Film Festivals

Our film festival coverage over the years has included Sundance, Fantasia Fest, Fantastic Fest, TIFF and more! Find many movie reviews and insights into visiting these festivals below!

 

Your Lucky Day/What You Wish For Banner
Film FestivalsMovie ReviewsReviews

Fantastic Fest 2023 Reviews: ‘What You Wish For’ and ‘Your Lucky Day’

John Dotson ,  5 min read

Despite being different film subgenres, Your Lucky Day and What You Wish For are surprisingly similar. The two movies boast fantastic performers from Angus Cloud and Nick Stahl. Although Angus Cloud has passed away, his performance in the film is still a captivating force. Stahl, like Cloud, has also faced struggles, but his performance in What You Wish For may mark the beginning of a comeback for the underappreciated actor. Both

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Film FestivalsMovie Reviews

Fantastic Fest 2023: ‘Dream Scenario’ Review

John Dotson ,  ,  5 min read

In the present era, popularity has taken a unique shape. Platforms like TikTok have enabled short and meaningless videos to thrust someone into unexpected stardom. Dream Scenario, starring Nicolas Cage, examines the contemporary idea of fame and how it can be a delicate issue in the public eye, even for something trivial. The movie cleverly utilizes satire to communicate its message,

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The creator
Film FestivalsMovie ReviewsReviews

‘The Creator’ Review: A Perfect Audio-visual Experience With An Imperfect Story

James Preston Poole ,  ,  8 min read

Approaching a Fall/Winter movie season full of promising films, one has stuck out a surprising outlier: Gareth Edwards’ The Creator. The filmmaker burst onto the scene with his debut Monsters, displaying comfortability in playing with human perspective against large-scale threats. He then parlayed that into 2014’s excellent Godzilla, which then catapulted him into 2016’s divisive Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

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Film FestivalsMovie ReviewsReviews

Fantastic Fest 2023: ‘The Toxic Avenger’ and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’

John Dotson ,  ,  ,  6 min read

It’s been an eventful weekend here at Fantastic Fest 2023, with lots of great films for fans of genre pieces. The festival started with a massive swing of a movie on the first night. Fans of the original Toxic Avenger are well aware of how nutso the original film is in execution. The remake is not much different and might be the

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Film FestivalsWhat to Expect

Fantastic Fest 2023: 6 Films/TV Shows We Are Excited to See

John Dotson ,  ,  ,  ,  6 min read

The Cosmic Circus is happy to announce we will be in attendance at this year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. Last year, Fantastic Fest brought a lot of surprise offerings that went on to be massive hits and even Oscar contenders. Smile opened the festivities in 2022 and became an enormous success. The Banshees of Inisherin made the rounds during Oscar

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Film FestivalsInterviews

Interview: Lexi Underwood from ‘Cruel Summer’

Ayla Ruby ,  ,  ,  6 min read

Lexi Underwood captivates as Isabella LaRue in the second season of the hit Freeform show Cruel Summer. The actress sat down for a roundtable interview with us at ATX TV Festival in Austin to discuss the show, her friendships with the cast, and what drew her to the role. Underwood’s enthusiasm for the show and her character is clear, and it was

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Justified City Primeval
Film FestivalsReviewsTV & Streaming Series Reviews

Review: ‘Justified: City Primeval’ Recaptures the Magic

Ayla Ruby ,  ,  ,  4 min read

I had the opportunity to attend the world premiere of Justified: City Primeval in Austin at ATX TV Festival to a packed theater in Texas that included fans, cast, and filmmakers. Raylan Givens has finally returned to the screen. It was an unforgettable experience to share this beloved series with so many other fans. The energy in the theater was electric, and it

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Film FestivalsInterviews

Interview: Griffin Gluck from ‘Cruel Summer’ talks Luke and more

Ayla Ruby ,  ,  ,  8 min read

Griffin Gluck is bringing his A-game to the second season of Cruel Summer. Gluck, who stars as Luke in the hit Freeform series, sat down with us at ATX TV Festival in Austin to chat about the show.  At our roundtable interview, we talked about prepping getting into the late 90s mindset, on what challenged him as an actor, on bonding with the

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Film FestivalsInterviews

Interview: Sadie Stanley from ‘Cruel Summer’

Ayla Ruby ,  ,  ,  9 min read

Sadie Stanley is taking Cruel Summer up a notch. The actress, who plays Megan in the Freeform series, recently sat down with us at ATX TV Festival in Austin to chat about the anthology show’s second season. In our roundtable interview, Stanley opened up about the challenges of acting in multiple timelines, preparing for a “period” role in the Y2K era, and how she

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