Marina Antunes [Celluloid 10.06.20] action adventure

Writer/director Adam Egypt Mortimer really impressed me with last year's Daniel Isn't Real which provided an interesting new take on a familiar story and delivered it with an assurance of a seasoned filmmaker. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Film Festival 10.02.20]

It's been an interesting year for festivals and while things were shaky in the early part of the year, the fall festival run has actually been pretty great with fairly wide access to Fantasia, TIFF, FantasticFest and now, perhaps the most exciting of them all, for genre fans at least, is Nightstream. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Interviews 10.02.20] scifi adventure

Writer/director Seth Larney has always wanted to make films and he got his start deep in production, working on everything from visual effects to coordinator on projects as diverse as The Matrix Reloaded and The Lego Movie. His feature film debut came a few years ago when he directed Tombiruo but his sophomore effort is a passion project 15 years in the making. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 10.02.20] horror

Writer/director Bryan Bertino made a huge splash in horror circles with his debut feature The Strangers and while he's made a couple of solid films since that debut in 2008, he's been calculated about his films and in the decade since his debut has only made four films. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 10.02.20] thriller crime

You just know that when Michael Shannon is running any sort of criminal enterprise, things are going to end badly. [Continue reading (4 comments)]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 10.02.20] horror comedy

I know Sion Sono has already made a movie about hair extensions that kill but Justin Simien's Bad Hair is such the perfect mix of horror and social commentary that it could well overshadow Sono's crazy cult-classic. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Film Festival 09.28.20] drama


Nomadland stars Frances McDormand as Fern, a woman who, like many nomads, takes up van living in part out of necessity and in part out of choice, though in Fern's case, it's mostly out of necessity. Once upon a time she was happily married, working in a factory and living contently in a factory home on the outskirts of the factory town but with her husband gone, the... [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Film Festival 09.26.20] horror

Left to her own devices, Vancouver-based writer/director Karen Lam would have had a big screening with crew and friends to celebrate the completion of her latest film The Curse of Willow Song. While the pandemic put a kibosh on those plans, Lam still managed to celebrate the milestone with a private drive-in screening and a world premiere at the City's largest film fe... [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Film Festival 09.25.20] thriller drama

The writing and directing duo of Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer have been working together for a number of years and they're not strangers to difficult subject matter but their feature film debut is a step up in nearly every respect. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.24.20] drama

Loretta Todd has been making documentaries for three decades but in 2020, she's opening another chapter in her filmmaking career: feature film director. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.19.20] drama romance documentary arthouse

Apples [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.18.20] documentary


And so Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott are back with The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel which, yet again, lays out the realities of the world with a bleak frankness that is eye opening and utterly depressing. [Continue reading (1 comment)]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.18.20] thriller drama dystopic


It begins at a wedding. The immaculate, well appointed house and the people milling in it are clearly wealthy. They're cordial but not kind to the staff, most of whom have obviously been with the family for many years. When Rolando (Eligio Melendez), a former employee, comes to the door in search of urgent help for his ailing wife, the family matriarch and her son t... [Continue reading (1 comment)]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.18.20] documentary


This sometimes bizzare thriller unpacks the drama of Matt DeHart, a former intelligence analyst for the US Air National Guard who in 2010, found himself in the middle of what he claims, was a false investigation into child pornography charges. DeHart was convinced that the investigation was a ruse to take him into custody on charges of national security for his invo... [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.18.20] horror

When writer/director/producer Will Wernick's sophomore effort Escape Room was released in 2017, the movie did well enough internationally that Wernick found himself at the helm of a sequel. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Film Festival 09.16.20] drama


Jessica Barden, best known for her role in "The End of the F***ing World," stars as Ruth, a high school student who spends a large part of her day scavenging for scrap metal with her brother Blaze (Gus Halper). Their mother is in jail, a victim of opioid addiction, and the siblings have been doing what they can to stay afloat and even then, they're living well below... [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.11.20] scifi comedy

Typical. The end of the world comes when you least expect it. [Continue reading (1 comment)]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.09.20] scifi

For his sophomore effort, writer/director Seth Larney is turning his attention to a personal story though one that has all the trappings of science fiction. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.09.20] scifi

The anticipation for Denis Villeneuve's Dune has been palpable since it was first announced that the director would be taking on yet another iconic science-fiction property and now, after casting announcements, leaked images, real images and endless speculation later, we have our first real look at Villeneuve's vision of Frank Herbert's epic tale. [Continue reading (2 comments)]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.08.20]

In our final batch of Fantasia Film Festival coverage, we have an assortment of titles including a pair of fascinating sci-fi movies, a pair of documentaries and a tale of social media obsession taken too far. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.05.20] scifi drama dystopic

2048. We've destroyed the world to the point that the ozone layer is so depleted that we can't be out in the daytime for fear of death and so people have turned to technology in order to live, retreating into the safety of a virtual existence for everything from work to socializing. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.04.20] zombies horror action

In 2013, writer/director Jeff Barnaby emerged as a force to be reckoned with, an aboriginal artist with a unique, developed vision and fully primed to be the next big thing. And then the years passed. [Continue reading]

David House [Film Festival 09.04.20]


Stay tuned for more coverage to come! [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 09.04.20] horror thriller

Writer/director Julius Berg's feature film debut is an unexpectedly fun thriller that bucks expectations. [Continue reading]

David House [Celluloid 09.02.20]

The Fantasia International Film Festival's 2020 virtual edition has proven to be a great success. This year's festival selections have been fantastic and the Canada-wide streaming option has meant that this year's festival has reached an even wider audience. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Cathode Ray Mission 08.18.20] horror documentary

Mitch Horowitz has spent the majority of his life fascinated and entrenched in the occult. His fascination started to take shape in his youth and over the years, he has become an expert in alternative spirituality, mysticism, and the occult but rather than taking on a sensationalist approach, Horowitz has provided levity and scholarly eye to the subject. He's a well-r... [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 08.17.20] drama crime

Writer/director Nick Rowland's feature film debut The Shadow of Violence is a brilliant calling card. Written by Rowland's frequent collaborator Joe Murtagh, the film stars Cosmo Jarvis as Arm, a former fighter-turned-enforcer for the drug-dealing Denvers family led by Paudi (Ned Dennehy). Arm and Dympna, another stand out performance from Barry Keoghan, spend most of... [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Cathode Ray Mission 08.17.20] horror documentary

Writer/director Jay Cheel's love for the strange has been on display in pretty much all of his work, including his two feature documentaries Beauty Day and How to Build a Time Machine. And so his venture into TV feels like it was perfectly suited for the director, especially on the heels of his short film Twisted in which he explored a bizarre 1996 event in which a dr... [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 08.15.20] fantasy

The trailer for Chino Moya's Undergods is brilliant. It doesn't give anything away but builds enough intrigue and mystery to capture attention. [Continue reading]

Marina Antunes [Celluloid 08.13.20] horror comedy

While it originally saw a festival run in three years ago, Alice Lowe's critically acclaimed Prevenge (review) is now getting a home video release. [Continue reading]