Year: 2021 Runtime: 93 minutes Director: Anna Zaytseva Writer: Anna Zaytseva, Evgeniya Bogomyakova, Olga Klemesheva Cast: Anna Potebnya, Timofey Eletskiy, Ekaterina Stulova, Diana Shulmina, Olga Pipchenko, Polina Vataga, Pavel Yulku, Daniil Kiselev By Harris Dang Set in present Russia, “Blue … Continue reading Fantasia Film Review: Blue Whale
Year: 2021 Runtime: 99 minutes Director: Rob Jabbaz Writer: Rob Jabbaz Cast: Berant Zhu, Regina Lei, Wang Tzu-chiang By Harris Dang Set in modern day Taipei, “The Sadness” (2021) tells the story of Jack (Berant Zhu) and Kat (Regina Lei), … Continue reading Fantasia Film Review: The Sadness
Year: 2021 Runtime: 96 minutes Director: Ruth Platt Writer: Ruth Platt Cast: Kiera Thompson, Denise Gough, Sienna Sayer, Hanna Rae By Harris Dang “Martyrs Lane” (2021) tells the story of Leah (Kiera Thompson), a young 10-year-old girl who lives with … Continue reading Fantasia Film Review: Martyrs Lane
Year: 2021 Runtime: 94 minutes Director: Kelsey Egan Writer: Emma De Wet, Kelsey Egan Cast: Jessica Alexander, Adrienne Pearce, Hilton Pelser, Anja Taljaard, Brent Vermeulen By Harris Dang Set in the not-too-distant dystopian future, “Glasshouse” (2021) tells the story of … Continue reading Fantasia Festival Review: Glasshouse
Year: 2021 Runtime: 97 minutes Director: Mark O’Brien Writer: Mark O’Brien Cast: Henry Czerny, Mimi Kuzyk, Mark O’Brien, Kate Corbett By Harris Dang “The Righteous” (2021) tells the story of Frederic and Ethel Mason (Henry Czerny and Mimi Kuzyk), a … Continue reading Fantasia Festival Review: The Righteous
Year: 2021 Runtime: 83 minutes Director: John Adams, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser Writer: John Adams, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser Cast: Zelda Adams, Toby Poser, Lulu Adams, John Adams By Harris Dang “Hellbender” (2021) tells the story of Izzy … Continue reading Fantasia Festival Review: Hellbender
Year: 2021 Runtime: 126 minutes Director: Benny Chan Writer: Benny Chan, Ryan Ling, Tong Yiu-ling Cast: Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Qin Lan, Ray Lui, Ben Yuen, Ben Lam, Ken Lo, Carlos Chan, Patrick Tam, Jeana Ho, Kenny Wong, Deep Ng, … Continue reading Fantasia Festival Review: Raging Fire
Year: 2020 Runtime: 97 minutes Director: Soushi Matsumoto Writer: Soushi Matsumoto Cast: Marika Ito, Daichi Kaneko, Yuumi Kawai, Kilala Inori By Harris Dang Set in present day Japan, “It’s a Summer Film“(2020) tells the story of Barefoot (Marika Ito), an overeager … Continue reading Fantasia Festival Review: It’s A Summer Film!
Bertino goes into uncharted waters with his latest horror effort, “The Dark and the Wicked”. Bertino had made the film in his own farm and it promises something more psychological; exploring other levels of fear he has not worked on in his prior work.
The film stars Marin Ireland and Michael Abbott Jr. as Louise and Michael; siblings whom have just heard that their father is fatally ill. The two put their lives on hold and visit his farm to be with their father for his final hours as well as their mother for emotional support. While the time spent together brings up closeted skeletons in their past; the two begin to realize that their estrangement towards their parents seem to be the least of their problems as the farm shows signs of something sinister. Continue reading Fantasia Festival Review: The Dark and the Wicked
Films like “The Karate Kid” are becoming more uncommon as they lack the slice-of-life sensibility and often rely on aggression and blatancy to appeal to the martial arts crowd. When I heard the news about the martial arts comedy/drama “The Paper Tigers” (2020) by Vietnamese-American filmmaker Tran Quoc Bao was premiering at Fantasia Film Festival this year, it piqued my interest. It promised all the things I had hope for in martial arts films while showcasing Asian-American talent. Will “The Paper Tigers” live up to its promise? Continue reading Fantasia Festival Review: The Paper Tigers
In Their Own League 