Like a macabre pilgrimage, the Overlook Film Festival summons genre film obsessives from around the country and beyond to the party-friendly streets of New Orleans, Louisiana—a city whose one-of-a-kind history with the otherworldly befits the event’s atmosphere.

Dedicated to the late Doug Jones, a longtime festival programmer and esteemed member of the Los Angeles film community, the 2024 edition featured repertory presentations from his personal wish list. Throughout the weekend (April 4-7), festival co-directors Landon Zakheim and Michael Lerman paid tribute to Jones at multiple screenings, highlighting his contributions to Overlook over the years and his devotion to both film and music.

Continue reading At the 2024 Overlook Film Festival, The Past And Present Of Genre Merged at The Playlist.

There is an unparalleled, existential magnitude to Don Hertzfeldt‘s storytelling ability, a striking force that is once again experienced through a brief yet piercing time frame of 22 minutes in “World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts.”  Hertzfeldt’s latest outing is yet another marvellous endeavor, brimming with unadulterated visual poetry and philosophical ponderings.

Bolder visually and more thematically abstract than the first episode, this time around, Herzfeldt experiments with the pains of dwelling in the past and the necessity of moving forward and creating new memories.

Continue reading ‘World Of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts’ Is As Crushingly Existential As The First [Review] at The Playlist.

It’s not often that an animated short captures the easily distracted attentions of the film world, but then again, there aren’t many animators like Don Hertzfeldt. At only 33 years old, he received the San Francisco International Film Festival‘s Lifetime Achievement Award for his groundbreaking, unique work. That’s not to mention he’s been nominated for two Oscars, most recently for “World Of Tomorrow,” his visually stunning, funny, melancholy animated short.

Continue reading Don Hertzfeldt Announces ‘World Of Tomorrow’ Sequel at The Playlist.

Erik McClanahan's Top 15 Films Of 2015

Continue reading Erik McClanahan’s Top 15 Films Of 2015 at The Playlist.