SXSW

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Review: ‘We Can Be Heroes’ Documentary About Kids and LARPing

I’m getting to that age where I look at the opportunities teenagers have today and think old person thoughts about what I missed out on as a kid simply because it didn’t exist yet. There’s an entire film program at a local high school where I live that invited me to be a guest judge for their annual film festival last

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‘Omni Loop’ Review: ‘Groundhog Day’ Sci-Fi Comedy Gets Weird

Remember when, in the depths of COVID lockdowns and isolation, we all became obsessed with a new Groundhog Day-style time loop movie called Palm Springs? It might seem like it happened two decades ago, but the movie, starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, appeared on Hulu in the summer of 2020, and we were all instantly talking about it. Omni Loop,

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‘We’re All Gonna Die’ Review: A Boy-Meets-Girl Sci-Fi Story Stretched Too Far

There’s a good short film hiding somewhere inside Matthew Arnold and Freddie Wong’s grief-tinged sci-fi feature film debut, We’re All Gonna Die. A story that could have been told beautifully in about 45 minutes, maybe even leaving you wanting a little more, is instead stretched to beyond its limits in the feature version, dragging on for almost two full hours.  [Warning:

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Review: ‘Grand Theft Hamlet’ Shown at SXSW 2024

If anyone ever complains to you that there’s nothing new under the sun in the world of cinema, please kindly point them to the documentary Grand Theft Hamlet. This experiment from British co-directors (and romantic partners) Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane covers the gamut of human emotion, from triumph to tragedy, in its 89 minutes of infectious fun. The story behind

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Review: HBO’s ‘Ren Faire’ A Docu-Fantasia Full of Power Struggles

“Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” That quote, coined in the late 19th century by English historian and politician Lord Acton, would serve as a perfect tagline for the upcoming three-part HBO docuseries Ren Faire by director Lance Oppenheim. The first hour of the limited series, what Oppenheim describes as a “docu-fantasia,” premiered at SXSW 2024 and will turn up on

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Review: Netflix’s ‘3 Body Problem’ Premiere Episode An Intriguing Start

When David Benioff and DB Weiss, the creators of Game of Thrones, inked a deal with Disney to helm a new Star Wars cycle before backing out in favor of a deal with Netflix, many people called out the pair for essentially losing interest in the series that made them storytelling superstars. Nevertheless, anyone who appreciated the deeply addictive Thrones had to

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Review: ‘Road House’ Remake Offers Humor and Ultra-Violence

It’s hard to imagine a more rollicking opening night film to kick off SXSW 2024 than director Doug Liman’s remake of the 1989 cheese-fest Road House, which starred the late, great 80s action icon Patrick Swayze.  The crowd enthusiastically hooted and hollered their way through Liman’s ultra-violent take on a Zen dispenser of pain with a troubled conscience. There was also

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SXSW 2024: My Must-Watch Screenings and Premieres

The Cosmic Circus is going to South by Southwest 2024! The massive conference, offers a little something for everyone, from complete festivals for film & TV and music, to interactive media exhibitions, panel discussions, and celebrity guests. Scheduled speakers at SXSW 2024 include, among many others, Selena Gomez, Samantha Bee, Nick Kroll, Conan O’Brien, and Kirsten Dunst. SXSW will be held

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