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Review: Hochet and Pastor Turn Character-Centric Found Footage On It’s Head In ‘Stéphane’

Cleverly dropping viewers into the film within the film, Timothée Hochet and Lucas Pastor’s debut feature Stéphane opens mid-scene as an up and coming director named Timothée (Bastien Garcia delivering a perfectly nuanced debut feature performance) shoots his latest action-packed, espionage short. He and his actors are interrupted by a peculiar man named Stéphane (Lucas Pastor himself, unrecognizable under makeup) […]

Review: Gavin Fields Displays A Clear Love For Classic Cinema In Directorial Debut ‘Brutal Season’

Right from the opening scene of Gavin Fields’ noir-laced period drama Brutal Season, viewers are let in on the fact that this entire production they’re about to witness is just that: an artificial production taking place on a sound stage. Talk about a way to ruin immersion, right? One might naturally have this thought, but it’d be incorrect. Fields allows […]

Popcorn Frights Review: John Ainslie Bites Into Love, Flesh & Peyote With ‘Do Not Disturb’

A superbly edited travel montage doubling as an opening credits sequence stylishly opens John Ainslie’s sophomore feature film Do Not Disturb, as viewers are effectively introduced to the South Florida setting and lead characters in the process. Chloe (Kimberly Laferriere of In The Dark, injecting a great deal of nuance into her show-stealing performance) and Jack (Rogan Christopher of 2018’s […]

Popcorn Frights Review: ‘Peppergrass’ Serves Up Undercooked Thrills With A Lack Of Depth

Rather strangely, truffles (the fungus, not the chocolate) have become hot fodder for independent films as of late due to the existence of some evidently rather violent and treacherous black market trading. Brought to the mainstream by Michael Sarnoski’s triumphant anti-revenge film Pig starring Nicolas Cage, Steven Garbas and Chantelle Han are now taking a shot at their own version […]

Popcorn Frights Review: Scott Slone’s Hybrid Found Footage ‘Malibu Horror Story’ Hides It’s Strengths Behind Tired Tropes

Scott Slone’s decade-plus-long endeavor Malibu Horror Story opens by revealing a team of young paranormal researchers in a remote Malibu Canyon cave who are recording the pilot episode of their web series. They’re preparing for the inaugural EVP session and in the process describe their roster of standard spirit hunting tech, including the spirit box they’ll use to communicate with […]

Popcorn Frights Review: Carter Smith’s ‘Swallowed’ Crosses The Border With A Belly Full Of Bugs

Cringe-inducing body horror delivered via a tightly-paced, timely thriller about a queer couple smuggling drugs across an international border surely isn’t something anyone had on their horror movie bingo cards, though it’s exactly what Carter Smith’s Swallowed shoots for and achieves with flying colors. The film opens with a hypnotic credits sequence intercut with the leads dancing in a club, […]

NBFF Review: James Morosini’s Weird Past Is A Hilariously Heartfelt Dramedy In ‘I Love My Dad’

After the words “The following actually happened. My dad asked me to tell you it didn’t.” flash across the screen viewers get their first glimpse of the lead as Chuck (Patton Oswalt of Young Adult and Ratatouille delivering another heartfelt and hilarious performance) finds a puppy in the park while on a walk with his son Franklin. He’s seen ripping […]

Let’s Make Popular Movies with Bryan Connolly & John Gholson

Recently I sat down with Bryan Connolly (director, co-producer, co-editor, “kinda writer”) and John Gholson (lead actor) of ‘Make Popular Movies’ – an improvisational comedy film about making movies that are a commercial success, as well as the many hilarious situations that arise in the process. ‘Make Popular Movies’ screened at the 2022 edition of the Chattanooga Film Festival where […]

CFF Review: Bryan Connolly’s Charming Indie Comedy ‘Make Popular Movies’ Punches Up at Hollywood

One of the most exciting things about independent movies is being able to bring to life a concept that big studios wouldn’t fund, such as Bryan Connolly’s scathingly accurate satire of the Hollywood film industry Make Popular Movies. After opening with an absurdist skit involving a disruptive gorilla in a theater, which turns out to be a shoot for a […]