Anthony Ray Bench

Film Threat • 20th March 2020

Insert Coin

SXSW 2020 FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW! In the late 1980s and early ’90s, coin-operated arcade machines became a billion-dollar industry. You couldn’t go to a laundry mat or a pizza place without seeing an arcade cabinet, and there was a pretty good chance at least one of those cabinets was going to be a Midway game. Director Joshua Tsui’s Insert Coin is a love letter to one of the biggest and most successful arcade publishers and game developer companies of that period. The subject is interesting, and

Film Threat • 29th February 2020

The Invisible Man

Universal Studios has a dismal track record of trying to update its classic stable of iconic monsters. The Wolfman remake from 2010 was critically lauded, Dracula Untold attempted to kickstart a shared universe, and it fell flat on its fanged face. Most recently, 2018’s The Mummy reboot starring Tom Cruise was a boring action flick that had no scares, no heart, and failed so severely it killed the already planned spinoffs and sequels.

Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man remake acts as a course c

Film Threat • 26th January 2020

Maxima

SLAMDANCE 2020 FILM REVIEW! Máxima Acuña is the owner of a beautiful stretch of land that a big-time gold mining company is trying to take from her by force and dirty intimidation tactics. With the help and support of her family, her fellow Peruvian people, and her stalwart lawyer, Mirtha Vasquez, Máxima fights for nature, for self-preservation, and for the fellow downtrodden that are being poisoned and exiled by the mining corporation monsters.

A successful documentary has to be captivating, e

Film Threat • 9th January 2020

The Wrong Todd

When the lovingly schlubby Todd is attacked by an alternate reality doppelgänger and sent to a tragic alternate universe, Todd must find a way to return to his reality. The concept is a familiar one, we’ve got parallel universe doubles and desperate attempts at changing fate, but most of the films dealing with these ideas have millions of dollars behind them. Without the glitz, the glamor, and the high production value The Wrong Todd still manages to outshine most of its big-budget colleagues wi

Film Threat • 8th January 2020

Unseen

Teaching a very invaluable lesson about the pratfalls of social media, Unseen is an absolute must-see short film every parent should show their children. Written and directed by Elizabeth Blake-Thomas, the film tells the story of Carly (played by Rhyon Nicole Brown), a teenager living in a small mountain town yearning for fame and fortune. A shady modeling agency reaches out to Carly with an opportunity to make some fast cash. These sorts of scams are irritatingly common, and what happens next i

Film Threat • 5th January 2020

The Garden Left Behind

Directed and co-written by Flavio Alves, The Garden Left Behind is a poignant and topical story that expertly showcases its characters and makes you relate with them on very basic, yet imperative levels. The film tells a heartbreakingly authentic story about a trans woman living in New York as she navigates her way through love, family, activism, xenophobia, and transphobia. Carlie Guevara crushes it as the main character, Tina, playing her as a magnetically complex, warm, and realistically flaw

Film Threat • 17th December 2019

Jessie's Super Normal Regular Average Day

Telepathic snails, a non-sequitur rap music video, couch driving, magical food items, and a rockabilly evangelical reverend punch your face hard in Jessie’s Super Normal Regular Average Day. Written and directed by Brian K. Williams, this weird-a*s flick takes its place in the “What the hell did I just watch?” genre. If you want coherency and a strong story, you’ll probably want to skip on this one; it has a unique style but not a lot of nutritional substance. There’s a griminess to the characte

Film Threat • 8th November 2019

Doctor Sleep

The Shining is pretty high up on the list of iconic movies that don’t need a sequel, remake, or reboot. Doctor Sleep is a movie literally no one asked for, but I’m really surprised to say that I’m damned happy it exists. Part-sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic, part-sequel to Stephen King’s beloved tome, Doctor Sleep is a weird but satisfying mixture. There are musical cues and nods and references to the original film, but all of the few returning characters are played by different actor

Film Threat • 15th August 2019

Blinded by the Light

Director Gurinder Chadha’s latest film Blinded by the Light is a pleasing movie featuring some outstanding acting and plenty of cleverly executed humor, but it feels too familiar for its own good. Much like her other well-received film, Bend it Like Beckham, the story follows a teenager obsessed with something that seemingly flies in the face of his familial traditions. In Bend it Like Beckham, it was obviously soccer (or football outside of the US), and in this film, it just so happens to be th

Film Threat • 5th February 2019

The Souvenir

I’ve never had an experience quite like the one I had when I watched writer and director Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir. I watched the film with an audience who scoffed, checked their Apple Watches constantly during its sizeable runtime, whispered negative sentiments, and said phrases like “Out of all of the films that could have been made, why did it have to be this one?”

I thought we were all in agreement with this movie, and then I go online to find out that critics are heralding it as being a b

Film Threat • 3rd February 2019

Koko-di Koko-da

Directed by Johannes Nyholm, Koko-di Koko-da is one of those movies with a ton of potential, but it’s ultimately mired down by repetition and a story that is less interested in being coherent and more concerned with being visually different for the sake of being different.

The film tells the story of a couple torn apart by a family tragedy. They decide to go on a camping trip in the rain-drenched woods when suddenly strange things begin to happen. Tormented by a group of oddballs led by a man w

Film Threat • 3rd February 2019

Judy and Punch

Judy and Punch is an Australian film by writer and director Mirrah Foulkes that tells a story involving alcohol and puppets. If you’re not at least intrigued by that brief synopsis, I probably don’t want to be your friend. To dig deeper into the film without giving away any spoilers, it’s the tale of a wife and husband who perform puppet shows in the backwoods town of Seaside, which the film ironically points out, is nowhere near the sea. The town is full of bloodthirsty backwoods townies with u

Film Threat • 2nd February 2019

Where's My Roy Cohn?

For me, there truly is no better sleeping aid than watching a documentary on politics. I’m just personally not into that stuff. Where’s My Roy Cohn? is a documentary about the ruthless lawyer, Roy Cohn, a man who struggled with his Jewish heritage and his closeted sexuality. The film is fascinating enough to hold my interest, despite my limited knowledge of Cohn and his malevolent workings.

The film is incredibly well made with talking heads that flawlessly flesh out who Roy Cohn was while also

Film Threat • 30th January 2019

Divine Love

Set in Brazil in the year 2027, Divine Love posits a world where Christianity is on the verge of forcefully bridging the gap between church and state. There are crazy drive-thru chapels, Christian love raves, and a strict social stigma towards the concept of divorce. Divine Love is a group of people who work together in weird ways to save failing relationships. Essentially a couple will get counseling and then swap partners with another couple and then switch back in some sort of strange ritual

Film Threat • 27th January 2019

Untouchable

After the fall of Harvey Weinstein in October of 2017, it was pretty obvious that a plethora of documentaries chronicling the man, the myth, and most importantly the monster, would be on their way. Just a little over a year later Untouchable, a film by documentarian Ursula Macfarlane, was released. Untouchable mostly takes us down a road we’re all very familiar; Harvey Weinstein was a creep who used his clout and manipulative predatory tactics to sexually and mentally abuse women. He did these t

Film Threat • 26th January 2019

Untitled Amazing Johnathan Documentary

The Amazing Johnathan is a comedian and magician that expertly subverts and toys with familiar conventions and expectations. It only makes sense that a documentary about him follows suit. In 2007 The Amazing Johnathan was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a brutal heart disease that forced him to retire in 2014. He was also given one year to live, he survived well past his expiration date and decided to get back to performing.

He teams up with filmmaker Benjamin Berman to share his stories and dai

Film Threat • 7th April 2018

Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind

Chronicling the life of a one-of-a-kind comedian and actor, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind isn’t the emotionally deep connective experience I was hoping for. As a child growing up in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Robin Williams was a supernova of energy and creativity that never seemed to slow down or end. As we’ve come to learn since the days of his passing, he was a lifelong sufferer of depression and addictions, but I feel like the film doesn’t properly explore these demons. The film is

Film Threat • 7th April 2018

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Regardless of your personal beliefs, be it political or what have you, I think we can all agree that there is this really hostile divide happening out there. One only needs to spend two seconds on the internet to learn that communication has devolved into hurling insults and attacking others with the ferocity of starved dogs. There is no room left for civil discussion or respectful disagreement. Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a documentary by Director Morgan Neville, tells the story of Fred Rogers, a

FanboyNation Magazine • 29th March 2018

Folktales of the Cryptids Preview

Folktales of the Cryptids is an anthology comic by AfterLight Comics that tells four short terrifying tales based around creatures with questionable existences. Cryptids are the creatures that probably don’t exist, but people have claimed to make some form of contact with them for centuries, regardless. You have your Bigfoots, your Loch Ness Monster, Chupacabra, your Jackalopes, and Jersey Devils, etc. The only proof that these creatures are out there comes from campfire tales, blurry Polaroids,

Film Threat • 24th January 2018

Bad Reputation

Feminist, Activist, Rock ‘n’ Roll Icon, Punk Goddess…those are just a few ways someone can describe Joan Jett. She’s an absolute legend, and her influence is immeasurably vast in its reach. She’s the perfect subject for a documentary, but the thing about music documentaries is that they’re very hit or miss for me. I think they’re either incredibly fascinating like Ondi Timoner’s classic Dig!, or Bang! The Bert Berns Story…or, they’re too long, unfocused, repetitious, or flat out boring. Musician

Film Threat • 22nd November 2017

The Top 10 Thanksgiving Films

Ah, Thanksgiving. A time to surround yourself with family you can barely stand and become a gluttonous mass of shame and regret after hours of ingesting the traditional holiday foods. It’s literally Christmas without the presents, so who the fuck cares? Skip to the candy canes, the spiced cider, and the delicious eggnog. Who needs a holiday where we maliciously mock our disingenuous partnership between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans they later almost completely wiped out? Who needs the he

Film Threat • 21st November 2017

Drinksgiving

Drinksgiving is a film about a bunch of 30-somethings throwing a pre-Thanksgiving drinking party. Unnecessary drama ensues, friendships are tested, epiphanies are had, and then the credits roll. Peppered throughout its formulaic story are attempts at humor that even the most childish kindergartener would roll their eyes at. The script’s dialogue is dogshit stuffing fisted into the asshole of a burnt Thanksgiving turkey. Does that come off as a bit immature? Well, so are grown adults referring to

Film Threat • 1st July 2017

The Song of Sway Lake

Ari Gold is a joyously unique filmmaker responsible for some brilliant short films like Culture, Helicopter, and my personal favorite, Frog Crossing. I recently had the chance to watch his first feature, Adventures of Power it’s a hilarious and inspirational film about a man pursuing his passions and becoming content with who he was and who he was born to be: the world’s best air drummer. The concept and the tone of that film is exceptionally charming and quirky, but from what I gathered from ou

Film Threat • 9th June 2017

Buster's Mal Heart

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko as a teenager back in 2002. A fellow classmate of mine recommended it to me, and said it was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. I watched the film at a friend’s house, and after the movie we just sat there in silence, unable to fully comprehend what we’d just seen. That film left me with so many questions, and I have fond memories of going on AOL message boards and discussing the film with other fans. We’d dissect certain sc