We continue our Fantastic Fest 2025 coverage with the latest movie from Yorgos Lanthimos. The filmmaker behind provocative and quirky stories, such as Poor Things and The Favourite, brings a wildly bizarre, dialogue-heavy film called Bugonia. The film made a surprise appearance as one of the secret screenings at the festival. For many attendees, it was a delightful surprise. Bugonia continues
Read MoreOur Fantastic Fest 2025 coverage continues with an unexpected gem. The movie If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You made its Texas premiere at the intimate Alamo Drafthouse venue in Austin, TX. The film grapples with an uncomfortable discussion about caregiving. And while there are many forms of care, this movie targets the stresses of being a single mother or a
Read MoreLast night, we attended the first screening of Black Phone 2 at Fantastic Fest 2025. The sequel sparked considerable interest with its Nightmare on Elm Street-inspired advertising. Showcasing a follow-up that would maneuver the marquee villain of the franchise into a dream-lurking killer in the vein of Freddy Krueger. And given the long, extensive absence of that franchise, using Black Phone
Read MoreOur Fantastic Fest 2025 coverage continues with Shelby Oaks. When it comes to the topic of film criticism, it’s hard to identify anyone who has made more of an influence on my career than Chris Stuckmann. He remains one of the rare YouTube movie critics who can articulate constructive feedback with class and sincerity for the art form. Being put in the
Read MorePrimate is the latest film from Johannes Roberts, whose last movie was Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. As the festival kicked off, Fantastic Fest audiences gathered in a theater with various small cameras on tripods pointing toward the crowd. It was clear that Paramount was preparing to record the reactions of the movie-going audience. Right away, there was a strong
Read MoreFantastic Fest 2025 kicks off today in Austin, Texas, with another year of potentially great offerings. The festival is jam-packed with several great titles and early premieres. For example, the highly anticipated sequel to Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone is expected to captivate the Austin community during the first weekend. The festival will also feature Chris Stuckmann’s long-awaited movie debut, Shelby
Read MoreAs part of Fantastic Fest, I had the special opportunity to preview the new Ukrainian science fiction film U Are the Universe and I absolutely loved it, quickly becoming one of my favorite movies of the year. After the film, I had the privilege to interview writer-director Pavlo Ostrikov and we had a great conversation. Watch below as we dive into the
Read MoreWe continue our Fantastic Fest coverage with two of the most heartfelt experiences of the entire festival. Both have beautiful messages and were crafted with such love and care. The first is Dreamworks Animation’s latest effort, The Wild Robot, which sees the filmmaker behind How to Train Your Dragon tackle a new experience about parenting and raising children through the eyes
Read MoreFantastic Fest 2024 is well underway and I had a chance to catch two more films screening there, Sean Baker’s Anora and Saturday Night, based on the beginnings of Saturday Night Live. Check out what I thought below! Anora: A slice of life film with a powerful message The Florida project is one of the best slice-of-life pictures in a long
Read MoreFantastic Fest 2024 kicked off with a bang yesterday. Many titles were at the festival, including The Rule of Jenny Pen, Never Let Go, and an acid trip of a concert with a weird fast-food-inspired band called Mac Sabbath. The festival also gave horror fans a debut for the latest sequel, Terrifier 3. We were able to catch all of these
Read MoreOne of the coolest compliments I ever heard the late, great Roger Ebert express about a movie was that, while you’re watching it, your mind keeps turning; the movie’s mysteries encourage you to explore your own imagination in regard to what you’re seeing on the screen. The new prehistoric horror film from Bleecker Street titled Out of Darkness is exactly the
Read MoreShe is Conann is not a Conan film. The characters are mostly here, including the addition of Red Sonja. But the acid dream of She is Conann has other ideas on its mind. In a weird, nightmarish feminine LGTBQ vision of the Barbarian. We see the iconic character through various stages of her life, bathing the brutal character’s journey in a tub of
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