes! That Bronx accent! And his ability to navigate from the sublime to the ridiculous! In this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” Facebook’s funniest man Anthony “The Kingfish” Vitamia returns to offer his unique tribute to the one-time Bernie Schwartz.
The episode can be heard here.
Narrative Shorts Block 3 [Slamdance Film Festival 2019]
Blast Beat (2018)
“Blast Beat” doesn’t have much of a premise; it’s merely a slice of life for a black metal band. When a guitarist (Alexandre Dostie) auditions for a black metal band, he has a hard time convincing the lead singer that he can play with and for the band. When she (Corinne Cardinal) decides to try out his vocal abilities, he doesn’t quite seem to be up for the task. “Blast Beat” does have a few funny beats in its four minute run time, including the unusual ability of singers to be able to switch from beautiful opera to loud booming howls for their audience. Pascal Plante’s short is a fascinating and comical look at a skill many underestimate.
Slamdance Narrative Shorts Block 2 [Slamdance Film Festival 2019]
Akeda (The Binding) (2018)
Dan Bronfeld’s drama is a disturbing but fascinating bit of meta-fiction that examines the real life brutality of war and loss of innocence. Bronfeld stages the film initially like an actual confrontation between American soldiers and an Israeli family. When the surviving son of the family emerges from his spot we learn he’s actually making a film. But is he? As we learn more and more about the filmmakers and their inherent tribalism, what we think we’re seeing doesn’t quite seem as absolute anymore. We’re left to wonder if he’s making a movie, or if he’s merely lying to himself to shield from the horrors of the war and violence that’s unfolding all around him. “Akeda” makes a strong statement about the brutality and sensationalism of war, and it’s a gem of a drama.
Slamdance Narrative Shorts Block 1 [Slamdance Film Festival 2019]
Autumn Waltz (2018)
Ognjen Petkovic’s short thriller is a tense look at a couple trying to escape a war zone and make it out of enemy lines without becoming one of the many victims of the ensuing battles. Set in the 1990’s amidst a landscape of rubble, and torn down deluxe flats, a man and woman attempt to make it outside of Yugoslavia. When they’re faced with a barricade of ruthless armed soldiers, they make up a story that allows them free passage. But as the soldiers interrogate them their reasons for leaving their home land begin to fall apart. At the last minute they’re saved by the most unlikely source and it’s a testament to how the past can affect the present, and vice versa. It’s a well shot and tense short with some fine photography and I quite liked it.