As the 1960s were the era when racial equality finally rose to the forefront of the national consciousness and black leaders worked to ensure the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the 2010s are shaping up to be the era of gender equality. I don’t have enough background in sociology to intelligently assess why this decade in particular has become the battleground for women’s rights, though I speculate that it has something to do with collision of the 1990s’ hyper-awareness of social concern, the proliferation of shock humor in the 2000s, and the ease with which the World Wide Web has allowed casual misogyny to flourish amidst the festering canals that are revenge porn sites and particular internet subcultures. Turn on any news channel, hop over to any internet message boards, log onto any humor site, and it’s difficult not to come across an ongoing dialogue about women’s rights.
Read MoreJen and Sylvia Soska (2015)
The Soska Sisters are often called “The best female directors in horror,” but this is a terribly inaccurate description. While the 2000s saw multiple genre directors rediscovering the aesthetics of 1970s exploitation film-making, few—if any—have succeeded in capturing the true ambiance or tone of the era. Rather, most attempts to recreate vintage grindhouse in the modern day have instead been the director’s own reinterpretations of how they think such a movie should look or feel.
Read MoreAlan Bagh (2015)
As I was hosting a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic The Birds yesterday at Alamo Drafthouse, I could not help but think, “yeah, these birds are pretty creepy, but it’s not like they are able to poop acid or explode upon impact or anything.” Nope, for aviary abilities like those, one must seek out 2008’s Birdemic: Shock and Terror. Written and directed by James Nguyen, Birdemic is a nanar unlike any you've ever seen.
Read MoreRuss Bain (2015) #audio
By now I'm pretty sure everyone and their mother, including mine, has seen the new Power Rangers short. While most fans praised the alternate universe, there were a few folks that weren't too fond of Joseph Kahn's vision. I have a few minor gripes, but at the end of the day, I'm pleased to see someone finally take the bull by the horns and deliver the dark and gritty project everyone's been hankering for.
Read MoreAaron Moorhead and Justin Benson (2016)
Spring, the latest acquisition by Drafthouse Films explores the relationship between two people and how that relationship is affected when one of them turns out to be, quite literally, a monster. Part love story, part horror film, with a little bit of Italian travelogue thrown in to the mix with the fantastic visuals, it tells the age old story of boy meets girl, boy courts girl, and boy experiences the extreme possibility of being eaten by girl. We’ve all been there.
Read MoreBarbara Crampton (2014)
If you grew up on 1980s horror films, as I certainly did, then you are definitely familiar with the concept of the Scream Queen. When you saw that a film would be starring Linnea Quigley or Brinke Stevens or Michelle Bauer, you knew exactly what you were getting into and you knew that you would be having a blast. One of my personal favorites, and one that always appears on any ‘Greatest Scream Queen’ list would have to be Barbara Crampton.
Read MoreNicolas Cage (2014)
In this first installment of our series of chats with the cast and crew of Left Behind, we open with Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage about why he got involved in a project this divisive and how his own personal familial experiences help inform his choices as an actor.
Read MoreUwe Boll (2014)
Last year, right around this time, I had the pleasure to speak with Uwe Boll – easily one of the most divisive and often derided, but also hardest working, filmmakers out there right now - about the release of his film Assault on Wall Street. Now, as he gears up for the release of his latest film, a follow-up to 2011’s Rampage entitled Rampage 2: Capital Punishment, I sat down with the ever outspoken Boll again to discuss the new film, the oft-debated topic of gun control, and what the future holds for our country and his career.
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