Hot Docs 2024 Presents 168 Film Line-Up Amid Behind-The-Scenes Turmoil
Sean Kelly on Movies
by Sean Patrick Kelly
2d ago
With the news of the mass exodus of ten programming team members still fresh on everyone's might, and later updated to include news of the departure of Artistic director Hussain Currimbhoy, the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival announced its 2024. At the start of this morning's Hot Docs 2024 Press Conference, the film festival's US-based president Marie Nelson, herself the subject of criticism in a post by a Hot Docs employee to Reddit, went off script during her opening comments to address this elephant in the room. Hot Docs Director of Programming Heather Haynes, introduc ..read more
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Crowdfund This: Steven Kostanski’s Deathstalker
Sean Kelly on Movies
by Sean Patrick Kelly
2w ago
A new Kickstarter campaign has launched for a new film reboot of the 1983 sword and sorcery epic Deathstalker. The film will be directed by Steven Kostanski (Manborg, The Void, PG – Psycho Goreman) and is set to star actor and stuntman Daniel Bernhardt (John Wick, The Matrix Reloaded). The film will also be Executive Produced by Slash of Guns ‘N Roses and will be distributed in Canada by Raven Banner Entertainment. The campaign's goal is to raise USD 75,000 (approximately CAD 100,000) to cover the costs of the film's production, including practical monster effects to be designed by Kostanski ..read more
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Monday Editorial: The Arbitrary Nature of Year-End Lists
Sean Kelly on Movies
by Sean Patrick Kelly
2w ago
Many media outlets rush to release their year-end lists at the end of a given year. In the cinema sphere, this often includes releasing films of the “Top Ten Best Films” or the more clickbaity “Top Ten Worst Films.” These lists have become ubiquitous, and many outlets rush to release them before the year is even older, often using screeners or press screenings to try and watch films that have not come out yet. I have been creating personal lists for myself since I officially founded this site two decades ago, posting them on my old LiveJournal Blog. The advent of Letterboxd a decade or so ago ..read more
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SKM 20th Anniversary Snapshots – November 2005
Sean Kelly on Movies
by Sean Patrick Kelly
3M ago
2024 marks twenty years of me writing this site. While the actual anniversary isn’t until the end of August, I thought that one of the ways that I would mark this occasion is that I would once a month share snapshots of previous iterations of the site, with the help of the wonderful resource that is the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. This first snapshot is from the earliest available archived page from November 2005. At this point, I was just using one of the default Blogger templates and I believe this was the second template that I used, which I kept for quite a few years. Some of the no ..read more
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Monday Editorial: The Arbitrary Nature of Year-End Lists
Sean Kelly on Movies
by Sean Patrick Kelly
3M ago
Many media outlets rush to release their year-end lists at the end of a given year. In the cinema sphere, this often includes releasing films of the “Top Ten Best Films” or the more clickbaity “Top Ten Worst Films.” These lists have become ubiquitous, and many outlets rush to release them before the year is even older, often using screeners or press screenings to try and watch films that have not come out yet. I have been creating personal lists for myself since I officially founded this site two decades ago, posting them on my old LiveJournal Blog. The advent of Letterboxd a decade or so ago ..read more
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Highlights from the 2023 Toronto After Dark Film Festival
Sean Kelly on Movies
by Sean Patrick Kelly
5M ago
The line-up and schedule have been announced for the 2023 Toronto After Dark Film Festival. The 17th edition of the festival will be taking place from October 18-22 at the Scotiabank Theatre in Toronto. Over these five days, ten feature films and 29 shorts will be screened. Here are some of the highlights from the festival. My Top Five Picks of the 2023 Toronto After Dark Film Festival Late Night with the Devil (Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes, Australia) – Toronto Premiere Tickets for the 2023 Toronto After Dark Film Festival Opening Gala Film Late Night with the Devil have ALREADY sold ..read more
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Monday Editorial: How to be a Freelance Film Critic During the WGA and SAG-AFTRA Strikes
Sean Kelly on Movies
by Sean Patrick Kelly
9M ago
I consider myself to be a film critic in the loosest sense of the word. My reviews rarely get more than a few hundred views and except for what I get from advertising (not much) and Patreon supporters (not enough), I am not paid for giving my opinions on films. In light of SAG-AFTRA joining the WGA on strike last week, I am left pondering how I can continue writing this film blog without being a scab to the striking members of each union. How Reviews Will Change in Light of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA Strikes Update (07/17/2023, 6:45 PM): According to a new FAQ released by Variety, it is still perfe ..read more
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Monday Editorial: Social Media Migration – Leaving Twitter for Bluer Skies
Sean Kelly on Movies
by Sean Patrick Kelly
9M ago
In addition to being the primary writer, editor, and publisher of Sean Kelly on Movies, as the operator of a sole proprietorship, I am also the primary social media marketer. This is arguably the most important job of running a blog or website since it helps to ensure that people read whatever I write. As a very tech-savvy individual, I was an early adopter of most social networks, with me even having a MySpace page back in the day. I have been on Facebook the longest, joining when the site was still only available to college students (I was at York University at the time). However, this edito ..read more
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Shannon Alexander Tackles a Real-Life Case of Paranormal Activity in It’s Coming – Hot Docs 2023
Sean Kelly on Movies
by Sean Patrick Kelly
11M ago
The horror documentary It’s Coming had its world premiere as part of the Nightvision program as part of the 2023 Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival. Shot, directed, produced, and edited by Shannon Alexander, the film follows Ashley Roland and her kids experiencing some paranormal activity in their Brooklyn apartment. Speaking on the phone with Shannon Alexander following It’s Coming‘s world premiere, he explains that the film began as a documentary about sleep paralysis, a topic previously covered in Rodney Ascher’s Hot Docs 2015 selection The Nightmare. “I didn’t necessarily set ou ..read more
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Visiting Stranger Things: The Experience – Toronto
Sean Kelly on Movies
by Sean Patrick Kelly
1y ago
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to visit Stranger Things: The Experience, the interactive exhibition presented by Netflix and Fever. The experience is happening from now through June at Netflix’s new soundstage at the Cinespace Marine Terminal Studio in the Toronto Portlands. The experience is divided into two distinct parts, beginning with an interactive experience in Hawkins Lab, followed by the Mix Tape exhibition space. Stranger Things: The Experience – Hawkins Lab Stranger Things: The Experience begins with you signing in for what is purported to be a Sleep Study at the Hawkins N ..read more
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