IMDb Film Festival 2016: Just Before Dawn/Documentary Thread
Here is the thread where we discuss the films in the Just Before Dawn and Documentary sections of the festival! Perhaps these categories don't have much in common, but because of their small size I decided to combine them into one thread.
JBD:
Bone Tomahawk (S. Craig Zahler - 2015)
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
An instant cult classic, Bone Tomahawk features an all-star cast including Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson and Richard Jenkins as Wild West townspeople who set out to rescue two of their own from cannibalistic cave-dwellers.
Festivals: London, Karlovy Vary, Austin Fantastic, Sitges
Greatful Dead (Eiji Uchida - 2013)
Gureitofuru deddo (2013)
This blood-soaked Japanese comedy-horror follows a disturbed young woman who is able to pursue a variety of left-field interests when she inherits a small fortune, including tormenting a lonely old widower from afar.
Festivals: Austin Fantastic
Late Phases (Adrián García Bogliano - 2014)
Late Phases (2014)
Ambrose (Nick Damici of Stake Land) might be a blind veteran moving into a retirement home, but he proves he has more than a little badass left in him when a series of werewolf attacks plagues the fellow residents of his community...and one attack hits unacceptably close to home. Featuring a who's-who cast of the indie horror scene, this film is as quirkily independent as it is just plain cool.
Festivals: SxSW, Seattle International, Fantasia, NIFFF, Toronto After Dark, Fantaspoa
Docs:
Cartel Land (Matthew Heineman - 2015)
Cartel Land (2015)
Prepare to be literally thrown into gunfights, shown brutal real-life violence and become stranded in moral quagmires in this action-packed documentary (executive produced by Kathryn Bigelow) about José Manuel 'El Doctor' Mireles. Mireles leads a group called the Autodefensas, a group of paramilitary vigilantes determined to drive the cartels from Michoacán, one town at a time, but in addition to the brutal cartels they have to deal with internal strife, corrupt government officials and police, townspeople who don't want them there, and the stomach-churning moral ambiguities that present themselves when civilians take the law into their own hands. Meanwhile, their story is contrasted with a small American vigilante group, of which at least some members are explicitly racist, who consider it their duty to guard the Texas/Mexico border from both the cartel and immigrants. If you think you know who the good guys are, this film will leave you disturbed and shaken.
Festivals: Sundance, Seattle International
Academy Award Nominee - Best Documentary Feature
The Fear of 13 (David Sington - 2015)
The Fear of 13 (2015)
Prepare to hear one of the most remarkable life stories you've ever heard in this documentary that sits down with passionately articulate death-row inmate Nick Yarris and lets him tell his life story. Is he as innocent as he claims? You decide.
Festivals: London
Life Itself (Steve James - 2014)
Life Itself (2014)
Steve James (Hoop Dreams) intended this touching documentary tribute to the career of then-hospitalized film critic Roger Ebert to be shown during his lifetime; when he passed away during filming, the film morphed into a moving eulogy to a man beloved by family, friends, and readers around the world.
Festivals: Cannes (Special Screening), Sundance
The Propaganda Game (Álvaro Longoria - 2015)
The Propaganda Game (2015)
This eye-opening documentary follows Longoria as he is given controlled, limited access to film inside North Korea - the parts that the government wants him to see, anyway - and philosophizes on the difficult relationship the country has with the rest of the world.
Festivals: San Sebastián