YELENA NUSAMOVITCH GOES “OFFSKI”
CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2004 INTERVIEW! Yelena Nusamovitch’s first feature film, “Offski”, is self-described as a “Semi-autobiographical unimpressionistic demise-en-scene Russki kink-n-kill-filled chilling, thrilling educational, streetwalker vodkatalker digital video kaleidoscope travelogue of the seedy deathdreamy, underbelly of the brave new post-Glasnost Russian world”…
Posted on August 31, 2004 by Ellen Marshall
MAKING A SEQUEL TO A CLASSIC: BE VERY AFRAID
Haunted But Undaunted The story of “Part 4” has the most modest of starting points, on the shelf in the closet of underwhelming scripts at Morgan Creek Productions. It was there while visiting the Creek offices that novelist Caleb Carr found a dismissed script for a new “Exorcist” attempt, a prequel written by William Wisher, [...]
Posted on August 31, 2004 by Brad Slager
GET OUTFEST ON WEDNESDAYS
The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre and Outfest collaborate to present gay and lesbian programming on Wednesdays at the Egyptian in Los Angeles. Outfest Wednesdays is the only gay and lesbian-themed weekly screening series in the country. Founded in 1999, the programming features favorites from past festivals, Hollywood revivals, filmmaker retrospectives and sneak preview/word [...]
Posted on August 31, 2004 by Film Threat Staff
OFF THE CUFF: OR HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION
A few months ago, I had a brilliant idea. In August, there was going to be a great, little film fest happening in my backyard…. The Chicago Underground Film Festival … And I intended to be there. Not only did I intend to be there, but I would be covering it for Film Threat, AND, with a partner in crime… Graham Rae, from Falkirk, Scotland…
Posted on August 31, 2004 by Ellen Marshall
I WAS BORN BUT…
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  Year Released: 2003 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 90 minutes |
CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2004 REVIEW! I hafta admit, I was quite looking forward to this film, even though the CUFF program called it “…an experimental essay exploring the abstract notion of assimilation and the inherent contradictions of those born into the ‘melting pot’ culture of America.”
Posted on August 31, 2004 by Graham Rae
PEEP “TV” SHOW
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  Year Released: 2003 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 98 minutes |
CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2004 REVIEW! Image-saturated and completely cut off from any meaningful human contact, these unknowing-human-channel-hoppers boredly observe couples making love or fighting or suffocating cats in plastic bags, and none of it means a damned thing to them…
Posted on August 31, 2004 by Graham Rae
SHOWER SINGER
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  Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 18 minutes |
Brandon can only whip out his imaginary microphone and serenade the non-existent screaming fans when he’s in the shower…
Posted on August 31, 2004 by Stina Chyn
MAIN PREM KI DIWANI HOON (I WILL LOVE HIM TIL THE END OF TIME)
In a rather strange move, the one musical number in which Roshan is given the most to do has since been cut from the film and appears on the DVD only as a separate special feature…
Posted on August 31, 2004 by Michael Dequina
THE VAN NUYS PROJECT
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  Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 12 minutes |
“The Van Nuys Project” goes to show that you don’t necessarily need a brain bubbling original idea to make a film…
Posted on August 31, 2004 by Eric Campos
INTRODUCING THE SUPER BROOKENS BROTHERS
Did you have any problems shooting on the streets of Chicago with a guy running around in an ape suit? Matt: The average Chicago citizen was pretty much unfazed by our circus of a cameraman being chased by a punk rocker being chased by a bigfoot, being chased by a nerd. It was Christmas season, [...]
Posted on August 30, 2004 by Eric Campos
INTRODUCING THE SUPER BROOKENS BROTHERS
Bleach drinking hillbillies, a punk rock hating man-ape and more singing mechanical fish than has ever before been captured on video, the Brookens Brothers make films for glue sniffers and the criminally deranged…
Posted on August 30, 2004 by Eric Campos
MAKING A SEQUEL TO A CLASSIC: BE VERY AFRAID
Given the supernatural subject matter in the “Exorcist” series it may seem natural to allude to any problems the production encounters as being the result of “a curse”. However, looking over the course of this film’s creation it appears like a convenient means of explaining away numerous missteps…
Posted on August 30, 2004 by Brad Slager
TRIBUTE TO REN & STIMPY CREATOR AT THE EGYPTIAN
The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles presents WHAT MAKES A CARTOON CARTOONY: AN IN-PERSON TRIBUTE TO JOHN KRICFALUSI, September 7 – 8, a two night event with the creator of the landmark 1991 TV series, “Ren & Stimpy.” The first night is a retrospective of animator Kricfalusi’s work, including an uncensored [...]
Posted on August 30, 2004 by Film Threat Staff
FEST PEST CONTROL
As any idiot knows, free speech comes at a price. The price I paid for my past views on the Edinburgh International Film Festival on this very site was being unceremoniously marched from their premises on Friday, August 27th 2004…
Posted on August 30, 2004 by Graham Rae
ANACONDAS: THE HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID
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  Year Released: 2004 MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 93 minutes |
IN THEATERS! how seriously are we supposed to take a movie that gives us 50’ anacondas that have somehow magically traveled from their native South America, move at the speed of sound and, if I understood Crocodile Hunter Bill right, are attracted to the female of their cold-blooded species because she’s “in heat.” Who knew anacondas had an estrus cycle?
Posted on August 29, 2004 by Pete Vonder Haar