The Further Reviewing Adventures From the Fantasia Film Festival..!

Fantasia Film Festival: The Battery by CBNAH Junior Reviewer Mrs. Z

The Battery concentrates on two characters who barely know each other. They played in a small baseball team and never really hung out, this until the Zombies hatched. Afterwards they're compelled to be together, evermore.

The main character Ben ( Jeremy Gardner ) who wrote and directed the movie is the one taking care of business, chopping zombies, thinking of basic survival needs, basically doing all the dirty work.

Mickey ( Adam Cronheim ) the second character is basically useless. He is in complete denial, obnoxious and takes for granted his fellow friend. He basically acts like a brat. Overall their friendship resembles a sexist heterosexual couple, thus bringing some humour in this tense story line  There is a part in the movie where Ben brings a zombie from outside and into the room where Mickey is sleeping and closes the door. Mickey has never killed a zombie he left it all for Ben to do. This is Ben's brutal way of "Waking up " Mickey to reality. They have been on the road alone running away never settling down for over 3 months. This type of lifestyle is bound to affect someone’s sanity.

Finally, this psychological movie is not your typical hack slash zombie flick. It revolves around the friendship and how they have changed surviving with each other rather then surviving with the undead.

It is quite an interesting and refreshing twist on zombies. A movie damn worth watching!

Fantasia Film Festival: Magic Magic by CBNAH Junior Reviewer Mrs. Z

Juno Temple stars as Alice she's on a trip to South America with her cousin Sarah (Emilie Browning) to a secluded ranch house with Sarah's boyfriend Augustine (Augustine Silva) and his friend Brink (Michael Cera).

From the very first scene you sense Alice is not at all comfortable with the people she is with. Sarah has to leave for two days to another city to complete a school exam and from that moment Augustine and Brink act and say things that are very awkward and make Alice feel very uncomfortable. She lacks sleeps feel tormented and soon enough falls into a psychological abyss. There is a scene where Augustine hypnotizes Alice and along with Brink they make her do some weird things. When Alice wakes up and realizes what has happen Augustine swears he doesn't know how to hypnotize people and Alice was faking the whole time. The whole one hour and 30 minutes you're never sure what to believe or who to believe.

Finally the overall film is dry and monotone. The plot never seems to thicken and Michael Cera adds a sprinkle of sadistic humour to the sauce, therefore without him the movie would be plain ol' boring.

CBNAH Interacts with Jim Dietz and Shawn Pryor of Action Lab Comics...

Since it was founded in 2010, Action Lab Comics has been building a strong following with fans and critics. One of the first publishing companies to use Kickstarter to successful fund Fracture. Along the way company has released a great number of all-ages titles and created a mature imprint line called "Danger Zone". 2013 looks to be a huge breakout year for the company with Jamal Igle's MOLLY DANGER, Gayle Middleton's VAMPLETS and Jeremy Dale's Skyward gaining a lot of buzz and public interest from old to new comic readers. CBNAH caught up with Jim Dietz, PR Representative and Shawn Pryor, VP, Digital Media Coordinator/Project Management to chat about SDCC, Skyward, Danger Zone imprint and more.

CBNAH: Can you tell us a bit about the history of Action Lab Comics?


Jim: Action Lab began as, and still is, an amalgamation of writers, artists and other creatives who have banded together to, quite simply, help each other put out the best print and digital comics money can buy. Part mad science, part indie comics makers: that’s the best way to sum up what we do.
Shawn: Jim is correct; the core of Action Lab had spent years self publishing comics, and even collaborating with each other on various projects. It was after a convention in 2010 we all decided to combine our talents instead of struggling to do things on our own. We started a Kickstarter in late 2010 to create FRACTURE, a mini-series about a super hero, a super villain and an average man named Jeff who is the same guy intent on killing each other. In 2011 we began our journey in the Direct Market publishing comics and never looked back.


CBNAH: How was this year at SDCC for Action Lab Comics?

Shawn: It was the best year we've had to date. We were able to introduce a slew of new and upcoming series from both the Action Lab proper line as well as our mature readers imprint known as Action Lab: Danger Zone.

Jim: Not only were many of our talented writers and artists front and center to sign their works, but we also hosted a panel about the future of the company and debuted several SDCC variants and exclusives at the show, including some showcasing our newer titles like Jamal Igle’s MOLLY DANGER, Gayle Middleton’s VAMPLETS and Jeremy Dale’s runaway hit SKYWARD.

Shawn: The amount of people that demanded VAMPLETS & MOLLY DANGER was astounding. Danger Zone books were constantly in demand all weekend and we were able to introduce new readers to books such as GHOST TOWN, EHMM THEORY, FINAL PLAGUE, NIGHT OF THE 80's UNDEAD, and many others. In fact the amount of requests from our fan base and new readers of Action Lab books for both our labels was strong. The team and the creators at the show were busy all weekend and seldom had time to breathe. That's a good thing. We also showcased a SDCC exclusive of the upcoming BO: PLUSHY GANGSTA from Action Lab: Danger Zone as well as THE GARLICKS, which I'm sure we'll be talking more about in our upcoming questions.

CBNAH: For people who missed your panel at SDCC what were some of the big announcements from the panel?

Jim: There were a ton of announcements at our panel, including the Encore Edition of Jeremy Whitley’s Eisner-nominated PRINCELESS priced at $1(!), the debut of Lea Hernandez’s “new all-ages vampire yarn” book THE GARLICKS and the October launch of Gayle Middleton’s VAMPLETS based on her very successful toy line of baby vampyres, monsters and mayhem!

But above and beyond all of those announcements, Action Lab announced the “Return of the Hero”, a launch of several titles that all take refreshing looks at the story convention of the “superhero”, kicking off with Jamal Igle’s critically-praised MOLLY DANGER, continuing through JACK HAMMER, about a former superhero turned PI who specializes in cases involving superpowers (think POWERS meets THE ROCKFORD FILES), the action-packed and powerful THE FIRST HERO and culminating in a new volume of stories from Action Lab’s very first direct market comic mini-series, FRACTURE.

Shawn: Also, for those that were not able to attend the panel at SDCC, you can now watch it on our YouTube page.

Here's the link to Part One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhkhgEsc2tM
And here's the link to Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmI2V_Ci9h0

This will give you the complete rundown on everything that Jim just talked to you about. Kevin Freeman (President of Action Lab), Jason Martin (President of Action Lab: Danger Zone) and Dave Dwonch (Creative Director of Action Lab) did a great job running the panel, and our creators were very open to talk about their projects.

CBNAH: Outside of SDCC what other cons will you guys be attending?

Shawn: Action Lab will have a presence at Baltimore Comic Con and Pittsburgh Comic Con in September, and we'll be running strong at New York Comic Con as well.

Jim: Don't forget that during the weekend of New York Comic Con that there are plans are in the works for a MOLLY DANGER launch party, and that there will be a party the weekend of Pittsburgh Comic Con spotlighting the return of FRACTURE, and we will be making more convention announcements on our social media feeds and on our website as plans become more concrete.

Shawn: There's always something going on in the lab.

CBNAH: Skyward has been getting a lot of buzz lately. What can you tell us about this title?

Shawn: I can say that SKYWARD is one of our most adventurous books to date. Jeremy Dale is a talent, and it shows on every single page of that comic. It's one of the better blends of Sci-Fi fantasy that I've seen in awhile, and I'm proud that Action Lab is publishing this book.

Jim: Indeed, SKYWARD has been a both a popular and critically-acclaimed book, so much so that we recently announced it as Action Lab’s first ongoing monthly title. In fact, the earlier issues of the series are becoming very scarce. The demand for this book is very high.

Starting with issue 3 of SKYWARD, we will be featuring alternate covers by some of the best artists in the business, including Stephanie Roux on issue 3, Mike Norton on issue 4 and Khary Randolph on issue 5, and future issues with artists such as Randy Green, and other talents such as Phil Noto, Todd Nauck and others in the future.


CBNAH: How has the Danger Zone imprint been doing and what are some of the stand out titles?

Shawn: It's doing quite well. Copies of THE FINAL PLAGUE, GHOST TOWN, and EHMM THEORY have sold out at the distribution level, and THE FINAL PLAGUE from JD Arnold and Tony Guaraldi-Brown continues to be a best seller for the Danger Zone label. EHMM THEORY from Brockton McKinney and Larkin Ford is possibly one of the best (and only) meta-mystery-journey comics out there, and GHOST TOWN by Dave Dwonch, Ryan Lindsay and Daniel J Logan, which deals with terrorists who weaponize a time machine is also a great read. THE FINAL PLAGUE turns the conventional virus/zombie comic on its ear, and is the best selling comic in the history of Danger Zone.

Jim: NIGHT OF THE 80’s UNDEAD from Jason Martin and Bill McKay is like watching a movie co-directed by John Hughes and George Romero, and I should mention a couple of upcoming digital-first releases I’d like to spotlight: SCUM OF THE EARTH, a grindhouse style Southern-fried ultra-violent romp and Mike Hunau's CRIMSON SOCIETY, the story of one of the last humans in a world ruled by supernatural beings.

Shawn: You can't talk about the Danger Zone without mentioning DOUBLE JUMPERS. Combine "Freaky Friday" with RPG gaming and raunchy humor in Las Vegas during a computer gaming expo/convention and you'll be laughing for days. Dave Dwonch is the ace of writing inappropriate humor for this comic and Bill Blankenship's art is astounding.

CBNAH: Are there any other titles that people should check out?

Jim: We have so much stuff going on and in the planning stages right now, but I guess the book I am most excited for people to read is Jamal Igle’s MOLLY DANGER. Jamal is single-handedly bringing fun back to comics with this book which has the free spirited anything-can-happen appeal of the best adventure stories mixed with a fresh take on the superhero story. And his art is just stunning. I think a lot of people are going to be impressed with what he has created. I know I am.

Shawn: Something I would recommend that people check out is ACTION LAB CONFIDENTIAL, which is a FREE digital sampler of some of our great works which we've published over the years. You can get it for FREE at ComiXology and other digital vendors. Also, take a look at the art book/storybook MONSTERS ARE JUST LIKE US by SuperUgly, Martheus Wade's action-packed ninja thriller JETTA: TALES OF THE TOSHIGAWA, Shawn Gabborin's horror-filled SNOWED IN and the pirate-noir filled PIRATE EYE by Joe Grahn and Carl Yonder.

CBNAH: Where do you see digital comics in the next few years?

Shawn: I see it as a continuing way to get readers the access they need to all forms of comics if they don't have a comic book retailer close to them. I also see digital changing the conventional forms and methods of storytelling as well. Another thing I see it doing now for readers, and hopefully even more in the future is pique interest in print versions at their local retailer. I've already seen in happen at my local shop, so both markets will end up supporting each other and not cutting one another off.

Jim: Digital is a huge focus for us at Action Lab. For example we not only have offered some of our biggest titles as digital-first exclusives we also have several new and exciting titles that will be making their debut in a digital format. We are very aware of how big a part of the future of the medium digital comics has the potential to be and we are always looking at new ways to use the advantages of the digital marketplace to our advantage.


CBNAH: What does the future holds for Action Lab Comics?

Jim: A lot more of what we have always been known for: a wide spectrum of comics that celebrate everything we love about the medium without being tied to the conventions of it. Our only real litmus test is quality, as a quick look through our catalog will show you. All of our books are very different but the one thing they all have in common is a standard of quality. We want people to know when they pick up any Action Lab or Action Lab: Danger Zone book that they will enjoy the experience and that they are getting some of the best comics out there. That’s the goal.


CBNAH: Is there anything you would like to say the fans who supported the company throughout the years?

Shawn: The entire team is thankful and humbled by all the support that Action Lab has had over the years in all of its endeavors. We take pride in being the Small Company with Big Ideas, and we pride ourselves in the diverse line of comics and original graphic novels that we publish every single month. We have some of the best readers and fans out there and in turn they spread the word of what we do every single day, and we continue to grow our readership every single month because of each and every one of them. Without them, there is no us, and we are forever thankful for that. I'm thankful.

Jim: We have nothing but the highest admiration and gratitude for our longtime fans and we are glad to have them along for what has been a wild ride that is only going to get wilder. Action Lab would be nothing more than an idea without the heartfelt and massive support of our fans. All I have to say to them and everyone else who is just discovering Action lab for the very first time, is that while things have been awesome so far, they are only going to get even better.

More of Oz's Fantasia Film Festival Reviews... (Chucky, Nuke'em, Hell Baby, Thanatomorphose)

Fantasia Film Festival: The Curse of Chucky Review by Oz

The bloodshed starts fast in this 6th installment of the Child’s Play saga. The film moves with haste and retains the creep factor the first 3 Chucky movies had. We're back to the horror element, this one's a suspenseful seat jumper. It still remains funny though, the difference being you are laughing with Chucky instead of at him. Clever visuals and twisted effects make this a pretty impressive movie for a straight to DVD release. There are a lot of special fx that caught my eye as well as a ton of references to the previous installments  There is even a romantic subplot that flips the cliche on its head. I saw the first Chucky movie at the age of 6. Now 31, the cycle of terror continues and I'd recommend this to any CHILD'S PLAY aficionado. 

Fantasia Film Festival: HELL BABY Review by Oz

A comedic horror that hits all the right spots. A pregnant couple who moves into the most haunted house in New Orleans call upon the Vatican's elite exorcism team to save them from a demonic baby. Wife (played by Leslie Bibb) steals the show, and Keegan Key is a delight. I love the comedy of KEY AND PEELE, so seeing Key on screen was a pleasure. Be warned, there is a lot of not subtle humour that's meant to gross you out. And a lot of straight guy gags at the expense of husband Jack played by Rob Corddry. HELL BABY made me laugh, it made me squirm and is one of my favourite FANTASIA submissions.

Fantasia Film Festival: TROMA'S Return to Nuke’Em High Volume 1 Review by Oz

What a disgusting fucking movie, we are greeted to our first scene with melty tits and dick. I laughed a lot at the start, especially with the subtitled scene of Lemmy as president. The movie lost me after it's first half but I must say, it keeps the Troma traditions of over-acting, sex driven characters, and low budget gross out factors. Disgusted, yet I still left with an erection.

Fantasia Film Festival: THANATOMORPHOSE by CBNAH Junior Reviewer Mrs. Z

When I looked at the fantasia booklet the first movie that caught my eye was Thanatomorphose. Just the name meaning death transformation was very interesting to me. Followed by a picture of a women with white eyes and cover in blood. The film synopsis from the booklet mention that the movie is about a women who is rotting from the inside. I don't know why but the idea intrigued me so much.

For the first 30 minutes of the movie you follow this nameless woman (Kayden Rose) throughout her daily banal routine. It’s very boring to watch , but yet unsettling because you're expecting something to happen. She’s dating this man who mistreats her and uses her for sex and one day with no explanation and no reason whatsoever her METAMORPHOSIS commences.

The movies takes place in her apartment the whole time with no glimpse of the outside world. At one point of the beginning of her transformation she barricades all source of light with black garbage bags thus making her apartment dark. Leaving you with a great sense of claustrophobia making you feel like you're a trapped fly condemned to watch with anticipation and disgust her unavoidable rotting of the flesh. Just like watching a fruit rot on your kitchen counter.

There are two things very unsettling and uncomfortable about this movie from the exception of her decomposition. The fact that she’s completely non chalet of her slow disintegration. She's almost jaded of what is happening to her and there’s no monologue, so you don’t know what she is thinking or feeling the whole time. The second troubling thing is her growth in libido as she slowly decays.

Overall the movie was a full hour and thirty minutes with very little to nothing dialogue. The movie could of been as effective as a thirty minute short film without leaving any guts or body fluids out.

This movie is not for everyone. It's a gruesome and nauseating tale that is filmed very realistically. Let's just says that during the showing a few people left the cinema. Despite the long moments you just can't stop watching the incredible and vile DEATH TRANSFORMATION! Tis' not for the faint of hearts. If you liked the films The Fly and Hellraiser you will enjoy this movie.

Panagiotis' Tops of the Fantasia Film Festival...

Fantasia Film Festival: My Top 3 Favourite Films from Fantasia by Panagiotis Drakopoulos

Another edition of Fantasia film festival has ended. This was CBNAH first year covering the film festival. Oz and myself saw a whole bunch films, and even we talked to and conducted some interviews with a few of the guests attending Fantasia. Thanks to all of the staff at Fantasia who helped us out during the festival. So, here’s my top 3 films I watched at Fantasia.

3.) Berserk: Golden Age Arc 2 & 3

Being a big of the manga series, I was waiting to see how Studio 4°C (the animation studio behind these films) would handle the eclipse ceremony. And they didn’t disappoint. Capturing the nightmare scenario of the fall and horrible deaths of the Band of the Hawk. High animation production values with a great soundtrack sticking very close to the original source material. Pick up the films from Viz Media because it’s worth every single penny.

2.) A Company Man

If the Berserk films were a drug induced nightmare, then A Company Man is melancholy dream about a man searching for a normal life. The story is about Hyeong-do (So Ji-sub), who looks like your everyday office worker. But in reality he works for a contract killing company. Hyeong is the best contract killer in the company and he’s soon up for a promotion. But after one mission, he starts feels to bitter and guilty about his job. He tries to resign from his job, but his co-workers want him dead. Extremely violent, but yet poetic. A Company Man is apart a long line of great films from South Korea that blends action and drama extremely well and a powerful ending that will you leave breathless. A Company Man will be out on DVD, Blu-Ray, and On Demand from Well Go USA Entertainment on August 27^th 2013.

1.) OXV: The Manual

I had a tough time trying to write a review for OXV: The Manual because it’s one of the best films I’ve seen in my life. The fictional world of OXV: The Manual is very similar to our world, but with some differences. This world is more focused on the scientific level on a person’s frequency. People who emit a high frequency are blessed with luck and a higher intelligence level. While those with lower frequency are doomed with a life of misery and unhappiness. The film focuses on Zak and Marie. They fist meet each other in elementary school. Zak can’t be with Marie because his frequency is very low compared to hers. Due to their different frequencies they can only allowed to interact for one minute each year. Zak spends the next decade or so trying to figure out how to change his frequency. When he’s able to change the frequency and be with Marie, everything around him starts to fall apart. It’s something I haven’t seen in cinema before. Director Darren Paul Fisher calls this film as the first scientific-philosophical romance, which is true. It feels like a cross between a comic being published in 2000AD and the French New Wave of cinema. It’s something so original in terms of both storytelling and direction. A true hidden gem of the festival and a film that everyone should definitely check out.  

Even More Fantasia Film Festival CBNAH Reviews...

Fantasia Film Festival: Berserk Golden Age Arc 2 & 3 Review by Panagiotis Drakopoulos

If you haven’t heard or read about Berserk you should stop now and pick up the mangas or the first Golden Age Arc film on DVD/Blu-Ray. Berserk is a dark fantasy manga series created by Kentaro Miura in 1989. The premise of the Golden Age Arc films takes place in a fantasy world that might be very similar to our world. It focuses on a vagabond mercenary named Guts, who meets up and later is forced to join a mercenary band called the Band of the Hawk, led by their leader Griffith, who happens to wear an evil Behelit around his neck. These films were awesome. It follows closely to the original source material with some minor changes. Everything from the voice acting to the animation is just stellar all around. The only negative aspects about this is film is the CGI on the character models are a bit off during certain scenes and the ultra violence in these films might make a general audience member/viewer feel uncomfortable. But overall these films most be apart of your DVD/Blu-Ray collection and are highly recommend. Viz Media is releasing all three films on DVD and Blu-Ray. The first film is already available with the second film coming out on August 6th and no release date for the third film, yet. Also, check out the manga series from Dark Horse Comics.

  

 Fantasia Film Festival: The Tiger Mask Review by Panagiotis Drakopoulos

When the Fantasia film schedule was first released and I saw that The Tiger Mask was going to be shown, I add it to my wish list of films to see. The film is based on a popular shonen(boys) pro wrestling manga series of the same name. It was created by Ikki Kajiwara and Naoki Tsuji in 1968. The manga was so popular that Japanese pro wrestling promotions would licensed the character and give the Tiger Mask name to younger talents. I had some prior history with The Tiger Mask before watching the film. I read the first volume of manga through some fan scans, knew what happened to the character in the two anime series, and watched some wrestling matches featuring the different wrestlers portraying the title character. The film follows Naoto Date (Eiji Wentz) as an orphan, who gets kidnapped as a child and is raised by a secret society called Tiger’s Cave, led by the mysterious Mister X (Sho Aikawa). Naoto is trained by the society to be the best underground fighter in Tokyo known as Tiger Mask. But after the death of his close friend, he begins to question his role within the Tiger’s Cave.

The film does a good job following the original source material of the manga. It did change the wrestling aspect of the story to a more MMA style background, but still use wrestling moves during all the fight scenes. The costume is made to look more like a superhero outfit instead of wrestling outfit. This is done to capture more of a modern look and feel of the character. But what makes this film work is all of the awesome fight scenes and the character progression Naoto Date. From a child searching to belong in family to morphing into a man with a new purpose to help the ones dear to him. It’s a enjoyable film that people should check out if it’s playing at your local film festival.

Fantasia Film Festival: 009 Re:Cyborg Review by Panagiotis Drakopoulos

009 Re:Cyborg is one of those films that movie audiences will either love or hate. The plot of the film takes place in 2013, where an unknown group of terrorists have been launching attacks all over the world. It’s up to the legendary nine cyborgs created by Professor Gilmore to reunite and battle this threat. 009 Re:Cyborg or Cyborg 009 is based on the classic manga series by Shotaro Ishinomori, which first appeared in 1964. This film was written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, who directed both Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Eden of the East television series. This film has everything for pretty much everyone. Great action scenes, suspense, a well develop romance, thought provoking story, and a killer soundtrack wrapped around this cinematic tour de force. So, why are film audiences mixed about the film? The ending. I won’t spoil anything, but before the credits rolled on screen I could hear a few members in the audience facepalming. Funimation Entertainment announced they have acquired the film. When or if you see this film available on Hulu or Netflix at least get it a watch. 

Oz's 2-Cent Reviews: Set to Love Music... Episode 4...

Buttery Flow Presents: Buttery Comic Roundup 3...

In this 50-min session, I review Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier for DC, Terry Moore's SiP vol.7, Larry Hama's run on Wolverine, Alan Moore's Tom Strong Omnibus Ed. vol.2, Scott Lobdell's run on Generation X, Ken Garing's Planetoid, Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mignola and Sandman vol.2 "a Doll's House' by Neil Gaiman.

*phew*