Tag: Fantastic Fest 2019

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) On the final day of this year’s festival, the newest film from South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho screened and wowed its audiences including me. Though the movie was not the official closing feature, it rightfully should have been. Bong’s darkly comedic thriller is not only one… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2019 Review: PARASITE

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) As always, the Fantastic Fest lineup this year featured two secret screenings for their eager attendees. Given that Netflix had such a formidable presence at the film festival this year, it wasn’t too surprising that one of their more highly anticipated entries was the first secret… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2019 Review: DOLEMITE IS MY NAME

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) From writers/directors/actors Toby Poser and John Adams comes a chilling thriller which basically takes elements from Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart and sets it in modern times. Thought it isn’t an exact adaptation, Poser and Adams, instead, take the theme of guilt and utilizes it to tell… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2019 Review: THE DEEPER YOU DIG

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Australian director Serge Ou’s comprehensive documentary tells the vast history martial arts cinema and does so with great style and aplomb. It is a rather daunting task to pull this off, as the filmography of martial arts movies is quite extensive. Still, Ou manages to condense… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2019 Review: IRON FISTS AND KUNG FU KICKS

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Though not a true musical, Jennifer Reeder’s Knives and Skin uses music and song in some inventive and powerful ways. This film, which tackles the scary years of high school, focuses on a group of teenage girls struggling with identity amidst the aftermath a classmate’s disappearance.… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2019 Review: KNIVES AND SKIN

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) A mother’s true love usually knows no bounds and said mothers will do whatever it takes to defend their children, even if this desperation drives them to take seemingly irrational measures. Those are the central themes of this powerful and emotionally charged film which played the… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2019 Review: PELICAN BLOOD

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Japanese filmmaker extraordinaire Takashi Mikke brought his latest movie to Fantastic Fest this year and the it’s definitely a fun, crazy and violent affair. Mikke’s latest piece presents a true romance amidst criminal power plays, serendipitous circumstances, and filters it through a slightly heightened reality where… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2019 Review: FIRST LOVE

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) Actor Mark Patton will forever be remembered as the male “scream queen” of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. Even though he has been honored and celebrated in recent years as a trailblazer in horror cinema, his journey to this status has been a… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2019 Review: SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Writer Billy Chew and director Daniel Scheinert take a relatively simple, but disturbing true story and spin it into a suspenseful and intguing yarn that is certain to shock and awe. Normally, I would reveal the true events that inspired this feature film, but to do… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2019 Review: THE DEATH OF DICK LONG

By Liz Lopez Rating: B – “In the Shadow of the Moon” is a police drama with a Sci-Fi feel, and violence that a young Philadelphia cop, Thomas Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook, known as “Locke” to his friends and colleagues), can’t help but want to investigate although he is not a detective. As he is immersed… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2019 Review: IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON