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[title] => Horror Movies: 10 Of The Highest-Grossing Franchises
[link] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/horror-movies-10-of-the-highest-grossing-franchises/
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[creator] => Harry World
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[pubdate] => Sat, 04 Jun 2022 06:04:47 +0000
[category] => Scream AwayFranchisesHighestGrossingHorrorMovies
[guid] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=68425
[description] => Horror films are popular choices among moviegoers during the Halloween season, but diehard fans of the genre love to watch them year-round. Horror movies keep audiences on the edge of their seats with riveting suspense and gruesome monsters. A great horror film is compelling, unforgettable, and, of course, delightfully scary. Some standout horror films even ... Read more
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Horror films are popular choices among moviegoers during the Halloween season, but diehard fans of the genre love to watch them year-round. Horror movies keep audiences on the edge of their seats with riveting suspense and gruesome monsters. A great horror film is compelling, unforgettable, and, of course, delightfully scary. Some standout horror films even go on to launch multi-movie franchises, which keep fans filling theater seats year after year and spawn everything from TV series to comic books. Furthermore, iconic horror characters frequently appear in the form of Halloween costumes for adults and kids alike. The highest-grossing horror film franchises of all time have an important place in movie culture ? both in the U.S. and beyond.
10. Final Destination Is Full Of Supernatural Suspense
The Final Destination franchise started in 2000. It was written and directed by a team of writers from The X-Files, which accounts for its eerie supernatural tone. The teen-scream film?s premise is simple: a group of teenagers inadvertently cheat death by avoiding a catastrophic plane crash, but Death comes to collect the souls wh0 should have perished. That first film launched a five-film franchise, with a rumored sixth film on the way. The franchise has also spawned two comic books and a set of novels. To date, Final Destination has generated $665,080,639 worldwide, earning it a respectable spot among the highest-grossing horror franchises.
9. Scream Inspired A Popular Halloween Costume Choice
The mask worn by the killer in Scream has become an icon in its own right since the first film premiered in 1996. The franchise has grown to five movies, the latest of which was released in 2022. The franchise also includes a short-lived television series and, of course, plenty of merchandise related to the infamous mask. So far, the 2022 Scream reboot is sitting at number eleven on the list of the highest-grossing movies for this year ? not bad for a twenty-five-year-old franchise. All told, the Scream franchise has grossed $744,424,331 and counting.
8. Predator Built An Empire Across Multiple Media Channels
It?s rare for even the best movies to have as wide of a reach as the Predator franchise. The first film didn?t even crack the top ten highest-grossing films list for 1987, but the franchise has nonetheless developed a cult following over the years. The franchise has four canonical movies but is still growing. A spin-off series called Alien Vs. Predator took the franchise in a new direction, but there have also been Predator comic books, video games, and even a set of novels. The fifth film in the franchise, Prey, debuted in 2022, so this enduring franchise shows no signs of slowing down. So far, the franchise has grossed $744,593,166.
7. Halloween Is A Legend Among Horror Movie Franchises
It may not be the highest-grossing movie franchise on the list, but Halloween is one of the most recognizable. It is also one of the longest-running: Halloween?s infamous killer, Michael Myers, first graced the silver screen back in 1978. The franchise has grown to eleven films, with Halloween Ends rounding out the Danny McBride trilogy in October 2022. There was also a related comic book line and a novelization of the first film. The franchise serves as inspiration for countless other films, and it?s unlikely that fans will ever truly see the last of Michal Myers. So far, the franchise has grossed $773,971,323, which is sure to change after Halloween Ends premieres.
6. Paranormal Activity Is A Realistic Horror Movie Franchise
Paranormal Activity uses the ?found footage? gimmick to give its films a signature style. This technique also lends a heavy dose of realism to the movies, which is part of what makes them so popular. The film series even spawned a video game in 2017. The Paranormal Activity franchise has only been around since 2009 but has already amassed $890,533,646 in gross. Another installment of the franchise is projected for release in 2023. That installment, titled The Other Side, will be the franchise?s eighth film ? so far.
5. Hannibal Built Its Empire On Book Adaptations
The first Hannibal franchise film was technically 1986?s Manhunterbut most fans of horror movies associate the birth of the franchise with 1991?s The Silence Of The Lambs. The five films in the franchise are based on the life and crimes of Hannibal Lecter, a cannibal serial killer created by author Thomas Harris. Most recently, NBC revived the franchise in a television series adaptation/prequel, which won a handful of Saturn Awards. The franchise has grossed $924,422,301 as of now, with no new film projects announced as of yet.
4. Saw Became A Twenty-First Century Phenomenon
Saw is one of few horror movie franchises to cross the billion-dollar threshold in gross profits, coming in at $1,012,620,413 to date. The franchise consists of nine full-length films revolving around a unique fictional serial killer named John Kramer. Rather than simply killing his victims, Kramer traps his victims in ?games? that force them to fight for their lives. All nine films have received mixed reviews from critics, but fans continue to love the gory franchise. There are rumors that a television adaptation of one of the films is on the horizon, so horror lovers may get a chance to return to their favorite series soon.
3. Resident Evil Expanded On A Video Game Series
Resident Evil got its start as a 1996 Capcom video game for Playstation and is still as popular as ever. The film franchise spin-off of the games launched in 2002 and spawned six canonical films. In 2021, a reboot movie called Resident Evil: Welcome To Racoon City began a new chapter in the franchise. This horror movie franchise is one of the most successful ever, grossing $1,279,538,320 and counting. All six canonical films cracked the list of top fifty highest-grossing movies for their release years, an impressive feat for a horror franchise.
2. Alien Combines Suspenseful Horror And Satisfying Sci-Fi
Some of the most popular directors in Hollywood have directed Alien movies, including Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and David Fincher. The franchise centers around one woman?s battles against an aggressive alien lifeform sometimes referred to as a Xenomorph. The franchise has been around since 1979 and has spawned six movies so far. The total gross for all six movies is $1,653,812,293, placing it among the top highest-grossing film franchises ever made, regardless of genre. Supposedly, a television adaptation of the franchise is in pre-development as of 2022.
1. The Conjuring Is A Rapidly Expanding Horror Universe
For a film franchise that has only been around since 2013, The Conjuring has covered a lot of ground. To date, there are seven movies in the franchise. Michael Chaves is currently filming the eighth movie, and a ninth movie is also in development. To date, the franchise has grossed an impressive $2,128,077,472. A DC comic book line was launched in March of 2021, and a potential television series was also announced. By all accounts, The Conjuring has plenty more to offer horror fans, and the franchise is just getting started.
We wish to say thanks to the writer of this short article for this remarkable web content
)
[summary] => Horror films are popular choices among moviegoers during the Halloween season, but diehard fans of the genre love to watch them year-round. Horror movies keep audiences on the edge of their seats with riveting suspense and gruesome monsters. A great horror film is compelling, unforgettable, and, of course, delightfully scary. Some standout horror films even ... Read more
[atom_content] =>
Horror films are popular choices among moviegoers during the Halloween season, but diehard fans of the genre love to watch them year-round. Horror movies keep audiences on the edge of their seats with riveting suspense and gruesome monsters. A great horror film is compelling, unforgettable, and, of course, delightfully scary. Some standout horror films even go on to launch multi-movie franchises, which keep fans filling theater seats year after year and spawn everything from TV series to comic books. Furthermore, iconic horror characters frequently appear in the form of Halloween costumes for adults and kids alike. The highest-grossing horror film franchises of all time have an important place in movie culture ? both in the U.S. and beyond.
10. Final Destination Is Full Of Supernatural Suspense
The Final Destination franchise started in 2000. It was written and directed by a team of writers from The X-Files, which accounts for its eerie supernatural tone. The teen-scream film?s premise is simple: a group of teenagers inadvertently cheat death by avoiding a catastrophic plane crash, but Death comes to collect the souls wh0 should have perished. That first film launched a five-film franchise, with a rumored sixth film on the way. The franchise has also spawned two comic books and a set of novels. To date, Final Destination has generated $665,080,639 worldwide, earning it a respectable spot among the highest-grossing horror franchises.
9. Scream Inspired A Popular Halloween Costume Choice
The mask worn by the killer in Scream has become an icon in its own right since the first film premiered in 1996. The franchise has grown to five movies, the latest of which was released in 2022. The franchise also includes a short-lived television series and, of course, plenty of merchandise related to the infamous mask. So far, the 2022 Scream reboot is sitting at number eleven on the list of the highest-grossing movies for this year ? not bad for a twenty-five-year-old franchise. All told, the Scream franchise has grossed $744,424,331 and counting.
8. Predator Built An Empire Across Multiple Media Channels
It?s rare for even the best movies to have as wide of a reach as the Predator franchise. The first film didn?t even crack the top ten highest-grossing films list for 1987, but the franchise has nonetheless developed a cult following over the years. The franchise has four canonical movies but is still growing. A spin-off series called Alien Vs. Predator took the franchise in a new direction, but there have also been Predator comic books, video games, and even a set of novels. The fifth film in the franchise, Prey, debuted in 2022, so this enduring franchise shows no signs of slowing down. So far, the franchise has grossed $744,593,166.
7. Halloween Is A Legend Among Horror Movie Franchises
It may not be the highest-grossing movie franchise on the list, but Halloween is one of the most recognizable. It is also one of the longest-running: Halloween?s infamous killer, Michael Myers, first graced the silver screen back in 1978. The franchise has grown to eleven films, with Halloween Ends rounding out the Danny McBride trilogy in October 2022. There was also a related comic book line and a novelization of the first film. The franchise serves as inspiration for countless other films, and it?s unlikely that fans will ever truly see the last of Michal Myers. So far, the franchise has grossed $773,971,323, which is sure to change after Halloween Ends premieres.
6. Paranormal Activity Is A Realistic Horror Movie Franchise
Paranormal Activity uses the ?found footage? gimmick to give its films a signature style. This technique also lends a heavy dose of realism to the movies, which is part of what makes them so popular. The film series even spawned a video game in 2017. The Paranormal Activity franchise has only been around since 2009 but has already amassed $890,533,646 in gross. Another installment of the franchise is projected for release in 2023. That installment, titled The Other Side, will be the franchise?s eighth film ? so far.
5. Hannibal Built Its Empire On Book Adaptations
The first Hannibal franchise film was technically 1986?s Manhunterbut most fans of horror movies associate the birth of the franchise with 1991?s The Silence Of The Lambs. The five films in the franchise are based on the life and crimes of Hannibal Lecter, a cannibal serial killer created by author Thomas Harris. Most recently, NBC revived the franchise in a television series adaptation/prequel, which won a handful of Saturn Awards. The franchise has grossed $924,422,301 as of now, with no new film projects announced as of yet.
4. Saw Became A Twenty-First Century Phenomenon
Saw is one of few horror movie franchises to cross the billion-dollar threshold in gross profits, coming in at $1,012,620,413 to date. The franchise consists of nine full-length films revolving around a unique fictional serial killer named John Kramer. Rather than simply killing his victims, Kramer traps his victims in ?games? that force them to fight for their lives. All nine films have received mixed reviews from critics, but fans continue to love the gory franchise. There are rumors that a television adaptation of one of the films is on the horizon, so horror lovers may get a chance to return to their favorite series soon.
3. Resident Evil Expanded On A Video Game Series
Resident Evil got its start as a 1996 Capcom video game for Playstation and is still as popular as ever. The film franchise spin-off of the games launched in 2002 and spawned six canonical films. In 2021, a reboot movie called Resident Evil: Welcome To Racoon City began a new chapter in the franchise. This horror movie franchise is one of the most successful ever, grossing $1,279,538,320 and counting. All six canonical films cracked the list of top fifty highest-grossing movies for their release years, an impressive feat for a horror franchise.
2. Alien Combines Suspenseful Horror And Satisfying Sci-Fi
Some of the most popular directors in Hollywood have directed Alien movies, including Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and David Fincher. The franchise centers around one woman?s battles against an aggressive alien lifeform sometimes referred to as a Xenomorph. The franchise has been around since 1979 and has spawned six movies so far. The total gross for all six movies is $1,653,812,293, placing it among the top highest-grossing film franchises ever made, regardless of genre. Supposedly, a television adaptation of the franchise is in pre-development as of 2022.
1. The Conjuring Is A Rapidly Expanding Horror Universe
For a film franchise that has only been around since 2013, The Conjuring has covered a lot of ground. To date, there are seven movies in the franchise. Michael Chaves is currently filming the eighth movie, and a ninth movie is also in development. To date, the franchise has grossed an impressive $2,128,077,472. A DC comic book line was launched in March of 2021, and a potential television series was also announced. By all accounts, The Conjuring has plenty more to offer horror fans, and the franchise is just getting started.
We wish to say thanks to the writer of this short article for this remarkable web content
[date_timestamp] => 1654322687
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[title] => A24 vs. Blumhouse: Who Makes Better Horror Movies?
[link] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/a24-vs-blumhouse-who-makes-better-horror-movies/
[dc] => Array
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[creator] => Harry World
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[pubdate] => Sat, 04 Jun 2022 04:42:18 +0000
[category] => Scream AwayA24BlumhouseHorrorMovies
[guid] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=68410
[description] => There are two major players in the horror movie game: A24 and Blumhouse. John Hodges, David Fenkel and Daniel Katz founded A24 in 2012 and Jason Blum started his company in 2000. Both are famous and beloved for putting out well-done and discussion-worthy scary movies, and when fans see new releases that they look forward ... Read more
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[encoded] =>
There are two major players in the horror movie game: A24 and Blumhouse. John Hodges, David Fenkel and Daniel Katz founded A24 in 2012 and Jason Blum started his company in 2000. Both are famous and beloved for putting out well-done and discussion-worthy scary movies, and when fans see new releases that they look forward to checking out, the movie is likely an A24 or Blumhouse production.
When horror fans think about the quality of movies put out by each company, it’s definitely tough to say who puts out the best films as they are fairly comparable and equal. When fans compare A24 and Blumhouse, who would win?
GAMERANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
RELATED: 5 Great Blumhouse Movies That Aren’t Horror
When horror fans think about whether A24 or Blumhouse makes better movies, one big question comes up: do people prefer elevated horror or more mainstream, fun, and entertaining flicks? For the most part, it could be argued that A24 puts out films that are in the elevated horror category and Blumhouse makes popular horror movies. Both films are necessary and important, and neither type is better than the other. It’s all about what people are looking for and what they’re in the mood for.
Some of A24’s most famous and beloved horror releases include The Lighthouse (2019), X (2022), Hereditary (2018), and Midsummer (2019). Blumhouse’s most well-known movies include Paranormal Activity (2007), The Purge franchise which began in 2013, Unfriended (2014), and the Halloween trilogy which began in 2018. Blumhouse also has some gems like Ma (2019) which haven’t gotten enough attention but definitely deserve to be seen by everyone. A film like Truth Or Dare (2018) might be a disappointing Blumhouse movie but fans can count on the company for fun, creative, compelling stories that are sure to get attention. At the same time, fans of A24’s films love that the company isn’t afraid to tell artistic and interesting stories with dark themes.
It’s tough to answer if A24 or Blumhouse has better content because at the end of the day, it really depends on what horror fans are looking for. It could be argued that Blumhouse has one major release that is elevated horror: the super successful and impressive 2017 film Get Out. Fans can’t wait to see Jordan Peele’s Nope which is sure to raise big and important questions as well. It could also be argued that A24 has a movie coming out in August 2022 that could be put in the fun category and could also be a movie that Blumhouse would make: Bodies Bodies Bodies? Directed by Halina Reijn, A24’s Bodies Bodies Bodies stars Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson and tells the scary story of friends playing a game during a party. Both Nope and Bodies Bodies Bodies are sure to get lots of people talking this summer and the films have an equal amount of buzz and excitement surrounding them.
The ultimate showdown might be between two films that are widely considered to be the best horror movies of the past few years: Get Out and Hereditary. It could be argued that these movies are completely equal in terms of performances, storytelling, shocks, scares, and social/political/religious commentary. Both films make people think, talk to each other, and consider big questions that don’t have simple answers. Get Out is a Blumhouse production and A24 put out Hereditaryand horror fans appreciate the artistry behind both films. It’s fair to say that each movie has inspired other filmmakers and changed the horror movie game and everyone is watching to see what the talented and impressive Ari Aster and Jordan Peele work on next.
When it comes to 2022 horror releases, fans are looking forward to Blumhouse’s 2022 horror movies, but A24 knocked it out of the park with Ti West’s Xwhich premiered at South by Southwest in March 2022. This movie is absolutely incredible, with solid performances, a stunning setting, twisty moments, and killers who are very different from slasher villains. Horror filmmakers can learn from X and it definitely seems like it will be hard to top this movie. It does what a contemporary horror movie should do as it’s a shocking and awe-inspiring story with big moments, twists that are logical, and some nods to classic flicks.
While Blumhouse does put out great movies that are in genres other than horror, A24 might win there, as their non-horror films include Spring Breakers (2012), Moonlight (2016), Eighth Grade (2018), and Lady Bird (2017). It’s definitely true that both A24 and Blumhouse are putting out incredibly well-made horror films and both companies deserve praise. When fans really think about it, though, people associate Blumhouse more with the horror genre, so in terms of word and mouth and buzz, they might win.
NEXT: 8 Best A24 Horror Movies You Should Watch
We want to say thanks to the author of this short article for this remarkable material
)
[summary] => There are two major players in the horror movie game: A24 and Blumhouse. John Hodges, David Fenkel and Daniel Katz founded A24 in 2012 and Jason Blum started his company in 2000. Both are famous and beloved for putting out well-done and discussion-worthy scary movies, and when fans see new releases that they look forward ... Read more
[atom_content] =>
There are two major players in the horror movie game: A24 and Blumhouse. John Hodges, David Fenkel and Daniel Katz founded A24 in 2012 and Jason Blum started his company in 2000. Both are famous and beloved for putting out well-done and discussion-worthy scary movies, and when fans see new releases that they look forward to checking out, the movie is likely an A24 or Blumhouse production.
When horror fans think about the quality of movies put out by each company, it’s definitely tough to say who puts out the best films as they are fairly comparable and equal. When fans compare A24 and Blumhouse, who would win?
GAMERANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
RELATED: 5 Great Blumhouse Movies That Aren’t Horror
When horror fans think about whether A24 or Blumhouse makes better movies, one big question comes up: do people prefer elevated horror or more mainstream, fun, and entertaining flicks? For the most part, it could be argued that A24 puts out films that are in the elevated horror category and Blumhouse makes popular horror movies. Both films are necessary and important, and neither type is better than the other. It’s all about what people are looking for and what they’re in the mood for.
Some of A24’s most famous and beloved horror releases include The Lighthouse (2019), X (2022), Hereditary (2018), and Midsummer (2019). Blumhouse’s most well-known movies include Paranormal Activity (2007), The Purge franchise which began in 2013, Unfriended (2014), and the Halloween trilogy which began in 2018. Blumhouse also has some gems like Ma (2019) which haven’t gotten enough attention but definitely deserve to be seen by everyone. A film like Truth Or Dare (2018) might be a disappointing Blumhouse movie but fans can count on the company for fun, creative, compelling stories that are sure to get attention. At the same time, fans of A24’s films love that the company isn’t afraid to tell artistic and interesting stories with dark themes.
It’s tough to answer if A24 or Blumhouse has better content because at the end of the day, it really depends on what horror fans are looking for. It could be argued that Blumhouse has one major release that is elevated horror: the super successful and impressive 2017 film Get Out. Fans can’t wait to see Jordan Peele’s Nope which is sure to raise big and important questions as well. It could also be argued that A24 has a movie coming out in August 2022 that could be put in the fun category and could also be a movie that Blumhouse would make: Bodies Bodies Bodies? Directed by Halina Reijn, A24’s Bodies Bodies Bodies stars Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson and tells the scary story of friends playing a game during a party. Both Nope and Bodies Bodies Bodies are sure to get lots of people talking this summer and the films have an equal amount of buzz and excitement surrounding them.
The ultimate showdown might be between two films that are widely considered to be the best horror movies of the past few years: Get Out and Hereditary. It could be argued that these movies are completely equal in terms of performances, storytelling, shocks, scares, and social/political/religious commentary. Both films make people think, talk to each other, and consider big questions that don’t have simple answers. Get Out is a Blumhouse production and A24 put out Hereditaryand horror fans appreciate the artistry behind both films. It’s fair to say that each movie has inspired other filmmakers and changed the horror movie game and everyone is watching to see what the talented and impressive Ari Aster and Jordan Peele work on next.
When it comes to 2022 horror releases, fans are looking forward to Blumhouse’s 2022 horror movies, but A24 knocked it out of the park with Ti West’s Xwhich premiered at South by Southwest in March 2022. This movie is absolutely incredible, with solid performances, a stunning setting, twisty moments, and killers who are very different from slasher villains. Horror filmmakers can learn from X and it definitely seems like it will be hard to top this movie. It does what a contemporary horror movie should do as it’s a shocking and awe-inspiring story with big moments, twists that are logical, and some nods to classic flicks.
While Blumhouse does put out great movies that are in genres other than horror, A24 might win there, as their non-horror films include Spring Breakers (2012), Moonlight (2016), Eighth Grade (2018), and Lady Bird (2017). It’s definitely true that both A24 and Blumhouse are putting out incredibly well-made horror films and both companies deserve praise. When fans really think about it, though, people associate Blumhouse more with the horror genre, so in terms of word and mouth and buzz, they might win.
NEXT: 8 Best A24 Horror Movies You Should Watch
We want to say thanks to the author of this short article for this remarkable material
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)
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[title] => 10 Best Surreal Movies, According To Ranker
[link] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/10-best-surreal-movies-according-to-ranker/
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[creator] => Harry World
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[pubdate] => Sat, 04 Jun 2022 03:20:05 +0000
[category] => Scream AwayMoviesRankerSurreal
[guid] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=68340
[description] => When it comes to the trippiest and most mind-scrambling movies of all time, it’s no surprise that some of the same filmmakers come up time and again. Whether it’s David Lynch, Terry Gilliam, David Cronenberg, Ari Aster, Charlie Kaufman, or others, the most surreal filmmakers can tap into the human subconscious in ways the audience ... Read more
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When it comes to the trippiest and most mind-scrambling movies of all time, it’s no surprise that some of the same filmmakers come up time and again. Whether it’s David Lynch, Terry Gilliam, David Cronenberg, Ari Aster, Charlie Kaufman, or others, the most surreal filmmakers can tap into the human subconscious in ways the audience is often unaware or ill-prepared for, inevitably leading to a profoundly unforgettable cinematic experience.
While horror movies often provide rife settings for surreal stories, the best examples aren’t always limited to the genre, especially in the eyes of online fansites such as Ranker.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
From the director of such surrealist tales as Brazil and Tidelandthe great Terry Gilliam one-upped himself with The Man Who Killed DonQuixotean adventurous dramedy that plays to the director’s strongest sensibilities. Adam Driver stars as Toby, a film director who goes on a series of trippy misadventures with a disillusioned cobbler named Javier (Jonathan Pryce) who believes he is Don Quixote.
RELATED: Top Rated Movies Directed By Terry Gilliam, According To IMDb
Despite the messy, chaotic story, the film was hailed for being daringly original, bearing Gilliam’s surrealist signature, and capturing the quixotic spirit of the original Cervantes novel that remains so celebrated. Gorgeous, uncompromising, and wonderfully strange, it’s good to see Gilliam return to his bizarre corner of the sandbox.
Anomalisa (2015)
Charlie Kaufman has made a career out of being one of the most original and offbeat cinematic voices who has created some of the weirdest art movies Hollywood has ever seen. While Being John Malkovich and Adaptation certainly count, Ranker favors his 2015 stop-motion dramedy He finishes instead.
Co-directed by Duke Johnson, He finishes follows Michael Stone (David Thewlis), a customer service agent who cannot make human connections. But when Michael meets Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) during a business trip, the joyless nihilist finds a ray of hope and begins to experience happiness. Bizarre, disorienting, and oddly uplifting, Kaufman’s popular and well-received movie manages to mix the jarring visuals with grounded human emotion, resulting in a surprisingly warm and welcoming way.
Meshes Of The Afternoon (1943)
Dreams are always rife for the most surreal stories committed to celluloid, with one of the earliest examples coming from experimental filmmaker Maya Deren. Co-directed with Alexander Hammid, Meshes of the Afternoon tracks The Woman (also played by Deren) who returns home, falls asleep, and experiences intense nightmares that blur the line between conscious and subconscious, waking life and sleep, in the most effective ways imaginable.
The head-spinning avant-garde film is unlike anything people have seen before or since, with the German expressionist use of light and shadow, canted angles, jarring music, and unnerving editing style all coalescing to create a truly terrifying dreamlike experience.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Since his feature debut in 1977, no filmmaker has earned a reputation for being as surreal as David Lynch. Able to tap into the human subconscious in the most disturbing and thought-provoking ways, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk WithMe is the movie adaptation of his cult TV show Twin Peaks, essentially serving as a prequel to the mysterious Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) saga.
In depicting the final week of Laura Palmer’s life, Lynch manages to create one of the strangest, knottiest, most unpredictable, and nightmarish cinematic experiences on record. The twists and turns and easy-to-miss hidden details that the story entails have a cryptic dream logic that is hard to decipher, but it’s the oddball characters that make the movie so unforgettably hypnotic.
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Often hailed as David Lynch’s finest film, moviegoing experiences do not get more surreal than Mulholland Drive. Dreams, nightmares, memories, and psychic amnesia are all blended into one noirish, mind-blowing tale of a woman named Betty (Naomi Watts) trying to make sense of her life following a devastating car crash in Los Angeles.
RELATED: David Lynch’s 10 Favorite Movies, Ranked (According To IMDb)
The cinematic puzzle piece is challenging narratively yet deeply rewarding for those who can crack the film’s encoded meaning. Few filmmakers know how to tap into the unventured corners of the human mind like Lynch while delivering consistent entertainment. Seductive, sexy, strange, and highly replayable, Mulholland Drive is as twisted as the road it’s named for.
Midsummer (2019)
In his second feature film, Ari Aster explored the lasting lore of Scandinavian folk horror in Midsummer. While not quite as scary as Hereditary, Midsummer is much more maddening in the way the viewers vicariously unravel spiritually and psychologically through the main characters as it progresses.
Plot-wise, the film finds a troubled American couple attempting to work out their problems at a sunny Swedish summer festival during vacation. The local customs and rituals turn increasingly bizarre and violently unsettling, making audiences squirm and writhe in their seats while also scratching their heads for answers to the overall meaning. Ambitious, creepy, and full of freaky Freudian imagery, Midsummer is a top-tier mind-scrambler.
Daisies (1966)
The only outright comedy to make the grade, Daisies is an obscure Czech movie from writer/director Vera Chytilova. The story tracks two women named Marie (Jitka Cerhova, Ivana Karanova) who begin robbing older men and using their money to have as much fun as humanly possible. The indulgence, debauchery, and mischief that ensue lead to a crazy and delirious curio of a conclusion.
The visual whirlwind of imagery was cutting edge for its time, its rare female perspective as refreshing as can be, and the unadulterated hedonism depicted is done in a way that plot and character seem irrelevant. All add up to a dazzling montage of remarkable surrealism every film fan should experience at least once.
Eraserhead (1977)
David Lynch shocked the world with his nightmarishly surreal feature debut Eraserheadan industrial black-and-white, avant-garde assault of the senses. It’s hard to overstate the importance and influence of the movie, not just among Lynch’s filmography but for an entire generation of filmmakers as well.
RELATED: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About David Lynch’s Surreal Masterpiece Eraserhead
The film centers on Henry Spencer (Jack Nance), a strange man living in an impoverished industrial wasteland. When his mutated child arrives, he tries to keep it alive while dealing with his angry girlfriend and her ultra-bizarre parents. As only Lynch can do, the film plumbs the darkest caverns and most remote recess of the human psyche to create a waking nightmare onscreen.
Naked Lunch (1991)
Like David Lynch, David Cronenberg has authored several wildly surreal cinematic experiences. Also known as the master of body horror, Cronenberg fused the two tenets in the perfect source material, adapting William S. Burroughs’ insanely surreal novel Naked Lunch to the big screen.
The hallucinatory story follows Bill Lee (Peter Weller), a bug exterminator who becomes addicted to the lethal substance he uses to extinguish creepy crawlers, leading to a kaleidoscopic array of visual projections he can’t quite get a grip on. A cult classic in every sense, Cronenberg’s highly-acclaimed Naked Lunch blends styles, tropes, periods, and more in ways bound to leave an irreparable dent in one’s brain.
House (1977)
Hopefully, everyone comes away willing to seek out Housethe best surreal movie of all time, according to Ranker. The highly amusing and mind-boggling Japanese horror-comedy goes places that need to be seen to be believed, taunting and tickling every psychological node in the human brain.
Directed with great vim and vigor by Nobuhiko Obayashi, the story finds seven schoolgirls convening in one of their aunt’s haunted ancestral abodes, where the most unbelievably bizarre, mind-bending, and illogically nightmarish supernatural phenomena take place. The explosion of color is one thing, being eaten alive by an animated piano is quite another, and that may be the tamest scene in the movie.
NEXT: 10 Great Japanese Horror Films On The Criterion Channel
Star Wars Short Film Fixes The Stormtroopers’ Accuracy Problem
We want to give thanks to the author of this article for this incredible web content
)
[summary] => When it comes to the trippiest and most mind-scrambling movies of all time, it’s no surprise that some of the same filmmakers come up time and again. Whether it’s David Lynch, Terry Gilliam, David Cronenberg, Ari Aster, Charlie Kaufman, or others, the most surreal filmmakers can tap into the human subconscious in ways the audience ... Read more
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When it comes to the trippiest and most mind-scrambling movies of all time, it’s no surprise that some of the same filmmakers come up time and again. Whether it’s David Lynch, Terry Gilliam, David Cronenberg, Ari Aster, Charlie Kaufman, or others, the most surreal filmmakers can tap into the human subconscious in ways the audience is often unaware or ill-prepared for, inevitably leading to a profoundly unforgettable cinematic experience.
While horror movies often provide rife settings for surreal stories, the best examples aren’t always limited to the genre, especially in the eyes of online fansites such as Ranker.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
From the director of such surrealist tales as Brazil and Tidelandthe great Terry Gilliam one-upped himself with The Man Who Killed DonQuixotean adventurous dramedy that plays to the director’s strongest sensibilities. Adam Driver stars as Toby, a film director who goes on a series of trippy misadventures with a disillusioned cobbler named Javier (Jonathan Pryce) who believes he is Don Quixote.
RELATED: Top Rated Movies Directed By Terry Gilliam, According To IMDb
Despite the messy, chaotic story, the film was hailed for being daringly original, bearing Gilliam’s surrealist signature, and capturing the quixotic spirit of the original Cervantes novel that remains so celebrated. Gorgeous, uncompromising, and wonderfully strange, it’s good to see Gilliam return to his bizarre corner of the sandbox.
Anomalisa (2015)
Charlie Kaufman has made a career out of being one of the most original and offbeat cinematic voices who has created some of the weirdest art movies Hollywood has ever seen. While Being John Malkovich and Adaptation certainly count, Ranker favors his 2015 stop-motion dramedy He finishes instead.
Co-directed by Duke Johnson, He finishes follows Michael Stone (David Thewlis), a customer service agent who cannot make human connections. But when Michael meets Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) during a business trip, the joyless nihilist finds a ray of hope and begins to experience happiness. Bizarre, disorienting, and oddly uplifting, Kaufman’s popular and well-received movie manages to mix the jarring visuals with grounded human emotion, resulting in a surprisingly warm and welcoming way.
Meshes Of The Afternoon (1943)
Dreams are always rife for the most surreal stories committed to celluloid, with one of the earliest examples coming from experimental filmmaker Maya Deren. Co-directed with Alexander Hammid, Meshes of the Afternoon tracks The Woman (also played by Deren) who returns home, falls asleep, and experiences intense nightmares that blur the line between conscious and subconscious, waking life and sleep, in the most effective ways imaginable.
The head-spinning avant-garde film is unlike anything people have seen before or since, with the German expressionist use of light and shadow, canted angles, jarring music, and unnerving editing style all coalescing to create a truly terrifying dreamlike experience.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Since his feature debut in 1977, no filmmaker has earned a reputation for being as surreal as David Lynch. Able to tap into the human subconscious in the most disturbing and thought-provoking ways, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk WithMe is the movie adaptation of his cult TV show Twin Peaks, essentially serving as a prequel to the mysterious Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) saga.
In depicting the final week of Laura Palmer’s life, Lynch manages to create one of the strangest, knottiest, most unpredictable, and nightmarish cinematic experiences on record. The twists and turns and easy-to-miss hidden details that the story entails have a cryptic dream logic that is hard to decipher, but it’s the oddball characters that make the movie so unforgettably hypnotic.
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Often hailed as David Lynch’s finest film, moviegoing experiences do not get more surreal than Mulholland Drive. Dreams, nightmares, memories, and psychic amnesia are all blended into one noirish, mind-blowing tale of a woman named Betty (Naomi Watts) trying to make sense of her life following a devastating car crash in Los Angeles.
RELATED: David Lynch’s 10 Favorite Movies, Ranked (According To IMDb)
The cinematic puzzle piece is challenging narratively yet deeply rewarding for those who can crack the film’s encoded meaning. Few filmmakers know how to tap into the unventured corners of the human mind like Lynch while delivering consistent entertainment. Seductive, sexy, strange, and highly replayable, Mulholland Drive is as twisted as the road it’s named for.
Midsummer (2019)
In his second feature film, Ari Aster explored the lasting lore of Scandinavian folk horror in Midsummer. While not quite as scary as Hereditary, Midsummer is much more maddening in the way the viewers vicariously unravel spiritually and psychologically through the main characters as it progresses.
Plot-wise, the film finds a troubled American couple attempting to work out their problems at a sunny Swedish summer festival during vacation. The local customs and rituals turn increasingly bizarre and violently unsettling, making audiences squirm and writhe in their seats while also scratching their heads for answers to the overall meaning. Ambitious, creepy, and full of freaky Freudian imagery, Midsummer is a top-tier mind-scrambler.
Daisies (1966)
The only outright comedy to make the grade, Daisies is an obscure Czech movie from writer/director Vera Chytilova. The story tracks two women named Marie (Jitka Cerhova, Ivana Karanova) who begin robbing older men and using their money to have as much fun as humanly possible. The indulgence, debauchery, and mischief that ensue lead to a crazy and delirious curio of a conclusion.
The visual whirlwind of imagery was cutting edge for its time, its rare female perspective as refreshing as can be, and the unadulterated hedonism depicted is done in a way that plot and character seem irrelevant. All add up to a dazzling montage of remarkable surrealism every film fan should experience at least once.
Eraserhead (1977)
David Lynch shocked the world with his nightmarishly surreal feature debut Eraserheadan industrial black-and-white, avant-garde assault of the senses. It’s hard to overstate the importance and influence of the movie, not just among Lynch’s filmography but for an entire generation of filmmakers as well.
RELATED: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About David Lynch’s Surreal Masterpiece Eraserhead
The film centers on Henry Spencer (Jack Nance), a strange man living in an impoverished industrial wasteland. When his mutated child arrives, he tries to keep it alive while dealing with his angry girlfriend and her ultra-bizarre parents. As only Lynch can do, the film plumbs the darkest caverns and most remote recess of the human psyche to create a waking nightmare onscreen.
Naked Lunch (1991)
Like David Lynch, David Cronenberg has authored several wildly surreal cinematic experiences. Also known as the master of body horror, Cronenberg fused the two tenets in the perfect source material, adapting William S. Burroughs’ insanely surreal novel Naked Lunch to the big screen.
The hallucinatory story follows Bill Lee (Peter Weller), a bug exterminator who becomes addicted to the lethal substance he uses to extinguish creepy crawlers, leading to a kaleidoscopic array of visual projections he can’t quite get a grip on. A cult classic in every sense, Cronenberg’s highly-acclaimed Naked Lunch blends styles, tropes, periods, and more in ways bound to leave an irreparable dent in one’s brain.
House (1977)
Hopefully, everyone comes away willing to seek out Housethe best surreal movie of all time, according to Ranker. The highly amusing and mind-boggling Japanese horror-comedy goes places that need to be seen to be believed, taunting and tickling every psychological node in the human brain.
Directed with great vim and vigor by Nobuhiko Obayashi, the story finds seven schoolgirls convening in one of their aunt’s haunted ancestral abodes, where the most unbelievably bizarre, mind-bending, and illogically nightmarish supernatural phenomena take place. The explosion of color is one thing, being eaten alive by an animated piano is quite another, and that may be the tamest scene in the movie.
NEXT: 10 Great Japanese Horror Films On The Criterion Channel
Star Wars Short Film Fixes The Stormtroopers’ Accuracy Problem
We want to give thanks to the author of this article for this incredible web content
[date_timestamp] => 1654312805
)
[3] => Array
(
[title] => How the Insidious Movies Targeted a Different Type of Fear for Audiences
[link] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/how-the-insidious-movies-targeted-a-different-type-of-fear-for-audiences/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Harry World
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[pubdate] => Sat, 04 Jun 2022 01:57:59 +0000
[category] => Scream AwayAudiencesfearInsidiousMoviestargetedType
[guid] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=68319
[description] => When considering the success of the Insidious franchise, it’s important to spotlight what exactly made these films different yet equally terrifying. The 2010 supernatural horror film Insidious was directed by James Wan and had a wonderful cast, including Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. Over a decade after its initial release, Insidious is now streaming on ... Read more
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(
[encoded] =>
When considering the success of the Insidious franchise, it’s important to spotlight what exactly made these films different yet equally terrifying.
The 2010 supernatural horror film Insidious was directed by James Wan and had a wonderful cast, including Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. Over a decade after its initial release, Insidious is now streaming on HBO Max and serves as a staple for the resurgence of horror movies in the 2010s. Wan only directed the first two films of the franchise, which went together quite well before the series was taken over by Whannell for the third and fourth movies.
What differentiated Insidious from its competitors, including Wan’s other works, such as Saw and The Conjuringwas the fact that the true fear came from the concept of dream walking rather than relying on physical violence, CGI or jump scares. Horror movies often use these tactics to trigger fear responses in their viewers, but Wan wrote on Facebook that he wanted to “shake the torture-porn label” he had acquired from creating Saw in 2004. Many people can probably agree that he accomplished this and used the premise of dream walking as his ultimate scare factor in Insidious.
RELATED: Morbius Demanded a Horror Director – and James Wan Would Have Been Perfect
Eventually, more CGI was added to the later films in the Insidious franchise as scary imagery became more of a selling point for the movies, but the original two movies in the series relied heavily on their ominous tone. Nightmare on Elm Street created an entire successful franchise based on the concept of a spirit that followed people into their dreams, and Insidious hit this mark without relying on a scissor-handed creature (sorry Freddy Krueger) or physical violence. The scares for Insidious were focused more on the idea of children traveling to another world in their dreams and being confronted with spirits that wanted to invade their bodies and walk among the living.
The dream walking aspect in Insidious could also easily represent a generational wound that gets passed down from father to son. Josh (Wilson) doesn’t remember having the ability to travel to “The Further” when he was a child, so he had no way of preparing his son to experience the same terror. This concept adds to the fear as many people could probably relate to the idea of suffering from certain conditions their family had forgotten runs in their lineage. The son Dalton could possibly never wake up from his comatose state, and the fault would be on the father’s side for not taking the initial threat from his childhood seriously.
RELATED: Sam Raimi Horror Movies to Watch After Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
For those who have seen the original Insidiousthe ending does reveal that Josh ultimately becomes possessed by the evil woman who had been harassing him and their son throughout the film. The ending was a perfect way to close out the first movie, as it gave viewers something to look forward to in the next installment, which involved saving Josh from “The Further.” In Insidious: Chapter 2the movie starts with Josh and Renai (Byrne) contacting the demonologist that helped them previously to confront the continued haunting their family had experienced in the film.
Elise’s (the demonologist) suggestion for how to confront this spirit once again was to force Josh to forget his astral projection ability, repeating the cycle that had put them in danger in the first place. This aspect infers to the audience that forgetting traumatic events doesn’t protect the survivors. When considering the concept of having an uncontrollable condition that causes instability and constant threat to an individual can produce true fear. Focusing on that element for the film truly differentiated Insidious from other horror films at the time since its premise targeted that specific fear of possession and haunting within the dream world.
We would like to thank the writer of this post for this remarkable content
)
[summary] => When considering the success of the Insidious franchise, it’s important to spotlight what exactly made these films different yet equally terrifying. The 2010 supernatural horror film Insidious was directed by James Wan and had a wonderful cast, including Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. Over a decade after its initial release, Insidious is now streaming on ... Read more
[atom_content] =>
When considering the success of the Insidious franchise, it’s important to spotlight what exactly made these films different yet equally terrifying.
The 2010 supernatural horror film Insidious was directed by James Wan and had a wonderful cast, including Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. Over a decade after its initial release, Insidious is now streaming on HBO Max and serves as a staple for the resurgence of horror movies in the 2010s. Wan only directed the first two films of the franchise, which went together quite well before the series was taken over by Whannell for the third and fourth movies.
What differentiated Insidious from its competitors, including Wan’s other works, such as Saw and The Conjuringwas the fact that the true fear came from the concept of dream walking rather than relying on physical violence, CGI or jump scares. Horror movies often use these tactics to trigger fear responses in their viewers, but Wan wrote on Facebook that he wanted to “shake the torture-porn label” he had acquired from creating Saw in 2004. Many people can probably agree that he accomplished this and used the premise of dream walking as his ultimate scare factor in Insidious.
RELATED: Morbius Demanded a Horror Director – and James Wan Would Have Been Perfect
Eventually, more CGI was added to the later films in the Insidious franchise as scary imagery became more of a selling point for the movies, but the original two movies in the series relied heavily on their ominous tone. Nightmare on Elm Street created an entire successful franchise based on the concept of a spirit that followed people into their dreams, and Insidious hit this mark without relying on a scissor-handed creature (sorry Freddy Krueger) or physical violence. The scares for Insidious were focused more on the idea of children traveling to another world in their dreams and being confronted with spirits that wanted to invade their bodies and walk among the living.
The dream walking aspect in Insidious could also easily represent a generational wound that gets passed down from father to son. Josh (Wilson) doesn’t remember having the ability to travel to “The Further” when he was a child, so he had no way of preparing his son to experience the same terror. This concept adds to the fear as many people could probably relate to the idea of suffering from certain conditions their family had forgotten runs in their lineage. The son Dalton could possibly never wake up from his comatose state, and the fault would be on the father’s side for not taking the initial threat from his childhood seriously.
RELATED: Sam Raimi Horror Movies to Watch After Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
For those who have seen the original Insidiousthe ending does reveal that Josh ultimately becomes possessed by the evil woman who had been harassing him and their son throughout the film. The ending was a perfect way to close out the first movie, as it gave viewers something to look forward to in the next installment, which involved saving Josh from “The Further.” In Insidious: Chapter 2the movie starts with Josh and Renai (Byrne) contacting the demonologist that helped them previously to confront the continued haunting their family had experienced in the film.
Elise’s (the demonologist) suggestion for how to confront this spirit once again was to force Josh to forget his astral projection ability, repeating the cycle that had put them in danger in the first place. This aspect infers to the audience that forgetting traumatic events doesn’t protect the survivors. When considering the concept of having an uncontrollable condition that causes instability and constant threat to an individual can produce true fear. Focusing on that element for the film truly differentiated Insidious from other horror films at the time since its premise targeted that specific fear of possession and haunting within the dream world.
We would like to thank the writer of this post for this remarkable content
[date_timestamp] => 1654307879
)
[4] => Array
(
[title] => Friday the 13th and Other Films & TV Shows on Disney+ & Paramount+ This Weekend
[link] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/friday-the-13th-and-other-films-tv-shows-on-disney-paramount-this-weekend/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Harry World
)
[pubdate] => Sat, 04 Jun 2022 00:36:06 +0000
[category] => Scream Away13thDisneyFilmsFridayParamountWeekend
[guid] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=68297
[description] => It’s the start of the month, and that means streaming platforms like Paramount+ and Disney+ have released a ton of new content just in time for the summer. Whether it’s too hot to be outside or a break from outdoor activities is necessary, these five movies and shows will leave any summertime viewer satisfied. Friday ... Read more
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(
[encoded] =>
It’s the start of the month, and that means streaming platforms like Paramount+ and Disney+ have released a ton of new content just in time for the summer. Whether it’s too hot to be outside or a break from outdoor activities is necessary, these five movies and shows will leave any summertime viewer satisfied.
Friday the 13th Brings Halloween Haunts to Summer
The ’80s was notorious for an influx of horror movies that would go on to become cult classics, and Friday the 13th is perhaps the most well-known slasher flick of all time. And for those in the mood for a taste of Halloween, Paramount+ is now streaming this iconic scary movie.
RELATED: Best Horror Films to Watch on Shudder in June 2022
For teens trying to enjoy the summer at Camp Crystal Lake, hockey-masked serial killers are the furthest thing from their minds, though locals warn of a malicious presence in the surrounding woods. It’s all fun and games until an encounter with Jason Voorhees brings the realization that this summer camp is far from a relaxing getaway. Starring Adrienne King and Kevin Bacon, Friday the 13th is hailed as a near-perfect scary movie.
Harold and Maude Is a Lost Gem From the ’70s
From criminally underrated director Hal Ashby, Harold and Maude was considered incredibly controversial at the time of its release in 1971. However, in the years since, it has gained notoriety from both audiences and critics alike. Now, it’s available on Paramount+ for those seeking an artistic window into what it means to love life.
RELATED: How Bedknobs and Broomsticks Ties to Mary Poppins? Magical Influence
Starring acting legends Bud Court and Ruth Gordon as Harold and Maude, this film follows a young man obsessed with staging fake suicides in order to get the attention of his emotionally distant mother and grow his fascination with an eccentric old woman who keeps popping up in his life. Exploring themes of depression, learning to love again and overcoming mental obstacles, Harold and Maude is a prime example of what made cinema in the ’70s so renowned.
Wildboyz Expands on the Jackass Franchise
Casual fans of the Jackass series may not be familiar with the spinoff series Wildboyzbut diehard fanatics know what a hilarious and surprisingly educational show Wildboyz proved to be. Following Jackass alumni Steve-O and Chris Pontius as they travel around the world, Wildboyz had a successful four-season run on MTV, with all seasons now available to stream on Paramount+. For those interested in watching two daredevils interact with a variety of wild animals and learn about other cultures, this series is the perfect weekend watch.
Hollywood Stargirl Is a Highly Anticipated Sequel
Fans of competitive talent shows such as America’s Got Talent may remember Grace Vanderwaal, the child singer that took the world by storm after performing her original song on one of the biggest stages in the world. Since then, Vanderwaal has broken into the acting arena, starring in the original Stargirl movie and returning for the sequel Hollywood Stargirl.
Stargirl received praise for its poignant themes of first love and self-expression, and the sequel looks to expand on those themes even further. When Stargirl and her mother relocate to Los Angeles to break into the film industry, Stargirl unintentionally begins changing the town for the better. A lighthearted celebration of individuality, Hollywood Stargirl ponders what Hollywood could be like if it truly respected talent, good intentions and kindhearted people.
Glee Provides the Perfect Binge Watch
When Glee first sprang onscreen in 2009, it got hailed for its diversity, inclusive message and high-level performances. In the years since, however, controversy both on and off-screen has tarnished the original reception of the show. Despite that, the series remains as entertaining as when it originally aired.
Centered appropriately on the misfits of William McKinley High School’s Glee club, Glee brings drama, discussions on important topics and plenty of musical numbers to audiences. Starring Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester, the Glee club’s faculty advisor, and Lea Michele as protagonist Rachel Berry, the series remains a solid binge-watch.
We want to thank the writer of this write-up for this remarkable web content
)
[summary] => It’s the start of the month, and that means streaming platforms like Paramount+ and Disney+ have released a ton of new content just in time for the summer. Whether it’s too hot to be outside or a break from outdoor activities is necessary, these five movies and shows will leave any summertime viewer satisfied. Friday ... Read more
[atom_content] =>
It’s the start of the month, and that means streaming platforms like Paramount+ and Disney+ have released a ton of new content just in time for the summer. Whether it’s too hot to be outside or a break from outdoor activities is necessary, these five movies and shows will leave any summertime viewer satisfied.
Friday the 13th Brings Halloween Haunts to Summer
The ’80s was notorious for an influx of horror movies that would go on to become cult classics, and Friday the 13th is perhaps the most well-known slasher flick of all time. And for those in the mood for a taste of Halloween, Paramount+ is now streaming this iconic scary movie.
RELATED: Best Horror Films to Watch on Shudder in June 2022
For teens trying to enjoy the summer at Camp Crystal Lake, hockey-masked serial killers are the furthest thing from their minds, though locals warn of a malicious presence in the surrounding woods. It’s all fun and games until an encounter with Jason Voorhees brings the realization that this summer camp is far from a relaxing getaway. Starring Adrienne King and Kevin Bacon, Friday the 13th is hailed as a near-perfect scary movie.
Harold and Maude Is a Lost Gem From the ’70s
From criminally underrated director Hal Ashby, Harold and Maude was considered incredibly controversial at the time of its release in 1971. However, in the years since, it has gained notoriety from both audiences and critics alike. Now, it’s available on Paramount+ for those seeking an artistic window into what it means to love life.
RELATED: How Bedknobs and Broomsticks Ties to Mary Poppins? Magical Influence
Starring acting legends Bud Court and Ruth Gordon as Harold and Maude, this film follows a young man obsessed with staging fake suicides in order to get the attention of his emotionally distant mother and grow his fascination with an eccentric old woman who keeps popping up in his life. Exploring themes of depression, learning to love again and overcoming mental obstacles, Harold and Maude is a prime example of what made cinema in the ’70s so renowned.
Wildboyz Expands on the Jackass Franchise
Casual fans of the Jackass series may not be familiar with the spinoff series Wildboyzbut diehard fanatics know what a hilarious and surprisingly educational show Wildboyz proved to be. Following Jackass alumni Steve-O and Chris Pontius as they travel around the world, Wildboyz had a successful four-season run on MTV, with all seasons now available to stream on Paramount+. For those interested in watching two daredevils interact with a variety of wild animals and learn about other cultures, this series is the perfect weekend watch.
Hollywood Stargirl Is a Highly Anticipated Sequel
Fans of competitive talent shows such as America’s Got Talent may remember Grace Vanderwaal, the child singer that took the world by storm after performing her original song on one of the biggest stages in the world. Since then, Vanderwaal has broken into the acting arena, starring in the original Stargirl movie and returning for the sequel Hollywood Stargirl.
Stargirl received praise for its poignant themes of first love and self-expression, and the sequel looks to expand on those themes even further. When Stargirl and her mother relocate to Los Angeles to break into the film industry, Stargirl unintentionally begins changing the town for the better. A lighthearted celebration of individuality, Hollywood Stargirl ponders what Hollywood could be like if it truly respected talent, good intentions and kindhearted people.
Glee Provides the Perfect Binge Watch
When Glee first sprang onscreen in 2009, it got hailed for its diversity, inclusive message and high-level performances. In the years since, however, controversy both on and off-screen has tarnished the original reception of the show. Despite that, the series remains as entertaining as when it originally aired.
Centered appropriately on the misfits of William McKinley High School’s Glee club, Glee brings drama, discussions on important topics and plenty of musical numbers to audiences. Starring Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester, the Glee club’s faculty advisor, and Lea Michele as protagonist Rachel Berry, the series remains a solid binge-watch.
We want to thank the writer of this write-up for this remarkable web content
[date_timestamp] => 1654302966
)
[5] => Array
(
[title] => David Cronenberg?s Dreams and Nightmares
[link] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/david-cronenbergs-dreams-and-nightmares/
[dc] => Array
(
[creator] => Harry World
)
[pubdate] => Fri, 03 Jun 2022 23:14:16 +0000
[category] => Scream AwayCronenbergsDavidDreamsNightmares
[guid] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=68277
[description] => David Cronenberg?s breakout film, ?Shivers,? was both a success story and a scourge for the Canadian film industry. Released in 1975, it told the tale of a parasite that spreads through a Montreal high-rise, turning residents into sex-crazed zombies. The movie cost a hundred and eighty thousand dollars and brought in some five million, making ... Read more
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(
[encoded] =>
David Cronenberg?s breakout film, ?Shivers,? was both a success story and a scourge for the Canadian film industry. Released in 1975, it told the tale of a parasite that spreads through a Montreal high-rise, turning residents into sex-crazed zombies. The movie cost a hundred and eighty thousand dollars and brought in some five million, making it the highest-grossing film Canada had ever put out. Alas, it was not to everyone?s taste. Cronenberg gave his outrageous sci-fi premise a queasy sociological casing and played ruthlessly with horror-movie conventions, as in a bloody bathing scene à la ?Psycho??but with the deadly threat slithering up from the drain. The result was a parable of sexual revolution that split the difference between art and trash. In the U.S., the film was threatened with an X rating until Cronenberg agreed to remove a scene of a character hungrily stuffing bugs into his mouth. In Canada, Parliament debated whether its program of government-subsidized filmmaking had taken the cause of creative expression too far. Writing in the cultural journal Saturday Night, the novelist Robert Fulford excoriated Cronenberg as an opportunist gaming the system in a piece titled ?You Should Know How Bad This Film Is. After All, You Paid for It.?
It?s one thing to get a bad review; it?s another to be accused of creating the ?most perverse, disgusting and repulsive? film that a critic had ever seen. Cronenberg?s elderly landlady at the time read Fulford?s piece and apparently took literally his claim that her tenant made ?sadistic pornography.? At the age of thirty-three, with a wife and young daughter, Cronenberg was suddenly evicted from his flat. A few weeks later, he recounted the ordeal in an editorial in the Globe and Mail, describing the ?despicable hysteria? of Fulford?s article as an ?attempt to take away both my livelihood and the expression of my dreams and nightmares.? He also revealed that, after he was evicted and had relocated to a house across the street, a city inspector arrived at his door to search the premises for evidence of filmmaking equipment in a residential setting, supposedly a zoning no-no. Cronenberg welcomed the man to come in and look around as much as he liked. ?I felt confident and secure,? Cronenberg wrote. ?This man would find nothing. He did not know what to look for.?
In the nearly half century since ?Shivers,? through nineteen more feature films, Cronenberg has remained obsessed with bringing his nightmarish visions to life. He is fascinated by the flexibility and ferocity of the human organism, the myriad ways in which the body and its desires can betray us. He has explored those subjects using a clinical style punctuated by bursts of imaginative savagery, often achieved with stomach-turning, lo-fi special effects. His ?uvre encompasses a gun made of gristle that fires teeth (?eXistenZ?); a typewriter with an anus (?Naked Lunch?); weaponized armpits (?Rabid?); a chest cavity reconfigured as a VCR (?Videodrome?); and, in ?The Fly,? perhaps his best-known film, a human-insect mutant played by Jeff Goldblum. Many of his films have been met with revulsion or at least aggrieved ambivalence. Roger Ebert called ?Dead Ringers??about sibling gynecologists whose sinister intimacy dissolves in a haze of drug abuse, narcissicism, and sexual jealousy?the kind of movie ?where you ask people how they liked it, and they say, ?Well, it was well made,? and then they wince.? When Cronenberg first competed at Cannes, in 1996, the jury was so flummoxed by the neurasthenic depravity of ?Crash,? his adaptation of J. G. Ballard?s novel about car-wreck fetishists, that they jerry-rigged a special citation for ?audacity.? Upon the film?s release in England, the country?s national-heritage secretary urged theatre owners not to show it. Cronenberg, in turn, has maintained a cool contempt for officious pundits and their agendas. He once joked to an interviewer, of his 1981 film ?Scanners,? ?I was exploding heads just like any other young, normal North American boy.? Like any North American boy, he achieved the infamous scene in question using a plaster cast stuffed with bits of leftover hamburger.
David Foster Wallace once wrote that ?Quentin Tarantino is interested in watching someone?s ear getting cut off; David Lynch is interested in the ear.? Cronenberg (whose sensibility, like Lynch?s, is unmistakable enough to function as an adjective) has supplied his new film, ?Crimes of the Future,? with a character who has ears growing all over his body and his eyes sewn shut. The warped extremity of Cronenbergian body horror has kept him at a distance from the mainstream, but it?s also earned him a respect and influence that few other cult directors can claim. His work has been the subject of film-studies courses, Ph.D. dissertations, and critical anthologies, driving up the intellectual value of genre cinema without ever gentrifying it. His peerless series of gross-out mindfucks and philosophical schlockfests have shaped art-making in the movies and beyond, from the corporeal jolts of Darren Aronofsky?s ?Black Swan? to the experimental pop of Charli XCX, who named a recent album ?Crash.? Jordan Peele, an ascendant master of art-house scary movies, told the Wall Street Journal, in 2020, that watching ?The Fly? taught him ?the power of horror.? The veteran film critic J. Hoberman has called Cronenberg ?the most provocative and consistently original North American director of his generation.?
?Crimes of the Future,? Cronenberg?s first feature in eight years, marks something of a return to form. (It premièred at Cannes on May 23rd and is in theatres on Friday.) In the twenty-first century thus far, Cronenberg has made a string of relatively refined films, including literary adaptations such as Don DeLillo?s Wall Street odyssey ?Cosmopolis? and the when-Freud-met-Jung period piece ?A Dangerous Method.? He also wrote a novel, 2014?s globe-trotting thriller ?Consumed,? which garnered respectful reviews from the likes of Jonathan Lethem, who praised the ?sculptural intensity? of its details. ?Crimes of the Future,? by comparison, is old-school Cronenberg body horror. It bears the same name as one of his earliest films, from the seventies, an experimental feature centered on a melancholy dermatologist navigating a world wiped of fertile women. The new ?Crimes of the Future? echoes the original as a dystopic tale of human devolution, though, in a recent interview, Cronenberg claimed that the recycled title didn?t signal any particular connection between the two. ?They both are accurately called ?Crimes of the Future,? ? he said. ?So why not do it??
Based on a script that Cronenberg first wrote in the late nineties, under the title ?Painkillers,? the new ?Crimes? was shot in Athens and is set in an unspecified future, in a seaside town with jagged industrial wreckage strewn amid ancient ruins. Genetic mutations have led humans to continually grow new auxiliary organs and to lose the sensation of pain. The local attraction is a kind of surgical performance art. Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), a veteran of the scene, lies supine onstage as his superfluous parts are extracted by his lover, Caprice (Léa Seydoux), as part of a grotesque double act.
Where many other auteurs can be identified by their virtuosity with the camera, Cronenberg makes images that are spare and functional, sometimes verging on amateurish. A former film professor of mine used to joke that Cronenberg was ?a genius without talent.? But his cool style has a way of peeling back cinematic conventions and clichés, and extracting the intellectual marrow at the core of his sci-fi scenarios. The tone of ?Crimes of the Future? is grim and searching, and the narrative momentum is minimal. In the opening minutes, a static shot shows a small boy sitting on the bathroom floor absent-mindedly munching on a wastebasket made of plastic. At once matter-of-fact and ominous?and soon followed by an act of ghastly violence?the tableau serves as an overture for the coming allegory of biological paradigm shift. Cronenberg?s scripts are littered with incantations that scan like twisted New Age mantras: ?go all the way through it,? ?you have to play the game,? and, most famously, from ?Videodrome,? ?long live the new flesh.? In ?Crimes of the Future,? an obsequious pencil-pusher (played by a twitchier-than-usual Kristen Stewart) hounds Saul to register his tumors in a new database. At one point she tells him, in a line that sounds like both a diagnosis and a come-on, ?Surgery is the new sex.?
?People will say, ?Oh, he?s back to body horror; he?s doing the same stuff he always did,? ? Cronenberg, who is seventy-nine, told me recently. ?But it?s never changed for me. My interest in the body is because, for me, it?s an inexhaustible subject?and of the essence of understanding the human condition. You will forgive me if I repeat myself. It?s just that these things are still true.? Before its première at Cannes, rumors circulated that ?Crimes? 2.0 might cause viewers to suffer fainting spells or panic attacks. As it turned out, the Cannes première prompted only a few walkouts and received a standing ovation. Cronenberg, who dressed for the red carpet in white wraparound mountaineering glasses, told the audience, ?I hope you?re not kidding.?
Since the late nineties, Cronenberg has lived in a three-story family home in the prosperous Toronto neighborhood of Forest Hill. One afternoon in April, I visited him at the house, which is shielded from the street by several trees. Martin Scorsese once wrote that he?d been nervous to meet Cronenberg, given the nature of his films, and then was surprised to discover that he looked like ?a gynecologist from Beverly Hills.? Slight and spry, Cronenberg greeted me at the door, wearing a sweatshirt in a pale-blue shade similar to the color of his eyes. His silver-white hair, as always, was upswept neatly from ear to ear, and his manner was as even and pleasant as his appearance. The pianist Glenn Gould, another Torontonian, observed that the city offered its inhabitants peace of mind because it ?does not impose its ?cityness? upon you.? Cronenberg, in that sense, was made in the image of his home town.
Cronenberg has lived alone since the death of his second wife, Carolyn, a filmmaker, five years ago, but he maintains close relationships with his three children?a daughter and son with Carolyn, and a daughter from his first marriage, to Margaret Hindson?all of whom live nearby. He gently dismissed my suggestion that we take a stroll through the neighborhood?s bustling, patio-lined strip of coffee shops and restaurants, though not for fear of being recognized. ?I?m common as dirt around here,? he said, leading me past rows of family photos and a dark-brown Braunschweig piano passed down from Carolyn?s mother, before ducking into the kitchen to prepare us espressos. We sat down in the dining room, which is decorated with an enormous photorealistic portrait of Cronenberg?s face woven from threads by the Argentinian art collective Mondongo. ?Viggo commissioned them secretly and gave it to me as a gift,? Cronenberg told me. ?It?s pretty good. It?s me being God.? Nearly a decade ago, Cronenberg donated a trove of personal mementos and props to the Toronto International Film Festival, including the fleshy bio-ports from ?eXistenZ? and the steel surgical tools from ?Dead Ringers.? The only movie ephemera I spotted in his home was a miniature version of Brundlefly, from ?The Fly,? which sat on a shelf near a cluster of bulbous vintage Genie Awards?Canada?s equivalent to Oscars statuettes?one of which was put to use as a murder weapon in Cronenberg?s scabrous 2014 showbiz satire ?Maps to the Stars.?
When I asked Cronenberg, at one point, about the notable absence of teen angst or coming-of-age stories in his ?uvre, he said, ?It?s not a burr under the saddle for me.? Raised in Toronto in a middle-class Jewish family, he was by his own account a happy child. His father, Milton, was a local newspaper columnist and crime writer. His mother, Esther, played piano with the National Ballet of Canada. ?In my family, art was something that you could do and probably should do,? he said. ?People would come over and see five thousand books, hallways made of books because we didn?t have that many bookshelves. We were sort of unique on the block.? In his youth, Cronenberg was fascinated by the natural sciences, including botany and lepidopterology. In a 1992 book of interviews, ?Cronenberg on Cronenberg,? he describes the focussed intimacy of empirical discovery: ?What you saw through the microscope was fantastic. But when you looked up from the microscope, you were lost.? He was also a science-fiction writer and a budding cinephile. He recalled once visiting his neighborhood movie house, in Toronto?s Little Italy, to watch a children?s matinée, and noticing adult viewers emerging from another theatre across the street, weeping in broad daylight. ?I thought, What did they see that made them cry?? he told me. ?What an extraordinary thing. I certainly had never cried at the movies myself. And so I crossed the street and I saw that it was ?La Strada,? and it was my first indication that movies had that kind of power.?
We want to give thanks to the author of this article for this amazing web content
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[summary] => David Cronenberg?s breakout film, ?Shivers,? was both a success story and a scourge for the Canadian film industry. Released in 1975, it told the tale of a parasite that spreads through a Montreal high-rise, turning residents into sex-crazed zombies. The movie cost a hundred and eighty thousand dollars and brought in some five million, making ... Read more
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David Cronenberg?s breakout film, ?Shivers,? was both a success story and a scourge for the Canadian film industry. Released in 1975, it told the tale of a parasite that spreads through a Montreal high-rise, turning residents into sex-crazed zombies. The movie cost a hundred and eighty thousand dollars and brought in some five million, making it the highest-grossing film Canada had ever put out. Alas, it was not to everyone?s taste. Cronenberg gave his outrageous sci-fi premise a queasy sociological casing and played ruthlessly with horror-movie conventions, as in a bloody bathing scene à la ?Psycho??but with the deadly threat slithering up from the drain. The result was a parable of sexual revolution that split the difference between art and trash. In the U.S., the film was threatened with an X rating until Cronenberg agreed to remove a scene of a character hungrily stuffing bugs into his mouth. In Canada, Parliament debated whether its program of government-subsidized filmmaking had taken the cause of creative expression too far. Writing in the cultural journal Saturday Night, the novelist Robert Fulford excoriated Cronenberg as an opportunist gaming the system in a piece titled ?You Should Know How Bad This Film Is. After All, You Paid for It.?
It?s one thing to get a bad review; it?s another to be accused of creating the ?most perverse, disgusting and repulsive? film that a critic had ever seen. Cronenberg?s elderly landlady at the time read Fulford?s piece and apparently took literally his claim that her tenant made ?sadistic pornography.? At the age of thirty-three, with a wife and young daughter, Cronenberg was suddenly evicted from his flat. A few weeks later, he recounted the ordeal in an editorial in the Globe and Mail, describing the ?despicable hysteria? of Fulford?s article as an ?attempt to take away both my livelihood and the expression of my dreams and nightmares.? He also revealed that, after he was evicted and had relocated to a house across the street, a city inspector arrived at his door to search the premises for evidence of filmmaking equipment in a residential setting, supposedly a zoning no-no. Cronenberg welcomed the man to come in and look around as much as he liked. ?I felt confident and secure,? Cronenberg wrote. ?This man would find nothing. He did not know what to look for.?
In the nearly half century since ?Shivers,? through nineteen more feature films, Cronenberg has remained obsessed with bringing his nightmarish visions to life. He is fascinated by the flexibility and ferocity of the human organism, the myriad ways in which the body and its desires can betray us. He has explored those subjects using a clinical style punctuated by bursts of imaginative savagery, often achieved with stomach-turning, lo-fi special effects. His ?uvre encompasses a gun made of gristle that fires teeth (?eXistenZ?); a typewriter with an anus (?Naked Lunch?); weaponized armpits (?Rabid?); a chest cavity reconfigured as a VCR (?Videodrome?); and, in ?The Fly,? perhaps his best-known film, a human-insect mutant played by Jeff Goldblum. Many of his films have been met with revulsion or at least aggrieved ambivalence. Roger Ebert called ?Dead Ringers??about sibling gynecologists whose sinister intimacy dissolves in a haze of drug abuse, narcissicism, and sexual jealousy?the kind of movie ?where you ask people how they liked it, and they say, ?Well, it was well made,? and then they wince.? When Cronenberg first competed at Cannes, in 1996, the jury was so flummoxed by the neurasthenic depravity of ?Crash,? his adaptation of J. G. Ballard?s novel about car-wreck fetishists, that they jerry-rigged a special citation for ?audacity.? Upon the film?s release in England, the country?s national-heritage secretary urged theatre owners not to show it. Cronenberg, in turn, has maintained a cool contempt for officious pundits and their agendas. He once joked to an interviewer, of his 1981 film ?Scanners,? ?I was exploding heads just like any other young, normal North American boy.? Like any North American boy, he achieved the infamous scene in question using a plaster cast stuffed with bits of leftover hamburger.
David Foster Wallace once wrote that ?Quentin Tarantino is interested in watching someone?s ear getting cut off; David Lynch is interested in the ear.? Cronenberg (whose sensibility, like Lynch?s, is unmistakable enough to function as an adjective) has supplied his new film, ?Crimes of the Future,? with a character who has ears growing all over his body and his eyes sewn shut. The warped extremity of Cronenbergian body horror has kept him at a distance from the mainstream, but it?s also earned him a respect and influence that few other cult directors can claim. His work has been the subject of film-studies courses, Ph.D. dissertations, and critical anthologies, driving up the intellectual value of genre cinema without ever gentrifying it. His peerless series of gross-out mindfucks and philosophical schlockfests have shaped art-making in the movies and beyond, from the corporeal jolts of Darren Aronofsky?s ?Black Swan? to the experimental pop of Charli XCX, who named a recent album ?Crash.? Jordan Peele, an ascendant master of art-house scary movies, told the Wall Street Journal, in 2020, that watching ?The Fly? taught him ?the power of horror.? The veteran film critic J. Hoberman has called Cronenberg ?the most provocative and consistently original North American director of his generation.?
?Crimes of the Future,? Cronenberg?s first feature in eight years, marks something of a return to form. (It premièred at Cannes on May 23rd and is in theatres on Friday.) In the twenty-first century thus far, Cronenberg has made a string of relatively refined films, including literary adaptations such as Don DeLillo?s Wall Street odyssey ?Cosmopolis? and the when-Freud-met-Jung period piece ?A Dangerous Method.? He also wrote a novel, 2014?s globe-trotting thriller ?Consumed,? which garnered respectful reviews from the likes of Jonathan Lethem, who praised the ?sculptural intensity? of its details. ?Crimes of the Future,? by comparison, is old-school Cronenberg body horror. It bears the same name as one of his earliest films, from the seventies, an experimental feature centered on a melancholy dermatologist navigating a world wiped of fertile women. The new ?Crimes of the Future? echoes the original as a dystopic tale of human devolution, though, in a recent interview, Cronenberg claimed that the recycled title didn?t signal any particular connection between the two. ?They both are accurately called ?Crimes of the Future,? ? he said. ?So why not do it??
Based on a script that Cronenberg first wrote in the late nineties, under the title ?Painkillers,? the new ?Crimes? was shot in Athens and is set in an unspecified future, in a seaside town with jagged industrial wreckage strewn amid ancient ruins. Genetic mutations have led humans to continually grow new auxiliary organs and to lose the sensation of pain. The local attraction is a kind of surgical performance art. Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), a veteran of the scene, lies supine onstage as his superfluous parts are extracted by his lover, Caprice (Léa Seydoux), as part of a grotesque double act.
Where many other auteurs can be identified by their virtuosity with the camera, Cronenberg makes images that are spare and functional, sometimes verging on amateurish. A former film professor of mine used to joke that Cronenberg was ?a genius without talent.? But his cool style has a way of peeling back cinematic conventions and clichés, and extracting the intellectual marrow at the core of his sci-fi scenarios. The tone of ?Crimes of the Future? is grim and searching, and the narrative momentum is minimal. In the opening minutes, a static shot shows a small boy sitting on the bathroom floor absent-mindedly munching on a wastebasket made of plastic. At once matter-of-fact and ominous?and soon followed by an act of ghastly violence?the tableau serves as an overture for the coming allegory of biological paradigm shift. Cronenberg?s scripts are littered with incantations that scan like twisted New Age mantras: ?go all the way through it,? ?you have to play the game,? and, most famously, from ?Videodrome,? ?long live the new flesh.? In ?Crimes of the Future,? an obsequious pencil-pusher (played by a twitchier-than-usual Kristen Stewart) hounds Saul to register his tumors in a new database. At one point she tells him, in a line that sounds like both a diagnosis and a come-on, ?Surgery is the new sex.?
?People will say, ?Oh, he?s back to body horror; he?s doing the same stuff he always did,? ? Cronenberg, who is seventy-nine, told me recently. ?But it?s never changed for me. My interest in the body is because, for me, it?s an inexhaustible subject?and of the essence of understanding the human condition. You will forgive me if I repeat myself. It?s just that these things are still true.? Before its première at Cannes, rumors circulated that ?Crimes? 2.0 might cause viewers to suffer fainting spells or panic attacks. As it turned out, the Cannes première prompted only a few walkouts and received a standing ovation. Cronenberg, who dressed for the red carpet in white wraparound mountaineering glasses, told the audience, ?I hope you?re not kidding.?
Since the late nineties, Cronenberg has lived in a three-story family home in the prosperous Toronto neighborhood of Forest Hill. One afternoon in April, I visited him at the house, which is shielded from the street by several trees. Martin Scorsese once wrote that he?d been nervous to meet Cronenberg, given the nature of his films, and then was surprised to discover that he looked like ?a gynecologist from Beverly Hills.? Slight and spry, Cronenberg greeted me at the door, wearing a sweatshirt in a pale-blue shade similar to the color of his eyes. His silver-white hair, as always, was upswept neatly from ear to ear, and his manner was as even and pleasant as his appearance. The pianist Glenn Gould, another Torontonian, observed that the city offered its inhabitants peace of mind because it ?does not impose its ?cityness? upon you.? Cronenberg, in that sense, was made in the image of his home town.
Cronenberg has lived alone since the death of his second wife, Carolyn, a filmmaker, five years ago, but he maintains close relationships with his three children?a daughter and son with Carolyn, and a daughter from his first marriage, to Margaret Hindson?all of whom live nearby. He gently dismissed my suggestion that we take a stroll through the neighborhood?s bustling, patio-lined strip of coffee shops and restaurants, though not for fear of being recognized. ?I?m common as dirt around here,? he said, leading me past rows of family photos and a dark-brown Braunschweig piano passed down from Carolyn?s mother, before ducking into the kitchen to prepare us espressos. We sat down in the dining room, which is decorated with an enormous photorealistic portrait of Cronenberg?s face woven from threads by the Argentinian art collective Mondongo. ?Viggo commissioned them secretly and gave it to me as a gift,? Cronenberg told me. ?It?s pretty good. It?s me being God.? Nearly a decade ago, Cronenberg donated a trove of personal mementos and props to the Toronto International Film Festival, including the fleshy bio-ports from ?eXistenZ? and the steel surgical tools from ?Dead Ringers.? The only movie ephemera I spotted in his home was a miniature version of Brundlefly, from ?The Fly,? which sat on a shelf near a cluster of bulbous vintage Genie Awards?Canada?s equivalent to Oscars statuettes?one of which was put to use as a murder weapon in Cronenberg?s scabrous 2014 showbiz satire ?Maps to the Stars.?
When I asked Cronenberg, at one point, about the notable absence of teen angst or coming-of-age stories in his ?uvre, he said, ?It?s not a burr under the saddle for me.? Raised in Toronto in a middle-class Jewish family, he was by his own account a happy child. His father, Milton, was a local newspaper columnist and crime writer. His mother, Esther, played piano with the National Ballet of Canada. ?In my family, art was something that you could do and probably should do,? he said. ?People would come over and see five thousand books, hallways made of books because we didn?t have that many bookshelves. We were sort of unique on the block.? In his youth, Cronenberg was fascinated by the natural sciences, including botany and lepidopterology. In a 1992 book of interviews, ?Cronenberg on Cronenberg,? he describes the focussed intimacy of empirical discovery: ?What you saw through the microscope was fantastic. But when you looked up from the microscope, you were lost.? He was also a science-fiction writer and a budding cinephile. He recalled once visiting his neighborhood movie house, in Toronto?s Little Italy, to watch a children?s matinée, and noticing adult viewers emerging from another theatre across the street, weeping in broad daylight. ?I thought, What did they see that made them cry?? he told me. ?What an extraordinary thing. I certainly had never cried at the movies myself. And so I crossed the street and I saw that it was ?La Strada,? and it was my first indication that movies had that kind of power.?
We want to give thanks to the author of this article for this amazing web content
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[title] => Unhuman Review: Teen Snark Can?t Save Zombie Breakfast Club Riff
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[pubdate] => Fri, 03 Jun 2022 21:51:10 +0000
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[description] => Unhuman makes for an interesting setup, but the film fails to stick the landing as the plot unfurls and pushes beyond the realm of believability. Blumhouse and Epix’s new movie Unhuman is zombie horror with notes of The Breakfast Club. It has all the teen snark, but not too many scares. Hilariously billed as a “Blumhouse ... Read more
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Unhuman makes for an interesting setup, but the film fails to stick the landing as the plot unfurls and pushes beyond the realm of believability.
Blumhouse and Epix’s new movie Unhuman is zombie horror with notes of TheBreakfast Club. It has all the teen snark, but not too many scares. Hilariously billed as a “Blumhouse After School Special,” Unhuman‘s anti-bullying message feels like the truest part of the movie, even if it rings a little hollow within the context of its twists and turns. The tension between Unhuman‘s teen characters is what helps drive the film’s middle portion, though sometimes the script feels like it’s trying too hard to capture a Gen Z voice through the eyes of adults who did all their research on TikTok. All of this makes for an interesting setup, but Unhuman fails to stick the landing as the plot unfurls and pushes beyond the realm of believability.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
Unhuman wastes no time in putting its clique-y group in danger. Shortly after introducing Ever (Brianne Tju), Randall (Benjamin Wadsworth), Danny (Uriah Shelton), Tamra (Ali Gallo), Steven (Drew Scheid), Jacey (Lo Graham), Hunt (CJ LeBlanc), and Ryan (Blake C. Burt), the teens find themselves on a bloodied school bus running for their lives from what appears to be a bloodthirsty zombie. Soon enough, radio broadcasts announce that some sort of chemical attack has sent the world into chaos. Now the group must fight for their lives (and an uncertain future) while bickering, name-calling, and trying to figure out just who is capable of leading the group to safety. Of course, not all goes according to plan and by the time these creatures catch up with the teens, it’s already too late.
Related: Most Anticipated 2022 Horror Movies (Still To Come)
Screenwriters Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton are known more for their adult-leaning horror fare, including the brutal Feastsome of the Saw movies, and The Collection. More recently, the pair worked on the 2019 adaptation of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Unhuman feels like an extension of that. Unfortunately, some of the dialogue is clunky coming out of the mouths of the young actors and it becomes clear quickly that Dunstan and Melton are a bit out of their element when it comes to writing for Gen Z. Nonetheless, the group of actors handles the material with aplomb, but the gory happenings around them are merely a conduit for a message hidden underneath the horror package. While it’s certainly an interesting conceit, Unhuman‘s slim runtime doesn’t last long enough to hold up the message it’s trying to sell.
What’s left after all that are the scares and, sadly, Unhuman doesn’t have much going on in that department either. Early on, the concept is interesting enough, but as the group of headstrong kids progress through this nightmarish situation, the horror of Unhuman is all but undermined by an early third act twist that changes just about everything that’s come before it. Relying too much on jump scares isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when that’s all there is left, a horror movie is only as strong as its characters.
Fortunately, characters are where Unhuman is strongest. Despite some thinly sketched caricatures, most of the cast shines with what they are given. Tju’s Brianne begins the film as a bit of an enigma but comes into her own and the young actress proves she’s more than capable of earning the title of Scream Queen. Additionally, Scheid, who previously starred in 2018’s David Gordon Green Halloween legacy sequel, makes Steven a conflicted character to love and hate.
The dynamic of the group at the center of Unhuman certainly leads to some laugh-out-loud moments, but this leads to the movie feeling tonally uneven. It can’t decide whether it wants to be a zombie movie, a riff on The Breakfast Clubor something in between. Narrative whiplash doesn’t help and by the time the movie’s conclusion rolls around, it’s hard to imagine any other ending besides the one that audiences get. There’s nothing worse in horror than predictability and while Unhuman tries to throw some curveballs, it misses the mark more than it hits its target.
More: Crimes Of The Future Review: Cronenberg’s Body Horror Intrigues & Underwhelms
Unhuman is available on digital as of June 3. The film is 91 minutes long and is not rated.
Our Rating:
2 out of 5 (Okay)
Every Superhero Movie Releasing In 2022
About The Author
Graeme Guttmann (1245 Articles Published)
Graeme Guttmann is an editor, reviewer, and interviewer for Screen Rant. With a love for all things pop culture since a young age, he watches pretty much everything from the biggest blockbusters and television shows to buzzy festival hits and reality shows like Real Housewives. He currently resides in Boston, MA where he is an MFA candidate at Emerson College for poetry. You can follow him on Twitter @pentagraeme.
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We would like to give thanks to the author of this write-up for this outstanding content
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[summary] => Unhuman makes for an interesting setup, but the film fails to stick the landing as the plot unfurls and pushes beyond the realm of believability. Blumhouse and Epix’s new movie Unhuman is zombie horror with notes of The Breakfast Club. It has all the teen snark, but not too many scares. Hilariously billed as a “Blumhouse ... Read more
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Unhuman makes for an interesting setup, but the film fails to stick the landing as the plot unfurls and pushes beyond the realm of believability.
Blumhouse and Epix’s new movie Unhuman is zombie horror with notes of TheBreakfast Club. It has all the teen snark, but not too many scares. Hilariously billed as a “Blumhouse After School Special,” Unhuman‘s anti-bullying message feels like the truest part of the movie, even if it rings a little hollow within the context of its twists and turns. The tension between Unhuman‘s teen characters is what helps drive the film’s middle portion, though sometimes the script feels like it’s trying too hard to capture a Gen Z voice through the eyes of adults who did all their research on TikTok. All of this makes for an interesting setup, but Unhuman fails to stick the landing as the plot unfurls and pushes beyond the realm of believability.
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Unhuman wastes no time in putting its clique-y group in danger. Shortly after introducing Ever (Brianne Tju), Randall (Benjamin Wadsworth), Danny (Uriah Shelton), Tamra (Ali Gallo), Steven (Drew Scheid), Jacey (Lo Graham), Hunt (CJ LeBlanc), and Ryan (Blake C. Burt), the teens find themselves on a bloodied school bus running for their lives from what appears to be a bloodthirsty zombie. Soon enough, radio broadcasts announce that some sort of chemical attack has sent the world into chaos. Now the group must fight for their lives (and an uncertain future) while bickering, name-calling, and trying to figure out just who is capable of leading the group to safety. Of course, not all goes according to plan and by the time these creatures catch up with the teens, it’s already too late.
Related: Most Anticipated 2022 Horror Movies (Still To Come)
Screenwriters Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton are known more for their adult-leaning horror fare, including the brutal Feastsome of the Saw movies, and The Collection. More recently, the pair worked on the 2019 adaptation of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Unhuman feels like an extension of that. Unfortunately, some of the dialogue is clunky coming out of the mouths of the young actors and it becomes clear quickly that Dunstan and Melton are a bit out of their element when it comes to writing for Gen Z. Nonetheless, the group of actors handles the material with aplomb, but the gory happenings around them are merely a conduit for a message hidden underneath the horror package. While it’s certainly an interesting conceit, Unhuman‘s slim runtime doesn’t last long enough to hold up the message it’s trying to sell.
What’s left after all that are the scares and, sadly, Unhuman doesn’t have much going on in that department either. Early on, the concept is interesting enough, but as the group of headstrong kids progress through this nightmarish situation, the horror of Unhuman is all but undermined by an early third act twist that changes just about everything that’s come before it. Relying too much on jump scares isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when that’s all there is left, a horror movie is only as strong as its characters.
Fortunately, characters are where Unhuman is strongest. Despite some thinly sketched caricatures, most of the cast shines with what they are given. Tju’s Brianne begins the film as a bit of an enigma but comes into her own and the young actress proves she’s more than capable of earning the title of Scream Queen. Additionally, Scheid, who previously starred in 2018’s David Gordon Green Halloween legacy sequel, makes Steven a conflicted character to love and hate.
The dynamic of the group at the center of Unhuman certainly leads to some laugh-out-loud moments, but this leads to the movie feeling tonally uneven. It can’t decide whether it wants to be a zombie movie, a riff on The Breakfast Clubor something in between. Narrative whiplash doesn’t help and by the time the movie’s conclusion rolls around, it’s hard to imagine any other ending besides the one that audiences get. There’s nothing worse in horror than predictability and while Unhuman tries to throw some curveballs, it misses the mark more than it hits its target.
More: Crimes Of The Future Review: Cronenberg’s Body Horror Intrigues & Underwhelms
Unhuman is available on digital as of June 3. The film is 91 minutes long and is not rated.
Our Rating:
2 out of 5 (Okay)
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Graeme Guttmann (1245 Articles Published)
Graeme Guttmann is an editor, reviewer, and interviewer for Screen Rant. With a love for all things pop culture since a young age, he watches pretty much everything from the biggest blockbusters and television shows to buzzy festival hits and reality shows like Real Housewives. He currently resides in Boston, MA where he is an MFA candidate at Emerson College for poetry. You can follow him on Twitter @pentagraeme.
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[title] => David Cronenberg Explains Himself
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[pubdate] => Fri, 03 Jun 2022 19:06:46 +0000
[category] => Scream AwayCronenbergDavidexplains
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[description] => The movie works on multiple levels, the filmmaker explains. ?But I really do think we?re kind of destroying the earth.? Photo: Nikos Nikolopoulos/NEON What is David Cronenberg?s Crimes of the Future about? When I meet up with the 79-year-old writer-director before the Cannes premiere of his latest film, in theaters June 3, I bring up ... Read more
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The movie works on multiple levels, the filmmaker explains. ?But I really do think we?re kind of destroying the earth.? Photo: Nikos Nikolopoulos/NEON
What is David Cronenberg?s Crimes of the Future about? When I meet up with the 79-year-old writer-director before the Cannes premiere of his latest film,in theaters June 3, I bring up a few different interpretations. There?s the surface-level plot, about a near-future society where humans have lost the ability to experience pain or infection and have started substituting surgery for sex, gazing sensually at the new organs they?ve evolved to spontaneously grow, and turning these mutations into performance art. Some critics have read the film as an allegory about climate change; others saw it as a laugh-out-loud return to the Cronenbergian body-horror classics of the ?80s; still others felt it was a prescriptive death sentence for the human race. Cronenberg?s cast ? Viggo Mortensen (who plays the film?s central artist, Saul Tenser), Lea Seydoux (who plays Caprice, Tenser?s partner), Kristen Stewart (who plays an investigator turned rabid fan of Tenser?s) ? see it as his ?most autobiographical film,? a metaphor reflecting how the act of making art feels like pulling out and coughing up and exposing your own innards. Cronenberg only shrugs at the idea that he made a movie about himself.
Much of our hour-long conversation falls along these lines, with Cronenberg smiling cheerfully and shaking off the darker thematic implications of a 50-plus-year career making movies that quite literally probe the insides of people?s bodies. The filmmaker, who many believed had retired eight years ago, is surprisingly gentle and sweet for someone who wrote and directed a film about a woman whose latent trauma manifests as hives that swell and turn into mutated human children with the primary function of performing murders at her psychic behest and then said it was about his own divorce.
I want to hear about the inception of Crimes of the Future. Originally, it was, what, 20 years ago when you started writing it? I think I wrote it in 1998. So it was more than 20 years. But I wasn?t thinking that it would be 20 years before I made the movie. Robert Lantos, who produced it, was interested even then. I think he announced it at Cannes 2005 ? then it was called Painkillers ? that it?s going to be my next movie. Of course, it turned out not to be. For various reasons it didn?t happen.
And after Maps to the Stars, I wasn?t making any movies. I wrote a novel. I was thinking maybe I?d prefer to just write because the hassle is less. You hassle yourself. But you?re not hassled. You don?t have to finance it. You don?t have agents and actors. And I enjoyed that. But Robert Lantos said, ?You really should start making movies again.? And I said, ?Well, I don?t have a project.? And he said, ?Well, have you read your old script Painkillers?? I said, ?Well, it?s a sci-fi script. It?s 20 years old. It obviously will be totally irrelevant because technology has moved on and society has changed.? And his classic line was, ?No, no, it?s more relevant than ever.?
So I read it and I thought, He?s actually right.
What happened in 2005? Why didn?t it get made? I think suddenly I was offered A History of Violence, and it was different from what I?d been doing. I knew that Painkillers was connected more or less with my early horror films, and I was interested in trying a gangster movie. Of course then I met Viggo, and if I hadn?t done that, he probably wouldn?t have been in Crimes of the Future. Because that was the beginning of our relationship. We did three movies, and this is the fourth.
How did you meet? It was New Line that was producing History of Violence, and Viggo had been a big star in Lord of the Rings, which was also New Line. I don?t know if they suggested him or I just thought he would be good for the role. But we met in L.A. and we got along immediately, although I wasn?t sure he liked the script. When he left, I said to the people at New Line, ?Well, I don?t know that he really wants to do this.? And they said, ?No, his agent just said he really wants to do it.? I was surprised because we were talking so abstractly and about art and all kinds of stuff that I wasn?t sure that he?d actually agreed to do the movie or not, and found out that he actually had somehow.
When you looked back at the script for Crimes, did you change anything? Not a word.
Not a single word? Not one word, no. What did change, but this is always the case, was in production. We were shooting in Athens. I had written it thinking of Toronto, my hometown, so Athens presented all kinds of wonderful things, like the ship in the first shot of the movie. That was not in the script. The kid and the sea were, but not that ship. You have to be open to the things that surprise you. Sometimes it?s from an actor. Sometimes it?s on the set. Sometimes it?s a location. But in terms of dialogue, nothing changed. The characters are basically the same.
How do you account for the fact that you wrote something more than 20 years ago and it still works completely and feels fresh? I can?t really account for it. Part of it is that it?s set in a kind of alternate universe. Because of that, it has a longer shelf life than if you wrote something very specific that was socially relevant 20 years ago. Because of what it was, it could sort of float in a timeless bubble.
You always are returning this idea of the evolution of the body, the transformation of the body. After exploring the topic for so many years, have you come to any new understanding of it? All art is really the exploration of the human condition, however you perceive that. But in specifics, what we film most in filmmaking is the human body. The face, the body, the voice, which I consider part of the body. So how can you be a filmmaker and not be sort of obsessed with the body? Actors know that. They know that their instrument is the body. So it?s just natural for me to explore that. And just from my junior scientist background ? because I did think at one point I would be an organic biologist ? it seems very natural to me. Even in movies like A Dangerous Method, in a Victorian society, which in some ways denies the body, especially the clothes ? still, that?s what the subject is.
Viggo called this your ?most autobiographical film.? Do you think it?s autobiographical? I wonder if he?s kidding about that. I don?t know. In the sense that Saul Tenser is dealing with changes in his body ? of course, I?m getting older and dealing with changes in my body. And Tenser is an artist. He?s giving everything, including the inside of his body, to his art. It perplexes him and it confuses him, but at the same time, he really feels a compulsion to do that. I think that?s a part of me as a filmmaker that Viggo is referring to. But I?ve never done body art and I don?t even have a tattoo.
It does feel like it?s a film about making art on an allegorical level, about what it sort of takes from you and what it gives to you. Do you see it functioning that way? I do. As an artist, you are completely absorbing, constantly, your environment, and so it makes sense that I should be sensitive, literally, to the environment ? not just the social environment, but the physical environment.
But I really do think we?re kind of destroying the Earth. It?s interesting that 20 years ago, nobody was talking about microplastics and now everybody?s talking about microplastics in your bloodstream, in your flesh. So it kind of becomes satirical on one level, and actually serious on another level. There are two solutions. One is that we bend plastics and we suppress plastics and we try to clean the ocean and we clean the atmosphere and we clean everybody?s body of plastic. How realistic is that? The other possible solution is that we learn to live with plastic and that we learn to use it as fuel. And in fact, there are bacteria that can eat plastic basically, and survive on it and feast on it and use it as protein substitutes. And there are scientists now who are saying that they?re trying to make food out of plastic, and they?re having some success. So is that really the solution? I don?t know. Of course, it?s slightly bizarre to say the least, but on the other hand, maybe we need something bizarre to survive as a species.
So the movie was always functioning on multiple levels for you. Yeah, I think so. Life is not just one level. Every person at every moment is functioning on many different levels and not just in terms of Twitter feeds. There?s so many things going on in any human being. We?re very complex, as I?m sure you know. So why shouldn?t a movie be like that? Why shouldn?t a movie be like a human body?
Are you on Twitter at all? I?m not on social media at all. It?s partly because I just don?t want to be that accessible. I find that whenever someone sends me a Twitter feed or something, it?s just very distracting and chaotic and I don?t want to know about it. I don?t do Instagram. I don?t do Facebook. I have enough friends who let me know when things are interesting. Even the normal media talk about Donald Trump?s latest tweet, when all that was happening ? I don?t really need it. I don?t need to be there. I like the clarity. As an artist, I?m constantly looking for some kind of clarity, and this is muddying up everything with usually not very useful information.
Do you see technology as an increasingly destructive force? In the ?40s and ?50s, people saw technology as like spaceships and alien technology that was dangerous and very nonhuman and very metallic, and you see all the sci-fi stories about that. But for me, technology was always 100 percent human. Technology is us. It?s like an extension of our fists, our hand, our eyes, our voice. It reflects the great stuff about humans, the beautiful stuff, and it also reflects the totally destructive stuff.
Crash caused such controversy in 1996 and now it?s a Criterion 4K rerelease. What changed? Well, I think time moves on. We had that screening in Venice of the 4K version of Crash and it was quite a young audience, and they had no problem. They certainly weren?t walking out or anything. I can?t say that people have gotten more sophisticated in general, but somehow it just has settled, as I thought it would have the first time. It was based on a 1972 novel by J.G. Ballard that was very well accepted.
The reaction really surprised you? Gilles Jacob, the then-president of the festival, knew that it would happen. He said, ?David, I?m programming your film to be in the middle of the festival because I want it to off like a bomb in the middle of the festival.? I said, ?You?re exaggerating a bit.? But he was so totally right.
How did you feel when it happened? I loved the fight that we had. The press conference was classic because Ballard was there. We had the writer there and the producer there and all my actors there, so we were ready for the fight. And it was fun. The worst thing would be if your movie was born and nobody cared. That would be depressing. But if people are fighting about it and some are loving it and some are hating it, that?s just art.
Francis Ford Coppola was the one who had the biggest issue and was sort of scandalized by the film. You said that when you saw him again, you would talk to him about it. Did you ever get a chance to speak to him? No, because he always says, ?Remember, we gave you a prize ?? He says it like he thinks I don?t know that he hated the movie. And I didn?t want to be unkind and call him on it and say, ?Francis, I know you hated the movie,? because every time I met him, he made a point about them giving me this Jury prize. So I didn?t want to make a big deal out of it.
Do you prefer that people like your work versus hate it, or does it not matter to you? It?s not like I don?t want to be loved. I certainly do. But on the other hand, I can live without 100 percent love. I think the only movie that was almost 100 percent loved was E.T.,maybe.
Are you concerned about Crimes being misunderstood at all? Is there any part of you that wonders about the reception? I mean, if you make a complex film and you?re not didactic and you?re not telling your audience exactly what to think ? which is very boring and very insulting ? then you?re always open to possible misunderstanding. But you?re also open to some other interpretations that might be valid. I find that every once in a while, somebody will come up with something that I can say, ?Well, I didn?t intend that, but actually, it?s still accurate.?
To that point, when I was watching Crimes and noticing its themes about the evolution and transformation of the human body, I was wondering if you were engaging at all in ongoing conversations about the transgender movement. Yeah, well, I observe it. I?m not really engaged with it directly. They?re taking that idea seriously. They?re saying, ?Body is reality. I want to change my reality. That means I have to change my body.? And they?re being very brave and they?re investing a lot in these changes, especially these ones that are not reversible, which most of them aren?t. I say, go ahead. This is an artist giving their all to their art.
From reading past interviews with you, it seems that you?re not thrilled about the idea of ?body horror? or of being its ?godfather.? Well, it?s the word ?horror,? not ?body,? because I think it?s actually quite beautiful. To me, ?inner beauty? is more like what I would talk about. It was some critic or some fan who came up with the term ?body horror? and that stuck. And you know, fine. It?s okay. But it?s not a term I would have ever thought of because it?s just not the way I perceive it.
But does Crimes feel like a return to a sort of filmmaking that you haven?t done in a while? Yes. Undeniably, that?s true. The thing is, I know people find this hard to believe, but I just simply don?t think about that when I?m making a movie. I wrote the script, and now I?m just trying to make it come alive and make it be believable within its own strange sphere. My focus is totally on that and not really thinking of, Oh, wait, there?s this plug-in thing that will remind people of Existenz,or whatever. Obviously, when it?s mentioned, I?m not denying the connection. But it?s been said, ?Are you giving a kind of wink to the audience?? And I?m saying, ?Totally not.? I don?t have that in me. I?m not interested in being self-referential.
Everyone who I have spoken to about you talks about what a sweet and normal person you are. And how they all were sort of surprised by that. What do you make of that? Well, my son is sweet too, and he?s made some pretty scary movies. Making scary movies doesn?t mean you?re a scary person. Making dark movies doesn?t mean that you?re a depressive. The easiest thing to say, and I probably have said this at one point, is that you?re playing with things in your art that you don?t want to be in your actual life. It gives you a sense of control of these bad things. You?re acknowledging them in the movie, that these things can happen. By doing that, you?re sort of keeping it out of your life.
Like you?re expunging it. Yeah. But that?s maybe too simplistic. I really don?t know the answer to that question. But the lesson is that you cannot tell what an artist is going to be like personally from being very familiar with their art.
In the end, was it difficult to come back after eight years? I wondered. I thought, ?What is it going to be like on the set?? I?m eight years older now, and it?s very draining. You really have to give everything to directing. I wondered if I had the stamina. Would I need to sleep more? Would I get to sleep? Would I be anxious? I didn?t know. So for the first three days of shooting, I thought, ?I am performing the role of film director. I?m pretending, basically, to be a film director so I can say, ?Action,? ?Cut.?? Then after that it was like no time had passed. It felt completely normal.
And now you?re going to make another film, right?
Yeah. Maybe another two I have in mind. One isThe Shroudsthat was announced here and the other one would be to do a movie based on my novel, Consumed.
And you had basically said that you were retired after Maps to the Stars. I didn?t really say that. And they say, ?Oh, yes, you did.? And I?m saying, ?No, I didn?t say that.? I said, ?If Maps to the Stars is my last movie, it?ll be okay. If it turns out that I just don?t end up making another movie, it?s fine.? Some fans got very upset by that, which is very sweet. But I still deny that I actually said, ?I am officially retired.? I know about Soderbergh. He retired like five times already. I didn?t want to do that.
And you know, my wife had died. We had been together 43 years.
I?m so sorry. I felt I didn?t have the heart for it because she had been with me through all of my career. And that was part of it. It wasn?t the only part. I felt that I could really live without making another movie. It wouldn?t crush me. Whereas when I was younger and desperately trying to make movies, it would be crushing to say, ?Oh my God, my career is over.? But now, these are projects I would really like to do. And once again, I can say, ?If I don?t make them, it?s not like the world?s going to fall.?
How much of that shift in your attitude about filmmaking is just natural, you?re growing older, and how much is about the industry itself and how it?s changed? I think it?s really about aging. Because the industry?s always been hard. I did go to Netflix with The Shrouds at one point and wondered if they would be different than a Hollywood studio, and I think they?re not that different. They?re making a different thing, but their attitude is basically very Hollywood.
I?m curious if you think you have a harder time because you?re making more eccentric work. A long time ago I talked to Marty Scorsese, who is a friend. He was saying that everybody assumes that Marty Scorsese can get anything financed whenever he wants because he?s Marty Scorsese. The answer is absolutely not. He has to fight all the same battles. He?s usually dealing more with studios than I am, but he?s having to fight for it, struggle for it. I?ve even seen Guillermo del Toro go through hell. And his projects are usually pretty monsters and stuff. Technically you would say they?re pretty commercial. And I?ve seen him have things fall apart. So I can?t really be the martyr there.
Have you done therapy? No. Never.
Have you purposely avoided it? No. I just honestly ? I felt I didn?t need it.
You?re just all good. Yeah, I?m totally cool. No problems. I had no problems to solve. My parents were really sweet, very sensitive, very understanding and supportive. They were lovely. I had a lovely childhood.
So you?ve never stayed up at night being like, ?Why do I make movies where people pull each other?s organs out of their bodies?? No, because I know that as George Bernard Shaw said, ?Conflict is the essence of drama.? You don?t make a movie about nice people who are all nice to each other. That?d be so boring. You might want to live like that. But you don?t make a movie like that.
I yearn for your placidity. Well, the placid nature is genuine.
In 2005?s A History of Violence, Viggo Mortensen plays the owner of a diner who kills two criminals in self-defense and brings unwanted scrutiny to his own criminal past in the process.
2011?s A Dangerous Mind also stars Viggo Mortensen and is set in the early 1900s.
In Crimes of the Future,some humans can not only sprout fresh body parts, but they can physically consume plastic, too.
But Cronenberg did recently sell his kidney stones as an NFT. ?Well, unfortunately nobody?s bought them yet,? he told me, ?but if you want to make an offer ??
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[summary] => The movie works on multiple levels, the filmmaker explains. ?But I really do think we?re kind of destroying the earth.? Photo: Nikos Nikolopoulos/NEON What is David Cronenberg?s Crimes of the Future about? When I meet up with the 79-year-old writer-director before the Cannes premiere of his latest film, in theaters June 3, I bring up ... Read more
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The movie works on multiple levels, the filmmaker explains. ?But I really do think we?re kind of destroying the earth.? Photo: Nikos Nikolopoulos/NEON
What is David Cronenberg?s Crimes of the Future about? When I meet up with the 79-year-old writer-director before the Cannes premiere of his latest film,in theaters June 3, I bring up a few different interpretations. There?s the surface-level plot, about a near-future society where humans have lost the ability to experience pain or infection and have started substituting surgery for sex, gazing sensually at the new organs they?ve evolved to spontaneously grow, and turning these mutations into performance art. Some critics have read the film as an allegory about climate change; others saw it as a laugh-out-loud return to the Cronenbergian body-horror classics of the ?80s; still others felt it was a prescriptive death sentence for the human race. Cronenberg?s cast ? Viggo Mortensen (who plays the film?s central artist, Saul Tenser), Lea Seydoux (who plays Caprice, Tenser?s partner), Kristen Stewart (who plays an investigator turned rabid fan of Tenser?s) ? see it as his ?most autobiographical film,? a metaphor reflecting how the act of making art feels like pulling out and coughing up and exposing your own innards. Cronenberg only shrugs at the idea that he made a movie about himself.
Much of our hour-long conversation falls along these lines, with Cronenberg smiling cheerfully and shaking off the darker thematic implications of a 50-plus-year career making movies that quite literally probe the insides of people?s bodies. The filmmaker, who many believed had retired eight years ago, is surprisingly gentle and sweet for someone who wrote and directed a film about a woman whose latent trauma manifests as hives that swell and turn into mutated human children with the primary function of performing murders at her psychic behest and then said it was about his own divorce.
I want to hear about the inception of Crimes of the Future. Originally, it was, what, 20 years ago when you started writing it? I think I wrote it in 1998. So it was more than 20 years. But I wasn?t thinking that it would be 20 years before I made the movie. Robert Lantos, who produced it, was interested even then. I think he announced it at Cannes 2005 ? then it was called Painkillers ? that it?s going to be my next movie. Of course, it turned out not to be. For various reasons it didn?t happen.
And after Maps to the Stars, I wasn?t making any movies. I wrote a novel. I was thinking maybe I?d prefer to just write because the hassle is less. You hassle yourself. But you?re not hassled. You don?t have to finance it. You don?t have agents and actors. And I enjoyed that. But Robert Lantos said, ?You really should start making movies again.? And I said, ?Well, I don?t have a project.? And he said, ?Well, have you read your old script Painkillers?? I said, ?Well, it?s a sci-fi script. It?s 20 years old. It obviously will be totally irrelevant because technology has moved on and society has changed.? And his classic line was, ?No, no, it?s more relevant than ever.?
So I read it and I thought, He?s actually right.
What happened in 2005? Why didn?t it get made? I think suddenly I was offered A History of Violence, and it was different from what I?d been doing. I knew that Painkillers was connected more or less with my early horror films, and I was interested in trying a gangster movie. Of course then I met Viggo, and if I hadn?t done that, he probably wouldn?t have been in Crimes of the Future. Because that was the beginning of our relationship. We did three movies, and this is the fourth.
How did you meet? It was New Line that was producing History of Violence, and Viggo had been a big star in Lord of the Rings, which was also New Line. I don?t know if they suggested him or I just thought he would be good for the role. But we met in L.A. and we got along immediately, although I wasn?t sure he liked the script. When he left, I said to the people at New Line, ?Well, I don?t know that he really wants to do this.? And they said, ?No, his agent just said he really wants to do it.? I was surprised because we were talking so abstractly and about art and all kinds of stuff that I wasn?t sure that he?d actually agreed to do the movie or not, and found out that he actually had somehow.
When you looked back at the script for Crimes, did you change anything? Not a word.
Not a single word? Not one word, no. What did change, but this is always the case, was in production. We were shooting in Athens. I had written it thinking of Toronto, my hometown, so Athens presented all kinds of wonderful things, like the ship in the first shot of the movie. That was not in the script. The kid and the sea were, but not that ship. You have to be open to the things that surprise you. Sometimes it?s from an actor. Sometimes it?s on the set. Sometimes it?s a location. But in terms of dialogue, nothing changed. The characters are basically the same.
How do you account for the fact that you wrote something more than 20 years ago and it still works completely and feels fresh? I can?t really account for it. Part of it is that it?s set in a kind of alternate universe. Because of that, it has a longer shelf life than if you wrote something very specific that was socially relevant 20 years ago. Because of what it was, it could sort of float in a timeless bubble.
You always are returning this idea of the evolution of the body, the transformation of the body. After exploring the topic for so many years, have you come to any new understanding of it? All art is really the exploration of the human condition, however you perceive that. But in specifics, what we film most in filmmaking is the human body. The face, the body, the voice, which I consider part of the body. So how can you be a filmmaker and not be sort of obsessed with the body? Actors know that. They know that their instrument is the body. So it?s just natural for me to explore that. And just from my junior scientist background ? because I did think at one point I would be an organic biologist ? it seems very natural to me. Even in movies like A Dangerous Method, in a Victorian society, which in some ways denies the body, especially the clothes ? still, that?s what the subject is.
Viggo called this your ?most autobiographical film.? Do you think it?s autobiographical? I wonder if he?s kidding about that. I don?t know. In the sense that Saul Tenser is dealing with changes in his body ? of course, I?m getting older and dealing with changes in my body. And Tenser is an artist. He?s giving everything, including the inside of his body, to his art. It perplexes him and it confuses him, but at the same time, he really feels a compulsion to do that. I think that?s a part of me as a filmmaker that Viggo is referring to. But I?ve never done body art and I don?t even have a tattoo.
It does feel like it?s a film about making art on an allegorical level, about what it sort of takes from you and what it gives to you. Do you see it functioning that way? I do. As an artist, you are completely absorbing, constantly, your environment, and so it makes sense that I should be sensitive, literally, to the environment ? not just the social environment, but the physical environment.
But I really do think we?re kind of destroying the Earth. It?s interesting that 20 years ago, nobody was talking about microplastics and now everybody?s talking about microplastics in your bloodstream, in your flesh. So it kind of becomes satirical on one level, and actually serious on another level. There are two solutions. One is that we bend plastics and we suppress plastics and we try to clean the ocean and we clean the atmosphere and we clean everybody?s body of plastic. How realistic is that? The other possible solution is that we learn to live with plastic and that we learn to use it as fuel. And in fact, there are bacteria that can eat plastic basically, and survive on it and feast on it and use it as protein substitutes. And there are scientists now who are saying that they?re trying to make food out of plastic, and they?re having some success. So is that really the solution? I don?t know. Of course, it?s slightly bizarre to say the least, but on the other hand, maybe we need something bizarre to survive as a species.
So the movie was always functioning on multiple levels for you. Yeah, I think so. Life is not just one level. Every person at every moment is functioning on many different levels and not just in terms of Twitter feeds. There?s so many things going on in any human being. We?re very complex, as I?m sure you know. So why shouldn?t a movie be like that? Why shouldn?t a movie be like a human body?
Are you on Twitter at all? I?m not on social media at all. It?s partly because I just don?t want to be that accessible. I find that whenever someone sends me a Twitter feed or something, it?s just very distracting and chaotic and I don?t want to know about it. I don?t do Instagram. I don?t do Facebook. I have enough friends who let me know when things are interesting. Even the normal media talk about Donald Trump?s latest tweet, when all that was happening ? I don?t really need it. I don?t need to be there. I like the clarity. As an artist, I?m constantly looking for some kind of clarity, and this is muddying up everything with usually not very useful information.
Do you see technology as an increasingly destructive force? In the ?40s and ?50s, people saw technology as like spaceships and alien technology that was dangerous and very nonhuman and very metallic, and you see all the sci-fi stories about that. But for me, technology was always 100 percent human. Technology is us. It?s like an extension of our fists, our hand, our eyes, our voice. It reflects the great stuff about humans, the beautiful stuff, and it also reflects the totally destructive stuff.
Crash caused such controversy in 1996 and now it?s a Criterion 4K rerelease. What changed? Well, I think time moves on. We had that screening in Venice of the 4K version of Crash and it was quite a young audience, and they had no problem. They certainly weren?t walking out or anything. I can?t say that people have gotten more sophisticated in general, but somehow it just has settled, as I thought it would have the first time. It was based on a 1972 novel by J.G. Ballard that was very well accepted.
The reaction really surprised you? Gilles Jacob, the then-president of the festival, knew that it would happen. He said, ?David, I?m programming your film to be in the middle of the festival because I want it to off like a bomb in the middle of the festival.? I said, ?You?re exaggerating a bit.? But he was so totally right.
How did you feel when it happened? I loved the fight that we had. The press conference was classic because Ballard was there. We had the writer there and the producer there and all my actors there, so we were ready for the fight. And it was fun. The worst thing would be if your movie was born and nobody cared. That would be depressing. But if people are fighting about it and some are loving it and some are hating it, that?s just art.
Francis Ford Coppola was the one who had the biggest issue and was sort of scandalized by the film. You said that when you saw him again, you would talk to him about it. Did you ever get a chance to speak to him? No, because he always says, ?Remember, we gave you a prize ?? He says it like he thinks I don?t know that he hated the movie. And I didn?t want to be unkind and call him on it and say, ?Francis, I know you hated the movie,? because every time I met him, he made a point about them giving me this Jury prize. So I didn?t want to make a big deal out of it.
Do you prefer that people like your work versus hate it, or does it not matter to you? It?s not like I don?t want to be loved. I certainly do. But on the other hand, I can live without 100 percent love. I think the only movie that was almost 100 percent loved was E.T.,maybe.
Are you concerned about Crimes being misunderstood at all? Is there any part of you that wonders about the reception? I mean, if you make a complex film and you?re not didactic and you?re not telling your audience exactly what to think ? which is very boring and very insulting ? then you?re always open to possible misunderstanding. But you?re also open to some other interpretations that might be valid. I find that every once in a while, somebody will come up with something that I can say, ?Well, I didn?t intend that, but actually, it?s still accurate.?
To that point, when I was watching Crimes and noticing its themes about the evolution and transformation of the human body, I was wondering if you were engaging at all in ongoing conversations about the transgender movement. Yeah, well, I observe it. I?m not really engaged with it directly. They?re taking that idea seriously. They?re saying, ?Body is reality. I want to change my reality. That means I have to change my body.? And they?re being very brave and they?re investing a lot in these changes, especially these ones that are not reversible, which most of them aren?t. I say, go ahead. This is an artist giving their all to their art.
From reading past interviews with you, it seems that you?re not thrilled about the idea of ?body horror? or of being its ?godfather.? Well, it?s the word ?horror,? not ?body,? because I think it?s actually quite beautiful. To me, ?inner beauty? is more like what I would talk about. It was some critic or some fan who came up with the term ?body horror? and that stuck. And you know, fine. It?s okay. But it?s not a term I would have ever thought of because it?s just not the way I perceive it.
But does Crimes feel like a return to a sort of filmmaking that you haven?t done in a while? Yes. Undeniably, that?s true. The thing is, I know people find this hard to believe, but I just simply don?t think about that when I?m making a movie. I wrote the script, and now I?m just trying to make it come alive and make it be believable within its own strange sphere. My focus is totally on that and not really thinking of, Oh, wait, there?s this plug-in thing that will remind people of Existenz,or whatever. Obviously, when it?s mentioned, I?m not denying the connection. But it?s been said, ?Are you giving a kind of wink to the audience?? And I?m saying, ?Totally not.? I don?t have that in me. I?m not interested in being self-referential.
Everyone who I have spoken to about you talks about what a sweet and normal person you are. And how they all were sort of surprised by that. What do you make of that? Well, my son is sweet too, and he?s made some pretty scary movies. Making scary movies doesn?t mean you?re a scary person. Making dark movies doesn?t mean that you?re a depressive. The easiest thing to say, and I probably have said this at one point, is that you?re playing with things in your art that you don?t want to be in your actual life. It gives you a sense of control of these bad things. You?re acknowledging them in the movie, that these things can happen. By doing that, you?re sort of keeping it out of your life.
Like you?re expunging it. Yeah. But that?s maybe too simplistic. I really don?t know the answer to that question. But the lesson is that you cannot tell what an artist is going to be like personally from being very familiar with their art.
In the end, was it difficult to come back after eight years? I wondered. I thought, ?What is it going to be like on the set?? I?m eight years older now, and it?s very draining. You really have to give everything to directing. I wondered if I had the stamina. Would I need to sleep more? Would I get to sleep? Would I be anxious? I didn?t know. So for the first three days of shooting, I thought, ?I am performing the role of film director. I?m pretending, basically, to be a film director so I can say, ?Action,? ?Cut.?? Then after that it was like no time had passed. It felt completely normal.
And now you?re going to make another film, right?
Yeah. Maybe another two I have in mind. One isThe Shroudsthat was announced here and the other one would be to do a movie based on my novel, Consumed.
And you had basically said that you were retired after Maps to the Stars. I didn?t really say that. And they say, ?Oh, yes, you did.? And I?m saying, ?No, I didn?t say that.? I said, ?If Maps to the Stars is my last movie, it?ll be okay. If it turns out that I just don?t end up making another movie, it?s fine.? Some fans got very upset by that, which is very sweet. But I still deny that I actually said, ?I am officially retired.? I know about Soderbergh. He retired like five times already. I didn?t want to do that.
And you know, my wife had died. We had been together 43 years.
I?m so sorry. I felt I didn?t have the heart for it because she had been with me through all of my career. And that was part of it. It wasn?t the only part. I felt that I could really live without making another movie. It wouldn?t crush me. Whereas when I was younger and desperately trying to make movies, it would be crushing to say, ?Oh my God, my career is over.? But now, these are projects I would really like to do. And once again, I can say, ?If I don?t make them, it?s not like the world?s going to fall.?
How much of that shift in your attitude about filmmaking is just natural, you?re growing older, and how much is about the industry itself and how it?s changed? I think it?s really about aging. Because the industry?s always been hard. I did go to Netflix with The Shrouds at one point and wondered if they would be different than a Hollywood studio, and I think they?re not that different. They?re making a different thing, but their attitude is basically very Hollywood.
I?m curious if you think you have a harder time because you?re making more eccentric work. A long time ago I talked to Marty Scorsese, who is a friend. He was saying that everybody assumes that Marty Scorsese can get anything financed whenever he wants because he?s Marty Scorsese. The answer is absolutely not. He has to fight all the same battles. He?s usually dealing more with studios than I am, but he?s having to fight for it, struggle for it. I?ve even seen Guillermo del Toro go through hell. And his projects are usually pretty monsters and stuff. Technically you would say they?re pretty commercial. And I?ve seen him have things fall apart. So I can?t really be the martyr there.
Have you done therapy? No. Never.
Have you purposely avoided it? No. I just honestly ? I felt I didn?t need it.
You?re just all good. Yeah, I?m totally cool. No problems. I had no problems to solve. My parents were really sweet, very sensitive, very understanding and supportive. They were lovely. I had a lovely childhood.
So you?ve never stayed up at night being like, ?Why do I make movies where people pull each other?s organs out of their bodies?? No, because I know that as George Bernard Shaw said, ?Conflict is the essence of drama.? You don?t make a movie about nice people who are all nice to each other. That?d be so boring. You might want to live like that. But you don?t make a movie like that.
I yearn for your placidity. Well, the placid nature is genuine.
In 2005?s A History of Violence, Viggo Mortensen plays the owner of a diner who kills two criminals in self-defense and brings unwanted scrutiny to his own criminal past in the process.
2011?s A Dangerous Mind also stars Viggo Mortensen and is set in the early 1900s.
In Crimes of the Future,some humans can not only sprout fresh body parts, but they can physically consume plastic, too.
But Cronenberg did recently sell his kidney stones as an NFT. ?Well, unfortunately nobody?s bought them yet,? he told me, ?but if you want to make an offer ??
We wish to thank the writer of this short article for this outstanding web content
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[title] => The 30 Best Family Films on HBO Max
[link] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/the-30-best-family-films-on-hbo-max/
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[creator] => Harry World
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[pubdate] => Fri, 03 Jun 2022 17:44:04 +0000
[category] => Scream AwayFamilyFilmsHBOMax
[guid] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=68186
[description] => Hugo. Photo: Photo Credit: Jaap Buitendijk/? 2011 GK Movies. All Rights Reserved. This article is updated frequently as titles leave and enter HBO Max. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk. Maybe the kids in the house have seen everything on Disney+? Or their parents just want a change from so much Marvel and Pixar? ... Read more
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[encoded] =>
Hugo. Photo: Photo Credit: Jaap Buitendijk/? 2011 GK Movies. All Rights Reserved.
This article is updated frequently as titles leave and enter HBO Max. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
Maybe the kids in the house have seen everything on Disney+? Or their parents just want a change from so much Marvel and Pixar? HBO Max, the quickest growing streaming service in history, has one of the deepest catalogs in the world, and their family selection is above average as well, amplified by being the exclusive home of Studio Ghibli?s catalog. Before getting to the best films, it should be noted that they also have a very dense Family TV section thanks to being the home for most Cartoon Network programming. This list will be updated monthly.
It doesn?t have to be Christmas time to enjoy one of the most beloved holiday films in history. Bob Clark directed this 1983 slice of nostalgia that didn?t make much of an impact when it was released but became a massive hit in the eras of VHS and seasonal cable showing. Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon, and Darren McGavin star in the sweet and hysterical story of an average American family around Christmas time.
Disney+ may have a monopoly on streaming animation, but HBO Max has the Don Bluth movies about cute dogs! Beloved from the minute it was released, this is the story of a German Shepherd (voiced by Burt Reynolds), who leaves heaven to solve his murder but ends up befriending an adorable orphan. It?s better than you remember. The 1996 sequel is also on HBO Max.
An adaptation of the children?s book of the same name by John Nickle, this story of a 10-year-old who mistreats ants and is shrunk down to their size was generally ignored by history but has a stunning A-list voice cast that includes Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Paul Giamatti.
Jerry Seinfeld never made the same impact on film as he did television, but he did lend his talents to the 2007 DreamWorks animated film about a honeybee who sues the human race for what we have done to his kind. It?s dated now, but The Bee Movie was kind of groundbreaking visually at the time and had developed something of a cult following over the years.
The first Clash of the Titans was basically advertised as a family adventure film when it was released way back in 1981 and became a huge hit. Harry Hamlin stars in the film that would feature the final work of the legendary Ray Harrhausen, the king of stop-motion visual effects, and loosely retells the myth of Perseus. It?s dated, for sure, but might scratch a nostalgic itch for Gen X-ers with HBO Max subscriptions.
Look! Muppets! It?s a kid?s movie, right?!?! Sorta. Yes, there are puppets in this fascinating fantasy film, but it?s also a dark, often scary adventure story that doesn?t talk down to children and isn?t cautious about frightening them. It?s hard to express how groundbreaking this movie was for its time in terms of puppetry, special effects, and even the way children?s entertainment was written. It?s wildly influential, and there?s a reason Netflix returned to its world almost four decades later.
HBO Max doesn?t currently have the Eddie Murphy remake, but maybe it?s time to introduce the kids to what entertained young ones back in the ?60s? Honestly, the Rex Harrison musical surpassed children to become a massive hit for all ages, even landing a nomination for Best Picture. It was one of the most beloved films of 1967.
Aardman is just the best. Still mostly known for Wallace & Gromit (and maybe now Shaun the Sheep), the stop-motion masters have made other films too, including this 2018 release about a tribe of Stone Age people facing off against the future really when bronze-using invaders challenge them to a game of football. Nick Park directed this funny flick that may not be Aardman?s best, but minor Aardman is still a family film worth seeing.
This one may be more for the families with older kids as it?s a historical drama about the playwright J.M. Barrie and the family he befriended that inspired him to write Peter Pan. A massive critical darling, it landed Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for star Johnny Depp. It was also the breakthrough for a young Freddie Highmore.
The great Carroll Ballard is remembered for nature-driven family films like The Black Stallion and Never Cry Wolfbut Fly Away Home may be his best. Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin star in the true story of Bill Lishman, who created an aircraft to help some stranded Canadian geese find their way home. It?s an incredibly moving, beautiful film.
Shawn Levy directed this 2021 summer hit that?s already on streaming services. Owing a great debt to The LEGO Movie, Free Guy is another tale of someone breaking out of their routine, in this case an NPC (Ryan Reynolds) in a MMORPG who tries to become the hero of his story. His adventure makes him a star in the real world and the enemy of the game?s owner, played by Taika Waititi. Reynolds is his typically charming self, although Jodie Comer kind of steals the movie.
Given that HBO Max is really the new catalog service for Warner Brothers, it makes sense that their most popular franchise would now be its exclusive property. All eight of the films based on the J.K. Rowling books are here, streaming in HD.
Nominated for 11 Oscars (and winning five), Hugo is one of Scorsese?s most acclaimed and beloved films, which should further put to rest any of those dumb insinuations that the legendary director only knows how to make mob movies. It?s a whimsical, delightful film that you can watch with the entire family, and while it may not be in 3D on HBO Max, you can still enjoy its endless visual glory.
More than just a child?s version of a superhero movie or a spoof of the genre, this family flick is a legitimately clever and well-crafted action film. Will Arnett spins off his version of the Dark Knight that premiered in The LEGO Movie for a film that unpacks the clichés about Bruce Wayne and Batman in a manner that?s funny and very smart.
Family films don?t always have to be animated. Why not introduce them to something more ambitious like this 2012 adventure-drama based on the smash hit Yann Martel novel of the same name. The story of a 16-year-old (Suraj Sharma) who survives a shipwreck with a Bengal tiger is such a visually accomplished piece of work that it won Ang Lee his second Oscar for Directing.
Look! Muppets! It?s a kid?s movie, right?!?! Sorta. Yes, there are puppets in this fascinating fantasy film, but it?s also a dark, often scary adventure story that doesn?t talk down to children and isn?t cautious about frightening them. It?s hard to express how groundbreaking this movie was for its time in terms of puppetry, special effects, and even the way children?s entertainment was written. It?s wildly influential, and there?s a reason Netflix returned to its world almost four decades later.
Two versions of the beloved holiday classic about a department store Santa who claims to be real thing are on HBO Max, and really could fit the bill on a weekend for families any time of the year. The 1947 Edmund Gwenn version is the superior one but Richard Attenborough makes the 1994 one nearly as enjoyable.
The great Gore Verbinski directed this 1997 black comedy that works for the whole family. On the surface, it?s the story of two brothers tormented by one small mouse in a house they?ve inherited from their father. It?s filled with great physical humor from Nathan Lane and Lee Evans, who crib their style from classic comedy duos like Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello.
Literature?s favorite mystery-solving young heroine got the feature film treatment back in 2007 when Emma Roberts took on the title role in this film based on the massively successful books. Responses were mixed at the time, but it?s nice to see a film like this for young adults aimed at empowering girls to solve mysteries of their own.
Emma Thompson delivers as the title character in this 2005 film based on the Christianna Brand books. Set in Victorian England, this Mary Poppins riff is another tale of a nanny who assists a widower with seven kids that he can?t manage. Thompson also wrote the adaptation and starred in a 2010 sequel that?s also on HBO Max, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang.
What a charming movie Paddington 2 is for the whole family. Paul King returned to direct the sequel to the 2014 original, a film that actually outpaces its predecessor in both humor and heart. Ben Whishaw returns to voice the marmalade-loving bear in a story that takes Paddington to prison and teaches lessons about community that feel like they never talk down to children.
For no explainable reason, the only film in the four-movie franchise about everyone?s favorite big green ogre that?s available on HBO Max is the third one, released in 2007. Directed by Chris Miller, it was released at a time when this series was literally one of the biggest in the world ? this movie made almost a billion dollars and was nominated for Best Animated Film at the Oscars. It?s not as good as the first two, but it?s fun enough for a list like this one.
After Steven Universe ended its run on Cartoon Network, they produced a film in 2019 that maintains the hit show?s brilliant blend of fantasy and humor. Most of the ensemble cast returns for another story of the Crystal Gems trying to save all organic life on Earth. Steven Universe is a wonderful show, and this movie is a nice epilogue to its legacy. Note: the series is also on HBO Max.
Almost all of the Studio Ghibli films are on HBO Max, the now exclusive home to them when it comes to streaming. The truth is that we could devote about 10% of this list to Hayao Miyazaki and his colleagues but we?ll give up some that space and just point you here to the ranking of the entire output of the most important modern animation studio in the world. Start with Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoroand Castle in the Sky. You won?t stop.
So your kids are too young for Zack Snyder?s Justice League but you want to get a little DC superhero action this weekend? Go back to one of the most influential superhero flicks ever made, Richard Donner?s first film adaptation of the Man in Steel. Christopher Reeve rules as the legendary hero and no one will ever top Gene Hackman?s take on Lex Luthor.
Teen Titans Go! Is one of the smartest superhero cartoons of the modern era and their feature film debut is an underrate joy. The writers here joyfully satirize the world of superheroes, including cameos from many famous DC characters, while never losing the heart of their leading men and women. It?s very funny and clever.
An adaptation of the comics of the same name, this 1990 action film became a massive hit for all ages, launching an entire franchise. In fact, it was technically the highest-grossing independent film when it was released, and a top ten film overall of 1990. It led to 1991?s The Secret of the Ooze and 1993?s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesboth of which are also on HBO Max. Get some pizza and relive all three.
In 2009, Spike Jonze adapted the Maurice Sendak classic children?s story in a way that only he could. Max Records plays a boy who flees his troubled home to find an island of creatures known as the Wild Things, who make Max their king. A fascinating, beautiful film that works on multiple levels, it?s one of the best movies of 2009, a flick that works differently but equally for parents and children.
It was announced in January 2021 that creatives are returning to the well again and telling a story of Willy Wonka?s early days before he opened his famous chocolate factory. There?s a reason this 1971 musical has stood the test of time for five decades, passed down as a beloved family film from generation to generation. Gene Wilder gives one of the most timeless performances ever. It will work its magic on kids forever.
Maybe you?ve heard of it? Seriously, what could possibly be written if you?re on the fence about The Wizard of Oz? Maybe you haven?t seen it since you were a little kid? Revisit the journey of Dorothy over the rainbow if that?s the case and appreciate this wonderful fantasy on a new level.
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We want to give thanks to the author of this article for this incredible web content
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[summary] => Hugo. Photo: Photo Credit: Jaap Buitendijk/? 2011 GK Movies. All Rights Reserved. This article is updated frequently as titles leave and enter HBO Max. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk. Maybe the kids in the house have seen everything on Disney+? Or their parents just want a change from so much Marvel and Pixar? ... Read more
[atom_content] =>
Hugo. Photo: Photo Credit: Jaap Buitendijk/? 2011 GK Movies. All Rights Reserved.
This article is updated frequently as titles leave and enter HBO Max. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
Maybe the kids in the house have seen everything on Disney+? Or their parents just want a change from so much Marvel and Pixar? HBO Max, the quickest growing streaming service in history, has one of the deepest catalogs in the world, and their family selection is above average as well, amplified by being the exclusive home of Studio Ghibli?s catalog. Before getting to the best films, it should be noted that they also have a very dense Family TV section thanks to being the home for most Cartoon Network programming. This list will be updated monthly.
It doesn?t have to be Christmas time to enjoy one of the most beloved holiday films in history. Bob Clark directed this 1983 slice of nostalgia that didn?t make much of an impact when it was released but became a massive hit in the eras of VHS and seasonal cable showing. Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon, and Darren McGavin star in the sweet and hysterical story of an average American family around Christmas time.
Disney+ may have a monopoly on streaming animation, but HBO Max has the Don Bluth movies about cute dogs! Beloved from the minute it was released, this is the story of a German Shepherd (voiced by Burt Reynolds), who leaves heaven to solve his murder but ends up befriending an adorable orphan. It?s better than you remember. The 1996 sequel is also on HBO Max.
An adaptation of the children?s book of the same name by John Nickle, this story of a 10-year-old who mistreats ants and is shrunk down to their size was generally ignored by history but has a stunning A-list voice cast that includes Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Paul Giamatti.
Jerry Seinfeld never made the same impact on film as he did television, but he did lend his talents to the 2007 DreamWorks animated film about a honeybee who sues the human race for what we have done to his kind. It?s dated now, but The Bee Movie was kind of groundbreaking visually at the time and had developed something of a cult following over the years.
The first Clash of the Titans was basically advertised as a family adventure film when it was released way back in 1981 and became a huge hit. Harry Hamlin stars in the film that would feature the final work of the legendary Ray Harrhausen, the king of stop-motion visual effects, and loosely retells the myth of Perseus. It?s dated, for sure, but might scratch a nostalgic itch for Gen X-ers with HBO Max subscriptions.
Look! Muppets! It?s a kid?s movie, right?!?! Sorta. Yes, there are puppets in this fascinating fantasy film, but it?s also a dark, often scary adventure story that doesn?t talk down to children and isn?t cautious about frightening them. It?s hard to express how groundbreaking this movie was for its time in terms of puppetry, special effects, and even the way children?s entertainment was written. It?s wildly influential, and there?s a reason Netflix returned to its world almost four decades later.
HBO Max doesn?t currently have the Eddie Murphy remake, but maybe it?s time to introduce the kids to what entertained young ones back in the ?60s? Honestly, the Rex Harrison musical surpassed children to become a massive hit for all ages, even landing a nomination for Best Picture. It was one of the most beloved films of 1967.
Aardman is just the best. Still mostly known for Wallace & Gromit (and maybe now Shaun the Sheep), the stop-motion masters have made other films too, including this 2018 release about a tribe of Stone Age people facing off against the future really when bronze-using invaders challenge them to a game of football. Nick Park directed this funny flick that may not be Aardman?s best, but minor Aardman is still a family film worth seeing.
This one may be more for the families with older kids as it?s a historical drama about the playwright J.M. Barrie and the family he befriended that inspired him to write Peter Pan. A massive critical darling, it landed Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for star Johnny Depp. It was also the breakthrough for a young Freddie Highmore.
The great Carroll Ballard is remembered for nature-driven family films like The Black Stallion and Never Cry Wolfbut Fly Away Home may be his best. Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin star in the true story of Bill Lishman, who created an aircraft to help some stranded Canadian geese find their way home. It?s an incredibly moving, beautiful film.
Shawn Levy directed this 2021 summer hit that?s already on streaming services. Owing a great debt to The LEGO Movie, Free Guy is another tale of someone breaking out of their routine, in this case an NPC (Ryan Reynolds) in a MMORPG who tries to become the hero of his story. His adventure makes him a star in the real world and the enemy of the game?s owner, played by Taika Waititi. Reynolds is his typically charming self, although Jodie Comer kind of steals the movie.
Given that HBO Max is really the new catalog service for Warner Brothers, it makes sense that their most popular franchise would now be its exclusive property. All eight of the films based on the J.K. Rowling books are here, streaming in HD.
Nominated for 11 Oscars (and winning five), Hugo is one of Scorsese?s most acclaimed and beloved films, which should further put to rest any of those dumb insinuations that the legendary director only knows how to make mob movies. It?s a whimsical, delightful film that you can watch with the entire family, and while it may not be in 3D on HBO Max, you can still enjoy its endless visual glory.
More than just a child?s version of a superhero movie or a spoof of the genre, this family flick is a legitimately clever and well-crafted action film. Will Arnett spins off his version of the Dark Knight that premiered in The LEGO Movie for a film that unpacks the clichés about Bruce Wayne and Batman in a manner that?s funny and very smart.
Family films don?t always have to be animated. Why not introduce them to something more ambitious like this 2012 adventure-drama based on the smash hit Yann Martel novel of the same name. The story of a 16-year-old (Suraj Sharma) who survives a shipwreck with a Bengal tiger is such a visually accomplished piece of work that it won Ang Lee his second Oscar for Directing.
Look! Muppets! It?s a kid?s movie, right?!?! Sorta. Yes, there are puppets in this fascinating fantasy film, but it?s also a dark, often scary adventure story that doesn?t talk down to children and isn?t cautious about frightening them. It?s hard to express how groundbreaking this movie was for its time in terms of puppetry, special effects, and even the way children?s entertainment was written. It?s wildly influential, and there?s a reason Netflix returned to its world almost four decades later.
Two versions of the beloved holiday classic about a department store Santa who claims to be real thing are on HBO Max, and really could fit the bill on a weekend for families any time of the year. The 1947 Edmund Gwenn version is the superior one but Richard Attenborough makes the 1994 one nearly as enjoyable.
The great Gore Verbinski directed this 1997 black comedy that works for the whole family. On the surface, it?s the story of two brothers tormented by one small mouse in a house they?ve inherited from their father. It?s filled with great physical humor from Nathan Lane and Lee Evans, who crib their style from classic comedy duos like Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello.
Literature?s favorite mystery-solving young heroine got the feature film treatment back in 2007 when Emma Roberts took on the title role in this film based on the massively successful books. Responses were mixed at the time, but it?s nice to see a film like this for young adults aimed at empowering girls to solve mysteries of their own.
Emma Thompson delivers as the title character in this 2005 film based on the Christianna Brand books. Set in Victorian England, this Mary Poppins riff is another tale of a nanny who assists a widower with seven kids that he can?t manage. Thompson also wrote the adaptation and starred in a 2010 sequel that?s also on HBO Max, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang.
What a charming movie Paddington 2 is for the whole family. Paul King returned to direct the sequel to the 2014 original, a film that actually outpaces its predecessor in both humor and heart. Ben Whishaw returns to voice the marmalade-loving bear in a story that takes Paddington to prison and teaches lessons about community that feel like they never talk down to children.
For no explainable reason, the only film in the four-movie franchise about everyone?s favorite big green ogre that?s available on HBO Max is the third one, released in 2007. Directed by Chris Miller, it was released at a time when this series was literally one of the biggest in the world ? this movie made almost a billion dollars and was nominated for Best Animated Film at the Oscars. It?s not as good as the first two, but it?s fun enough for a list like this one.
After Steven Universe ended its run on Cartoon Network, they produced a film in 2019 that maintains the hit show?s brilliant blend of fantasy and humor. Most of the ensemble cast returns for another story of the Crystal Gems trying to save all organic life on Earth. Steven Universe is a wonderful show, and this movie is a nice epilogue to its legacy. Note: the series is also on HBO Max.
Almost all of the Studio Ghibli films are on HBO Max, the now exclusive home to them when it comes to streaming. The truth is that we could devote about 10% of this list to Hayao Miyazaki and his colleagues but we?ll give up some that space and just point you here to the ranking of the entire output of the most important modern animation studio in the world. Start with Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoroand Castle in the Sky. You won?t stop.
So your kids are too young for Zack Snyder?s Justice League but you want to get a little DC superhero action this weekend? Go back to one of the most influential superhero flicks ever made, Richard Donner?s first film adaptation of the Man in Steel. Christopher Reeve rules as the legendary hero and no one will ever top Gene Hackman?s take on Lex Luthor.
Teen Titans Go! Is one of the smartest superhero cartoons of the modern era and their feature film debut is an underrate joy. The writers here joyfully satirize the world of superheroes, including cameos from many famous DC characters, while never losing the heart of their leading men and women. It?s very funny and clever.
An adaptation of the comics of the same name, this 1990 action film became a massive hit for all ages, launching an entire franchise. In fact, it was technically the highest-grossing independent film when it was released, and a top ten film overall of 1990. It led to 1991?s The Secret of the Ooze and 1993?s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesboth of which are also on HBO Max. Get some pizza and relive all three.
In 2009, Spike Jonze adapted the Maurice Sendak classic children?s story in a way that only he could. Max Records plays a boy who flees his troubled home to find an island of creatures known as the Wild Things, who make Max their king. A fascinating, beautiful film that works on multiple levels, it?s one of the best movies of 2009, a flick that works differently but equally for parents and children.
It was announced in January 2021 that creatives are returning to the well again and telling a story of Willy Wonka?s early days before he opened his famous chocolate factory. There?s a reason this 1971 musical has stood the test of time for five decades, passed down as a beloved family film from generation to generation. Gene Wilder gives one of the most timeless performances ever. It will work its magic on kids forever.
Maybe you?ve heard of it? Seriously, what could possibly be written if you?re on the fence about The Wizard of Oz? Maybe you haven?t seen it since you were a little kid? Revisit the journey of Dorothy over the rainbow if that?s the case and appreciate this wonderful fantasy on a new level.
See All
We want to give thanks to the author of this article for this incredible web content
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[title] => Chattanooga Film Festival?s Second Wave Includes ?The Leech? and ?Night Shift?!
[link] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/chattanooga-film-festivals-second-wave-includes-the-leech-and-night-shift/
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[creator] => Harry World
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[pubdate] => Fri, 03 Jun 2022 16:22:04 +0000
[category] => Scream AwayChattanoogaFestivalsFilmincludesLeechNightshiftwave
[guid] => https://bestmovies.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=68153
[description] => The Fantasia International Film Festival is heading back to theaters this year, celebrating its 26th edition with a dynamic in-person program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 14 through August 3, 2022. While the festival?s full lineup will be announced in late June, Bloody Disgusting has the first wave of titles and ... Read more
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The Fantasia International Film Festival is heading back to theaters this year, celebrating its 26th edition with a dynamic in-person program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 14 through August 3, 2022.
While the festival?s full lineup will be announced in late June, Bloody Disgusting has the first wave of titles and a special Career Achievement Award for a hugely influential Hong Kong artist whose extraordinary work was foundational to the festival?s formation.
Here?s the press release with a first look at images from several prominent genre films?
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: JOHN WOO
For its 26th edition, Fantasia is proud to honour the groundbreaking Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo with a Career Achievement Award.
With a singular directorial approach, Woo reinvented the conventions of action cinema, its visual language and dramatic codes. Nobody breaks down a sequence like Woo does: his staging is complex, his camera choreographies always elaborate, his mastery of physical performance and stunts unrivaled. His brilliantly original editing patterns are instantly recognizable, as are his slow-motion sequences, employed as much for pathos as to provide poignantly counter-adrenalized flourishes. At the heart of everything, Woo?s films are deeply moral visions,
built around themes of friendship and trust with moving sincerity. Following martial arts films such as HAND OF DEATH (1976), LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY (1979) and beloved comedies such as MONEY CRAZY (1977) and PLAIN JANE TO THE RESCUE (1982), Woo made his name with the groundbreaking heroic bloodshed of films such as A BETTER
TOMORROW (1986), THE KILLER (1989), BULLET IN THE HEAD (1990) and HARD BOILED (1992). Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and others became international stars under his watchful eye, and by crafting an action cinema ? and a genre ? of his own, Woo continues to astonish audiences and filmmakers alike, inspiring legions across the world. In the years following this era, Woo has worked alternately in both Hollywood and China, on further blockbuster classics such as HARD TARGET (1993), FACE/OFF (1997), MISSION:
IMPOSSIBLE II (2000) and epics such as RED CLIFF I & II (2008, 2009), and THE CROSSING I & II (2014, 2015). He is currently hard at work on SILENT NIGHT, an upcoming return to American filmmaking, starring Joel Kinnaman and Kid Cudi. Fantasia is proud to honor John Woo?s legacy.
SATOSHI MIKI?S UNIQUE CREATIVITY SHOWCASED AT FANTASIA 2022 WITH THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CONVENIENCE STORY AND THE CANADIAN PREMIERE OF WHAT TO DO WITH THE DEAD KAIJU?
Outstanding filmmaker Satoshi Miki (ADRIFT IN TOKYO) brings us his latest otherworldly adventure. Kato (Ryo Narita, JUST REMEMBERING) is a struggling screenwriter who, one day when stepping out to buy dog food, stumbles into a mysterious convenience store where he discovers he can find anything his heart desires. Satoshi Miki?s CONVENIENCE STORY, which was pitched at the Frontières Co-Production Market, comes full circle with its World Premiere and marks Japan Times film critic Mark Schilling?s debut as a screenwriter.
Miki?s gently eccentric sense of humour further illuminates the festival?s screens with the Canadian Premiere of WHAT TO DO WITH THE DEAD KAIJU?, a sci-fi comedy that brings the Japanese giant-monster genre to a human scale. When a humongous creature dies in a river, authorities choose to use the rotting carcass as a tourist attraction rather than clean up the potential ecological disaster. This political satire in the spirit of DON?T LOOK UP takes a funny and pertinent look at our indifference towards environmental crises. North American Premiere.
RYAN KWANTEN AND J.K. SIMMONS GET GRUESOMELY GLORIOUS
Ryan Kwanten (TRUE BLOOD) and J.K. Simmons (WHIPLASH) star in veteran genre journalist, filmmaker, and podcaster Rebekah McKendry?s wickedly funny, mind-bending mix of comedy, horror, sci-fi and gloriously indescribable weirdness. In GLORIOUS, After a breakup, Wes (Kwanten) ends up at a remote rest stop and finds himself locked inside the bathroom with a mysterious figure speaking from an adjacent stall. Soon Wes realizes he has found himself in a nightmare scenario more terrible than he could ever imagine. World Premiere.
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF RODRIGO GUDIÑO?S THE BREACH INAUGURATES FANTASIA?S ?SEPTENTRION SHADOWS? SECTION!
Fantasia is proud to announce a new section in the festival?s programming: SEPTENTRION SHADOWS, dedicated to showcasing Canadian cinema that captures the weird, the dangerous, things full of wonder, and (almost) everything in between. Curated by programmer, critic and podcaster Carolyn Mauricette, the section will be launched this summer with the World Premiere of Rodrigo Gudiño?s THE BREACH.
As the founder and president of Rue Morgue Magazine, Rodrigo Gudiño has lived a life immersed in the horror genre. After many years in publishing, he began directing in 2006 and made his debut feature, THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ROSALIND LEIGH, in 2013.
Now, In Fantasia?s 26th year, he?s back with THE BREACH. This adaptation of Canadian horror author Nick Cutter?s novel, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ian Weir, tells of a mysterious and gruesome death in the forests of Northern Ontario and the chaos that follows. Starring Allan Hawco (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE) and Emily Alatalo (SPARE PARTS), audiences can expect tension, plenty of prosthetic gore, and a score by GUNS N? ROSES guitar great?and the film?s executive producer? Slash. World Premiere.
A NEW NIGHTMARE VISION FROM ANDY MITTON: THE HARBINGER
Monique (Gabby Beans, HOUSE OF CARDS) leaves her family quarantine to help a friend who?s suffering from terrible nightmares ? but she learns too late that the bad dreams are contagious, along with the demon behind them. Award-winning Writer/Director Andy Mitton (THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW, WE GO ON) returns with his unique brand of empathetic supernatural horror. Deeply sad, deeply scary and all-out stunning in its power to probe collective trauma, THE HARBINGER bursts with occult imagination, exploring the anxiety and disorientation of the last few years in ways that only Mitton could. World Premiere.
TAKASHI MIIKE CONCLUDES HIS MOLE SONG TRILOGY WITH THE SAGA?S STRONGEST INSTALLMENT
The dynamic duo of the great Takashi Miike (ICHI THE KILLER) and the brilliant screenwriter Kankuro Kudo (TOO YOUNG TO DIE!) elevate the adventures of the ostentatious mole Reiji to unprecedented levels when the Machiavellian yakuza clan he infiltrated tries to import pasta made entirely of methamphetamines: speed-a-ronis. THE MOLE SONG: FINAL masterfully recreates the extravagant universe of Noboru Takahashi?s manga, with endangered kawaii puppets, dirty jokes, larger-than-life characters, and an unforgettable finale. The stellar cast is led by Tomas Ikuta (GRASSHOPPER), who outdoes himself with an absolutely hilarious physical performance. North American Premiere
MICKEY REECE STRIKES COUNTRY GOLD
George Jones (Ben Hall, MINARI) invites country music superstar Troyal Brooks (Mickey Reece) out on the town in Nashville in 1994 ? the night before George is to be cryogenically frozen. At once hilarious and deeply affecting, COUNTRY GOLD is the 29th feature of Oklahoma indie maverick Mickey Reece (CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER, AGNES), reuniting the filmmaker with Hall, who?s never been better. A heartfelt outsider rumination on legacy and what it means to reach the age where one has more to reflect on than to look forward to. World Premiere.
A RADICAL TAKE ON THE EVILS OF PATRIARCHY AND ITS UNDYING LEGACY IN KARIM OUELHAJ?S MEGALOMANIAC
Prolific filmmaker Karim Ouelhaj, Méliès d?Or winner for THE FROZEN EYE (2016), brings us his fourth feature and by far his most savage. His sharp examination of societal anguish blends into this genre-adoring film that no horror devotee would dare miss. Carried by the breathtaking performance of lead actor Eline Schumacher and her descent into insanity, MEGALOMANIAC digs deep into the sordid true story of Belgian serial killer, The Butcher of Mons. MEGALOMANIAC is a nightmare of mystical violence anchored in the reality of female persecution and gendered abuse. World Premiere.
KAPPEI BRINGS JAPANESE COMEDY TO A NEW LEVEL OF PURE APOCALYPTIC FUN
Nostradamus predicted that the world would end in 1999, but he royally screwed up. In 2022, Kappei and his fellow doomsday warriors, isolated and trained since their childhood, must learn to live a ?normal? life with great supernatural powers ? but no social skills whatsoever. In his feature directorial debut KAPPEI, Takashi Hirano (producer of KAMIKAZE GIRLS) creates a wonderfully whimsical coming-of-age action-comedy with the help of screenwriter Yuichi Tokunaga (FLY ME TO THE SAITAMA) and a devilishly funny performance from Actor Hideaki Ito (LESSON OF THE EVIL, TOKYO VICE). North American Premiere.
A DUTCH BOG, AN ANCIENT HORROR: MOLOCH
MOLOCH is the hotly anticipated feature debut from acclaimed Dutch filmmaker Nico van den Brink. This is his follow-up to his award-winning shorts THE BURDEN (currently being adapted into a feature film co-produced by James Wan and Sam Raimi) and SWEET TOOTH, both of which premiered at Fantasia. Drenched in creeping dread, MOLOCH tells the story of 38-year-old Betriek (Sallie Harmsen, BLADE RUNNER 2049) who lives at the edge of a peat bog in the Northern Netherlands. As inexplicable horrors mount, she gradually becomes convinced that she is being hunted by something ancient. International Premiere.
ANIME REIGNS SUPREME
Vying for ANIME SUPREMACY! is no small feat. The anime industry of Japan is enormous, with 200 new TV shows and two trillion yen in revenue each year. Soft-spoken yet strong-willed anime director Hitomi Saito (Riho Yoshioka) has climbed the ranks, and is now set to direct a series of her own. Meanwhile, the difficult but undeniably brilliant director Chiharu Oji (Tomoya Nakamura) is gunning for his big comeback? and there can be only one number-one! This heartfelt, hilarious and thoroughly researched comedy-drama shows the struggle of making it to the top without compromising on vision, from director and CG animator Kohei Yoshino. North American Premiere.
A CHARMING, BLOODY BLITZKRIEG OF ARGENTINIAN HORROR
Otherworldly demons and magical bloodlines threaten to reshape the world in LEGION, an ingenious Argentinian folk horror powder keg by Fabian Forte (DEAD MAN TELLS HIS OWN TALE). While evil forces descend on Argentina, humanity?s best hope, a once-legendary shaman (Germán De Silva, WILD TALES), is confined to an insane asylum, powerless to avert the demonic resurrection. This outlandishly fun horror/comedy is reminiscent of early Álex de la Iglesia, steeped in cultural vibrancy, ritual magic and a cavalcade of creatures. Canadian Premiere.
NEXT DOOR IS A SURPRISING SINGLE-SET STORY WHERE DARK HUMOUR AND SUSPENSE COEXIST PERFECTLY
Chan-woo is on his fifth attempt to get into the police academy, when his friends make him a strange offer to pay the registration fee in exchange for just one drink at the bar. The next morning, he wakes up hungover in his loud neighbour?s apartment with a corpse lying face down in a pool of blood. With a meticulous script that rewards an observant viewer and an inspired comedic performance by lead actor Oh Dong-min (KINGDOM), writer/director Yeom Ji-ho?s impressive first feature NEXT DOOR delivers an engaging, claustrophobic black comedy reminiscent of Sabu?s classic MONDAY set in a single location. North American Premiere.
FANTASIA UNDERGROUND ANNOUNCES DELIRIOUS 1st SELECTION OF 2022
A microbudget flick with a vastly creative design and twisted story, Alex Philipp?s debut feature ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS is a squirmy trip into the depths of arthouse horror cinema. A cavalcade of upcoming performers, as flamboyant and daring as John Waters? dreamlanders, bring a vibrating excess to their wormhead characters. Inspired by Cassavetes and Hennenlotter, Philips delivers a wriggling, drug-induced creature feature nightmare, TRAINSPOTTING meets BRAIN DAMAGE with a dash of VIDEODROME. Underground filmmaking at its best for a ride to hell. Become one with the dirt! Realise your full potential! Nothing is real and everything is permitted. World Premiere.
An abrasive homegrown genre-adjacent film that mines West Island alienation for all its worth, THE DIABETIC is the latest low-fi fiction from Mitchell Stafiej (A, THE DEVIL?S TRAP) about how dark and dirty a desperate diabetic?s desolate night out can turn. Shot in 16mm, edited on VHS, only to be converted back to 16mm, Stafiej crafts a grimy underground film the likes of which the West Island has never seen. Co-presented by Les Fantastiques weekends du Cinema QC. World Premiere.
THE CAMERA LUCIDA SECTION UNVEILS FIVE TITLES
Named one of the ?25 New Faces of Independent Film? by Filmmaker Magazine, Tyler Taormina and Jonathan Davies?s LA-based Omnes Films collective unveils two personal fantasias in the Camera Lucida section ? dedicated to films at the intersection of genre and arthouse.
HAPPER?S COMET pulls us in with a muddy cob of corn; a sound recorder extended out a window; a stalled car and rollerblades attached to Converses. As we peek into the late night routines of various mysterious characters, time and place creeps in, coalescing around familiar fragments of Americana. Tyler Taormina follows 2018?s askew coming of age film HAM ON RYE with a foreboding midnight mosaic; evoking nocturnal loneliness, drifting uncertainty, and a pang of hope in the darkness. Canadian Premiere.
In TOPOLOGY OF SIRENS, Cas (Courtney Stephens), an academic and amateur musician, moves into her aunt?s old home. The discovery of a mysterious hurdy-gurdy prompts another find: microcassette tapes nestled in the instrument, labeled with cryptic symbols and containing abstract soundscapes. Cas? detective story begins against the backdrop of a lush California town populated by audiophiles, experimentalists, tinkerers, VJs and collectors. This fantastical, shimmering debut from Jonathan Davies, operates like an airy, sun-kissed subversion of traditional L.A. noirs. Canadian Premiere.
Amanda Kramer invites us to a subversive Primetime Double Feature Spectacular, subverting Beatnik culture and variety shows in one swift, cinematic motion.
In Amanda Kramer?s PLEASE BABY PLEASE, newlyweds Suze (Andrea Riseborough, MANDY) and Arthur (Harry Melling, THE QUEEN?S GAMBIT) are a picture-perfect Beatnik couple. Proud bohemians, they go through life with the certainty of their convictions? until they encounter the Young Gents ? a leather-clad gang of greasers that terrorizes their neighborhood with pocket knives and genderbending ways. Soon, our central couple begins questioning their sexuality, and ultimately their relationship. Co-starring Karl Glusman (LOVE) and Demi Moore (GHOST). Canadian Premiere.
Sissy St. Claire (Sophie Von Haselberg) has one dream: making it big! In GIVE ME PITY! she hosts an extravagant variety show, full of gossip, glamour, vanity, and a creeping sense of disillusionment. To top it all off, a hooded man lurks in the wings, threatening to shut it all down. Amanda Kramer?s delightful horror-tinged cringe comedy, is a satirical send-up of American television, propelled by the spectacular performance at its center. North American Premiere. ***
In JUST REMEMBERING, Teruo (Sosuke Ikematsu, SHOPLIFTERS), a former dancer, is turning 34. Yo (Sairi Ito, ASAKO I & II), his ex-lover, makes a living as a cab driver in a COVID-stricken Tokyo. When she catches a glimpse of her ex on stage, memories flood back in. Inspired by Jarmusch?s classic NIGHT ON EARTH, director Daigo Matsui unspools rom-com conventions and beautifully depicts the ways we construct relationships and process memories. It?s a perfect match for the upset and melancholy of these past few years on Earth. Audience Award, Tokyo IFF 2021. North American Premiere.
STACK FASTER & FEEL THE LOVE
In FAST & FEEL LOVE, we meet Kao (Nat Kitcharit), a 30-year-old who has devoted his entire life to the competitive sport of? cup stacking! But as adulthood looms, his girlfriend Jay (Urassaya Sperbund) dumps him and he finds himself at a crossroads. Following HEART ATTACK (Fantasia 2016), Thai iconoclast Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit returns to the festival with his first ?action film.? Quirky and satirical (structured around nods to various blockbuster hits, from FAST & FURIOUS to PARASITE) FAST & FEEL LOVE is a playful, surprising comedy about ?competitive adulting!? Canadian Premiere.
DOCS FROM THE EDGE?S FIRST TITLES EXPLORE THE UNDERGROUND WORLD OF PEZ DISPENSERS, AND THE SURPRISING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN DAVID LYNCH AND THE WIZARD OF OZ
Alexandre O. Philippe dissects film history like no other documentarian before him. From Monument Valley?s depiction in westerns in THE TAKING, to Hitchcock?s shower scene in 78/52 through Philippe?s lens, every detail is explored and expanded upon for a meditation on Cinema itself. In his latest work, LYNCH/OZ, featuring interviews with film fetishists such as John Waters, David Lowery and Rodney Ascher, Philippe leads us through a maze where the green emerald city and blue velvet curtain intertwine. Over the rainbow and underneath the surface, the story of David Lynch and THE WIZARD OF OZ. Canadian Premiere.
In Bryan Storkel (FIGHT CHURCH) and Amy Bandlien?s new film THE PEZ OUTLAW, the filmmakers explore the adventures of the International Pez Smuggler Steve Glew. This stranger-than-fiction tale of espionage and Wonka-esque whimsy follows the lovable underdog who managed to elude (and royally annoy) the powerful corporation for years and invites us into the heart of the Pez community: an eclectic band of passionate hobbyists that will feel all-too-familiar to most of us festival goers. Who knew true crime documentaries could be this sweet? International Premiere.
AXIS: ACCENT ON ANIMATION FROM ASIA
Fantasia?s Animation Section Looks East, For Anime And More
Korean Animation In The Spotlight
Already explored in literature, comics, and documentary film, the story of Chun Tae-Il, whose ultimate sacrifice galvanized the labour-rights movement in South Korea, is one that still reverberates half a century later. Director Hong Jun-pyo?s historical biography CHUN TAE-IL: A FLAME THAT LIVES ON honours its subject with emotionally charged storytelling and splendid visual craft, mixing tragedy and hope in this South Korean animated feature that will appeal to all age groups. North American Premiere.
Hong?s feature is just part of a special Korean Animation Spotlight at Fantasia 2022. Long overlooked as little more than a factory for Japanese and American cartoons, South Korea has steadily built a national animation community whose films are now among the world?s best, both technically and artistically. Fantasia?s spotlight showcases a slate of brand-new short films as well as retrospectives, a children?s program, and a masterclass with Kim Kangmin, director of the award-winning short KKUM.
Anime From Fairy Tale to Rock Opera
A dark and monstrous creature becomes the guardian of an innocent human child in the affecting gothic anime fairytale THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE, co-directed by rising talents Yutaro Kubo and Satomi Maiya. The pair world-premiered their short film adaptation of Nagabe?s cult manga at Fantasia 2019, and with this feature they bring the elegant, enigmatic tale of Shiva and Teacher to the screen once again. Canadian Premiere.
Bristling with energy and inspiration, INU-OH, the new feature film from anime radical Masaaki Yuasa (MIND GAME, DEVILMAN CRYBABY) is an absolute tour-de-force. Ancient Japanese history is reimagined as a riotous rock opera, rendered all the more feverish and fantastical by Yuasa?s storytelling panache and astonishing inventiveness, not to mention Taiyo Matsumoto?s amazing character designs. Quebec Premiere.
A Gem of Afro-Caribbean Animation
A mystical kingdom is eternally blessed with life and abundance, but should the princess Opal?s joy be lost and sadness take hold of her heart, darkness and ruin will blight the realm. OPAL, the second feature film from Martinique?s Alain Bidard (BATTLEDREAM CHRONICLE, 2015), is a sumptuous animated fairy tale, filled with a rich Afro-Caribbean sensibility and profound psychological undercurrents, and has already scooped up awards at festivals around the world. Canadian Premiere.
Additional 1st Wave titles:
BABY ASSASSINS (Japan) ? Dir: Yugo Sakamoto
Two teenage assassins adjust to being roommates and search for menial part-time jobs while battling a psychopathic yakuza boss and his bratty son and daughter. A double-barrelled blast of action-comedy that teams up stage musical star Akari Takaishi and stuntwoman Ayaori Izawa. Quebec Premiere.
DEADSTREAM (USA) ? Dirs: Vanessa Winter, Joseph Winter
Disgraced and demonetized after a public controversy, a washed up Internet personality tries to win back his followers by livestreaming himself spending one night alone in an abandoned haunted house. Unfortunately, he accidentally pisses off a vengeful spirit. A wild, splatstick cross between EVIL DEAD and the most ill-fated livestream imaginable. Official Selection: SXSW 2022. Canadian Premiere.
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH (Belgium) ? Dir: Véronique Jadin
From the absurd to the heartbreaking, Véronique Jadin covers it all in her darkly comedic and surprisingly bloody look at sexism in office culture. The cast pulls out all the stops with its number of insane and nail-biting moments. Official Selection: Tribeca 2022. Canadian Premiere.
INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE (France) ? Dir: Quentin Dupieux
Alain and Marie move to a quiet suburb. A mysterious tunnel in the cellar of their new home will turn their lives upside down. An inspired burst of lunacy from Quentin Dupieux (MANDIBLES,
DEERSKIN, WRONG), starring Alain Chabat, Léa Drucker, Benoît Magimel and Anaïs Demoustier. Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival 2022. North American Premiere.
ON THE LINE (South Korea) ? Dir: Kim Sun, Kim Gok
Rarely has an action film managed to generate as much excitement and anxiety as this timely dive into the maze of voice phishing scams, where an ex-detective embarks on a dangerous mission to infiltrate and dismantle a huge cartel of invisible fraudsters. Canadian Premiere.
RESURRECTION (USA) ? Dir: Andrew Semans
Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth and Grace Kaufman star in this fiercely absorbing work of psychological horror that explores the twisting emotions of unresolved trauma. You will be shocked. You will be devastated. You will be left frozen in an absolute daze. Official Selection: Sundance 2022. Canadian Premiere.
SHARP STICK (USA) ? Dir: Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham?s return to feature filmmaking is an honest, boundary-pushing comedy of sexual discovery that entertains and surprises with its unique tone. Vibrant, with a pitch-perfect cast that includes Kristine Froseth, Taylour Paige, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jon Bernthal, Scott Speedman and the writer/director herself. Official Selection: Sundance 2022. Canadian Premiere.
SPEAK NO EVIL (Denmark) ? Dir: Christian Tafdrup
The Danish shocker that pulverized Sundance is coming to Canada. Equal parts smart, dark social satire and a masterclass of dread-building, this singularly squirm-inducing nightmare is going to stay with you for years. Official Selection: Göteborg Film Festival 2022. Canadian Premiere.
A second wave of Fantasia 2022 titles will be announced in early June with the full lineup to be revealed in late June, ticket sales commencing shortly afterwards. For more information, visit our website www.fantasiafestival.com
We wish to say thanks to the writer of this post for this amazing web content
)
[summary] => The Fantasia International Film Festival is heading back to theaters this year, celebrating its 26th edition with a dynamic in-person program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 14 through August 3, 2022. While the festival?s full lineup will be announced in late June, Bloody Disgusting has the first wave of titles and ... Read more
[atom_content] =>
The Fantasia International Film Festival is heading back to theaters this year, celebrating its 26th edition with a dynamic in-person program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 14 through August 3, 2022.
While the festival?s full lineup will be announced in late June, Bloody Disgusting has the first wave of titles and a special Career Achievement Award for a hugely influential Hong Kong artist whose extraordinary work was foundational to the festival?s formation.
Here?s the press release with a first look at images from several prominent genre films?
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: JOHN WOO
For its 26th edition, Fantasia is proud to honour the groundbreaking Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo with a Career Achievement Award.
With a singular directorial approach, Woo reinvented the conventions of action cinema, its visual language and dramatic codes. Nobody breaks down a sequence like Woo does: his staging is complex, his camera choreographies always elaborate, his mastery of physical performance and stunts unrivaled. His brilliantly original editing patterns are instantly recognizable, as are his slow-motion sequences, employed as much for pathos as to provide poignantly counter-adrenalized flourishes. At the heart of everything, Woo?s films are deeply moral visions,
built around themes of friendship and trust with moving sincerity. Following martial arts films such as HAND OF DEATH (1976), LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY (1979) and beloved comedies such as MONEY CRAZY (1977) and PLAIN JANE TO THE RESCUE (1982), Woo made his name with the groundbreaking heroic bloodshed of films such as A BETTER
TOMORROW (1986), THE KILLER (1989), BULLET IN THE HEAD (1990) and HARD BOILED (1992). Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and others became international stars under his watchful eye, and by crafting an action cinema ? and a genre ? of his own, Woo continues to astonish audiences and filmmakers alike, inspiring legions across the world. In the years following this era, Woo has worked alternately in both Hollywood and China, on further blockbuster classics such as HARD TARGET (1993), FACE/OFF (1997), MISSION:
IMPOSSIBLE II (2000) and epics such as RED CLIFF I & II (2008, 2009), and THE CROSSING I & II (2014, 2015). He is currently hard at work on SILENT NIGHT, an upcoming return to American filmmaking, starring Joel Kinnaman and Kid Cudi. Fantasia is proud to honor John Woo?s legacy.
SATOSHI MIKI?S UNIQUE CREATIVITY SHOWCASED AT FANTASIA 2022 WITH THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CONVENIENCE STORY AND THE CANADIAN PREMIERE OF WHAT TO DO WITH THE DEAD KAIJU?
Outstanding filmmaker Satoshi Miki (ADRIFT IN TOKYO) brings us his latest otherworldly adventure. Kato (Ryo Narita, JUST REMEMBERING) is a struggling screenwriter who, one day when stepping out to buy dog food, stumbles into a mysterious convenience store where he discovers he can find anything his heart desires. Satoshi Miki?s CONVENIENCE STORY, which was pitched at the Frontières Co-Production Market, comes full circle with its World Premiere and marks Japan Times film critic Mark Schilling?s debut as a screenwriter.
Miki?s gently eccentric sense of humour further illuminates the festival?s screens with the Canadian Premiere of WHAT TO DO WITH THE DEAD KAIJU?, a sci-fi comedy that brings the Japanese giant-monster genre to a human scale. When a humongous creature dies in a river, authorities choose to use the rotting carcass as a tourist attraction rather than clean up the potential ecological disaster. This political satire in the spirit of DON?T LOOK UP takes a funny and pertinent look at our indifference towards environmental crises. North American Premiere.
RYAN KWANTEN AND J.K. SIMMONS GET GRUESOMELY GLORIOUS
Ryan Kwanten (TRUE BLOOD) and J.K. Simmons (WHIPLASH) star in veteran genre journalist, filmmaker, and podcaster Rebekah McKendry?s wickedly funny, mind-bending mix of comedy, horror, sci-fi and gloriously indescribable weirdness. In GLORIOUS, After a breakup, Wes (Kwanten) ends up at a remote rest stop and finds himself locked inside the bathroom with a mysterious figure speaking from an adjacent stall. Soon Wes realizes he has found himself in a nightmare scenario more terrible than he could ever imagine. World Premiere.
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF RODRIGO GUDIÑO?S THE BREACH INAUGURATES FANTASIA?S ?SEPTENTRION SHADOWS? SECTION!
Fantasia is proud to announce a new section in the festival?s programming: SEPTENTRION SHADOWS, dedicated to showcasing Canadian cinema that captures the weird, the dangerous, things full of wonder, and (almost) everything in between. Curated by programmer, critic and podcaster Carolyn Mauricette, the section will be launched this summer with the World Premiere of Rodrigo Gudiño?s THE BREACH.
As the founder and president of Rue Morgue Magazine, Rodrigo Gudiño has lived a life immersed in the horror genre. After many years in publishing, he began directing in 2006 and made his debut feature, THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ROSALIND LEIGH, in 2013.
Now, In Fantasia?s 26th year, he?s back with THE BREACH. This adaptation of Canadian horror author Nick Cutter?s novel, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ian Weir, tells of a mysterious and gruesome death in the forests of Northern Ontario and the chaos that follows. Starring Allan Hawco (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE) and Emily Alatalo (SPARE PARTS), audiences can expect tension, plenty of prosthetic gore, and a score by GUNS N? ROSES guitar great?and the film?s executive producer? Slash. World Premiere.
A NEW NIGHTMARE VISION FROM ANDY MITTON: THE HARBINGER
Monique (Gabby Beans, HOUSE OF CARDS) leaves her family quarantine to help a friend who?s suffering from terrible nightmares ? but she learns too late that the bad dreams are contagious, along with the demon behind them. Award-winning Writer/Director Andy Mitton (THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW, WE GO ON) returns with his unique brand of empathetic supernatural horror. Deeply sad, deeply scary and all-out stunning in its power to probe collective trauma, THE HARBINGER bursts with occult imagination, exploring the anxiety and disorientation of the last few years in ways that only Mitton could. World Premiere.
TAKASHI MIIKE CONCLUDES HIS MOLE SONG TRILOGY WITH THE SAGA?S STRONGEST INSTALLMENT
The dynamic duo of the great Takashi Miike (ICHI THE KILLER) and the brilliant screenwriter Kankuro Kudo (TOO YOUNG TO DIE!) elevate the adventures of the ostentatious mole Reiji to unprecedented levels when the Machiavellian yakuza clan he infiltrated tries to import pasta made entirely of methamphetamines: speed-a-ronis. THE MOLE SONG: FINAL masterfully recreates the extravagant universe of Noboru Takahashi?s manga, with endangered kawaii puppets, dirty jokes, larger-than-life characters, and an unforgettable finale. The stellar cast is led by Tomas Ikuta (GRASSHOPPER), who outdoes himself with an absolutely hilarious physical performance. North American Premiere
MICKEY REECE STRIKES COUNTRY GOLD
George Jones (Ben Hall, MINARI) invites country music superstar Troyal Brooks (Mickey Reece) out on the town in Nashville in 1994 ? the night before George is to be cryogenically frozen. At once hilarious and deeply affecting, COUNTRY GOLD is the 29th feature of Oklahoma indie maverick Mickey Reece (CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER, AGNES), reuniting the filmmaker with Hall, who?s never been better. A heartfelt outsider rumination on legacy and what it means to reach the age where one has more to reflect on than to look forward to. World Premiere.
A RADICAL TAKE ON THE EVILS OF PATRIARCHY AND ITS UNDYING LEGACY IN KARIM OUELHAJ?S MEGALOMANIAC
Prolific filmmaker Karim Ouelhaj, Méliès d?Or winner for THE FROZEN EYE (2016), brings us his fourth feature and by far his most savage. His sharp examination of societal anguish blends into this genre-adoring film that no horror devotee would dare miss. Carried by the breathtaking performance of lead actor Eline Schumacher and her descent into insanity, MEGALOMANIAC digs deep into the sordid true story of Belgian serial killer, The Butcher of Mons. MEGALOMANIAC is a nightmare of mystical violence anchored in the reality of female persecution and gendered abuse. World Premiere.
KAPPEI BRINGS JAPANESE COMEDY TO A NEW LEVEL OF PURE APOCALYPTIC FUN
Nostradamus predicted that the world would end in 1999, but he royally screwed up. In 2022, Kappei and his fellow doomsday warriors, isolated and trained since their childhood, must learn to live a ?normal? life with great supernatural powers ? but no social skills whatsoever. In his feature directorial debut KAPPEI, Takashi Hirano (producer of KAMIKAZE GIRLS) creates a wonderfully whimsical coming-of-age action-comedy with the help of screenwriter Yuichi Tokunaga (FLY ME TO THE SAITAMA) and a devilishly funny performance from Actor Hideaki Ito (LESSON OF THE EVIL, TOKYO VICE). North American Premiere.
A DUTCH BOG, AN ANCIENT HORROR: MOLOCH
MOLOCH is the hotly anticipated feature debut from acclaimed Dutch filmmaker Nico van den Brink. This is his follow-up to his award-winning shorts THE BURDEN (currently being adapted into a feature film co-produced by James Wan and Sam Raimi) and SWEET TOOTH, both of which premiered at Fantasia. Drenched in creeping dread, MOLOCH tells the story of 38-year-old Betriek (Sallie Harmsen, BLADE RUNNER 2049) who lives at the edge of a peat bog in the Northern Netherlands. As inexplicable horrors mount, she gradually becomes convinced that she is being hunted by something ancient. International Premiere.
ANIME REIGNS SUPREME
Vying for ANIME SUPREMACY! is no small feat. The anime industry of Japan is enormous, with 200 new TV shows and two trillion yen in revenue each year. Soft-spoken yet strong-willed anime director Hitomi Saito (Riho Yoshioka) has climbed the ranks, and is now set to direct a series of her own. Meanwhile, the difficult but undeniably brilliant director Chiharu Oji (Tomoya Nakamura) is gunning for his big comeback? and there can be only one number-one! This heartfelt, hilarious and thoroughly researched comedy-drama shows the struggle of making it to the top without compromising on vision, from director and CG animator Kohei Yoshino. North American Premiere.
A CHARMING, BLOODY BLITZKRIEG OF ARGENTINIAN HORROR
Otherworldly demons and magical bloodlines threaten to reshape the world in LEGION, an ingenious Argentinian folk horror powder keg by Fabian Forte (DEAD MAN TELLS HIS OWN TALE). While evil forces descend on Argentina, humanity?s best hope, a once-legendary shaman (Germán De Silva, WILD TALES), is confined to an insane asylum, powerless to avert the demonic resurrection. This outlandishly fun horror/comedy is reminiscent of early Álex de la Iglesia, steeped in cultural vibrancy, ritual magic and a cavalcade of creatures. Canadian Premiere.
NEXT DOOR IS A SURPRISING SINGLE-SET STORY WHERE DARK HUMOUR AND SUSPENSE COEXIST PERFECTLY
Chan-woo is on his fifth attempt to get into the police academy, when his friends make him a strange offer to pay the registration fee in exchange for just one drink at the bar. The next morning, he wakes up hungover in his loud neighbour?s apartment with a corpse lying face down in a pool of blood. With a meticulous script that rewards an observant viewer and an inspired comedic performance by lead actor Oh Dong-min (KINGDOM), writer/director Yeom Ji-ho?s impressive first feature NEXT DOOR delivers an engaging, claustrophobic black comedy reminiscent of Sabu?s classic MONDAY set in a single location. North American Premiere.
FANTASIA UNDERGROUND ANNOUNCES DELIRIOUS 1st SELECTION OF 2022
A microbudget flick with a vastly creative design and twisted story, Alex Philipp?s debut feature ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS is a squirmy trip into the depths of arthouse horror cinema. A cavalcade of upcoming performers, as flamboyant and daring as John Waters? dreamlanders, bring a vibrating excess to their wormhead characters. Inspired by Cassavetes and Hennenlotter, Philips delivers a wriggling, drug-induced creature feature nightmare, TRAINSPOTTING meets BRAIN DAMAGE with a dash of VIDEODROME. Underground filmmaking at its best for a ride to hell. Become one with the dirt! Realise your full potential! Nothing is real and everything is permitted. World Premiere.
An abrasive homegrown genre-adjacent film that mines West Island alienation for all its worth, THE DIABETIC is the latest low-fi fiction from Mitchell Stafiej (A, THE DEVIL?S TRAP) about how dark and dirty a desperate diabetic?s desolate night out can turn. Shot in 16mm, edited on VHS, only to be converted back to 16mm, Stafiej crafts a grimy underground film the likes of which the West Island has never seen. Co-presented by Les Fantastiques weekends du Cinema QC. World Premiere.
THE CAMERA LUCIDA SECTION UNVEILS FIVE TITLES
Named one of the ?25 New Faces of Independent Film? by Filmmaker Magazine, Tyler Taormina and Jonathan Davies?s LA-based Omnes Films collective unveils two personal fantasias in the Camera Lucida section ? dedicated to films at the intersection of genre and arthouse.
HAPPER?S COMET pulls us in with a muddy cob of corn; a sound recorder extended out a window; a stalled car and rollerblades attached to Converses. As we peek into the late night routines of various mysterious characters, time and place creeps in, coalescing around familiar fragments of Americana. Tyler Taormina follows 2018?s askew coming of age film HAM ON RYE with a foreboding midnight mosaic; evoking nocturnal loneliness, drifting uncertainty, and a pang of hope in the darkness. Canadian Premiere.
In TOPOLOGY OF SIRENS, Cas (Courtney Stephens), an academic and amateur musician, moves into her aunt?s old home. The discovery of a mysterious hurdy-gurdy prompts another find: microcassette tapes nestled in the instrument, labeled with cryptic symbols and containing abstract soundscapes. Cas? detective story begins against the backdrop of a lush California town populated by audiophiles, experimentalists, tinkerers, VJs and collectors. This fantastical, shimmering debut from Jonathan Davies, operates like an airy, sun-kissed subversion of traditional L.A. noirs. Canadian Premiere.
Amanda Kramer invites us to a subversive Primetime Double Feature Spectacular, subverting Beatnik culture and variety shows in one swift, cinematic motion.
In Amanda Kramer?s PLEASE BABY PLEASE, newlyweds Suze (Andrea Riseborough, MANDY) and Arthur (Harry Melling, THE QUEEN?S GAMBIT) are a picture-perfect Beatnik couple. Proud bohemians, they go through life with the certainty of their convictions? until they encounter the Young Gents ? a leather-clad gang of greasers that terrorizes their neighborhood with pocket knives and genderbending ways. Soon, our central couple begins questioning their sexuality, and ultimately their relationship. Co-starring Karl Glusman (LOVE) and Demi Moore (GHOST). Canadian Premiere.
Sissy St. Claire (Sophie Von Haselberg) has one dream: making it big! In GIVE ME PITY! she hosts an extravagant variety show, full of gossip, glamour, vanity, and a creeping sense of disillusionment. To top it all off, a hooded man lurks in the wings, threatening to shut it all down. Amanda Kramer?s delightful horror-tinged cringe comedy, is a satirical send-up of American television, propelled by the spectacular performance at its center. North American Premiere. ***
In JUST REMEMBERING, Teruo (Sosuke Ikematsu, SHOPLIFTERS), a former dancer, is turning 34. Yo (Sairi Ito, ASAKO I & II), his ex-lover, makes a living as a cab driver in a COVID-stricken Tokyo. When she catches a glimpse of her ex on stage, memories flood back in. Inspired by Jarmusch?s classic NIGHT ON EARTH, director Daigo Matsui unspools rom-com conventions and beautifully depicts the ways we construct relationships and process memories. It?s a perfect match for the upset and melancholy of these past few years on Earth. Audience Award, Tokyo IFF 2021. North American Premiere.
STACK FASTER & FEEL THE LOVE
In FAST & FEEL LOVE, we meet Kao (Nat Kitcharit), a 30-year-old who has devoted his entire life to the competitive sport of? cup stacking! But as adulthood looms, his girlfriend Jay (Urassaya Sperbund) dumps him and he finds himself at a crossroads. Following HEART ATTACK (Fantasia 2016), Thai iconoclast Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit returns to the festival with his first ?action film.? Quirky and satirical (structured around nods to various blockbuster hits, from FAST & FURIOUS to PARASITE) FAST & FEEL LOVE is a playful, surprising comedy about ?competitive adulting!? Canadian Premiere.
DOCS FROM THE EDGE?S FIRST TITLES EXPLORE THE UNDERGROUND WORLD OF PEZ DISPENSERS, AND THE SURPRISING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN DAVID LYNCH AND THE WIZARD OF OZ
Alexandre O. Philippe dissects film history like no other documentarian before him. From Monument Valley?s depiction in westerns in THE TAKING, to Hitchcock?s shower scene in 78/52 through Philippe?s lens, every detail is explored and expanded upon for a meditation on Cinema itself. In his latest work, LYNCH/OZ, featuring interviews with film fetishists such as John Waters, David Lowery and Rodney Ascher, Philippe leads us through a maze where the green emerald city and blue velvet curtain intertwine. Over the rainbow and underneath the surface, the story of David Lynch and THE WIZARD OF OZ. Canadian Premiere.
In Bryan Storkel (FIGHT CHURCH) and Amy Bandlien?s new film THE PEZ OUTLAW, the filmmakers explore the adventures of the International Pez Smuggler Steve Glew. This stranger-than-fiction tale of espionage and Wonka-esque whimsy follows the lovable underdog who managed to elude (and royally annoy) the powerful corporation for years and invites us into the heart of the Pez community: an eclectic band of passionate hobbyists that will feel all-too-familiar to most of us festival goers. Who knew true crime documentaries could be this sweet? International Premiere.
AXIS: ACCENT ON ANIMATION FROM ASIA
Fantasia?s Animation Section Looks East, For Anime And More
Korean Animation In The Spotlight
Already explored in literature, comics, and documentary film, the story of Chun Tae-Il, whose ultimate sacrifice galvanized the labour-rights movement in South Korea, is one that still reverberates half a century later. Director Hong Jun-pyo?s historical biography CHUN TAE-IL: A FLAME THAT LIVES ON honours its subject with emotionally charged storytelling and splendid visual craft, mixing tragedy and hope in this South Korean animated feature that will appeal to all age groups. North American Premiere.
Hong?s feature is just part of a special Korean Animation Spotlight at Fantasia 2022. Long overlooked as little more than a factory for Japanese and American cartoons, South Korea has steadily built a national animation community whose films are now among the world?s best, both technically and artistically. Fantasia?s spotlight showcases a slate of brand-new short films as well as retrospectives, a children?s program, and a masterclass with Kim Kangmin, director of the award-winning short KKUM.
Anime From Fairy Tale to Rock Opera
A dark and monstrous creature becomes the guardian of an innocent human child in the affecting gothic anime fairytale THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE, co-directed by rising talents Yutaro Kubo and Satomi Maiya. The pair world-premiered their short film adaptation of Nagabe?s cult manga at Fantasia 2019, and with this feature they bring the elegant, enigmatic tale of Shiva and Teacher to the screen once again. Canadian Premiere.
Bristling with energy and inspiration, INU-OH, the new feature film from anime radical Masaaki Yuasa (MIND GAME, DEVILMAN CRYBABY) is an absolute tour-de-force. Ancient Japanese history is reimagined as a riotous rock opera, rendered all the more feverish and fantastical by Yuasa?s storytelling panache and astonishing inventiveness, not to mention Taiyo Matsumoto?s amazing character designs. Quebec Premiere.
A Gem of Afro-Caribbean Animation
A mystical kingdom is eternally blessed with life and abundance, but should the princess Opal?s joy be lost and sadness take hold of her heart, darkness and ruin will blight the realm. OPAL, the second feature film from Martinique?s Alain Bidard (BATTLEDREAM CHRONICLE, 2015), is a sumptuous animated fairy tale, filled with a rich Afro-Caribbean sensibility and profound psychological undercurrents, and has already scooped up awards at festivals around the world. Canadian Premiere.
Additional 1st Wave titles:
BABY ASSASSINS (Japan) ? Dir: Yugo Sakamoto
Two teenage assassins adjust to being roommates and search for menial part-time jobs while battling a psychopathic yakuza boss and his bratty son and daughter. A double-barrelled blast of action-comedy that teams up stage musical star Akari Takaishi and stuntwoman Ayaori Izawa. Quebec Premiere.
DEADSTREAM (USA) ? Dirs: Vanessa Winter, Joseph Winter
Disgraced and demonetized after a public controversy, a washed up Internet personality tries to win back his followers by livestreaming himself spending one night alone in an abandoned haunted house. Unfortunately, he accidentally pisses off a vengeful spirit. A wild, splatstick cross between EVIL DEAD and the most ill-fated livestream imaginable. Official Selection: SXSW 2022. Canadian Premiere.
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH (Belgium) ? Dir: Véronique Jadin
From the absurd to the heartbreaking, Véronique Jadin covers it all in her darkly comedic and surprisingly bloody look at sexism in office culture. The cast pulls out all the stops with its number of insane and nail-biting moments. Official Selection: Tribeca 2022. Canadian Premiere.
INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE (France) ? Dir: Quentin Dupieux
Alain and Marie move to a quiet suburb. A mysterious tunnel in the cellar of their new home will turn their lives upside down. An inspired burst of lunacy from Quentin Dupieux (MANDIBLES,
DEERSKIN, WRONG), starring Alain Chabat, Léa Drucker, Benoît Magimel and Anaïs Demoustier. Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival 2022. North American Premiere.
ON THE LINE (South Korea) ? Dir: Kim Sun, Kim Gok
Rarely has an action film managed to generate as much excitement and anxiety as this timely dive into the maze of voice phishing scams, where an ex-detective embarks on a dangerous mission to infiltrate and dismantle a huge cartel of invisible fraudsters. Canadian Premiere.
RESURRECTION (USA) ? Dir: Andrew Semans
Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth and Grace Kaufman star in this fiercely absorbing work of psychological horror that explores the twisting emotions of unresolved trauma. You will be shocked. You will be devastated. You will be left frozen in an absolute daze. Official Selection: Sundance 2022. Canadian Premiere.
SHARP STICK (USA) ? Dir: Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham?s return to feature filmmaking is an honest, boundary-pushing comedy of sexual discovery that entertains and surprises with its unique tone. Vibrant, with a pitch-perfect cast that includes Kristine Froseth, Taylour Paige, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jon Bernthal, Scott Speedman and the writer/director herself. Official Selection: Sundance 2022. Canadian Premiere.
SPEAK NO EVIL (Denmark) ? Dir: Christian Tafdrup
The Danish shocker that pulverized Sundance is coming to Canada. Equal parts smart, dark social satire and a masterclass of dread-building, this singularly squirm-inducing nightmare is going to stay with you for years. Official Selection: Göteborg Film Festival 2022. Canadian Premiere.
A second wave of Fantasia 2022 titles will be announced in early June with the full lineup to be revealed in late June, ticket sales commencing shortly afterwards. For more information, visit our website www.fantasiafestival.com
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