Week Ending 7/11/25

Fantasia 2025 starts next week

Fantasia 2025 graphic: A ringed eyeball planet peers down on a metropolis while a winged horse flies above horizon. Text: July 16 – August 3, 2025; 29th edition; www.fantasiafestival.com.

One of the best genre film festivals is back as Fantasia 2025 commences next Wednesday, July 16 in Montreal, running through August 3. Two-and-a-half weeks of horror, sci-fi, action, comedy, underground, and gross-out goodies.

Festivities open with the Canadian premiere of Ari Aster's Eddington (two days before opening American theaters on July 18), ends with Genndy Tartakovsky's raunchy animated feature Fixed (hits Netflix on August 13), and includes early screenings of Michael Shanks' Together on July 26 (opens in the US on July 30) and Alex Russell's Lurker on August 1 (opens in the US on August 22).

Repertory titles include must-sees from the likes of Mamoru Oshii (Angel's Egg, 40th anniversary 4K restoration), John Woo (Bullet in the Head), Ching Siu-Tung (A Chinese Ghost Story III), and Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas). There are tributes to personal acting fave and Canadian Trailblazer Award winner Sheila McCarthy (artist talk on July 21) and renowned composer and 2025 Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award winner Danny Elfman (artist talk on July 24). And Takashi Miike pretty much takes over the event with three separate works: Crunchyroll series Nyaight of the Living Cat on July 18, action thriller Blazing Fists on July 19, and dramatic thriller Sham on July 30.

I've only seen two of the programmed titles thus far—Tracey Deer's Beans (screens July 20, review at The Film Stage) and Lim Dae-hee's Holy Night: Demon Hunters (screens August 3, review at HHYS)—so my dance card is pretty wide open once I gain access to films.

My coverage ultimately depends on what the festival and distributors make available remotely, but here's what's piqued my interest as targets to pursue:

Familiar names

• Michel Gondry's Maya, donne-moi un titre on July 19
• Steve Pink's Terrestrial on July 20
• Mickey Reece's Every Heavy Thing on July 21 & 23
• The Adams Family's Mother of Flies on July 24
• Alice Maio Mackay's The Seprent's Skin on July 23 & 25
• Albert Birney's OBEX on July 29 & 31

Animated fare

• The Ambriz Brothers' I Am Frankelda on July 20
• The Abele Brothers' Dog of God on July 21
• Ashkan Rahgozar's Juliet & the King on July 26
• Yasuhiro Aoki's ChaO on July 27
• Kenichiro Akimoto's All You Need Is Kill on August 1

Canadian work

• Jody Wilson's The Bearded Girl on July 17 & 18
• Hubert Davis' The Well on July 21
• Chloé Cinq-Mars' Peau à peau on July 22
• Ian Tuason's The Undertone on July 27 & 29
• Simon Glassman's Buffet Infinity on July 28
• Ava Maria Safai's Foreigner on July 31 & August 2

American work

• William Bagley's Hold the Fort on July 16 & 26
• Izabel Pakzad's Find Your Friends on July 18
• Alexander Ullom's It Ends on July 18 & 30
• Ben Leonberg's Good Boy on July 19
• The McManus Brothers' Redux Redux on July 22 & 24
• Julie Pacino's I Live Here Now on July 24 & 25
• Brock Bodell's Hellcat on July 25 & 27
• Todd Wiseman Jr's The School Duel on July 31 & August 2
• Tina Romero's Queens of the Dead on August 2
• Addison Heimann's Touch Me on August 2 & 3

International work

• Kim Soo-jin's Noise on July 17
• Pedro Martín-Calero's The Wailing on July 17
• Kenichi Ugana's I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn on July 23
• Laura Casabe's The Virgin of the Quarry Lake on July 24 & August 2
• Gabriele Mainetti's The Forbidden City on July 25
• Grégory Morin's Flush on July 27 & August 1
• Ronan Corrigan's LifeHack on July 29
• Michael Middelkoop's Straight Outta Space on August 2

Obviously, I ascribe to the "make your list big so you won't be disappointed" mindset. Fingers crossed I can get ten or so of these to watch and review in the coming weeks.

For those interested in heading to Montreal, details on the fest can be found here.


Header: What I Watched in bold white atop a darkened image of Criterion Collection covers.

Bring It On

Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union facing off as rival cheerleading captains with a third team standing in the background.
Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union in BRING IT ON; courtesy of Universal Pictures.
(Digital HD/VOD)

I now know what it was like for The Fast and the Furious fans finally catching up to Point Break only to realize it was the exact same film. That's me having first watched Pitch Perfect without ever catching Bring It On.

And I apparently still can't see Ian Roberts in anything without automatically thinking about his "ass pennies" skit from UCB.

6/10

Daniela Forever

Henry Golding (standing) and Beatrice Grannò (sitting on counter) in a kitchen with beer bottles in hand.
Henry Golding and Beatrice Grannò in DANIELA FOREVER; courtesy of TIFF.
(limited release – I erroneously included this last week, but it opens 7/11; Digital HD/VOD on 7/22)

"What makes the film so captivating is that Vigalondo doesn't shy away from the truth that there cannot ever be just one difference [between fantasy and reality]. Not when this parallel world is solely of Nicolás' making."

Full thoughts at The Film Stage from TIFF 2024.

In the Mood for Love

Outdoor alleyway with Maggie Cheung walking towards the screen as Tony Leung walks away from it, both turning back to look at each other.
Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung in IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE; courtesy of Janus Films.
(4K screening at North Park Theatre; streaming on Criterion Channel)

It's shot as a series of glimpses. Brief vignettes fading to black with indeterminate time passing between meant as fleeting snapshots that both Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung) and Mr. Chow (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) can hope to keep in their memories as the years pass. That first tight squeeze on the stairwell between Mrs. Suen's (Rebecca Pan) and Mr. Koo's (Man-Lei Chan) apartments. A chaotic scene wherein they unintentionally scheduled their moving trucks to arrive simultaneously, confusing the drivers as to which door was which. Their numerous encounters in the rain as one comes and the other goes. Moments they wouldn't have cared to hold onto if not for what happened next.

Because they're simply neighbors at this point: young, married, and often left behind. They greet each other with smiles. She borrows his martial arts serials. He takes her up on her offer to have her husband purchase items from Japan whenever he's on business. Their exchanges are friendly, polite, and routine ... until their spouses' absences begin to coincide and stories told start to make less sense. And since Chow is a doting husband who looks to pick his wife up from work and Chan knows all the tricks an adulterer wields considering she's often the one running point to ensure her boss's (Kelly Lai Chen's Mr. Ho) wife and mistress never meet, it's not long before coincidence breeds suspicion.

I absolutely love the way writer/director Wong Kar-Wai presents their inevitable shared moment of truth. The signs become unavoidable and Chow knows Chan's husband is away, so he invites her out to dinner to ask advice about a gift. They sit and talk like the meal is a business function—neither wanting to risk giving life to gossip whether the neighborhood wondering about their relationship or the other judging either's respective marriage. He wants to know if she could point him towards where she bought her purse. She asks him to do the same with his tie. They're both certain they've played it cool, holding their pleasant façades despite her explaining her husband found the bag and him confessing that his wife picks his ties. Then everything changes upon finally admitting the truth.

This is when In the Mood for Love opens a new world of possibilities because its characters (whether they allow themselves of not) are able to interact without pretense ... or our judgment. Because it's one thing to watch adulterers pursuing each other with dubious morality. It's another to witness the two people scorned attempting to reclaim the piece of themselves that was lost in that betrayal. We root for them. We applaud their knowledge of the other's schedule being used to orchestrate run-ins in the hallway or outside. We grin when Chow asks her assistance in writing a martial arts serial of his own now that he needn't worry about his wife's opinions on his hobbies. We raise a knowing eyebrow when Mrs. Suen wonders why Chan gets so dressed up just to visit the noodle stand.

But they would never do what their spouses do. That's rule number one—at least that's what they speak aloud while their actions break it time and time again. Hanging out is initially less about a desire for the other as it is a desire to understand. Because the people they were before realizing what their spouses did wouldn't have even thought about something so indecent. So, it's only sensible that they'd seek to wrap their head around it by play-acting how it might have happened. Did Mr. Chan make the first move? Could it have been Mrs. Chow? Does Chow pretending to do it feel like something Mr. Chan would do? How about vice versa when she pretends to be Mrs. Chow? These rendezvouses are purely based in research. Then a necessary distraction. Then ... much more.

There's a great passage where Chow and Chan are discussing what could have been if they hadn't married so young. They admit that the moment they said "I do" was the moment they no longer thought only of themselves. Wants and desires became shared. Free time became used in pursuit of the couple's future and needs rather than one individual. They're pretty much laying out everything that's wrong with the traditional notion of marriage being a necessity for adulthood wherein you don't move out of your parents' home until after the wedding. Where even a "love match" feels "arranged" because you can't truly know another person until you've lived with them. It's no wonder so many unions end in divorce or endure on obligation alone. You discover their true self too late.

Sometimes you discover your true self too late too. That's what Wong portrays. Not two people commiserating about their poor fate in hitching themselves to horrible partners. Chow and Chan are instead two people coming into their own because of the freedom afforded to them by those partners' horrible act. Whereas their marriages were born out of a contract that laid out every subsequent step, the romance blossoming between them rises from longing. They're getting to know each other removed from convention and societal demands—vulnerable and alone yet unencumbered and empowered to pursue their hearts' desire. And the more they open themselves up, the more that desire turns towards the other. Because no one knows them better. Perhaps, no one else ever could.

The passion on-screen is inescapable as written and shot (by Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin), but the performances from Cheung and Leung make it even more palpable. Add the 1960s period aesthetic in wardrobe and mannerisms and the chemistry rises higher since it's precisely how these two characters desperately try not to give into temptation that turns their every move into a flirtatious attraction. That built-in sense of the forbidden ingrained by their decency and loyalty only ensures their lust for each other increases to the point of needing to make a choice: be together or leave forever. It's the most important choice of their lives because it will mean giving something up either way. Run away together and shatter their conservative code like their spouses or preserve that dogma by throwing away the deepest love they've ever experienced.

When I saw In the Mood for Love twenty-some years ago, I'm certain it was the quick passages of time via multiple "endings" that prevented me from giving full marks. In my mind I probably thought the bittersweet fade to black of Chow and Chan's first missed opportunity was the better conclusion, not realizing how crucial each subsequent stroke of fate was to understand the mix of wonder and curse that love is. Now, in hindsight, after having experienced love myself, those epilogues become a brilliant capstone to the film's themes and emotions. Not only narratively as far as bringing the characters into a changed world or calling back to romantic ideas like telling secrets to trees, but also philosophically in the sense that "lost love" isn't actually lost. It's real. It endures. It shapes you.

Even though Chow and Chan's physical connection never goes beyond hand touching or a comforting embrace in the face of doing the "right thing," what they share is more intimate than anything shared with their spouses. It's not a mistake that Wong left Mrs. Chow (Paulyn Sun) and Mr. Chan (Roy Cheung) as voices and backs of heads despite having shot footage to put them in the film as more than just catalysts. Nor that the leads playact those deceivers as cold and emotionless in their rehearsals for confrontations that never occur. There's a difference between being duty-bound to another and being bewitched by them. There's also a difference between preserving the potential of love at its height and acting on it only to discover its inevitable decline. There's magic in the uncertainty of maybe.

10/10

In the Mood for Love 2001

Close-up of the bloodied duo of Tony Leung (with tissue hanging from nose) and Maggie Cheung (holding thumb to nose).
Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung in IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE 2021; courtesy of Janus Films.
(screening with In the Mood for Love as part of its 25th anniversary theatrical run)

Originally screened during Wong Kar-Wai's masterclass at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival in lieu of a lecture, In the Mood for Love 2001 is the "dessert" portion of his reworked "Three Stories About Food" concept that ultimately spawned In the Mood for Love. Placing that film's dual leads into the present-day, the short moves through the interactions of a convenience store owner (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and one of his regular customers (Maggie Cheung).

It's a comedic variation on the feature in many ways, but with differing points of parallelism and connection. Her lover is also having an affair, but it's the aftermath of that discovery that endears these characters to the other rather than the act itself. Because on the day she confronts the mistress only to end up with a bloodied nose, he finds himself engaged in an altercation that leaves his own busted and packed with tissues too.

What was a strictly transactional dynamic suddenly becomes personal in both their ability to relate via their injuries and the comfortability by necessity of her desire to break free from her usual routine of one cake slice to stuff her face with every last piece in the store (and some wine) before passing out. And rather than maintain the safe distance that led to the feature's unparalleled sensuality, he acts on impulse to wipe away the frosting from her lips.

Should there be screams about consent? Sure. If this weren't a heightened scenario that hinges on our ability to let romance and humor overshadow logistics. But it's the "dessert" of Wong's concept and thus hedonism rules. In the Mood for Love excelled at restraint and longing. 2001 shows that it can also pay to take your shot—him first and her shortly thereafter.

It's a kiss so good that Wong couldn't help recreating it for My Blueberry Nights six years later.

7/10

To a Land Unknown

Aram Sabbah (eating) and Mahmoud Bakri (scoping out the area out of frame) sit on a park bench.
Aram Sabbah and Mahmoud Bakri in TO A LAND UNKNOWN; courtesy of Watermelon Pictures.
(limited release; streaming on Watermelon+ TBA)

Chatila (Mahmoud Bakri) and his cousin Reda's (Aram Sabbah) plans to escape Athens for Germany so the former can extricate his wife and son from their Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon are constantly being thwarted. By bad actors. Bad luck. Bad decisions. Despite the world being out to get them and their own self-sabotage, however, they still have hope. Enough that Chatila vows to do whatever it takes, even by causing harm and worrying about repentance later. Reda, on the other hand, has already succumbed to the weight of that mounting cost. The burden is so heavy that he can't stop himself from smiling about one such failure when his loss meant the friend who conned him won.

One could reduce this duo to a George and Lennie a la Of Mice and Men, but doing so would be a disservice to the nuanced story behind Mahdi Fleifel's To a Land Unknown. Co-written with Fyzal Boulifa and Jason McColgan, this central relationship is about more than just two men trying to survive hard times. There's the political nature of them being Palestinians uprooted and exiled after their land was stolen. The fact they wouldn't be out hustling and scamming if it weren't for them not being allowed to go back home. And that violence forcing them to take risks, act out of character, and seek solace in alcohol or worse. Society and circumstances are what made Reda an unreliable addict. The desperation to protect his family is what made Chatila cruel.

So, we receive the two sides of this impossible scenario. There's the distrusting Chatila looking out for his own in the knowledge that every other illegal refugee would do the same and the compassionate-to-a-fault Reda being ready to give the shirt off his back to a fellow compatriot in need. We see it when Reda notices a bottle of pills in the purse they stole and worries she might need them back. Or when thirteen-year-old Malik (Mohammad Alsurafa) crosses their path asking for somewhere to sleep. And there's Chatila with eyes open and head on a swivel, scoping out new targets and watching his back against those who trying to make him theirs. He's not about giving charity. Not when nobody ever gave him any.

No, Chatila sees everyone for who they are. Marwan (Munther Reyahneh), a Palestinian fixer with connections to forged documents and coyotes for an expensive price, is an opportunistic businessman out for himself regardless of also being a man of his word. Abu Love (Mouataz Alshaltouh), a self-proclaimed poet the other Palestinians in their squat enjoy having around due to his affable demeanor and drug supply, is a leech feeding off others' sorrows to escape his own. Even Greek native Tatiana (Angeliki Papoulia), a local drunk who lives by the park where they hang out during the day, is a woman seeking a mark for companionship and thus a potential mark to be used by him. They're each a means to an end. Stepping stones to a dream that feels less real every day.

Chatila is a shrewd strategist. He knows how to get those people to do his bidding and exactly when to cut them loose before they have the ability to demand retribution. That includes his cousin too. Add an altruistic purpose to the task at-hand and Reda will fall in line. Do it for Chatila's wife and son. Definitely. Use this person to help Malik in a way that helps the two of them more? Sign him up. Add kidnapping and extorting fellow displaced Arabs seeking the same human decency as him? Okay ... if there's no alternative. What Chatila doesn't realize, however, is that not everyone is built like him and Marwan. Not everyone can carry the guilt and justify the gradual dissolution of their soul. Telling Reda "one more day" won't calm him. It'll only increase his fear.

That's why every new roadblock or tragedy Fleifel introduces unfolds with the utmost authenticity. This isn't a script that feels manipulative. I never found myself rolling my eyes that a character made the worst decision possible because the existence the international community has forced upon Chatila and Reda doesn't possess anything but bad decisions. As soon as you make one, the only way out is to make another. And they just get worse as they compound. More dangerous. More damaging. More unforgivable. Chatila has his family to hold onto and push him forward. Reda only has the promise of being able to make up for all the heinous things he's done in pursuit of that opportunity. So, of course he'll seek to numb himself. Of course he'll put their shared salvation at risk.

Sabbah's performance is the linchpin as a result. He's the film's moral compass and his cousin's weakest link. But he's also a big reason Chatila does everything he does. Protecting Reda is an extension of protecting his wife and son and the wholesomeness that Sabbah exudes is a crucial part to Chatila's own need for forgiveness. Bakri's portrayal is so hardened and myopic that we know his character believes there may be no turning back for himself. Chatila has no future without Reda's innocence because he's already sacrificed his own. They either do this together or not at all because there must be a point to the suffering they caused and the suffering they've endured. It cannot be for nothing. And yet, for far too many, that's invariably exactly how it ends up.

8/10

Header: Cinematic F-Bombs in bold white atop a darkened image of Neve Campbell dropping an f-bomb.

This week saw 3 Generations (2017), Arthur the King (2024), Before We Go (2015), Bring It On (2000), Doc Hollywood (1991), The Expendables 3 (2014), Infinite (2021), The Passenger (1975), Red One (2024), Safari 3000 (1982), and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) added to the archive (cinematicfbombs.com).

Michael Douglas with an f-bomb whose sentiments still endure today from Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.


Header: Movie Listings in bold white atop a darkened image of the "Let's All Go to the Lobby" cartoon characters.

Opening Buffalo-area theaters 7/11/25 -

Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story at Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker
Casino [1995] 4K at North Park Theatre (select times)
The Day of the Jackal [1973] at North Park Theatre (select times)
Diabolik [2021] at North Park Theatre (select times)
Maalik at Regal Elmwood
Sardaar Ji 3 at Regal Elmwood
Skillhouse at Regal (select times) Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker
Superman at Dipson Amherst, Flix, Capitol; AMC Maple, Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria, Quaker
Udaipur Files - Kanhaiya Lal Tailor Murder at Regal Elmwood

Streaming from 7/11/25 -

Aap Jaisa Koi (Netflix) - 7/11
Almost Cops (Netflix) - 7/11
Drop (Peacock) - 7/11
In the Lost Lands (Hulu) - 7/11
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story (Disney+/Hulu) - 7/11
Madea's Destination Wedding (Netflix) - 7/11
Opus (Max) - 7/11
Pavements (MUBI) - 7/11
Push (Shudder) - 7/11
Apocalypse in the Tropics (Netflix) - 7/14
Trainwreck: Balloon Boy (Netflix) - 7/15
The Amateur (Hulu) - 7/17

Now on VOD/Digital HD -

• All Alone Together (7/7)
Karate Kid: Legends (7/8)
The Phoenician Scheme (7/8)
The Shrouds (7/8)
The Unholy Trinity (7/8)
Watch the Skies (7/8)
Amongst the Wolves (7/11)
Bang (7/11)
BitterSweet (7/11)
Everything's Going to Be Great (7/11)
Hotspring Sharkattack (7/11)
Nuked (7/11)
Raising the Bar: The Alma Richards Story (7/11)
Singing in My Sleep (7/11)


Header: Press Kit Archive in bold white atop a darkened image of three color publicity slides from CONEHEADS.

Pieces from the The Ice Storm (1997) press kit.

Color slide with publicity photo from THE ICE STORM featuring Ricci and Wood kissing outside in flannel coats.
CHRISTINA RICCI's Wendy Hood and ELIJAH WOOD's Mikey Carver kiss in Ang Lee's "THE ICE STORM." Photo by Barry Wetcher. © 1997 Fox Searchlight.
Black and White publicity photo from THE ICE STORM with Ang Lee looking through a viewfinder on set.
Director Ang Lee on the set of "THE ICE STORM." Photo by Adger W. Cowans.