PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND is so much more than just another Nic Cage freakout
by Samuel Antezana, Contributor
Topsy turvy doesn’t begin to describe the latest offering from one of Japan’s most experimental filmmakers, Sion Sono…
Peripheral
Directed by Paul Hyett
Starring Hannah Arterton, Tom Conti and Rosie Day
Running time: 1 hour and 29 minutes
by Samuel Antezana
A satiric assault on the senses, Paul Hyett’s Peripheral is an angry and, at times, effective film about the dangers of technological infiltration and surveillance within our rapidly evolving digital world. The story follows Bobbi Johnson (Hannah Arterton), a young novelist made infamous by her incendiary debut novel Bite the Hand, who struggles to write her second novel, Peripheral. Bobbi’s manipulative publisher, Jordan, pushes her to leave her outdated typewriter for a new smart editing software that may not just be altering her new novel, but possibly her body and mind.
Read MoreBecky
Directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion
Written by Nick Morris, Ruckus Skye and Lane Skye
Starring Joel McHale, Kevin James and Lulu Wilson
Running time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
MPAA rating: R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, and language
by Samuel Antezana
A group of convicts led by a neo-nazi, Dominik (Kevin James), terrorize a young couple and their two kids after invading their lake home in search of a mysterious key. Little do they know that the eldest child, Becky (Lulu Wilson), has some serious built-up teen angst, fueled in-part by the recent death of her mother, causing her to fight back with the ferociousness of Kevin McCallister on steroids.
Read MoreThe Infiltrators
Written and directed by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera with help from Aldo Velasco
Starring Mohammad Abdollahi, Maynor Alvarado and Manuel Urzua
Running time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
by Samuel Antezana
A detainee at the Broward Detention Center for undocumented immigrants in Florida is taken into a metallic room with two guards and handcuffed to a chair. The guards get his wife on the phone and order him to tell her that he is doing fine. After hanging up, they threaten to deport her, which would leave their elementary-age child alone at home if he doesn’t board a plane to be deported. Don’t be fooled, this isn’t some gritty crime drama, it’s another day in the life of undocumented immigrants who are forced to endure the bullying and gang-like tactics of the ICE guards running these detention centers.
Read MoreColor Out of Space
Written by Richard Stanley and Scarlett Amaris
Directed by Richard Stanley
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Madeleine Arthur and Brendan Meyer
Running time: 1 hour and 51 minutes
by Samuel Antezana
Richard Stanley, genre filmmaker responsible for the creation of several cult classics like Hardware (1990) and Dust Devil (1992), makes a slight comeback with his Nic Cage-starring Lovecraftian horror, Color Out of Space. The movie is, for the most part, a ton of fun and Stanley is able to create a true sense of cosmic horror, but this does not fully cover up the fact that it is a bit drawn out and the further issue of overscoring in many scenes.
Read MoreThe Fare
Written by Brinna Kelly
Directed by D.C. Hamilton
Starring Gino Anthony Pesi, Brinna Kelly and Jason Stuart
Running time: 1 hour and 22 minutes
by Samuel Antezana
To most accurately describe The Fare is to say that it feels like an extended episode of The Twilight Zone with a dash of ancient Greek mythology. It also feels too long, even at an eighty-two minute running time.
Read MoreTake a Dive on the Deep Side
Four Obscure Horror Flicks for Mischief Night
by Samuel Antezana
Halloween is approaching, and for those of us who don’t go out to costume parties or trick r’ treating, the age-old issue of finding a horror movie that we haven’t already seen for the thousandth time is a real one. Fear not, because I’m here to tell you that there is life beyond the purgatory of Hocus Pocus and Beetlejuice (no disrespect towards my favorite of Tim Burton’s filmography). Here are some of my go-to horror recommendations for those that want to explore the stranger side of what the genre has to offer, but be warned, some of these are a bit extreme in content.
Read MoreFirst Love AKA ‘Battles [WITH] Honor and Humanity’
Directed by Takashi Miike
Written by Masa Nakamura
Starring Becky, Sakurako Konishi and Masataka Kubota
Running time: 1 hour and 48 minutes
by Samuel Antezana
Takashi Miike has 103 directorial credits, according to IMDB, and he continues to prove that he has not lost his knack for orchestrating chaotic action sequences and emotionally driven moments between characters with his latest adrenaline-fueled crime epic. First Love is a crime thriller that centers around the life of a boxer, Leo (Masataka Kubota), who doesn’t say much and doesn’t have anyone in his life. After a seemingly devastating blow to the head that ruins Leo’s winning streak in the ring and sends him to the hospital, a doctor discovers that he has a life-threatening brain tumor. On his way home from the hospital, he bumps into a prostitute, Monica (Sakurako Konishi), and saves her from a strange customer.
Read MoreGo Get Em Tigers: Tigers Are Not Afraid
Written and directed by Issa López
Starring Paola Lara, Juan Ramón López and Hanssel Casillas
Run time: 1 hour and 23 minutes
by Samuel Antezana
A child in an abandoned apartment complex dances under an umbrella soaked by water leaking through a hole in a cracked ceiling. Children daydream about a zoo as they stare at fish moving through the cloudy water within indents of a dirty floor. These are some of the beautifully realized moments of youth that writer/director Issa López begs us to cherish amidst cartel violence occurring in the ghostly cityscape of a poverty-ridden Mexican city in Tigers Are Not Afraid.
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