Category Archives: Entertainment

Cinequest 2022: The Smoke Master

Posted on August 26, 2022 by ricbret

I’m sure you have wondered, as I have, what would it be like if Cheech and Chong had produced a Drunken Master martial arts action film. No, well, perhaps you should start thinking about it. Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Review | Tagged Cinequest, Cinequest 2022, Drunken Boxing, Kung Fu, The Smoke Master | Comments Off

Cinequest 2022: Futra Days

Posted on August 20, 2022 by ricbret

Traveling forward in time isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, as Sean Graves learns the hard way. He’s supposed to spy on his future self to determine if he should pursue a new romantic love interest. Even though he’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Movies, SciFi Fantasy | Tagged Brandon Sklenar, Cinequest, Cinequest 2022, Independent, Rosanna Arquette, Tania Raymonde, time travel | Comments Off

Cinequest 2022: Dash

Posted on August 18, 2022 by ricbret

The premise is fairly simple. This is a dashcam video of a night in the life of a LA rideshare driver. The company he works for shares the name of the movie; Dash. And to more than one extent, we see that we’re dashing towards the disastrous culmination a number of bad decisions in this driver’s life. Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies | Tagged Alexander Molina, Cinequest, Cinequest 2022, Dash, One Take, Sean Perry | Comments Off

Cinequest 2022: Fanga

Posted on August 16, 2022 by ricbret

Tale as old as time… we all know the song from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. And we’ve probably have seen a production other than the animated Disney cartoon. But this is a movie truly a “tale as old as time” given its roots in folktales and myth. And with Fanga, writer/director Max Gold is going back to the source material, and added a modern twist. Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, SciFi Fantasy | Tagged Andrea Snaedal, Cinequest, Cinequest 2022, Fanga, Ingi Hrafn Hilmarsson, Max Gold, Review | Comments Off

How To Survive Cinequest 2022

Posted on August 14, 2022 by ricbret

A viewer’s guide to what USA Today readers voted the Best Film Festival. I’m happy, so happy, to update this pre-Covid-shutdown article for use in 2022. This year Cinequest moves back from virtual film festival to one of in-person smiles, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Organizations, SciFi Fantasy | Tagged Carmen, Cinequest, Dash, Fanga, Jim Gaffigan, Linoleum, Survival Guilde | Comments Off

Distracted By The Cracker: The Real Point Of Soylent Green

Posted on January 10, 2022 by ricbret

This article was originally written almost exactly two years ago. So much irony, so little time. UPDATE: Shortly after I wrote this, my friend and Fanboy Planet editor Derek McCaw asked if he could run it there as well. Well … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, Media, Personal, Random thoughts | Tagged Climate Change, Depression, Film, Messages, Movies, Soylent Green, Spoilers, Warnings | Comments Off

Review: Carson of Venus: The Edge of All Worlds

Posted on April 20, 2020 by ricbret

Can I tell you about a unique book experience? I’m going to work hard to spoil none of the book’s surprises, while telling you why this is a book you should enjoy. Consider a prolific writer, now long passed, whose … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Entertainment, Geeking around, Media, Personal | Tagged Edgar Rice Burroughs, Fantasy, Novel, Review, science fiction | Comments Off

Cinequest 2018: Little Women

Posted on March 5, 2018 by ricbret

Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women 150 years ago, and [amazon asin=0147514010&text=the classic novel] has been made into several movies since. This year the newest version is showing at Cinequest! First-time Director Claire Niederpruem retells this ageless story in a modern setting. Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Movies, Personal, Review, Thoughts, Writing | Tagged Adam Johnson, Allie Jennings, Bart Johnson, Cinequest, Cinequest 2018, Clare Niederpruem, Ian Bohen, Kristi Shimek, Lea Thompson, Little Women, Lucas Grabeel, Melanie Stone, Michael Flynn, Sarah Davenport, Stuart Edge, Taylor Murphy | Comments Off

Cinequest 2018: Peaches

Posted on March 3, 2018 by ricbret

We all know the rules of time travel by now. Never travel to a time and place where you’re sure to meet yourself. Never do it twice at the same time. Three times is a very bad idea. And a dozen or so… well that could be real trouble. Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Review, SciFi Fantasy, Technology | Tagged Cinequest, Cinequest 2017, comedy, Fanboy Planet, Felipe Jimenez Luna, Hector Valdez, Hugh Sullivan, Joaquin Ferreira, Jose R. Alama, Maria Guinea, Peter Vives, time travel | Comments Off

Cinequest 2018:
Charlie and Hannah’s Grand Night Out

Posted on March 2, 2018 by ricbret

This is one of those cases where you’re best prepared when you’re unprepared.
Trust me. This film is what film festivals are for. Continue reading →

Posted in Audience, Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Review, SciFi Fantasy, Writing | Tagged Absurdist, Bert Scholiers, Cinequest, Cinequest 2018, Clever, comedy, Daphne Wellens, Dialogue, Evelien Bosmans, Frances Lefebure, Patrick Vervueren | Comments Off

Cinequest 2018: Hunting Lands

Posted on March 1, 2018 by ricbret

The Hunting Lands invites us along for a hunter’s pursuit, stalking a killer of a different kind. Continue reading →

Posted in Audience, Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Review, Thoughts, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged Cinequest, Cinequest 2018, Hunting Lands, movie, Review | Comments Off

Cinequest 2018: How to Cinequest!

Posted on February 28, 2018 by ricbret

As regular listeners to the Fanboy Planet Podcast know, San Jose’s award-winning Cinequest film festival opened last night. Opening night at Cinequest typically features an independent film that has or is expected to shortly gain general distribution, and last night’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Games, Geeking around, Media, Movies, Technology, Writing | Tagged Cinequest, Cinequest 2018, Fanboy Planet, Festival, How To, Movies, Review, San Jose | Comments Off

The Dark Tower – Defending the Rose

Posted on August 6, 2017 by ricbret

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.
Probably the best opening line in literature. Yeah, better than Call me Ishmael.
(Seriously Ishmael, I was just asking you for a name to write on your coffee cup!) Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Geeking around, Media, Movies, Personal, Random thoughts, Review, SciFi Fantasy, Thoughts | Tagged Adaptation, Idris Elba, Movies, Stephen King, The Dark Tower | Comments Off

Cinequest 2017: The Festival Opens – This is Meg

Posted on February 28, 2017 by ricbret

Opening Night for Cinequest, and a review of “This is Meg” which in a way is representative of much that you will see at the festival. Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Review | Tagged Carlos Alazraqui, Cinequest, comedy, Debra Wilson, Drama, goals, independent film, indy, Jenica Bergere, Jill-Michele Meleán, Joseph Reitman, Krista Allen, meditation, Sex, success | Comments Off

Cinequest 2016: Encores and Last Chances

Posted on March 12, 2016 by ricbret

We’re down to the wire at Cinequest! Late last night, the Cinequest encores were announced. These make up the bulk of Sunday programming in the festival’s final day. As I predicted, there are still too many great films to see them all. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Review | Tagged Animated Shorts, Bendito Machine V - Pull The Trigger, Carface, Carlo, Cinequest, Cows, Creedmoria, Dependents Day, Fulfilament, Golden Shot, If I Was God, Love is All You Need?, My Heart Attack, Taking Flight, The Empire of Corpses, The Forest Paper, Welcome to My Life, Zombies | Comments Off

Cinequest 2016: Catch-up Reviews

Posted on March 10, 2016 by ricbret

Reviews from Cinequest 2016: Demimonde, Eye in the Sky, Friends Effing Friends Effing Friends, Lost In Munich, Parabellium, The Phoenix Incident Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Review | Tagged Demimonde, Eye in the Sky, Friends Effing Friends Effing Friends, Lost In Munich, Parabellium, Reviews from Cinequest 2016, The Phoenix Incident | 1 Comment

Cinequest 2016: Sight Unseen Recommendations

Posted on March 2, 2016 by ricbret

Now that Cinequest is fully upon us, I need to touch on a small subject of interest to those of you going to the festival. There are WAY too many great films to see everything. Way too many. And some are terribly hard to review for reasons that will be obvious in a few paragraphs. But luckily those same programs are very easy to recommend, and do fall on my “Don’t Miss” list.
Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Review, SciFi Fantasy, Thoughts | Tagged Animation, art, Cinequest, comedy, documentary, Film, foreign, High school, international, mindbenders, recommendations, short films, shorts | 1 Comment

Cinequest 2016: Friends Effing Friends Effing Friends

Posted on February 29, 2016 by ricbret

My first must-see entry from the Cinequest film festival is a sexy story that takes the “friends with benefits” motif to the next level. Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Movies, Review | Tagged breakups, Christina Gooding, Cinequest, couples, Friends Effing, Graham Skipper, Jillian Leigh, lies, Quincy Rose, Relationships, secrets, Sex, Tyler Dawson, Vanessa Dubasso | 1 Comment

A Favorite from Cinequest 2014: Nothing in Los Angeles

Posted on January 27, 2016 by ricbret

Cinequest never fails to bring in a ton of innovative, inspiring, thought-provoking, and amazing films to San Jose. Here’s one I missed reviewing in 2014…
Continue reading →

Posted in Cinequest, Entertainment, Film, Media, Personal, Review | Comments Off

Star Wars VII trailer: Storytelling & the invisible structure

Posted on September 25, 2015 by ricbret

Storytelling and structure from Presentation Zen master Garr Reynolds by way of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and a priest named Father Roderick… Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, Film, Geeking around, Media, Movies, PowerPoint, Presentations, Presenting, SciFi Fantasy, Technology | Tagged Garr Reynolds, Star Wars, Storytelling, Structure, The Force Awakens, Trailer | Comments Off