Festivals And Events

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Boston Underground XXIV: Five Titles To Spotlight At This Year’s Festival!

Lee B. Golden III

Just a few days ago I learned I was approved for covering the 24th edition of the Boston Underground Film Festival. Indeed this will be more ground to cover as the year advances into another summer loaded with festival goings-on, but I’m especially excited with the prospects. BUFF 2024 kicks off next week March 20, and I’m here to help underscore a small selection of titles for anyone curious and interested in attending. Mortiz Mohr’s Boy Kills World is one. Bill Skarsgård tackling the tale of a mute maverick avenger trained by a master played by Indonesian action stalwart Yayan Ruhian is something I will never say ‘no’ to. Immaculate is another, an upcoming horror endeavor from distributor Neon, directed by Michael Mohan and starring Sydney Sweeney in a role that’s easily helping her recover from her brief stint in the superhero genre of late. There’s also dramatic revenge thriller […]

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OUT OF THE SHADOW: Mother And Daughter Fight Crime In The First Trailer For ‘Time’ Director’s Latest!

Lee B. Golden III

Currently making the rounds at FilMart this week is another notable etch for the action crowd in Out Of The Shadow. Sales outfit One Cool Film showcased the key art for this year’s edition in the film’s latest move since screening for the Special Focus on Hong Kong section of the 19th edition of the Osaka Asian Film Festival earlier this month. Here’s a description by way of Osaka 2024 programmer Jason Maher: Chu Po is a sprightly teenage girl with a strong sense of justice but her mother, Tao Kuen Ying, would rather they keep a low profile in the fishing town of Tai O. However, people are in need and Po decides to take action after learning a little karate. She soon becomes an internet heroine but keeps it a secret from Tao until she gets in over her head when she comes to the aid of Pastor […]

Philip Ng To Star In New Martial Arts Actioner, WITHOUT REMORSE

Philip Ng To Star In New Martial Arts Actioner, WITHOUT REMORSE

Asia’s leading film and TV marketplace, FILMART, recently saw Philip Ng (Once Upon a Time in Shanghai) take the stage to announce his upcoming film, Without Remorse, which he will star in alongside frequent co-star and martial arts giant, Andy On (True Legend). Philip Lui Koon-Nam is set to direct. Lui’s previous (and only) film as director, Undercover Punch and Gun, also starring On and Ng, was met with fairly positive reviews from martial arts fans upon its initial release in 2019. Little is known about Without Remorse at the moment. The FILMART presentation was accompanied with a concept poster showing two silouetted characters squaring off against a destroyed cityscape. However, Ng did take to Instagram to describe the film as a “hardcore martial arts actioner.” Production on the film will start soon so expect details to trickle in shortly.

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Boston Underground XXIV: Horror IMMACULATE To Open, BOY KILLS WORLD To Close Festival For Newly Announced Line-Up

Lee B. Golden III

The 24th annual Boston Underground Film Festival is returning to Cambridge in two weeks, and with a nifty line-up of thirteen titles for attendees to enjoy. Upcoming NEON release, Immaculate, starring Syndey Sweeney will open the festival on March 20 with Moritz Mohr’s new action adventure, Boy Kills World set to bookend things on March 24. Between that period will be a bevy of scintillating thrillers including Chris Nash’s In A Violent Nature starring Ry Barrett, revenge thriller Femme from directors Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, and Sébastien Vaniček’s upcoming Shudder release, Infested to name a few. This could be my first run with Boston Underground as I just put in my application for review coverage, so fingers crossed until it’s decided. Tickets and badges will be made available here and here, with Badge holders eligible to make festival selections on March 8. Tickets will be made available […]

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ARCADIAN Trailer Teases A Tale Of Monsters, Men, And Nicolas Cage In The New Survival Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

“Are we not men!? *slams utensil into table*” …That’s gonna be a meme in due time, methinks. That’s also Nicolas Cage as seen in the official trailer for Arcadian, coming to theaters from RLJE Films and Shudder on April 12. It’s about time too seeing as the first look was released over a year ago. Formerly titled “Sand And Stones,” Arcadian reteams Cage with director Benjamin Brewer following their previous SXSW crime thriller entry, The Trust. The film was written by Braven scribe Michael Nilon, and also stars Jaeden Martell, Maxwell Jenkins and Sadie Soverall as it hails the SXSW return of Cage and Brewer next week. In a near future, normal life on Earth has been decimated. Paul and his two sons, Thomas and Joseph, have been living a half-life – tranquility by day and torment by night. One day, Thomas doesn’t return home on time from a visit […]

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BRUSH OF THE GOD Teaser Strokes A Mighty Cinematic Offering From A Kaiju Cinema Legend

Lee B. Golden III

An idea more than forty years in the making and two years since heading up crowdfunding efforts at Kickstarter and Motion Gallery, celebrated kaiju costume designer Keizo Murase will finally get his day with upcoming kaiju feature, Brush Of The God. Plans are in motion to premiere the film at the 19th edition of the Osaka Asian Film Festival in March, before scoring releases throughout Japan and abroad. Thus, Murase’s Brush Of The God now has an official teaser going which certainly lends to earlier notions of Murase’s aim toward using old school special effects and practical filmmaking while crafting a story suited to delight today’s audience. Brush Of The God stars Rio Suzuki and Takeru Narahara, with a script by Takeshi Nakazawa, and with cinematography and SFX artistry by Daisuke Sato who also produced the film. Below is more info on the film in the OAFF programming notes by […]

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FRIED Trailer: Economic Pitfalls And Mental Illness Violently Unravel In Richard Goss’s Indie Thriller Webseries

Lee B. Golden III

21 festivals and 38 awards in, actor and filmmaker Richard Goss is still on the road with black comedy psychological thriller, Fried, starring Goss alongside Jake McDaid. Independently funded and produced by Goss who co-directed with Jessica Crooks, Fried presents a half-hour tale told in four acts for its webseries format, notably inspired by previous works such as Bruce Robinson’s Withnail & I, Jon S. Baird’s Filth and Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges. Exploring themes of poverty, social class, mental illness and addiction, Fried chronicles the travails of a psychotic call centre worker, and a depressed waiter as they struggle with minimum-wage life in London. The result is a largely contained story that brews with chilling effect between unnerving and visceral blackouts, elevating from murderous and suicidal ideations, to violent, drug-fuelled, head-trippy machinations that unravel with gory resolve and a climax that will surely have you on the edge of your […]

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RIDE BABY RIDE Review: Sofie Somoroff’s Feminist Revenge Thriller Is One For The Road!

Lee B. Golden III

TW: This review discusses subject of rape with a supernatural context. Imagine just minding your business one day and taking an interest in fixing vintage cars. Imagine one day buying up 1978 Camaro from a couple of cads and later that evening realizing the car has something of a mind of its own. Now imagine just taking a damn seat to get a closer look at the driver-side door only to get taken captive and held akimbo by the seatbelts, and fighting for your life against a creepy hand reaching for your itty bits from within the vehicles bowels, as it sits idly while roaring its engine… That’s precisely the predicament the main character played by Celina Bernstein faces in Ride Baby Ride, a short story by filmmaker Sofie Somoroff which has been on the road for over two dozen film festivals and counting. Backed by the MovieMaker Magazine production […]

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AHITH 2023: The Legend Continues Debuting Alec Bonk’s Feature Presentation With Inspired Indie Crime Flick, BLIND COP 2!

Lee B. Golden III

The evolution behind Alec Bonk’s feature debut here is funny as hell given the mythic nature of an inaugural “Blind Cop” movie. The official website has more info on why this is so, take it or leave it, but for better or worse Bonk and his team have taken an idea stemmed from a character created for a short 2014, and have all but run with it full speed ahead to produce what we now know as Blind Cop 2, billed as “a throwback to the 80s with over the top humor and violence and an antidote to factory made studio blockbusters”. Blind Cop, the former beacon of justice, is consumed by grief after the mysterious death of his partner. His once-illustrious career has been shattered and reduced to drunken disorderly conduct, putting him at odds with the police force. In his investigation of a new influx of arms trafficking, […]

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TADFF XVII Review: In FOUNDERS DAY, Masked Killers And Mediocre Plotting Run Amuck

Lee B. Golden III

Allison (Naomi Grace) is at the center of brewing mystery in her idyllic town at the height of a bitter Mayoral election. Hitting the ground and literally running when her girlfriend Melissa (Olivia Nikkanen) is brutally murdered by a gavel-wielding killer wearing a demon mask, black cloak and a bench wig, Allison is among the first in this story to be affected by the bloodshed while the family of the deceased, including the victim’s father, defeated Mayoral Candidate Harold Faulkner (Jayce Bartok) and his son, Adam (Devin Druid) struggle to cope with Melissa’s death. What remains to be seen is the potential fallout with Mayor Blair Gladwell (Amy Hargreaves) gearing up for the town’s annual Founders Day events, and her disgrunted and disproving opponent still in mourning. This, in addition to the impetuous actions of her daughter Lilly’s (Emilia McCarthy) impetuous and easily jealous boyfriend, Rob (Tyler James White) in […]

TADFF XVII Review: In LOVELY, DARK, AND DEEP, A Nightmaring, Poetic Redemption Tale

TADFF XVII Review: In LOVELY, DARK, AND DEEP, A Nightmaring, Poetic Redemption Tale

Lee B. Golden III

Barbarian star Georgina Campbell leads the cast in Lovely, Dark, And Deep, taking centerstage of Theresa Sutherland’s feature debut for an atmospheric supernatural thriller that’s as moody as it is gutwrenching at times. There’s a thematic pattern of forgiveness that permeates our main character, but that message is shrouded in an almost chilling air appropriate for a film of this genre if you’re the type that prefers cliffhanger closure and edge-of-your-seat uncertainty. That aesthetic is handed off to us with a script firstly quoting John Muir, and a story that seemingly takes inspiration from the noted author, activist, environmentalist and mountaineer in his studies and appreciation of nature. Our protagonist, Lennon (Campbell) is front and center of all that nature as we follow our main character into her digs as a newly installed backwoods park ranger, with a remote office and nothing but a minimalist setting and all she could […]

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TADFF XVII Review: DANIEL’S GOTTA DIE, A Lively, Hapless Murder Romp

Lee B. Golden III

Quirky and brutal crime comedy is afoot in Jeremy LaLonde’s latest screening out of Toronto, Daniel’s Gotta Die, penned by Matthew Dressel and starring Joel David Moore in the lead. The cast includes Iggy Pop, Jason Jones, Carly Chaikin and Mary Lynn Rajskub, along with Chantel Riley and Varun Saranga, and is bookended by late actor and comedian Bob Saget. Daniel (Moore) is a devoted husband who loves his wife Emily (Riley), but especially loves his family more than anything. He’s also the most clueless when it comes to the proclivities and penchants of his sister Jessica (Chaikin) and twin sibs Vic (Jones) and Mia (Rajskub), so upon the deathbed of his billionaire father Edward (Pop), Daniel is granted the bulk conditional control of his father sizable inheritance, which is in the millions. Much to the chagrin of his beleagured relatives, Daniel decides to abide by the inheritance conditions and […]

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Screamfest LA XXXIII Review: In EMPIRE V, A Lean, Ubiquitous Dark Fantasy

Lee B. Golden III

I’m of the opinion that the Matrix comparisons are a little overrated when it comes to Victor Ginzburg’s new film, Empire V. It’s the kind of wording that will have people thinking it’s being sold as an action horror flick with some sort of vampire-fu and well…it’s not. Not that I wouldn’t mind this being that kind of film, but it’s worth looking into if you’re curious about cinema and other interpretations of certain subgenres in film. Author Victor Pelevin’s 2006 novel serves as the basis for the latest dark fantasy horror by Ginzburg which happens to include some spur-of-the-moment gymnastics and maybe one particular scene of fight choreography as a nice little cherry on top for the optics in this wide-ranging visual stunner. At its core is a much deeper look past the veneer of the vampire genre for something more vast and exponentially refreshing in its cerebral allure, […]

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TADFF XVII Review: In THE DEEP DARK, Danger Lies Beneath

Lee B. Golden III

Mathieu Turi’s latest supernatural thriller, The Deep Dark, ventures into Northern France in 1956 where we meet Amir (Amir El Kacem), cash-strapped and in need of work as he sets out from Morrocco to the Northern French mines for work. Tasked with joining the crew one day with archeological professor Berthier (Jean-Hugues Anglade) tagging along to collect samples, the crew, led by Roland (Samuel Le Bihan) finds itself blowing up a gallery to access a long closed-off mine. As the story progresses, it is revealed the mine is potentially haunted by a dark legend – encompassed by a band of miners that found themselves trapped a century prior. For what its worth, and with specific thanks to the professor’s true intentions, that legend rears its ugly head in the form of a hidden chamber containing a number of artifacts, mysterious glyphs, a sealed tomb once never to be opened, and […]

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TADFF XVII Review: Sam Fox’s FCK’N NUTS, Nightmare Fuel For The Young And Romantic

Lee B. Golden III

An eye for psychedelic visuals and a keenness for nostalgic horror and gore are driving forces for director Sam Fox whose latest vision, Fck’n Nuts, is currently circulating to make the case. The ten-minute thriller centers on Sandy (Maddie Nichols), a young woman who cowers in the all too-familiar fear of the worst she finds herself forced to re-live when her latest beau of interest, Dan (Vincent Stalba), ignores her vociferous pleadings to not come over and meet the parents. Insisting that Maddie’s paranoid assertions about her penchants of her mother and father are for naught whilst proclaiming his love for her, the night’s expectations of a prospective meet and greet take an immediate turn for the worse when Dan is finally face to face with the parents. Practical effects and lighting topped with cast performances culminate a round of nightmare fuel as the moment unravels a hazardous reaction for […]

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POV Review: Brian K. Rosenthal’s Gory New Action Horror Creeps In With Vigilante Thrills

Lee B. Golden III

POV is currently slated to screen for Filmquest on October 26 through this portal. Follow the project on Facebook as well. Tap here for the trailer. Brian K. Rosenthal’s new Halloween thriller short comes packaged with a ubiquitous blend of action and horror for the crowd that loves a good struggle amid the violence and gore. That’s what POV accomplishes as its been doing for its award-winning multi-festival run following crowdfunding efforts earlier this year, with a cast led by Katie Mackey and Chris Frank, with a script by Rosenthal who also shot and edited the project. Seventeen minutes in and billed as Scream meets Black Mirror, POV tosses itself into the same atmospheric mania as The Purge series, this time with a story of a world where Halloween Night becomes the playground for a dangerous serial killer, beckoning any and all not to wear masks after 6:00pm. Thrust into […]

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PENDUKO Stands Strong In The First Teaser Poster For The New Live-Action Filipino Superhero Adaptation

Lee B. Golden III

The 49th Metro Manila Film Festival kicks off in December, and for comic book and superhero fans attending, that means first dibs at Jason Paul Laxamana’s new adaptation, Penduko, which now graces netizens with a first look poster to catch below. The film, which began shooting in August, features Maria star Cristine Reyes with lead actor Matteo Guidicelli in the title role for the character’s latest iteration on screen based on Francisco V. Coching’s original Engkantos comic which took off in 1954. Peter Harris, a 20–year old wimp that was raised in the U.S, will be embarking a journey in the Philippines after his father passes away due to an unknown incident, to search for his mother, only to stumble upon a mythical curse and evil forces that destroy the town. Penduko screens locally on December 25. Check out the poster below!

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SUITABLE FLESH Review: Sultry Psychological Thrills Bookend Joe Lynch’s Gory Supernatural Heather Graham Starrer

Lee B. Golden III

Vertigo Releasing will release Suitable Flesh in UK Cinemas from October 27, and on Digital Download from November 27 Director Joe Lynch’s first film in four years since leaving off with Netflix original Point Blank and gory thrillers like Mayhem and Everly now brings us a new look among a few revisiting a short story classic by author H.P. Lovecraft in Suitable Flesh, currently making the festival rounds and headed by the gorgeous and talented Heather Graham, Barbara Crampton, Judah Lewis and Johnathon Schaech. The story is as sultry, chilling and violent as you might expect given the trailer that’s up and running as of late. What’s more is how the film almost serves as a cautionery reminder of how frustrating it is to trust doctors sometimes – I reckon that’s another conversation for another time, although it’s a little difficult to ignore given the foreshadowing that takes place in […]

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Toronto After Dark 2023: A Quartet Of Titles To Indulge At This Year’s Festival!

Lee B. Golden III

The seventeenth Toronto After Dark Film Festival kicks off its five-day event well into the weekend beginning on Wednesday, October 18. For all that and more, the official website has the line-up ready for all who are curious and eager to get their tickets and badges, and for a small curtain raiser, I’m tossing my hat in the ring for a selection of four titles worth looking into as the festival rolls out the red carpet. Check out the sizzle reel above, then hit up the gallery below for the details and the official website for ticketing info!

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THE G Teaser: Vengeance Is Timeless In The New Winter Noir Thriller Starring Dale Dickey

Lee B. Golden III

Touched director Karl R. Hearne is making headway going into the new year with dark new thriller, The G. The movie is slated have its World Premiere in Official Competition at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on November 11 before rolling out in Canadian cinemas in the new year through levelFILM. Ann Hunter (aka “The G”, played by Dale Dickey) and her husband retired to an unnamed American suburb 10 years ago to be near his family. But one day out of the blue they are snatched from their home by a corrupt legal guardian who believes they have hidden wealth. Their home and assets are legally stripped from them and they are put in a prison-like “eldercare facility,” victims of an exploding old age industry. Trapped in a corrupt and terrifying system, THE G begins to show her true mettle as she and her loyal granddaughter fight to […]