Author page: mrqe

Iman (Misagh Zare) has just gotten the much-desired promotion, but asks his family to keep quiet about his new job: he is now an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. So, while the very real protests against the state-enforced strict hijab laws roar on the streets, Iman’s new position requires him to sign off on death sentences in bulk, day after day. He’s got full support from his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani), who at first is quick to impose a regimen of obedience on their teenage daughters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki). But the girls grow more and more sympathetic towards the protesters, and even Najmeh’s loyalty slowly turns away from her husband as he becomes increasingly paranoid and ruthless. Oh,…

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com…]

Like waves that come crashing on the seashore, except they keep crashing. New Wave The film enjoyed its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival. The film opens Friday, October 4, at DCTV in New York, and October 25 at Laemmle Glendale in Los Angeles. Visit the official site for more information. During the late 1970s and early 80s, New Wave music that I heard in Los Angeles swept me into its post-punk, synth-heavy currents. As explained in director Elizabeth Ai’s documentary New Wave, though, it was much more meaningful for the Vietnamese-American community than a passing musical fad. The younger generation, brought to or born in the U.S., considered their New Wave music, featuring cover songs of popular tunes translated into and sung in Vietnamese,…

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com…]

Quentin Dupieux directed. Anaïs Demoustier, Edouard Baer, Jonathan Cohen, Gilles Lellouche, Pio Marmaï, Didier Flamand, and Romain Duris star.

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com…]

A painfully bland office worker gets his world turned upside down by a trio of tiny cosmic weirdos in Steven Kostanski’s latest gonzo comedy, Frankie Freako. After he hit cult comedy gold with 2021’s Psycho Goreman, Kostanski and his usual bunch of misfit miscreant co-conspirators are back with their version of an 80s puppet adventure movie. He lovingly borrows from the greats in this long-thought extinct subgenre to create a gooey, chaotic, freaky family film with a twist. It’s everything you miss if you – like me – list Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College in your personal top ten of all time. Conor (Conor Sweeney) is the most boring, milquetoast man who ever lived. He spends his days at the office trying not to…

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com…]

A pair of siblings on the run after a robbery take refuge in a house with mysterious time-warping qualities, only to find that the law isn’t the only thing they have to fear. Things Will Be Different, the latest from the Rustic Films roster (The Endless, Synchronic, Something in the Dirt) comes from longtime Benson & Morehead editor Michael Felker, who makes his feature writing and directing debut with this mind-bender that very much fits the mold of his frequent collaborators. Joseph (Adam David Thompson) and Sidney (Riley Dandy) have just pulled off a major heist and they have to lay low for a while. This sibling duo hasn’t always had the greatest relationship – there is a traumatic past that comes into play –…

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com…]

The suffering of people in this film is staggering, but so is their resilience.

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com…]

One of my favorite films of Fantastic Fest 2024 was this taut piece of single-take cinema from France. An already high teen visits his dealer hoping to score the latest designer drug. But before he can get to the , he picks up a panicked woman on the side of the road. The cinematic fever dream that follows is like falling into utter chaos. MadS may tell a familiar story but it does so with ferocious energy and style, making everything old horrific again. I can’t elaborate much more than that as to plotting. Suffice to say this type of story will be familiar to almost anyone who hasn’t been hiding out in a horde-proof bunker for the last ten years. Use of the single-take…

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com…]

With the streaming premiere of V/H/S/Beyond coming up this Friday we were fortunate to spend a moment speaking Kate Siegel, director of the segment, the sci-fi horror short Stowaway. We were joined by their lead actress and a multi-hyphanite herself, Alanah Pearce. Watch as I yammer on with two ladies who know their stuff, who are massively more learned, intelligent and professional than I am. You know that feeling when you’re speaking with someone and you think, I could learn an awful lot from this person? Yeah, these two gave me that feeling.  Kate speaks about why now was the time to make her directorial debut, what her influences were when making this short (avoiding one that would give away the ending – no spoilers!), the…

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com…]