The small factory town is dead, and it’s not coming back.  We can talk about the heartland with nostalgic fondness, but it’s almost become meaningless since we know that these are the ghost towns of the 21st century.  Medora puts a human face not on an issue or a political argument but simply presents of a reality of impoverish people who could drown in despair, and decide to proudly fight for a win.  Any victory will do, and Andrew Cohn and Davy Rothbart‘s documentary celebrates perseverance without ever reducing the concept down to a motivational poster.

Ghosts aren’t all bad.  Some of the time, they’re just depressed, and you would be too if you had to float around for the rest of whatever.  There’s monotony, but the desire to reach out, whether you’re alive or dead, remains.  In haunted house movies with a benevolent/misunderstood specter, that need for connection becomes essential, and Vincenzo Natali‘s Haunter uses an intriguing premise to show ghosts reaching out across the ether to either save or condemn.  Unfortunately, a slow start eventually dooms the film as the mystery overshadows the characters, and what should be a tense, puzzling picture becomes a convoluted and corny mess.

Kilimanjaro is the weak slogan, “Life is what happens when you’re making plans,” extended to an 80 minute film.  It’s not insightful, emotional, and confuses “real” with “bland” (watching a guy discuss his vacation schedule with his boss is rarely riveting material).  Instead, writer-director Walter Strafford takes a story with potential—a desire for a fresh start by taking on a challenging task—and fails to imbue it with emotion, personality, or drama.  Instead, the movie is a series of clichés masquerading as characters, and a small story that feels insignificant rather than intimate.  Despite a nice supporting turn by Chris Maruqette, Kilimanjaro shares the empty ambition of its protagonist, and not in a way that comes off as intentional.

After last night’s ecstatic SXSW screening of Fede Alvarez‘ remake of Evil Dead, it was announced that a script is currently being written for the sequel.  Earlier today, I got to interview Alvarez, and near the end of our conversation, I brought up his plans for Evil Dead 2.  He says fans can expect that he’ll be in no way copying Raimi’s Evil Dead II, and this the new sequel will be “100% original”.  Also, since we’ve previously reported that Sam Raimi intends to start work on a script for Evil Dead 4, I asked Alvarez about his involvement with that film.

Hit the jump for what he had to say, and click here for my Evil Dead review.  The film opens on April 5th.

The behavior behind female teachers sleeping with their male students is perversely fascinating.  As a society, it creates a gender divide where some people feel openly comfortable being impressed with an abuse of power.  But no one wants to acknowledge the emotions that would arise from the actual affair.  We’re always looking at it from after the news breaks.  Hannah Fidell‘s A Teacher takes us to the other side where we look at the intimacy between the teacher and her student.  Never judgmental and oddly compassionate, Fidell never sensationalizes the relationship, but she also seems at a loss on how to develop the film’s conflict.  Eventually, the direction feels like it’s overcompensating for a redundant narrative where we may be seeing the untold story, but there’s no compelling drama in the telling.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone may celebrate the childlike wonder and unadulterated joy of magic.  It may profess the power of awe and possibility.  But its true motives are simple and pure: make the audience laugh by almost any means necessary.  Those means are usually along the lines of the silly, slightly demented, biting, and occasionally dark humor that may not share the story’s values, but they get consistent comedy out of a charming albeit slightly conventional premise.  Working from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley‘s sharp script with great performances from its cast, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a trick we know, but it’s one performed well.

If your goal is to give the people exactly what they want, then you better give them the best you’ve got otherwise it’s obvious pandering.  Fede Alvarez‘ remake of Evil Dead does not pander.  It fiercely grabs the audience by the throat, and vomits as much blood and viscera as we can stomach it, and not everyone will be able to stomach what the horror flick has to offer.  Alvarez and cinematographer Aaron Morton set a creepy vibe, but their primary interest is in gleefully laying out the implements of destruction.  “We know what you came for,” the film says with a devilish smile.  And then it lets loose violence beyond all reason.  The fear eventually fades, the emotions recede into the background, but Evil Dead delivers on the bloody mayhem that needs far more than an MPAA rating.  It needs a warning label.

The Mondo guys have been killing it over the past few days, haven’t they?  They kicked things off on Sunday night, dropping fourteen new posters during the Oscars, the last of which turned out to be Tyler Stout’s heavily-rumored/desired Django Unchained print.  The following afternoon, Team Mondo kept the party going by announcing that they’d teamed with HBO for a Game of Thrones-themed showcase slated to hit the Mondo Gallery on March 8^th.  But then– just as everyone was absorbing that news—Mondo dropped an even bigger bombshell:  there’d be a second show opening at the Mondo Gallery next month, as well.

Cue the dramatic music, folks, and then meet me after the jump:   I’ll tell you what Mondo’s second show is all about, provide an update on the shipping of your Oscar Night purchases, and (last but not least) I’ll give ya a tiny bit of info regarding Stout’s Django Unchained APs.  Click through!  Now!

This just in:  we’ve got the details surrounding Mondo’s next big gallery show.  As you probably already know, we’re closing in on the one year anniversary of the Mondo Gallery’s opening, and—as expected—it appears that the Mondo guys have lined up something pretty damn awesome to celebrate that milestone.  Wanna know more?  Details after the jump, folks.

Just last week the official lineup for the upcoming 2013 SXSW Film Festival was announced, and today the fest has unveiled its lineups for the midnight and shorts categories.  While films like Before Midnight, Much Ado About Nothing, Evil Dead, and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone will screen in the film festival’s other sections, the midnight lineup includes films like Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem, the anthology sequel V/H/S/2 (which recently changed its title from S-V/H/S), and the much buzzed-about horror pic You’re Next.  Hit the jump to take a look at the full lineup.

Earlier this month, we reported on the first wave of SXSW 2013 films, which includes The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and Evil Dead.  Today, the full line-up has been announced, and it feels like Sundance all over again when it comes to plenty of unknown films.  The chance of discovering a gem is high, and I look forward to hearing the buzz that arises from some these movies.  There’s also a second chance at festival films I missed like The Act of Killing (from TIFF) and Pit Stop (from Sundance).  I thought Toy’s House would make it in to SXSW, but I’ll see it eventually since it picked up distribution.

Hit the jump for the full line-up.  The 2013 SXSW Film Festival runs from March 8 – 17th.

SXSW 2013 has announced their first wave of films, and the comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone will open this year’s festival.  That’s a huge vote of confidence for the film (last year’s opener was The Cabin in the Woods), which stars Steve Carell as a Vegas magician whose relationship with his partner (Steve Buscemi) becomes strained as the two start getting upstaged by a hipper illusionist (Jim Carrey).  SXSW has also revealed that they’ll host the premiere of Fede Alvarez‘ Evil Dead remake, and they’ll also be showing off Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers, which should be a perfect fit for the festival.

Hit the jump to check out the first wave of films announced for SXSW 2013 as well as highlights from the 2013 conference.  The majority of the festival line-up will be announced on January 31st.  The 2013 SXSW Film Festival runs from March 8 – 17th.

I went to more film festivals this year than I ever had before.  I went to Sundance in January, SXSW in March, and TIFF and Fantastic Fest this month.  It’s exhausting, but it’s fun.  I see it as a nice break from the grind of delivering news stories.  It’s not that news is bad, or that it doesn’t have value, but it’s nice seeing the final product of the smaller films we’ve reported on since we probably only heard of them from a casting story as opposed to an onslaught of trailers and posters.  Obviously, there are film festivals where there are marquee titles making their last big push before opening in wide release (Sundance is the only festival where the biggest films—those filled with recognizable actors—might not even have distributors let alone a release date).  But it’s always a nice variety, and each festival has its own flavor.

After the jump hit the jump for my impressions of each festival.

I want to make this very clear: Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard‘s The Cabin in the Woods is one of the best “horror” movies I’ve ever seen, and it’s easily one of my favorite films this year.  While many of you might love the horror genre, I find it repetitive and stale.  It seems like the genre is stuck in neutral, and no one is making any progress forward.  But that all changed after I saw Cabin in the Woods.  Without spoiling anything, let’s just say the film turns “horror” on its head, and I loved every second of it.  Trust me when I say: Stop watching the trailers.  Don’t watch any TV spots.  Do not read the reviews.  Just go see the film on opening day next week (and then read Matt’s glowing review).  I promise, it’s worth the price of admission, and after you see it, you’ll want to see it again.

At this year’s SXSW, I got to talk with the cast and filmmakers for both our partners at Omelete and Collider.  Over the next week, I’ll be posting a new interview each day.  Today’s is  Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford.  During the interview we talked about premiering the film at SXSW, working with Whedon and Goddard, preparing for dancing on screen, and more. Hit the jump to watch.

I want to make this very clear: Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard‘s The Cabin in the Woods is one of the best “horror” movies I’ve ever seen and easily one of my favorite films this year.  While many of you might love the horror genre, I find it repetitive and stale.  It seems like the genre is stuck in neutral, and no one is making any progress forward.  But that all changed after I saw Cabin in the Woods.  Without spoiling anything, let’s just say the film turns “horror” on its head and I loved every second of it.  Trust me when I say…stop watching the trailers.  Don’t watch any TV spots.  Do not read the reviews.  Just go see the film on opening day next week.  I promise, it’s worth the price of admission and after you see it, you’ll want to see it again.

At this year’s SXSW, I was able to sit down with Joss Whedon (who co-wrote the script) for an exclusive interview.  Since I didn’t want to talk about anything that could spoil the film, our conversation turned to his writing process, casting the film, Comic-Con, what he collects, Easter eggs, and more.  In addition, with Whedon directing that small indie film called The Avengers, we also talked about the running time, the music, deleted scenes, and more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.