For Black Conflux, I was able to speak with actress Ella Ballentine about her layered and memorable performance as Jackie. In the interview, we talk about how Ella picks her projects, workshopping the character, singing for a scene in the film, watching her films, working with Ryan McDonald, some advice and more in between.
Here's a conversation I had with writer/director Nicole Dorsey for her new coming-of-age drama BLACK CONFLUX, a portrait of a teen in high school and an alienated loner eventually crossing paths.
Featured image: Sera Lys-McArthur in Kwêshkosîw (She Whistles). (Courtesy of Fantasia.) As the Fantasia Film Festival wrapped up this past Wednesday, August 25, I still have some interviews to post from the festival, as well as a few smaller reviews of some of the short films that I saw at the festival. Those included She … Continue reading Fantasia Film Festival Short Film Reviews: Kwêshkosîw (She Whistles), Victim No. 6, Neo Cryptide, 10-33, Ryuk-Sa: A Teaser
Here's a review of the Shudder Exclusive MOSQUITO STATE, a strange film with a creepy performance from Beau Knapp as a Wall Street data analyst who becomes obsessed with mosquitos.
Hello! Tapir is exactly the kind-of film that hits me in the emotional feels; one of those kind-of films that use fantasy to deal with our own grief. Films like Bridge to Terabithia come to mind for that, as well as more direct comps in A Monster Calls and I Kill Giants. In this Taiwanese film, a young boy, Ah-Keat (Run Yin-Bai) is told stories by his father, Ah-Sheing. His main tale is about a tapir – a creature with the body of a pig, trunk of an elephant, ears of a horse and feet of a rhinoceros. The tapir is a benevolent creature who passes through villages at night, gobbling up all nightmares.
Here's a review out of Fantasia for the anime film Pompo: The Cinéphile, which is a love letter to the joy of cinema and making films, filled with some great characters.
Here's a review of Kelsey Egan's "Glasshouse," a sci-fi thriller with great world building, performances and dynamics as a stranger disrupts the family unit of a secluded family hiding out in a Glasshouse, avoiding a toxin called The Shred.
Mark O’Brien’s The Righteous explores the interesting “hook” of a mysterious stranger coming upon a home. The mysterious stranger is O’Brien’s Aaron Smith (“Original, I know,” says Aaron), who comes upon the property of an elderly couple one night, leg injured. The home is owned by former priest Frederic Mason (Henry Czerny) and his wife Ethel Mason (Mimi Kuzyck), the reason Frederic left the priesthood. Playing with fascinating themes of sin, retribution and penance, Mark O’Brien creates quite the compelling storyline in his feature directorial debut, where he also writes the screenplay.
Up until this point for my podcast, I’ve watched every film or TV series that I’ve covered. For this episode, we talked about a film that hasn’t been created yet with a project called The Mire, described as a contained thriller which explores the darkest sides of manipulation set in Portsmouth, in the U.K. I spoke with the upcoming film’s director Adam Nelson, the film’s screenwriter Chris Watt and the film’s producer Tom Byrne, as they are currently trying to crowdfund the last bit that they need to be able to start filming in October 2021. In the podcast, we also talk about one of Adam and Tom’s other projects, a segment called Toilet Humor in the anthology film I Am An Addict.
Featured image: Daniel Gillies as Mandrake and Tubs in Coming Home in the Dark. (Photo credit: Gold Fish Creative.) Directed by James Ashcroft. Screenplay by James Ashcroft, Eli Kent, based on the short story by Owen Marshall. Starring Daniel Gillies, Erik Thomson, Miriama McDowell. Coming Home in the Dark is currently available to watch On Demand … Continue reading Fantasia Film Festival Review: Coming Home in the Dark (2021)
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