Category: Festivals

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) The Fallout won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award Prize in the Narrative Feature Competition, as well as the Brightcove Illumination Award at this year’s festival. Quite truthfully, I cannot think of a more deserving film. Of the films that I watched and enjoyed… Continue reading SXSW 2021 Review: THE FALLOUT

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) By now I have seen a good handful of “computer screen” films, most of which have been entries in either the horror or suspense-thriller genres. Given that computers and technology play such major roles in the lives of real people now, it makes perfect sense that… Continue reading SXSW 2021 Review: LANGUAGE LESSONS

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Directors Liz Lambert tells her remarkable true story in this documentary which serves as a time capsule of the city of Austin, Texas, during the late 1990s. During this particular time, Austin is on the verge of some major changes. Lambert decides to invest in some… Continue reading SXSW 2021 Review: THROUGH THE PLEXI-GLASS: THE LAST DAYS OF THE SAN JOSE

By Jan Hamilton Director: Ursula Macfarlane, Producer: Gagan Rehill1960s Chicago, a baby is kidnapped from a hospital. Fifteen months later, a toddler is abandoned. Could he be the same baby? In a tale of breathtaking twists and turns, two mysteries begin to unravel and dark family secrets are revealed. (World Premiere) When Paul Fronczak was… Continue reading SXSW 2021 Review: THE LOST SONS

By Jan Hamilton Director: Lee Haven Jones, Screenwriter/Producer: Roger WilliamsOver an evening a wealthy family gathers for a sumptuous dinner with guests in their ostentatious house in the Welsh mountains. Served by a mysteriously disturbing young woman, the assembled party do not realize they are about to eat their last supper. Cast List: Anne Elwy, Nia… Continue reading SXSW 2021 Review: THE FEAST

By Jan Hamilton Director/Screenwriter: Todd Stephens, Producers: Todd Stephens, Eric Eisenbrey, Tim Kaltenecker, Stephen IsraelAn aging hairdresser (Udo Kier) escapes his nursing home and embarks on an odyssey across his small town to style a dead woman’s hair for her funeral, rediscovering his sparkle along the way. Cast List: Udo Kier, Jennifer Coolidge, Linda Evans, Michael… Continue reading SXSW 2021 Review: SWAN SONG

By Jan Hamilton Director/Screenwriter: Elle Callahan, Producers: Eric B. Fleischman, Maurice FadidaIn a modern America where witches are real and witchcraft is illegal, a sheltered teenager must face her own demons and prejudices as she helps two young witches avoid law enforcement and cross the southern border to asylum in Mexico. Cast List: Gideon Adlon, Elizabeth… Continue reading SXSW 2021 Review: WITCH HUNT

By Jan Hamilton Directors: Mallory Everton, Stephen Meek, Screenwriters: Whitney Call, Mallory Everton, Producers: Scott Christopherson, Stephen Meek, Abi Nielson HunsakerTwo directionless sisters brave a cross-country road trip to rescue their grandmother from a COVID outbreak at her nursing home. Cast List: Whitney Call, Mallory Everton, Anne Sward Hansen, Julia Jolley, Baylee Thornock, Jessica Drolet, Stephen… Continue reading SXSW 2021 Review: RECOVERY