Fantastic Fest 2010, Video Interview with Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Sanchez being interviewed during Fantastic Fest 2010
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30 Days of Night: Dark Days, Silly Suckers!
30 Days of Night: Dark Days, Kiele Sanchez
“30 Days of Night: Dark Days”. Silly suckers! Here’s the lowdown:
Synopsis: After surviving the incidents in Barrow, Alaska, Stella (that chick) relocates to Los Angeles, where she intentionally attracts the attention of the local vampire population in order to avenge the death of her husband, Gary Numan.
Here’s hoping that Sony will follow through with its plans to produce the filmic third and final chapter of the trilogy based on Steve Niles’ 2004 graphic novel 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow. Dark Days leaves the possibility wide open, and while the sequel’s stunning finale is most satisfying, there are threads left to be tied. This reviewer would like to see the final knot.
Stars: Kiele Sanchez, Rhys Coiro and Diora Baird
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30 Days of Night: Dark Days (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) available at now Amazon.com
Click image to order from Amazon.com
30 Days of Night: Dark Days (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) available at now Amazon.com
Fantastic Fest 2010 Review: '30 Days of Night: Dark Days', Starring Kiele Sanchez, Diora Baird
Kiele Sanchez in '30 Days of Night: Dark Days'
As the film opens we learn that the only survivor of the Alaskan vampire massacre that we all enjoyed in the first film is one Stella Oleson (Sanchez here, Melissa George in Part 1). Of course nobody believes her story of how Barrow was destroyed by a pack of ravenous (and very opportunistic) vampires, but Stella is about to deliver a very unique lecture. Let’s just say she “outs” some vampire spies in very clever fashion (but neglects to bring a camera), and is then forced to hide out in Los Angeles while the local vampires hunt and harass her.
From this point on, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days goes quickly downhill. What starts with a nifty gimmick promptly devolves into a 17th-generation Blade sequel that would probably feel more at home on the Syfy Channel than pulsing through your over-qualified blu-ray player. Although certainly not without a few merits (director Ben Ketai has done fine short films and could probably deliver a slam-bang horror film given a halfway-decent budget), this disappointing follow-up fails to capitalize on even the most obvious of options. (more…)
Fantastic Fest: Day 2 Wrap Up, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days
Fantastic Fest 2010, Red Carpet
On day two, we got several screenings in, and an interview. Here’s how it all went down.
Mother’s Day Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. Starring Jaime King, Rebecca De Mornay, and Deborah Ann Woll.
Jane’ thoughts: Mother’s Day is an interesting remake of the 1980 Charles Kaufman feature. Bousman updates the original by changing the story from a camping trip gone wrong (in which several campers are held hostage and terrorized by a criminally insane family) to a horrifying tale of home invasion – based on actual events – (in which friends at a birthday party are held hostage and terrorized by a criminally insane family).
Mother’s Day maintains a palpable tension throughout it’s running time as the party-goers turned hostages are humiliated, tortured and killed by this extremely dysfunctional family. There are several nods to it’s roots in Troma – particularly Rebecca De Mornay’s performance, which is peppered with camp - though for the most part the torture and kill scenes play without a wink. This film went on a little bit long for my tastes, but to it’s credit kept my heart rate up for it’s entirety.
Interview: Edward Norton
Shannon: I got to attend a round table interview with Edward Norton, who was in Austin to promote Stone, co-starring Robert De Niro and Milla Jovovich.
Edward was charming and intelligent, and gave us some insight into how he prepared for his role as an inmate, why ambiguity is not a bad thing in movies, and gave us some details regarding the creative process that director John Curran worked through to bring the movie to fruition. Interview is forthcoming. (more…)