By Liz Lopez The 2020 Film Competition Jury & Audience Award winners, alongside the Script Competition winners, were recently announced by the Austin Film Festival. Audience members cast their votes for the Audience Award after each screening as their Festival favorites among the slate offered this year. The following Audience Award winners were selected by… Continue reading Film News: Austin Film Festival Award Winners from the 2020 Entries
Category: MAIN
Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: THE GET TOGETHER
By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) A sort of spiritual relative to Can’t Hardly Wait, The Get Together focuses on a group of twenty-somethings at a house party facing scary and uncertain futures as they attempt to fully embrace their lives as true adults. Shot in and around the Austin, Texas area,… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: THE GET TOGETHER
Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: NINE DAYS
By Mark Saldana Rating 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) My festival officially began with this “Marquee” opener. I have seen several movies that envision or imagine the “afterlife.’ Never before had I ever seen a film that presents the “before-life.” Written and directed by Edson Oda, Nine Days gives its audience an visionary and highly… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: NINE DAYS
Streaming News: WELCOME TO THE BLUMHOUSE
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO AND BLUMHOUSE TELEVISIONCONJURES NEXT CHAPTER OF “WELCOME TO THE BLUMHOUSE”FILMS COMING IN 2021 Final four films in the 8-film anthology are “The Manor”, “Black as Night”,“Madres” and “Bingo” Genre thrillers continue to highlight female and emerging filmmakers, and diverse casts Source: Amazon Following the highly-anticipated global launch of “Welcome to the Blumhouse”, Prime… Continue reading Streaming News: WELCOME TO THE BLUMHOUSE
Television News: FOOD NETWORK TAKES VIEWERS INTO THE SENSATIONAL AND EDIBLE WORLD OF CANDY LAND
Inspired by Hasbro’s Iconic Game, Six-Episode Competition Series Hosted by Kristin Chenoweth Premieres Sunday, November 15th at 9pm ET/PT Don’t Miss Behind-The-Scenes Special with HGTV’s David Bromstad Giving Viewers Exclusive Look at the Making of Candy Land Along with Companion Series on FoodNetwork.com with Dan Langan Source: Food Network Food Network brings out the childhood… Continue reading Television News: FOOD NETWORK TAKES VIEWERS INTO THE SENSATIONAL AND EDIBLE WORLD OF CANDY LAND
Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: MURDER BURY WIN
By Mark Saldana Rating: 2.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Even though the programmers placed this film in the Comedy Vanguard category, this bloody and gory comic film could also fit in with the Dark Matters label, as the humor goes very dark, embracing gags of the gallows variety. That can be a very difficult line… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: MURDER BURY WIN
Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: HORTON FOOTE: THE ROAD TO HOME
By Liz Lopez Rating: A+ Anne Rapp (“Tender Mercies” script supervisor, among others) directed and produced the documentary, “Horton Foote: The Road To Home,” and the world premiere was at this year’s Austin Film Festival. For anyone who is not familiar with Horton Foote, he is a Wharton, Texas born playwright and screenwriter, who also… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: HORTON FOOTE: THE ROAD TO HOME
Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: FUGITIVE DREAMS
By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) It has been a while since I have seen an indie art film that has blown me away like this one. I continued my virtual festival with a screener for Fugitive Dreams, a film that comes across as the love child of Andrei Tarkovsky and Jim… Continue reading Austin Film Festival 2020 Review: FUGITIVE DREAMS
Sitges Film Festival Review: THE OLD WAYS
By Liz Lopez Rating: B+ There have been several horror cinematic efforts to convey aspects of the Mexican culture when it comes to rituals for healing, often labeled as witchcraft by individuals who are not familiar with the culture and/or how some maladies are cured before modern medicine of the West was introduced. Some scripts… Continue reading Sitges Film Festival Review: THE OLD WAYS
ON THE ROCKS
By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks, like her Lost in Translation, is a slow but entertaining burn playing out as a satisfying analysis of relationships. Her stars Rashida Jones and Bill Murray offer realistic and witty portrayals as father and daughter maneuvering very different lives. Coppola, as she did with her… Continue reading ON THE ROCKS