Whether you know some folks on your shopping list who like contemplative dramas or violent revenge stories, there’s something for them below in this edition of the Underground Holiday Shopping Guide.
DramasMad World
Actor Cory Cataldo stepped behind the camera to direct his first feature film, a drama / black comedy hybrid that tackled the issue of bullying before the issue hit the mainstream. Now that Mad World is on DVD, the story of four high school outcasts on the shit end of the social climbing ladder seems even more relevant. Horrifying parental abuse, racism, drug use and other issues swirl together in this potent dramatic concoction.
Buy on Amazon!
Beneath Contempt
In a year stuffed with moody, emotional indie dramas, Benjamin Brewer‘s affecting Beneath Contempt has been, for the most part, unfairly overlooked. A young man is released from prison years after he killed his friends in a...
DramasMad World
Actor Cory Cataldo stepped behind the camera to direct his first feature film, a drama / black comedy hybrid that tackled the issue of bullying before the issue hit the mainstream. Now that Mad World is on DVD, the story of four high school outcasts on the shit end of the social climbing ladder seems even more relevant. Horrifying parental abuse, racism, drug use and other issues swirl together in this potent dramatic concoction.
Buy on Amazon!
Beneath Contempt
In a year stuffed with moody, emotional indie dramas, Benjamin Brewer‘s affecting Beneath Contempt has been, for the most part, unfairly overlooked. A young man is released from prison years after he killed his friends in a...
- 12/12/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Cory Cataldo’s Mad World is something that really caught me off guard! This black comedy tells the story of four friends who really don’t fit in anywhere so they just hangout with each other and form a strong bond. The foursome encounter really tough obstacles in this movie to the point of breaking and snapping.
The story itself and the lead characters are great and so many people out there will be able to relate to them. It’s a touchy story that anybody should watch because of the people who are on the receiving end of what happens to these boys r even the people who dish this kind of abusive out, both sides should pay attention. There are so many humorous scenes in Mad World but when things get dark, they really dim up quickly, there might be a scene or two that would make some people cringe!
The story itself and the lead characters are great and so many people out there will be able to relate to them. It’s a touchy story that anybody should watch because of the people who are on the receiving end of what happens to these boys r even the people who dish this kind of abusive out, both sides should pay attention. There are so many humorous scenes in Mad World but when things get dark, they really dim up quickly, there might be a scene or two that would make some people cringe!
- 6/26/2011
- by brians
- GeekTyrant
The film Mad World (2011) has been garnering a serious amount of attention. In a compelling interview with Cory Cataldo (Mad World, Director), PopStar was able to get a rare look behind the camera and go behind the scenes of this groundbreaking film. The Indie shocker follows four troubled youths who are dealing with the issues of abuse and bullying. The film depicts the deteriorating circumstances under which the foursome must exist, forcing them to make the ultimate choice between life and death. Released this past February, Mad World became available on Blu-ray/DVD on March 24th and immediately sold out on Amazon, ranking #21 in the Drama category. It is now set to screen at the L.A. Film school on June 1st. PopStar recently had the chance to interview two of Mad World (2011)'s stars - newcomer Dylan Vigus who portrays Will Balog in the film, and Gary Cairns II...
- 6/1/2011
- by jmaurer@corp.popstar.com (Jennifer Maurer)
- PopStar
Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Go grill and chill with some great links:
I’ve been beating people over the head with this all week, but in case you missed it, I participated in an online roundtable discussion instigated by the Edinburgh International Film Festival all about film writing on the web. Go check out my essays and the ones by my fabulous co-panelists! (Best if you start at the bottom and work your way up.) (And thanks to the fest for making the awesome above image based on my idea.)The Migrating Forms fest ends tonight. Here’s CinemaScope on one of the films that screened over the past week: Liu Jiayin’s Oxhide.Travalanche has a long, lovely profile of underground film star the Rev. Jen.For Moving Image Source, Tom McCormack has a detailed history of the “supercut,” i.e. media montage making, from the films of Bruce Conner to Lost cut-ups.
I’ve been beating people over the head with this all week, but in case you missed it, I participated in an online roundtable discussion instigated by the Edinburgh International Film Festival all about film writing on the web. Go check out my essays and the ones by my fabulous co-panelists! (Best if you start at the bottom and work your way up.) (And thanks to the fest for making the awesome above image based on my idea.)The Migrating Forms fest ends tonight. Here’s CinemaScope on one of the films that screened over the past week: Liu Jiayin’s Oxhide.Travalanche has a long, lovely profile of underground film star the Rev. Jen.For Moving Image Source, Tom McCormack has a detailed history of the “supercut,” i.e. media montage making, from the films of Bruce Conner to Lost cut-ups.
- 5/29/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Two very different, but very worthwhile, films by first-time directors have come out on DVD recently.
First up is Jessica Oreck’s exquisite ode to all things creepy and crawlie: Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.
Beetles are big business in Japan, but, more importantly, they are creatures to be revered and honored for helping Japanese culture stay in touch with the natural world. Oreck’s portrait of the tiny critters and the larger world that fawns over them is brought to life in a swirling mix of scientific exploration, history lesson and sheer artistry. Can a movie about bugs be beautiful? Oreck shows us that it can.
From Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film’s original review:
It’s difficult to explain an entire culture, but Oreck does a masterful job of immersing us into the science, history and philosophy of Japan. Oreck is especially deft in how she ties...
First up is Jessica Oreck’s exquisite ode to all things creepy and crawlie: Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.
Beetles are big business in Japan, but, more importantly, they are creatures to be revered and honored for helping Japanese culture stay in touch with the natural world. Oreck’s portrait of the tiny critters and the larger world that fawns over them is brought to life in a swirling mix of scientific exploration, history lesson and sheer artistry. Can a movie about bugs be beautiful? Oreck shows us that it can.
From Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film’s original review:
It’s difficult to explain an entire culture, but Oreck does a masterful job of immersing us into the science, history and philosophy of Japan. Oreck is especially deft in how she ties...
- 5/24/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This week’s DVD and Blu-Ray Releases include a couple of films from the After Dark Horrorfest as well as two of Ron Howard’s earlier films and a Blu-Ray edition of Solaris. Check beyond the break for the full list.
All Descriptions of the following titles are provided by Amazon.com unless otherwise noted. If you plan on buying a flick from this list, please click on the links provided or click on the cover as it helps us pay the bills around here. Also, unlike most sites, we provide the Netflix widget which we think is pretty convenient to add these films to your queue. If you don’t have Netflix, feel free to click on “Free Trial” and try it out!
Death Hunter: Werewolves vs. Vampires
Format: DVD
———————–
In a forgotten region of the desert, an unspeakable evil exists. By no choice of his own, John Croix...
All Descriptions of the following titles are provided by Amazon.com unless otherwise noted. If you plan on buying a flick from this list, please click on the links provided or click on the cover as it helps us pay the bills around here. Also, unlike most sites, we provide the Netflix widget which we think is pretty convenient to add these films to your queue. If you don’t have Netflix, feel free to click on “Free Trial” and try it out!
Death Hunter: Werewolves vs. Vampires
Format: DVD
———————–
In a forgotten region of the desert, an unspeakable evil exists. By no choice of his own, John Croix...
- 5/24/2011
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
It's a mad world indeed. Just ask film maker Cory Cataldo. The twenty-eight year old producer, director and writer of the Indie film Mad World (2010) wanted to cast a light on the issue of teen bullying long before it became a mainstream effort - so at the age of twenty-three he shot the film in 25 locations over 13 days with practically no budget. His aim was to issue a wake up call to society about the agonizing epidemic of bullying and the effect it has on our youth, all in the form of what he describes as "an after school special gone terribly wrong." But wait, there's more. In his Mad World, Cory Cataldo takes us on a dark journey through the tortured hearts and minds of those victimized by their peers, their parents, and their school administrators as they try to cope and ultimately turn the tables and fight back.
- 5/23/2011
- by jmaurer@corp.popstar.com (Jennifer Maurer)
- PopStar
Mad World, written and directed by Cory Cataldo, is like a deliriously deranged ABC After School Special. Coming in, appropriately enough, when the subject of bullying is in the national consciousness, the film takes a bunch of disaffected and amoral teenagers, tosses in liberal doses of illicit drug use, sprinkles in clueless and abusive authority figures and adds a dash of John Waters for a thick, chaotic concoction.
Although, viewers will have to be patient to get to the juicy parts after a dry first half. There’s a lot of set-up to wade through before the lives of the four main protagonists starts going, literally, to hell.
We’re immediately introduced to our sad sack main character, Will (Dylan Vigus), a directionless, layabout, obese teenager who’s stuck moving to a new town with his divorced, abusive father (David Alan Graf). Almost equally immediately, Will hooks up with his stoner soulmates.
Although, viewers will have to be patient to get to the juicy parts after a dry first half. There’s a lot of set-up to wade through before the lives of the four main protagonists starts going, literally, to hell.
We’re immediately introduced to our sad sack main character, Will (Dylan Vigus), a directionless, layabout, obese teenager who’s stuck moving to a new town with his divorced, abusive father (David Alan Graf). Almost equally immediately, Will hooks up with his stoner soulmates.
- 1/5/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The Atlanta Underground Film Festival wrapped up its 7th successful year back on Aug. 29 and has given out awards to 13 feature films and 14 shorts.
Several of the winners are films that have been featured here on Bad Lit, either with a review or having been embedded on the site for your viewing pleasure. First, repeat Auff winner Chris Hansen won the Best Director award for his second feature film Endings, a film that finds three disparate strangers spending their last day on Earth together.
Loretta Hintz‘s outrageous lesbian farm fantasy The Sheep and the Ranch Hand took home the 2010 Auff The Wall award. Also, the recently embedded The Shave by Sean Christensen, a haunting memoir, won the Best Experimental Short award. And, lastly, I was very happy to see that animator Victoria Cook, whom I’ve written about in the past, took home the Best Short Short award for her Devil Town.
Several of the winners are films that have been featured here on Bad Lit, either with a review or having been embedded on the site for your viewing pleasure. First, repeat Auff winner Chris Hansen won the Best Director award for his second feature film Endings, a film that finds three disparate strangers spending their last day on Earth together.
Loretta Hintz‘s outrageous lesbian farm fantasy The Sheep and the Ranch Hand took home the 2010 Auff The Wall award. Also, the recently embedded The Shave by Sean Christensen, a haunting memoir, won the Best Experimental Short award. And, lastly, I was very happy to see that animator Victoria Cook, whom I’ve written about in the past, took home the Best Short Short award for her Devil Town.
- 9/18/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 7th annual Atlanta Underground Film Festival is like having four different fests crammed into an exhaustive three days on Aug. 27-29. It’s an outrageous underground fest, an animation festival, a documentary fest and a horror movie festival: The culmination of a month of fests run by Atlanta’s Festival League. There’s tons of short films, documentaries, features and more.
There’s lots of great stuff to recommend, too. On the last night of the fest, there will be a screening of Chris Hansen‘s second feature film, Endings, which tells the touching story of three people spending their last day on Earth together. The film was reviewed on Bad Lit a few months ago. On the short film front, there’s Loretta Hintz‘s wild lesbian bestiality (sort of) tale, The Sheep and the Ranch Hand and two films by the perpetually awesome Neil Ira Needleman, Meeskit...
There’s lots of great stuff to recommend, too. On the last night of the fest, there will be a screening of Chris Hansen‘s second feature film, Endings, which tells the touching story of three people spending their last day on Earth together. The film was reviewed on Bad Lit a few months ago. On the short film front, there’s Loretta Hintz‘s wild lesbian bestiality (sort of) tale, The Sheep and the Ranch Hand and two films by the perpetually awesome Neil Ira Needleman, Meeskit...
- 8/18/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.