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“Hippo” is a new surreal, live-action ‘black comedy’ feature, directed by Mark H. Raport, starring Kimball Farley, Lilla Kizlinger, Eliza Roberts, Jesse Pimentel and Vann Barrett, with narration by Eric Roberts, now playing in select theaters:

“…a teenager and his step-sister ‘Buttercup’ struggle to come of age in late 1990’s America…

“…under the roof of a mother who has been institutionalized at least once…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Kimball Farley in Hippo

Mark Rapaport and I first met back in 2021 when he produced and starred in a breakthrough low budget horror comedy which he described as “the first Jeffrey Epstein film,” Berlinale Best First Feature award winner The Scary Of Sixty-First. At the time he was trying to break into directing, and he told me about a film called Hippo which he had shot during Covid lockdowns. Now, in 2023, Hippo is screening as part of the Fantasia International Film Festival. When we got a few minutes to catch up, I asked him about the film, a dysfunctional family comedy, and how it was shaped by being made it that restrictive context.

Lilla Kizlinger, Jesse Pimentel and Eliza Roberts in Hippo

“The writing process started during Covid, and it did come from the place of ‘What can we make right now?’” he says. “That's a combination of Covid and also just,...

The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is set to run from from July 20th through August 9th at the Concordia Hall Cinema in Montreal, with additional screens at the Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. In May, they announced the first wave of titles that will be showing at this year’s festival. Last month, the second wave was announced. Now, the titles that make up the third and final wave have been unveiled – and along with that comes the announcement that Nicolas Cage will be receiving the Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award at this year’s show!

The Fantasia International Film Festival has chosen to honor Nicolas Cage this year because he “has brought a wide variety of unforgettable people to life in works that are as memorable as the characters he portrayed, with textured performances that have been among the most exciting and unique from...

The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is set to commence from July 20 through August 9, 2023, taking place at the Concordia Hall Cinema, with additional screens at the Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée.

After two packed waves of programming, the festival unveils its third wave of programming this morning, bringing exciting world premieres and the announcement of Nicolas Cage as this year’s Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award recipient.

From the press release:

We Are Zombies

The 27th edition of the festival will end on an especially riotous note with the World Premiere of We Are Zombies, the latest from internationally beloved Quebecois cult collective Rkss (Summer Of ’84) – François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell. Based on the comic Les Zombies Qui Ont MANGÉ Le Monde (The Zombies that Ate the World), the film is set in a society where zombies, referred to as “living-impaired,” roam among us...

Tiny Cinema: "From the makers of Butt Boy, Tiny Cinema is a twisted tale of seemingly unconnected strangers whose lives will change in incredible and bizarre ways forever. As reality unravels, each person must battle incredible challenges from a multiverse seeking answers on the essential questions of life, death, love, and the fate of our future.

Tiny Cinema will celebrate its World Premiere at Popcorn Frights Film Festival (August 11-14) and its UK Premiere at FrightFest (August 28-29)."

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Stranded World: "Concept Media is announcing the world premiere and nominations of its newest Bigfoot movie, Stranded.

Synopsis: After the passing of their mother, a group of siblings drive across state to spread her ashes. They become stranded when their car breaks down on a country road in the woods. Unknown to them, a very tall and hairy creature has stumbled upon their car and they have to overcome their family...

“Privilege comes with sacrifice” says one character to another in “Pledge” — exactly the kind of noble sentiment authority figures always voice to hush the protests of those about to be sacrificed. This third feature for director Daniel Robbins is no delicate flower of cinematic art, but a lean and mean shocker that tells its tale of collegiate hazing run amuck with brute efficiency. IFC Midnight gave the quasi-horror meller a limited theatrical run simultaneous with its VOD launch on Jan. 11.

It’s Rush Week, and freshmen David (screenwriter Zachary Weiner), Ethan (Philip Andre Botello), and Justin (Zachary Byrd) are hot to pledge up and party down. Well, really it’s just one of them who’s dead set on both activities: Black, bespectacled nerd Ethan and plus-sized nerd Justin understand they are probably not at the top of any fraternity’s wish list. They’d be happy to get drunk in peaceful social isolation,...

What at first seems like standard hazing takes a lethal left turn for a trio of unsuspecting friends looking to join a sorority in IFC Midnight's unsettling trailer for Pledge.

Directed by Daniel Robbins, Pledge stars Phillip Andre Botello, Zachary Byrd, Zachary Weiner, Joe Gallagher, Jean-Louis Droulers, Erica Boozer, Aaron Dalla Villa, Cameron Cowperthwaite, and Jesse Pimentel. IFC Midnight will release Pledge in theaters and on VOD on January 11th.

Synopsis: "Three friends get the chance to live the college dream when they’re invited to join an elite fraternity—but first they’ll have to survive the hazing from hell. Freshman social misfits Ethan (Phillip Andre Botello), David (Zack Weiner), and Justin (Zachery Byrd) are desperate to improve their terminally uncool reputations by pledging one of their university’s prestigious Greek houses. When every frat on campus turns them down, they are unexpectedly recruited by a shadowy social club...

"Privilege comes with hard work." IFC Midnight has debuted the first official trailer for an indie horror thriller titled Pledge, a much more horrifying take on the fraternity ritual of recruiting young university students. This premiered at Fantasia and Screamfest this year, and is hitting theaters at the beginning of January. Pledge is about a group of outcast college freshmen who decide to pledge an exclusive fraternity but soon realize there's more at stake than they could have ever imagined. The full cast includes Zachery Byrd, Aaron Dalla Villa, Zachary Weiner, Phillip Andre Botello, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Joe Gallagher, Jesse Pimentel, and Erica Boozer. I don't like fraternities much anyway, but this is taking the idea of hazing to the most extreme - literally turning it into a brutal cult horror film. Crazy frightening. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Daniel Robbins' Pledge, direct from YouTube: Three nerdy college freshmen,...

Exclusive: IFC Midnight has obtained the U.S. distribution rights to Pledge, a college frat horror-thriller, which was directed by Daniel Robbins. The pic, written by Zachary Weiner, had its U.S. premiere at Screamfest and will get a theatrical release in January.

Zachery Byrd, Aaron Dalla Villa, Zachary Weiner, Phillip Andre Botello, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Jesse Pimentel, Joe Gallagher, Jean-Louis Droulers, and Erica Boozer star in the film.

The story centers on three nerdy college freshmen, who have been rejected and ridiculed by just about every fraternity on campus, are invited to an off-campus to a party at a secluded mansion. There they are treated like princes by the resident brothers and the party is everything they dreamed college would be—beautiful women, drinking, and most importantly, a cool group of guys willing to accept them as one of their own. When the friends are presented with an opportunity to pledge the elite social club,...

[Note: To talk about either of the films below too much would spoil the wonderful delights within, so the following reviews are as vague as possible whilst touching on some salient points in both films]

Pledge

Stars: Phillip Andre Botello, Erica Boozer, Zachery Byrd, Cameron Cowperthwaite, Aaron Dalla Villa, Jean-Louis Droulers, Joe Gallagher, Jesse Pimentel, Melanie Rothman, Zachary Weiner | Written by Zachary Weiner | Directed by Daniel Robbins

Pledge follows three freshmen pursuing what they think is the ideal college experience. But despite their best efforts, the goofy and likeable David (screenwriter Zack Weiner), Ethan (Phillip Andre Botello) and Justin (Zachary Byrd) get the cold shoulder from the campus frats. They’re ready to throw in the social towel when they meet the gorgeous Rachel (Erica Boozer), who invites them to a party at a mansion in the country. What could possibly go wrong?

Films about fraternities never end well… Well, those that Aren’T comedies that is! If it’s a comedy then you can usual guarantee some kind of new status quo, a nice wrap up that sees everyone “get along” for the greater good.

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– L.A.-based outfit Strand Releasing has acquired U.S. rights to Michael O’Shea’s Cannes premiere “The Transfiguration.” The film was sold by Protagonist Pictures at Toronto, and it marks the feature debut of writer-director Michael O’Shea. The atmospheric feature puts a new spin on the vampire movie.

“Mr. O’Shea’s film is a unique hybrid that audiences and critics will be compelled by,” said Strand Releasing’s partner Jon Gerrans, who discovered the film at Cannes. No word yet on release plans.

– Oscilloscope Laboratories has announced that Joel Potrykus’s latest dark comedy, “The Alchemist Cookbook,” will be available worldwide for pay-what-you-wish via BitTorrent Now on October 7, before it screens in select theaters across the country.