HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 15TH ANNUAL PHOENIX FILM FESTIVAL – PART 1
According to many attending the festival, filmmakers and moviegoers alike, this was one of the best years yet.
Articles
DON’T GO OUT LIKE THAT
I’m of the opinion that the least effective way to send people out of your film is not allowing the music that carried the film to finish the job.
SO YOU WANT TO IMPROVE OSCAR NIGHT…
This is a refrain heard every year, it seems, just after The Academy Awards broadcast. People sharpen their swords to slice through everything that was wrong with that year’s ceremony.
2015 OSCAR TELECAST RECAP
After watching the Oscar telecast for so many years, one cannot help but wonder this year, what the hell happened?
BIRDMAN, OR LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT ENDING
SPOILERS AHEAD: If you have not seen “Birdman”, and do not wish the ending to be ruined, then do not keep reading (that being said, most people didn’t understand the ending, so even if you read this, it’s probably not that big of a deal).
THE TOP TEN FILMS OF 2014…A SECOND (AND THIRD) OPINION
It’s Oscar Sunday, and with The Oscar Rant out there, more opinions have popped up about the ten best films of 2014.
OSCAR RANT 2015
Paul Preston’s annual, exhaustive, no-stone-left-unturned once over of all the nominees. All of them.
WHAT IS IT WITH THE FOURTH ONE?
Sometimes a story will continue on into a fourth installment (and beyond). That’s where it gets interesting.
WORTH REVIVING – “THE GREAT RACE”
May I present a film near and dear to my childhood heart that still holds up…
THE GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME, PART THREE – SUPERHERO FILMS
The title says it all. Part three of The Movie Guys “Best of All Time” series looks at the greatest superhero films per year for the last forty or so years.
INDIE REPORT – IRA AND ALLISON’S MURDER MYSTERY
This independent film utilizes an incredible amount of ingenuity and the outcome is a whirling ride in the vein of a live murder mystery stage show.
INDIE REPORT – DEVIL’S MILE
“Devil’s Mile” is inventive, well-crafted and innovative (unlike the idiots who are running the PC game platform, Steam (by the Valve Corporation)).
WORTH REVIVING – “THE NINTH CONFIGURATION”
“The Ninth Configuration” suffered the fate of being too high-minded for its time. But for those deep thinkers who were open to its philosophical and metaphysical musings and its search for a higher being, the pay off was a remarkable experience.
I MISS GENE HACKMAN
Gene Hackman had an extraordinary ability to be in a wide variety of films and be authentic in each of them. I ALWAYS bought him. And it seems he’s going to stay retired…
INDIE REPORT – HELLO FOREVER
“Hello Forever” is an ambitious and subtle undertaking by filmmaker Peter R. Kirk.
MAY THE FORCE OF 3D BE AVOIDED
Studios and theater chains are in cahoots to wrangle the public into paying more and practically forcing them to accept 3D.
HORROR’S THREAT
Movie Guy Ray Schillaci looks at the current state of horror films – is creativity still alive? Can they be profitable? These questions and more get answered with commentary by director Mike Flanagan (“Oculus”), director Marcus Nispel (“Friday the 13th” (2009)) and more.
REPORTING FROM THE FLOOR OF COMIC-CON 2014
Paul Preston & Justin Bowler recall their exploits from Comic-Con in San Diego, a magical land where, for everything you plan, there are ten things that are equally awesome that you are missing out on.
THE GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME, PART TWO – HORROR
The title says it all. Part two of The Movie Guys “Best of All Time” series looks at the greatest horror movies per year for the last forty or so years.
WORTH REVIVING – “BECKET”
Movie Guy Ray Schillaci fires up his new column, “Worth Reviving”, which looks at films that get lost in the shuffle of over-hyped Hollywood offerings. This edition gives the once-over to the 12-Oscar-nominated “Becket”, with Peter O’Toole & Richard Burton.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
I’m never one to seek out the work of children in movies. But something’s happened in the last five years or so…there’s a consistency in the air that has me hopeful.
THE GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME, PART ONE – COMEDIES
The title says it all. Part one of The Movie Guys “Best of All Time” series looks at the greatest comedy films per year for the last forty or so years.
THEATER REVIEW – TASTE
Going in, I was entertained with the fact that one of my favorite cult horror film directors, Stuart Gordon (“Re-Animator,” “From Beyond”) had directed a play involving two men who agree on a very strange arrangement. One will kill, cook and eat the other.
SHORT FILM SHOWCASE – HORROR
Justin Bowler reviews two indie horror shorts screened at The Phoenix Film Festival’s International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival
WAY TO WRAP THINGS UP
The end of a movie is a coveted experience.
REPORTING FROM THE PHOENIX FILM FESTIVAL
The Phoenix Film Festival is well on its way to becoming one of the more important film festivals in the world.
INDIE REPORT – CROSSLAND
Indie films tend to fall into one category: Indie Films. “Crossland” is the well-earned exception. Not just an indie film, but a FOREIGN-HORROR-INDIE film.
HAROLD RAMIS PICTICLE TRIBUTE
How much was Harold Ramis loved?
Quickly after his death, across the internet, memes and fan art paid tribute. Here are some of the best.
OSCAR RANT 2014
Movie Guy Paul Preston’s annual, over-thorough once-over of all the categories – who will win, who should win, and the Top 10 Films of 2013
INDIE REPORT – BESTIES
I love indie films because they tackle subject matter in a new and refreshing perspective, since they are not victims to the constraints of Hollywood box-heads (You know who you are, Box-heads).
“SAVING MR. BANKS” & THE PROBLEM WITH BIOPICS
I doubt any conscious film viewer would deem it wise to take any one biopic as authority on a certain subject. Any individual movie cannot be an authority over a whole, complicated life.
I GET IT…YOU’RE AN ACTOR
It’s award season again. Actors…please don’t embarrass me.
AN ABSOLUTELY TRUE, 100% REAL, DEFINITELY PLAUSIBLE, COMPLETELY FABRICATED MEETING WITH… ADAM SANDLER
Movie Guy Matteo Molinari takes us behind the scenes of an Adam Sandler script-generating session at the Happy Madison offices.
BRUCE DERN’S SILENT RUN
In an alternate reality, Jack Nicholson never replaced Bruce Dern as stoned convict/lawyer George Hanson in “Easy Rider” and Dern went on to have the superstar career.
AN OCEAN OF TALENT
Movie Guy Paul Preston breaks down the careers of George Clooney, Matt Damon and Brad PItt, the best Hollywood has to offer in leading men.
INDIE REPORT – FAVOR
Paul Preston reviews the new film from Paul Osborne, “Favor”, in all its sick, twisted glory.
SEQUELS…IN…SPACE!!!! (ACE!….ace!…..ace!)
Matteo Molinari looks at all those films who thought it might be the next logical step to take their film franchises into outer space. He does this research so you don’t have to. You’re welcome.
REPORTING FROM THE FLOOR OF COMIC-CON 2013
Justin Bowler and Paul Preston bring you The Movie Guys’ annual sights and sounds report from the San Diego Comic-Con, the world’s biggest ball of awesome.
AN ABSOLUTELY TRUE, 100% REAL, DEFINITELY PLAUSIBLE, COMPLETELY FABRICATED MEETING WITH… JOHNNY DEPP
The title says it all.
WHAT THE FLIX?
When you pick a movie on Netflix to watch, Netflix will recommend other films and TV shows to view. Sadly, this recommendation process is run by monkeys. But the result is Matteo sharing some of the looniest recommendations with you.