“Burt” (Clu Gulager) is regaling new boy “Freddy” (Thom Matthews) with spooky tales in their medical supply warehouse and that takes them to the basement where the relics of the last zombie attack were stored in hermetically sealed metal jars. Rather stupidly, they open one and release not just it’s toxic gases but also one of it’s fairly peckish occupants! Fleeing for their very lives, they call in the boss “Frank” (James Karen) who in turn drags in the local funeral director “Ernie” (Don Calfa giving Christopher Lloyd a run for his money) to dispose of their recently acquired evidence. Snag?…
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Orson Welles anchors the narration here describing some of the most heinous imagery from human history. He commences with a potted history of the often enforced transient existence of the Jewish communities in Europe before bringing us to twentieth century Germany where millions are unemployed, the economy is still on it’s knees after the defeat in the Great War and homelessness is rife. Skilfully navigating this national maelstrom, Adolf Hitler arrives with a clear and concise message: it’s all the Jews’ fault. Following on from Nero’s proven philosophy that giving people someone to loathe is…
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I’ll admit to being a bit confused as to the purpose of this documentary. It follows a select tour by Ukrainian-born American violinist Isaac Stern to communist China where he meets some of their prodigiously talented young folk who are adept at just about everything from playing musical instruments to table tennis to gymnastics. The one thing he seems to want to identify and correct is a certain rigidity with their playing styles, but that often leads to what appears to present a rather condescending approach to their skills. Hence my confusion. Is he there to impart his “Western” techniques …
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If you’re up for a bit of borderline farcical pantomime that manages to merge elements of Laurel and Hardy with Ingmar Bergman by way of “Mary Poppins” then this is the film for you. It’s set amidst the sand dunes of the coast of La Manche where folks have begun to mysteriously disappear. Drafted in to investigate is the avuncular “Insp. Machin” (Didier Després) and his sidekick “Malfoy” (Cyril Rigaux). They quickly settle their investigation on a confluence of the sea and the Slack river, where a family of subsistence oyster farmers live under the gaze of the mansion of the wealthy “Van Peteg…
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"Edge of Sanity" often features scenes of sordid debauchery - Jekyll's amoral sexual attitudes stem from his childhood experiences, according to this film - which frequently run the risk of going too far in a film that quite frankly uses the extraordinarily imaginative and highly influencial central idea from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel as nothing more than a loosely presented excuse for all the sexual shenanigans that are going on. The results are of extremely limited consequence and it is obvious the film makers didn't really have much money to work with because Jekyll simply resembles Ig…
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**_Bleak pseudo-documentary about a hooker and a thrash band_**
Don’t expect anything like "Trick or Treat,” “Black Roses,” “Rocktober Blood” or "Shock 'Em Dead.” Made in 2013, this is basically a meshing of “Curse of the Blair Witch” (the fake documentary that set-up “The Blair Witch Project”) and “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2.” If you favor those, you’ll probably appreciate this.
Once adjusting to the unique presentation, I found myself getting to know Julia and her sad, self-inflicted plight (played by Daphnee Hanrahan as the interviewee and Keltie Squires in the ‘reenactmen…
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This starts off with the typical family formula where dad (Tony Hale) is trying to raise his two young children “Amber” (Bianca Belle) and brother “Jack” (Kue Lawrence) following the death of their mother. He’s engaged the help of his sister “Liz” (D’Arcy Carden) to sell their home and so tensions are bubbling under when “Amber” is found to have drawn something a little on the scary side at school. Fortunately, her teacher reckons it is way better to sketch these things than actually implement her imagination and so gives her a notebook in which she secretly characterises much of her feelings …
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“Falcon” is a wily little raccoon that serves a community of stray animals a bit like Robin Hood. He scavenges what he can and distributes it to the hungry, all of whom are eagerly awaiting his grand plan to provide them with a sumptuous Christmas lunch. For that, he is working with badger “Hans” on plans to relieve an high-speed train of most of the contents of it’s buffet car! Having nimbly tapped into it’s security systems, though, “Falcon” discovers that he has been betrayed and that it is going to be down to him, a collection of largely pampered pets and a police dog “Rex” to put things r…
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The curmudgeonly “Min” (Marie Dressler) owns a rundown hotel slap bang in the middle of the docks, where she has raised the foundling “Nancy” (Dorothy Jordan) with the help of the mischievous “Bill” (Wallace Beery). The thing is, now that “Nancy” is nearing her adulthood she is attracting the attention of some of the sailors - and that’s just the start of her adopted mother’s issues. The reappearance of the dissolute “Bella” (Marjorie Rambeau) also sets some cats amongst the pigeons as she happens to be the real mother of the girl and is determined to leave with something: either her child or …
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FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/is-this-thing-on-review/
"Is This Thing On? is the unexpected festival gem that demonstrates Bradley Cooper's masterful control over the form and heart of the story.
It's a film that surprises with its authenticity, balancing raw humor with sincere pain thanks to the brilliant performances of Will Arnett and Laura Dern. Visually enriched by the intimate cinematography of Matthew Libatique, the movie teaches us that art can be our most honest cry.
A warm, essential reminder that it's never too late to grab the microphone and start telli…
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