There is one film festival that always hits at the right time and has a way of celebrating the best horror movies of the year. The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival is where it is at. Happening smack dab in the middle of October, there really is no better time to dig into a festival that […]
There are a few things that are constant in Chicago: bitter cold weather, never-ending construction on the Dan Ryan expressway, and the Chicago International Film Festival. Taking place October 15th-26th, this is the 61st installment of the legendary fest, and although it has often been the last leg of festival season, that doesn’t lessen the […]
This year marks the 12th edition of the Chicago Critics Film Festival—and the 11th for yours truly. After taking a hiatus last year, it’s hard to put into words just how much it means to be back at the historic Music Box Theatre and once again part of a cinema community that welcomes everyone with […]
After my long break from covering movies, it still feels good to be back and covering a great film festival in any way. This year for Fantastic Fest I am covering the best genre film festival from the comfort of my home. Remote coverage has more cons than pros, but just getting a chance to […]
March 8th-14th- Going to Austin, Texas is now my second home. Or at least, it’s my second home for great movie consumption, and SXSW 2024 is lining up to have a lot of movies to praise. This will also be my eighth time covering the festivities, something that I can’t believe has become a reality, […]
I can confidently say that 2023 was a banger year for AMovieGuy.com. Things keep going up, with more movie reviews, Hot Seat Interviews, and plenty of exciting movies to see at film festivals to cover. That success is something I am proud to acknowledge and I hope it has brought joy to our readers. It […]
Over the past five years, there has been a conscious effort by the team behind the Chicago International Film Festival to make it an event that the city can be proud of. The timing is always rough, where Chicago takes place a month after Toronto or Venice film festivals, but it’s easy to look past […]
When the word “Fantastic” is in the title of your film festival you are already setting yourself up for pressure. You add on top of that a writers and actors strike and the hill is looking even steeper. The fine folks in Austin, Texas seem up for the challenge, as we prepare for the 2023 […]
To hit 10 years of existence is a great accomplishment. It means you are established and to make it that far you must be doing something right. The Chicago Critics Film Festival arrives this weekend at the Music Box Theatre— kicking off Friday, May 5th and closing on Thursday, May 11th– and celebrating its tenth […]
It has been four years since AMovieGuy.com covered SXSW in-person. From the comfort of our couch was nice but the best part about the Austin, Texas film festival is being there for all the buzz. And nothing can beat an electrified crowd of cinephiles at the historic Paramount Theatre experiencing cinema together. Needless to say, […]
Every year I sweat over what should be in my end of the year Top-10 and it’s honestly an exhausting process. The fact will always remain that choosing just 10 is an impossible task. Also, depending on my mood, I could make an argument for numbers 2-25 having a reason to be number one. What […]
As the Chicago International Film Festival winds down there is still quite a bit available for people to see. In addition to the many films I detail below, Anna Diop will be on hand Friday October 21 at a screening of the very good thriller in which she stars, Nanny, to receive the Rising Star […]
As the Chicago International Film Festival continues there’s still so much in store. This week there will be major local premieres of the Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion, the highly anticipated new film from Oscar-winning director Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin, and Sarah Polley’s Women Talking. There is also an in-person tribute to actor […]
The 58th Annual Chicago International Film Festival kicks off tonight and runs until October 23rd. Our great fest is the perfect way to get a leg up on some of the high-profile films that will be released throughout the Fall and early Winter in theaters and streaming sites. There are also some outstanding under the […]
Fantastic Fest 2022 is going to be one to remember. Maybe not for all the reasons the programmers are hoping for- the movies will be great, I don’t doubt it- but this will be the first film festival that AMovieGuy.com is covering in person since before the pandemic started. That means a lot, it means […]
The 40th installment of Chicago’s Reeling LGBTQ+ Film Festivals begins Thursday, September 22nd. This is the premiere local fest for U.S. and international feature length and short films that promises to once again make the LGBTQ+ community feel represented in a way not often typical of Hollywood productions. The in-person screenings run through October 2nd. […]
For many years in my coverage of Chicago based film festivals, there was always a hope for there to finally be an event that would rival the others, such as SXSW or Tribeca. It wasn’t happening ever with the Chicago International Film Festival, not by a fault, but strictly because by the time November rolls […]
There’s a bit of frustration for me heading into South by Southwest 2022. Prior to the festival the world was still deep into pandemic restrictions and for my job, the preparation for a baseball season, which had me make the painful choice to cover SXSW virtually. Had I known the pandemic would have lesser COVID […]
In a year filled with multiple film festival’s going virtual and the experience of enjoying cities vibrating with movie buzz now taking place on our couches, it makes it hard to separate which festival is the best. What it does, however, is place an emphasis on the material, making it important that the variety of […]
I didn’t expect the first time AMovieGuy.com would be covering the Toronto International Film Festival that it would be remote. It’s certainly bittersweet to finally have press credentials with one of the biggest award season festivals and sitting in the comfort of my own home, but as the Covid pandemic continues to rage on…and on, […]
Every year I cover the Fantasia Film Festival and it never has let me down. I mean that. I have moved away from covering the Chicago International Film Festival for various reasons and not all festivals have the eclectic gathering of movies as Fantasia does- Kicking off August 5th-25th. It’s not that every movie is […]
South by Southwest being held online, in a digital platform, with screeners viewed on our computers. It just doesn’t feel right. The pandemic has taken a lot of things from us, family dinners, friendly gatherings, sporting events, and movie theaters. Now it has taken the one thing I look forward to every year, a trip […]
2020 is a strange year and it is just as strange for film festivals. For the first time, the Fantasia film festival will go completely online which is not ideal, but it’s the current world we are living in. And to be quite cliche, the show must go on. It’s at least a reminder of […]
This is my first time covering Fantastic Fest and I just hope the movies live up to what the festival is called. I don’t think I have too much to worry about, because one thing I know, when something is happening in Austin, Texas there is sure to be plenty of fun. The headlines of […]
There will be a dark cloud of chaos hovering over the Music Box Theatre for one week- starting Thursday June 13th and closing on Thursday the 20th. It’s not the bad kind of chaos, where people get hurt. What I am talking about is the 3rd year of Cinepocalypse, the film festival that conjures up […]
MOVIE: OLYMPIC DREAMS DIRECTED BY: JEREMY TEICHER In the history of mumblecore films, Olympic Dreams might be the most ambitious of the genre. Filmed on location at the 2018 winter olympics in PyeongChang, director Jeremy Teicher, along with stars and co-writers Alexi Pappas & Nick Kroll, decided to make a movie in the moment, about […]
2018 been quite the year for horror movies. We are getting a new Halloween film this year, Hereditary was one of the scariest movies in the last 10 years, Cinepocalypse was another fantastic film festival, and now AMovieGuy.com is going back to the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival! And what a lineup do they have in […]
FANTASIA MOVIES: RELAXER DIRECTOR: JOE POTRYKUS RATING: 3 STARS (Out of 4) Relaxer is the one movie at Fantasia 2018 that is a spot-on metaphor for how life seems to be going today. A man is challenged by his brother to get to level 186 of pac-man, never able to leave the couch, […]
In Montreal, Canada there is a film festival called Fantasia and when it comes to enjoying good movies, it never disappoints. Last year was AMovieGuy.com’s first year covering the fest, but this year I am extremely excited because it is filled with a variety of unique genre films. Some of the highlights of this […]
It would be pointless for me to cover the Chicago Critics Film Festival every year and tell you how great it is. I mean, come one! Is it always that good? In a word: yes. I mean, I can see how it looks that way, but over the last 6 years, the city of Chicago […]
CIFF PREVIEW The Chicago International Film Festival never ceases to amaze me with the caliber of talent and films they display every year. This time, in their 53rd year, they welcome an all-star collection of actors and directors, including the likes of Chadwick Boseman, Michael Shannon, and the legendary Vanessa Redgrave in attendance. As […]
Reaching the 5th year of a film festival is a milestone moment for the Chicago Film Critics Association. They should not only be extremely proud for reaching this peak point in time, but they can put their hat on how they continue to gather a collection of impressive films and talent, putting Chicago in the […]
The 2016 Chicago International Film Festival is the best time of the year. The fall weather has made it’s crisp arrival, along with pumpkin spice lattes, and a time to celebrate the cinema. If you don’t get out to the theater much, now is the time to catch the movies that represent some of the […]
EBERTFEST PREVIEW This year marks the second time beloved film critic Roger Ebert will not be in attendance of the film fest with his own name on it. It goes without saying that Film criticism will never be the same and neither will this fest. The Pulitzer prize winning critic lost his battle with cancer, […]
MOVIE: ARTICO STARRING: DEBORAH BORGES; VICTOR GARCIA; LUCIA MARTINEZ; ALBA NIETO DIRECTED BY: GABRIEL VELAZQUEZ AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS Artico (Arthouse) never lets the viewers get close to the films subjects. It won a special mention for the Crystal Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival, which is the 14 Plus age group […]
As fans flock to their local AMC Theaters and buy popcorn for the big budget films, there is a small place in Palatine, Illinois known as Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center. This is where the 5th Annual Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival takes place. It is at festivals like this where the true art of […]
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