THE EDITOR (2014) Blu-ray Review

The Editor (2014) d. Adam Brooks / Matthew Kennedy (Canada)

Wet Hot American Summer set a high bar for genre parodies in that in addition to being a parody, it also acted as both a loving tribute to a very specific subgenre (early ’80s “summer camp” movies) and a respectable entry into that subgenre itself despite its bizarre humor. There have been a few similar parodies in the years since – Black Dynamite immediately comes to mind as one particularly successful example – but no one has come as close to replicating Wet Hot’s mix of parody and tribute as Canadian comedy group Astron 6.

MANBORG (2011) review

Manborg (2011) d. Kostanski, Steven (Canada)


I was fortunate enough to catch Manborg on the big screen at the 2012 Fantasia film festival this past summer amidst a capacity crowd of like-minded, enthusiastic blood brothers and sisters, which is the best possible way to see this hilariously nutty sci-fi actioner. If it’s true that director Steven Kostanski (who is also credited with the screenplay alongside Jeremy Gillespie) created this slice of celluloid insanity for a mere $1000, then Canadian filmmaking collective Astron-6 (Father’s Day) needs to be running the world because they know how to do “more with less” better than anyone else. While less energetically offensive than their breakout effort, it’s an inspired and affectionate tribute to the schlocky futuristic cheapjack action pics of the ’80s that hits on all cylinders and never lets up.

In a not-so-distant dystopian future, humans are waging a losing battle against hellspawn of every stripe. After one brave soul (Matthew Kennedy) dies in the service of his species, he awakens as a cybernetic construct in the top secret laboratory of the duplicitous Dr. Scorpius (Adam Brooks). Together with three other humanoid survivors, Manborg is forced to fight as a gladiator in a Thunderdome-type arena as the fate of the world lies in the balance.

Manborg is great campy fun that never takes itself seriously, with (intentionally) cheap looking and amateurish set pieces, over-the-top performances, stop-motion beasties, sassy heroines, romantically conflicted mutants, hilariously dubbed martial artists (a joke that never, ever gets old), and digital explosions by the score. Anyone who loves low budget cinema, on either side of the camera, needs to see this movie now.

Fantasia Day 2 (Friday, July 20)

The day started with me waking up (as most do – it’s the days where I don’t that get me a little worried) and heading over to the press office to check out their digital screening room, hoping to figure out – due to my overcrowded viewing schedule – which films I might be able to catch on the small screen. Good news is that pretty much everything on my wish list can be accommodated, and really, if they can’t, it’s no crime. (If all goes as planned, I’ll leave Fantasia with 100-110 more features under my belt.) One that I’m particularly interested in is Jaume Balaguero’s latest, Sleep Tight, which is slated for Fantasia’s last day, Aug 9. Due to the organizers adding two days onto the schedule at the last second, my flight leaves that morning, so I would not have been able to catch it. Looks like that’s less of a problem now.

BIFFF Day #5 (Tuesday, 4/10)

No scheduled interviews or close encounters with celebs today, which meant that I got to actually sleep in for once. Of course, having stayed up the night before until 6am getting caught up on reviews and such more or less used up whatever credit I’d hoped to earn from the later wake-up bell. As Gert often says, “It’s the BIFFF!” i.e. any normalcy or daily routine need not apply because you ain’t gonna get it. I don’t think there has been a period in my life where I have been up past 3am every night for a week’s time. In everyday life, I’m a farm boy who’s up with the sun – this whole crashing just before dawn and waking up at noon is completely foreign to me. (You see what I did there?)

20 films in, I have also started to accumulate a list of the various BIFFF traditions that hold sway with every new cinematic unspooling. The festival crowd’s robust energy is intoxicating and contagious, their fervent passion usually elevating the viewing experience tenfold. However, for those like myself who are not really fans of “audience participation cinema,” this can take some getting used to. But if you can’t beat ‘em, you gotta join ‘em, because you can’t fight this particular ocean.