Slamdance Film Festival 2025
Greetings again from the darkness. Every year this festival serves up at least a few feature film debuts that not only entertain, but also instill optimism for future projects. Writer-director Woody Bess has delivered an amusing debut that fits snugly in the rare genre of comedy-horror. As an added bonus, the acting is pretty darn good as well.
Dunn (Trey Holland) works as a bill collector for a medical provider. Working from home, he keeps the office well organized with a wall of post-it notes, while spending most of the day on the phone offering payment ‘options’ to folks who continually find new ways to verbally abuse him and his collection efforts. Needing breaks from the calls, Dunn spends what seems to be an inordinate amount of time at the nearby laundromat. While there, he notices one of the machines appears to be a flaming portal to hell. He notifies Ed (Romina D’Ugo), the manager, who is more concerned about losing her job than the oddity and danger of the situation. This is all handled with deadpan nonchalance, adding a dose of humor to a fiery situation.
The shenanigans that unfold include Dunn’s neighbor (Keith David), who has terminal cancer and offers up the wisdom of “watch your own ____” … well, I leave that last word to your imagination; Rip, an amorous drug dealer with a business card and a motorcycle; and a gregarious demon named Chip (Richard Kind), who enjoys beer and phone conversations and cuts a win-win deal with Dunn. There is even a jab at Hot Chelle Rae and their 2011 (somewhat irritating hit) song “Tonight Tonight”. Band member Ryan Follese even proves he can take a joke. The film offers some thoughts on good people versus bad people, but mostly the message is: give yourself a second chance to do what’s right. If not, you may be getting thumbs up from Chip the demon.
Posted by David Ferguson 
Greetings again from the darkness. Jackie Chan starring as … Jackie Chan! He’s an international action-comedy star appearing in this international action-comedy as himself. In fact, one of the running gags has various people questioning if it’s really “him” and whether or not he can actually fight like he does in his movies. The film is from writer-director Luan Zhang and co-writers Wei Xu and Meng Yida.
Greetings again from the darkness. So, may we interest you in a Valentine’s Day movie about an abusive relationship doomed to failure? What if I told you that it’s meant to be funny, but it’s actually quite depressing and dark? Cazzie David (Larry David’s daughter) and Elisa Kalani are co-writers and co-directors on this film rumored to be ‘inspired’ by Ms. David’s relationship with a certain former SNL comedian (the one known for dating a steady stream of beautiful women).
Greetings again from the darkness. Empty nest syndrome has always fascinated me. As parents, we strive to build independence in our kids so that they can go out in the world and fend for themselves (better described as not moving back home or remaining on the family ‘payroll’). And then there are parents like Susan in this excellent and entertaining new film from co-writers and co-directors Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart (partners, spouses, and collaborators).
Greetings again from the darkness. In the age of sequels, here’s one we can actually give a warm welcome to. Pixar has followed up the brilliant INSIDE OUT (2015) with one that picks up Riley a couple years later as she hits those teenage years, which as all parents know, means puberty. The first film won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and director Kelsey Mann (in her first feature film) is hoping for a repeat. This follow-up is terrific, yet it faces some tough competition in a year that also delivered three other exceptional (and worthy) animated features.
Greetings again from the darkness. There may have been a movie that surprised me more than this one during 2024, but off the top of my head, I can’t think of one. My expectations were low for a film based on the true story of a British boy band pop star whose music I wasn’t too familiar with … oh, and he’s played by a human-sized CGI chimp. Robbie Williams is the pop star, and though he has little popularity or recognition in the United States, his story is quite interesting … and certainly presented in a creative and entertaining manner by writer-director Michael Gracey (THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, 2017) and co-writers Simon Gleeson and Oliver Cole.
Greetings again from the darkness. They’re back! The last ‘Wallace & Gromit’ short film was in 2018, and their last feature-length film, WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT, was released in 2005. Creator Nick Park is back as co-writer and co-director with fellow W&G collaborators Mark Burton and Merlin Crossingham, respectively. This creative consistency is crucial to the franchise success, and helps overcome the 2017 passing of Peter Sallis, longtime voice of Wallace.
Greetings again from the darkness. Every movie review provides the opportunity to walk the line between telling enough, but not too much. Some movies pose more of a challenge than others, and this is one. Director Steffan Haars (the ‘New Kids’ movies) and writer-actor Nick Frost team up to deliver a devilish and campy folk horror-slasher-comedy that brings a bit of innovation to genre that could use a boost.
Greetings again from the darkness. I’ll give you the set-up and you tell me how it ends. A workaholic real estate developer drives his yellow Porsche from Chicago to a middle-of-nowhere Ohio farm after his sister and brother-in-law die in a car crash. He’s there to sign paperwork for a foster family to take the four brothers left behind. However, there’s a glitch, and the stressed-out uncle is forced to extend his time with the four boys. Since, we can all guess how this story ends, the determining factor on whether it’s worth watching is what happens in-between.
Greetings again from the darkness. For those of a certain age, October 11, 1975, changed television forever. Now celebrating it’s 50th anniversary season, “Saturday Night Live” (SNL was originally just ‘Saturday Night’) has been maligned and criticized so many times over the years, yet it persists in providing commentary and comedy when so many other shows have failed. No better choice exists to present the show’s origin story than writer-director Jason Reitman w-d (JUNO, UP IN THE AIR, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, TULLY), who along with co-writer Gil Kenan, go extreme with the ‘origin’ by tracking the 90 minutes prior to the first show’s airing.
