Luke Y. Thompson

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LAFF 2008: Bagging on the Fest

Luke Y. Thompson
The absolute best way to see BAGHEAD is at a film festival after you’ve seen a few other movies, because the opening scenes perfectly skewer the universal truths of indie fests, from the pretentious film being viewed (a black-and-white number entitled WE ARE NAKED) to the Q&A host plugging the......
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LAFF 2008: Red Rum! Red Room!

Luke Y. Thompson
I'm taking the day off from the festival today due to other business (L.A. Press Club Awards and L.A. Film Critics Association stuff, all in one day), so to tide you over before I talk about BAGHEAD and X-CROSS (maybe by tomorrow morn, if you're lucky), I have a couple......
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LAFF 2008: Whiskey Wanted

Luke Y. Thompson
What to make of a film festival that made its name on indie fare now opening and closing with big-budget summer blockbusters from Universal? In fairness, the folks behind the Los Angeles Film Festival have thought that one out, noting that both WANTED and HELLBOY II are directed by critically......

Super Boll

Luke Y. Thompson
L.A. WEEKLY: Why is this your first American movie to screen in advance for critics?UWE BOLL: It’s not a decision for me alone to say if we should show it to the critics or not. Especially In the Name of the King, I think it was a mistake not to......
Trust us: You don't wanna mess with Uwe.; Credit: Kevin Scanlon

Uwe Boll Goes Postal

Luke Y. Thompson
Uwe Boll isn’t one to take criticism lying down. In 2006, the prolific German director, best known for his nearly annual output of poorly reviewed video-game adaptations, challenged his most vocal critics to meet him in a Vancouver boxing ring, and triumphed over every one. Afterward, Boll cast his vanquished......

Night of the Living Showgirls

Luke Y. Thompson
GO  ZOMBIE STRIPPERS During George W. Bush’s fourth term as president, the administration’s desire for crises and predisposition toward fuck-ups leads to the creation of a zombie virus the government hopes will help replenish troops for its various overseas conflicts. Infected women become superstrong and maintain their intelligence, but the......

Horror films failed to scare up big bucks in 2007

Luke Y. Thompson
It was only a couple of years ago that the horror genre seemed newly resurgent, like an undead killer digging himself out of the grave. “Fresh-faced” directors like Eli Roth, Rob Zombie, Darren Lynn Bousman and James Wan — many of whom were dubbed “The Splat Pack” — seemed poised......

Babes, Bestiality and Beowulf

Luke Y. Thompson
Think you already know the epic tale? Not this version, you don’t. Having apparently decided that the Christian monks who transcribed the oldest known version of Beowulf were clearly uptight puritans who deleted all references to monster fucking, screenwriters Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman have set things straight by incorporating......

After Dark Horrorfest: Happy Belated Halloween

Luke Y. Thompson
You don’t have to be a fan of scary movies to see that the annual After Dark Horrorfest model is good news for film lovers interested in novel means of booking truly independent movies with few or no stars into multiplexes nationwide. Last year, however, the festival took place over......

Screamfest 2007

Luke Y. Thompson
In its sixth year, Screamfest continues to make itself a must for any L.A.-area horror fan, with a mixture of hot new releases (30 Days of Night three days early, George Romero’s new Diary of the Dead), big-screen showings of anticipated DVD titles (the extended cut of Robert Rodriguez’s Planet......