BWW Review: Fantastic Z's DEVIL BOYS FROM BEYOND a Bit Too Campy
by Jay Irwin
- Sep 30, 2016
Fantastic Z Theatre is closing out their season of gay comedy with the campy take on 50's sci-fi, Buddy Thomas and Kenneth Elliott's 'Devil Boys From Beyond'. And while this crazy romp certainly has the fun of their previous shows, at times the camp gets to be a bit much to the point of lacking focus and it's there where the play suffers.
BWW Review: Fantastic Z's PSYCHO BEACH PARTY Provides Hot Kitschy Hilarity
by Jay Irwin
- May 27, 2016
I'll admit I'm quite picky and protective about the works of Charles Busch. He's one of my favorite authors with his brilliant ability to tell a well thought out story through the kitschy lens of 40's, 50's and 60's pop culture. I've been fortunate enough to see the master himself perform his own works three times. I've only ever seen a local production attempt one of his works once before (a dreadful bastardization of “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom” that need never be mentioned again). So when I heard that Fantastic Z was performing his most well known work, “Psycho Beach Party” AND it was opening on my birthday I thought this could either be a wonderful thing or the universe playing a cruel joke. Well lucky for me (and for all of you) the folks at Fantastic Z and director Kyle Baiz must have as much love and respect for the piece as I do as they managed a fun and frothy, pitch perfect production.
BWW Column: Oscar Nominations Maintain Status Quo, but I've Still Got Thoughts
by Matt Tamanini
- Jan 14, 2016
Happy holidays movie nerds! Nominations were announced for the 88th Annual Academy Awards this morning, and while I don't believe that there were any glaring, outrage-inducing snubs, I am going to go through the major categories and share some knee-jerk reactions. As is often the case for those of us that follow movie releases and award shows closely, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didn't throw too many curveballs in this year's nominations, which means that there are a lot of people that have seen many of the nominees in the major categories. In fact, the Best Picture nominees have pulled in almost $602 million at the domestic box office, a pretty big number, considering half of them were released in the last two months and had to contend with the behemoth that is STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS.
Our Movie Critic Counts Down his 15 Favorite Movies of 2015
by Matt Tamanini
- Jan 4, 2016
Now that 2015 is squarely in the rearview mirror, and everyone is back to work after the holidays, it is time to take a look at some of the best films of the past year. As was the case with my Top 15 TV Shows of 2015 list, this is not intended to be a comprehensive list. I am one man, and I have not yet seen every major movie released last year. However, as I continue to work through screeners and upcoming screenings (I live in Orlando, so not all of the awards-bait has been released here yet), I will count down the top 2015 releases that I saw during the calendar year. Notable omissions are BRIDGE OF SPIES, THE REVENANT, THE DANISH GIRL, and CONCUSSION, all of which I hope to see by the end of the week.
BWW Reviews: Existential SIDEWINDERS from Fantastic Z Feels Overblown
by Jay Irwin
- Jul 27, 2015
I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you have a story to tell then tell it. Existentialism is fine but don't pack in a bunch of superfluous seemingly non sequitur dialog and lose your meaning as a result. Such is the problem with Fantastic Z's current production of "Sidewinders" over at Richard Hugo House. They may have wanted to discuss gender issues but the story got lost.
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