EoM Senior Interviewer Thomas Manning recently spoke with director Sean Schiavolin and executive producer John Papola about their documentary short To My Father, the Tribeca International Film Festival selection which tells the beautiful story of Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur’s relationship with… Read More ›
film festival
16 films to check out during the Tribeca Film Festival 2023.
For the second time, Elements of Madness will officially be covering the Tribeca Film Festival and we thought we’d offer up our recommendations of what to check out during the fest or what to keep an eye out for in… Read More ›
Director Philip Barantini’s latest social-cultural dramatic thriller leaves us all “Accused.” [The Overlook Film Festival]
It used to be that when something horrible happened, citizenry had to wait for official word before they knew what was going on. This meant that their imaginations could run wild with speculation, their worst fears, their most depraved visualization,… Read More ›
“The Swordsman of All Swordsmen” promises a great time. [Old School Kung Fu Fest]
The Swordsman of All Swordsmen has filed his amicus brief on debt forgiveness, and he wrote it in blood. Kung Fu Legend Joseph Kuo’s early wuxia film is back and digitally restored for your viewing pleasure, and it is a… Read More ›
“The King of Wuxia:” Fall in love with the Twilight Samurai. [Old School Kung Fu Fest]
“He was a pure artist. The kind you meet once or twice in a lifetime.” King Hu, the subject of documentary The King of Wuxia, was once named among the five greatest filmmakers on Earth. Kicking off Metrograph’s 10th Old… Read More ›
There are riches to be found in the Emerald Triangle if you can survive “Trim Season.” [The Overlook Film Festival]
Horror stories are as much tales to titillate as they are to teach lessons. The fairytales of today — Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel — are far gentler than when they arose to popularity as… Read More ›
Alexis Jacknow’s “Clock” interrogates society’s preoccupation with procreation. [The Overlook Film Festival]
An off-shoot of 20th Century Studios, 20th Digital Studio works with Hulu to produce a series of horror-centric shorts for October that they call “Bite Size Halloween.” With submissions ranging in a variety of topics from several creators, only a… Read More ›
“Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism” will swallow your soul. [The Overlook Film Festival]
There is something that is truly horrifying about exorcisms and it usually is the horrors behind them. Something about being possessed by an entity is just something that makes my skin personally crawl, and seeing the more modern versions and… Read More ›
Léa Mysius’s fantasy thriller “The Five Devils (Les Cinq diables)” explores familial discord through an adolescent lens. [The Overlook Film Festival]
Who are you? This is a simple question that precedes an overly complex answer. You are not merely your thoughts, your feelings, your experiences, the sum total of everything you have encountered up until this moment, you are also everything… Read More ›
12 films to check out during The Overlook Film Festival 2023
For the first time, Elements of Madness will be covering The Overlook Film Festival and we thought we’d offer up our recommendations of what to check out during the fest or what to keep an eye out for in wider… Read More ›
“Last Stop Larrimah:” A cozy true crime doc for scandal junkies. [SXSW]
Last Stop Larrimah grabbed my attention right away from the description. It’s a stranger-than-fiction true crime documentary about the goings-on in Larrimah, a remote Australian town with only 10 residents. There were 11 until Paddy Moriarty went missing on December… Read More ›
“Citizen Sleuth” is an interesting exploration of the lines between true crime investigation and exploitation. [SXSW]
True Crime podcasts are a dicey guilty pleasure: on one hand, the reinterpretation/summary of gruesome and/or strange murders can be enticing to delve into; on the other hand, you risk crashing into the space of exploiting the tragic lives in… Read More ›
“With Love and a Major Organ”: A Rare Science Fiction Gem. [SXSW]
In the surreal and quirky With Love and a Major Organ, director Kim Albright deftly examines the difficulty of finding love and connection inside a world ruled by the algorithm. Based on a play by Julia Lederer, who also wrote… Read More ›
Shake hands with Anna Zlokovic’s feature debut “Appendage.” [SXSW]
As I get older, I am finding more things about my body that make me feel genuinely decrepit and gross. Whether it’s my newfound back pain, a new mole somewhere unexpected, or simply coming to the conclusion that my acne… Read More ›
Explore every nook of “299 Queen Street West” with Sean Menard’s new documentary. [SXSW]
If you grew up in Canada, specifically Toronto, the address 299 Queen Street West most likely held a special place in your heart as more likely than not you either fought your way through the pandemonium of crowds OR you… Read More ›
With a giggle and a wink, Tomas Gomez Bustillo’s “Chronicles of a Wandering Saint” asks audiences whether we notice that heaven is a place on earth. [SXSW]
How do you know if you’ve lived a good life? That’s a hard question to answer objectively because of the various cultural and social rules that come to define what “good” is. Do intentions really matter if someone gets hurt… Read More ›
Ally Pankiw’s “I Used to Be Funny” first feature is a provocative, intense, and deeply unsettling gut-punch. [SXSW]
In 2020, during the height of this pandemic were still finding ourselves in, I was sitting on my couch with my partner wondering what to do on the first night of TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) and Twitter was recommending… Read More ›
The waiting room from immigration hell awaits “Upon Entry.” [SXSW]
Nobody enjoys a waiting room. In a world accustomed to instant gratification, the experience feels intolerable, even if you have an appointment or assurances that your stay in that space is only temporary. Co-directors Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez… Read More ›
“Black Barbie: A Documentary” is a frustrating, fascinating documentary centered around the marginalized, underrepresented toy product. [SXSW]
Representation is a big pain point with many products in today’s consumer market, specifically those aimed towards kids. In walks Barbie, the iconic, independent, tall white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. The problem however lies with the young… Read More ›
“Pure O” stays raw in its showcasing of real-world impacts of mental health diagnoses. [SXSW]
Writing a screenplay is daunting in of itself; making it be semi-autobiographical is a whole other beast in of itself. Why make life easy though when you’ve decided to also direct your first feature while you’re the limelight of the… Read More ›