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Out in Theaters: THE GALLOWS

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The horror film genre is so full of dumb teenagers making bad decisions one could all but populate a second planet (or country) with their low-grade stock. However The Gallows  — yet another entry into the extensive found footage feature collection– may contain the dumbest teens of any horror movie. They’re massively dumb, completely unlikable and thin as tracing paper. They may as well be wearing big, bright neon signs that read: “Here I am! Kill me now!” Although, the movie itself—written and directed by Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing—isn’t much smarter. Read More

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Documentary Dossier: AMY

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Early on in the documentary Amy, Nick Shymansky, friend and one-time manager of the titular soul singer, reflects upon a time before her fame when she was very nearly forced into rehab. There’s a sorrowful, what if tone to his recollection, as he imagines that just maybe if she had been treated for alcoholism before fame took hold of her life, things could have been different. Read More

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The Deepest Cuts: C.H.U.D. (1984)

The Deepest Cuts is a weekly invitation into some of the sleaziest, goriest, most under-explored corners of horror and cult film online. Every title will be streamable and totally NSFW. Whether it’s a 1960s grindhouse masterpiece, something schlocky from the 90s, or hardcore horror from around the world, these films are guaranteed to shock, disturb, tickle, or generally blow your mind.

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A gnarly green claw reaching up and pushing aside a manhole cover. A fluke-like, decomposing face glimpsed in the reflection of a quarantine mask. A flash of bared teeth – sharp, fang-like chompers. These are the Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers (C.H.U.D.), living beneath the streets of Manhattan, thriving in the dank waste of modern society. And as long as they’re staying deep underground, attacking only the city’s least-wanted, it’s of little concern to city officials; but as the film’s opening demonstrates, the C.H.U.D.s are hungry, and they’re coming for average, above-ground citizens – and their little dogs, too. And, they’re awesome.

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Director Face/Off: Wes Anderson Vs. Richard Linklater (Part Five – Their Other Stuff)

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Wes Anderson
and Richard Linklater –prominent writer/directors, Texas natives (both have roots in Houston) and coincidentally my two favorite humans. Their latest films were nominated for Best Motion Picture this year and, delving further, their careers have evolved at very similar rates, humbly paving the quaint dirt road that was the indie film scene in the ‘90s with
Slacker and Bottle Rocket. Onward, they transitioned to tastemakers, acquiring cult followings with Dazed and Confused and The Royal Tenenbaums. With each film Anderson and Linklater make, their toolbox gets a little bigger without compromising their eclectic and pridefully offbeat styles, one vastly different from the other, yet hauntingly similar. Which leads to the question, who does it better?

In past Face/Offs, we’ve pitted directors Anderson and Linklater against each other, comparing their very best films, their tried-and-true indie gems. This week we’re taking a slight departure from the directors’ most known work, to their little known work, or at least less known. In this final installment to pit Anderson against Linklater, we ask “Who does other stuff better?” Read More

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Netfix: 6 True Crime Movies to Watch Between TRUE DETECTIVE Episodes

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The great thing about Netflix is that it gives you a lot of TV and movie watching options. The bad thing about Netflix is that it gives you…a lot of TV and movie watching options. So many that it can be overwhelming. I’d guess around ninety percent of our time spent on Netflix is scrolling through thousands of movies and TV shows, before finally deciding on something three hours after you’ve first logged on. The aim of this column is to provide easily accessible Netflix suggestions based on a different focal point each week. Read More

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TRUE DETECTIVE Season 2 Episode 3 Review “Maybe Tomorrow”

The Conway Twitty impersonator lip syncing “The Rose” deified by the David Lynchian purple blue nebula, may superficially seem like a cheap dressed up redneck mind-fuck, Lone-Star laced with LSD, as season two intentionally commits a slow suicide into the oblivious junkyard of one-hit wonders; not to mention the trippy and densely codified dialog between Velcoro  (Colin Farrell) and his father. But it challenges the audience to lift its eyelids and contemplate a different and deeper sphere of influence. The ditty “The Rose” defines love as a flower, which grows with courage into spring with little sunlight through the bleak winter or, in other words, an endless trial–the song is about change. Read More

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Netfix: 7 Freedomlicious Action Movies to Watch on July 4th

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The great thing about Netflix is that it gives you a lot of TV and movie watching options. The bad thing about Netflix is that it gives you…a lot of TV and movie watching options. So many that it can be overwhelming. I’d guess around ninety percent of our time spent on Netflix is scrolling through thousands of movies and TV shows, before finally deciding on something three hours after you’ve first logged on. The aim of this column is to provide easily accessible Netflix suggestions based on a different focal point each week. Read More

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The Deepest Cuts: THE HONEYMOON KILLERS (1969)

The Deepest Cuts is a weekly invitation into some of the sleaziest, goriest, most under-explored corners of horror and cult film online. Every title will be streamable and totally NSFW. Whether it’s a 1960s grindhouse masterpiece, something schlocky from the 90s, or hardcore horror from around the world, these films are guaranteed to shock, disturb, tickle, or generally blow your mind.

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“The incredibly shocking drama you are about to see is perhaps the most bizarre episode in the annals of American crime. The unbelievable events depicted are based on newspaper accounts and court records. This is a true story.”

The solemnity of this opening title card suggests that the ensuing film will be serious – a true crime exposé, an episode of 60 Minutes. Do not be misled. Premiering in 1969, at the beginning of the New Hollywood era, in which independent, international, and schlock (from the likes of American International Pictures) films were emerging as a critical force in the world of cinema, The Honeymoon Killers is hardly a news-channel-appropriate treatment. Shot in the stark black and white of the era’s arthouse films and starring soon-to-be cult-movie stars Shirley Stoler and Tony Lo Bianco (in their first onscreen roles), it’s a compulsively watchable, disturbing combination of devastating violence and dark comedy.
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2015 Indie Summer Release Guide

While this summer has been thoroughly epic with the release of Jurassic World, Magic Mike: XXL and Mad Max: Fury Road, let us not forget our humble independent cinema either going straight to VOD or perhaps gracing arthouse cinemas this summer. It’s a strong season for independent film, with new releases from indie champs James Ponsoldt (The End of the Tour) and Noah Baumbach (Mistress America) as well as a few directing debuts by Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girland Sarah Adina Smith (Midnight Swim). Get your fill of indie cinema below with a gateway guide. Read More