Fantasia Film Festival 2014: ANGRY VIDEO GAME NERD: THE MOVIE Review by Peter Georgoulis

In his attempts to get the world to forget the atrocity that was ET for the Atari, the constantly scowling Angry Video Game Nerd embarks on a quest to disprove the myth of the ET landfill. The Nerd is aided in his quest by his energetic camera man sidekick and fellow girl gamer, who is actually part of a plot by gaming corporation to use the nerd to promote their horrible ET sequel. Together they get themselves in way over their heads with the military, aliens and ancient low budget deities.

Now you would think this movie would be, in the style of James Rolfe himself, a Bleep Bleeping bleep of a bleep on a bleep sandwich, but instead this is a lot of fun for fans of games, geek culture and old school cinema. The movie uses a good mix of practical and special effects capturing the fun and low budget feel of classic cinema mirroring the styles of old zombie, monster and sci-fi movies. Although this is truly a movie for the fans as it is littered with references and in jokes from the various Video Game Nerd reviews from Ninja Turtles three to a hilarious nod to Top Gun.

The movie will always keep you smiling with just how over the top it can be especially the villains. Your standard evil military villains, but quite honestly they are one of the best things in this movie. The back and forth with the general and his personnel is the stuff of cringe worthy glory in just how insane this man can be. The same can be said with our little green friend whose very existence lets you know this movie does not take itself seriously. They are not the only interesting faces some rather important cameos can seen across the movie.

The nerd does what he does best in this movie, tears bad games a new one while at the same time offering up interesting critics on gaming then and gaming now. As I said earlier, this is a movie for the fans, yet it can still be enjoyed by those who have not watched the series. James Rolfe brings us a movie filled with everything that makes the Nerd the profanity spewing rage filled gamer we all know and love.

Fantasia Film Festival 2014: ANGRY VIDEO GAME NERD: THE MOVIE Review by Ous Zaim

The beloved interwebz sensation makes it to the big screen with a self titled movie. Experience the nerd's most traumatic, video-game involving childhood trauma. Low budgeted and with a cast of "actors" I've never seen before, the nerd leaves the basement and embarks on a journey of truth to face his demons. Must love AVGN to enjoy this movie because otherwise you will be lost and think that the movie audience is insane.

Fantasia Film Festival 2014: RUROUNI KENSHIN - KYOTO INFERNO Review by Ous Zaim

New to the franchise, i didn't know what to expect. But the results were great! Colorful cast of characters set in a late 1800 feudal Japan backdrop, KENSHIN picks up the pace from the get go. Extremely engaging with its super-speed sword fighting choreography. Dreamy eyed, soft spoken, hope inspiring, Kenshin is a pony-tail having, sword carrying Sonic The Hedgehog. I love character driven stories! And this movie is fucking poetic. Also, this is a second entry to feature actor Tatsuya Fujiwara in FANTASIA 2014 and this performance highly redeems him for the let-down that is MONSTERZ. Go discover something new, foreign and exciting in KENSHIN!

Fantasia Film Festival 2014: ZOMBEAVERS Review by Ous Zaim

So. Zombie Beavers. Bikinis. Babes. A cabin in the woods. Obnoxious, oversexed, death-deserving boyfriend. And Beavers. Disgusting and purposely-cheap SFX embedded with a funny bone. Thankfully quickly but deliciously bloody. Over the top but doesn't topple itself over. Zombie Beavers.

Fantasia Film Festival 2014: METALHEAD Review by Ous Zaim

Touching tale of loss and extended grieving. Young Hera uses Metal as an outlet and lives a life that is anything but ordinary in a quiet town. Loving, supportive parents aren't enough to quell the wrath of this town's black sheep though. A coming of age story that stems from tragedy, HEAD also reminds us that human beings are more complex, forgiving, and understanding then they will let on. A simple film that will tug at your insides.

Fantasia Film Festival 2014: FRANK Review by Ous Zaim

Sad and unfiltered, welcome to the musical world of Frank. A trek of finding yourself as well as the reveal of unintended, attention seeking, selfishness. Aside from that, the lesson here is freaks fly together. Not what I expected. A quiet, muffled performance by Fassbender, FRANK portrays that sometimes, litters shouldn't be separated.

Fantasia Film Festival 2014: HUNTER X HUNTER: THE LAST MISSION Review by Ous Zaim

There is nothing like Hunter X Hunter. The manga has inspired many Otakus and the anime is the most thrilling thing out there currently. The same thing unfortunately can not be said about the movies. You see, the anime is on this course that can't be disturbed. The storytelling must play out, even if it does sacrifice the appearance of fan-favorites for the duration of story-arc upon story-arc. This is where the movies come in to try and rectify things. A confusion of continuity, The HXH films are never set in a timeline that makes sense or matches what's currently going on. The question always arises of when these events could have possibly taken place. Still, fans of certain characters are treated (in some cases) to the final appearances of big personalities from the Hunter world. In this case, LAST MISSION is just that for Netero. A personal favorite, it was nice to say a proper goodbye to such a strong and wonderful character. In the end, even though we get treated to some Hisoka screen time and a throwback to the original four, this movie is just filler. Don't expect it to change things or progress the actual story.

Fantasia Film Festival 2014: The Zero Theorem by Panagiotis Drakopoulos

Meet Qohen Leth (Christoph Waltz), he's eccentric and anti-social programmer who's hoping and waiting for a special phone call that will tell him the meaning of life. A weird and trippy film from the mind of visionary director Terry Gilliam. If you like Gilliam's other works like Brazil and 12 Monkeys you will love this film, if not, you might not like it. From the great acting to the Jean Giraud inspired backgrounds, Therorem is a cinematic orgy of vivid imagery with a great social commentary on top.

Bushido - The Cruel Code of the Samurai Review

``Samurai are samurai because of their Lord. The lives of samurai do not belong to the samurai, they belong to their Lord. Know that it is an honor to die for your Lord. To die in service to your Lord that is the beginning of loyalty.``

   These mark a samurai`s last words to his son and capture the central but brutal message of the film.  In Bushido - The Cruel Code of the Samurai (1963), we follow seven generations of samurai who all embody the cruel code of absolute loyalty and honor.  This film is devoid of the idyllic representation we often have of the samurai who often characterize courage, virtue and wisdom and instead are presented with a dreadful portrayal of unconditional servitude and compliance.  The Lords are represented as slothful rulers who spend their lives fulfilling their sexual desires and demanding unthinkably callous demands.  Do not expect a film filled with good intentions and a virtuous plot but instead enter into a world of despair and unimaginable cruelty.  

   There seems to be no end to how brutal and sinister a Lord`s command can be toward his samurai, for example, the aged samurai Ikura Shuzo unwillingly accepts to have his bride to be daughter brought to the castle to please the Lord in his bedroom.  If this is not a nightmare enough for any father, he is then asked to send his wife into the Lord`s bedroom and once again accepts this shameful request but instead of entering the bedroom, Ikura`s wife commits suicide.  The heartbroken samurai  is then brought to the castle only to unknowingly execute both his daughter and her fiancé at the demand of the Lord.  At this point, you would think that these events would erupt a violent outburst in any person, especially a master of the sword.  Instead, as the film darkly but perfectly depicts, Ikura complies with the Lord`s demands and holds out his hand only to be stabbed and then commit seppuku. 

   As the film progresses we continuously hope that there will be a catalyst who will finally brake the chains of this vicious code but the code persistently defeats any virtue or insight that the samurai might have, it even seems stronger than the love they have for their own family.  Watching this film will generate many disturbing emotions as the characters played by Nakamura continuously comply with sinister demands throughout 350 years only to encounter Susumu who finds himself in modern day Tokyo and for the first time becomes aware of the Karmic effects of Bushido but do not expect a character full of courage and wisdom.  Staying true to the grim portrayal of its lead characters, Susumu seems like a person struggling with this outdated code but feels obliged to honor it. His decisions to continuously honor his superiors over his own family eventually jeopardizes his relationship with his fiancée and just like Ikura over a century before, his fiancée is led to attempt suicide.   Being by his fiancées side at the hospital he then discovers the long karmic road of Bushido and consciously decides to break the cycle of unconditional loyalty by finally choosing love and family over this cruel and brutal code of honor.  -Louis Kolovos