"The Editor" (Kennedy & Brooks, Canada)

A parody and homage all at once, this horror throwback recreates the vibe of early Argento films like Suspiria.  A film editor who is missing the fingers on one hand due to a film splicing incident years before is the prime suspect in a series of brutal murders.  As the horror films he edits begin to resemble the bloody deaths around him, we begin to question what is reality and what's in his head.

Or something.  I dunno.  The first 50 minutes was clever and stylish but after a while the intentionally lame jokes and the intentionally bad dubbing just got kinda tired.  Supposedly the original idea was to do a fake trailer.  I probably would have loved that.  But at 100+ minutes after midnight the joke stopped being funny and I ended up just nodding off.

"Goodbye to Language 3D" (Jean-Luc Godard, France)

A dog takes a dump.  3D.  A naked woman ponders Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  Flowers.  3D.  Helicopter EXPLODE.  Flowers.  A man takes a dump.  3D!!!  More flowers.  A dog. 3D.

Seriously, what's the point of art if only the artist gets it?  Oh and a bunch of pretentious twats in Cannes.  And even worse is the use of 3D.  At moments Godard actually cause the left and right eyes to see different blurry scenes yielding an instant headache.  Combined with the constant choppy edits and perspective changes, this film caused me to feel cross-eyed for most of the arduous 70 minutes.

Serious pretentious French nonsense with 3D guaranteed to cause a migraine.  Godard, you're a douchebag.

"Cub" (Jonas Govaerts, Belgium)

A simple premise:  a group of cub scouts and their leaders go on a camping trip only to find they're not alone in the woods.  Someone else is out there trying to earn his hunting badge.

What can I say?  Tons of fun if you can handle watching cub scouts being picked off in delightfully bloody ways.   Not deep but funny, disturbing stuff.  Liked a lot.

"Spring" (Benson & Moorhead, USA)

A grieving young man without any family and wanted by the police decides to skip the country and try his luck travelling across Europe.  In a gorgeous Italian village in the shadow of Vesuvius he meets the girl of his dreams and decides to stick around.  At first resistant to his advances, she soon warms to him and romance blooms.  Unfortunately she's dealing with something.  Something monstrous.

About 45 minutes into this film, I turned to my friend and whispered, "This is so great!"  The dialogue is natural and witty and the cinematography is so stunning that I couldn't help but fall in love with the film especially when the elements of horror started creeping in.  But then like most horror movies (and this one in particular) eventually the explanations begin.  At this point it feels like the film suddenly takes a sharp left turn from organic, slightly supernatural romance to silly scientific mumbo-jumbo.  Sometimes things are better left to the imagination.

In one scene, the girl points to a family of ash bodies in the ruins of Vesuvius stating its her dead family and I just wanted to roll my eyes.  But I couldn't because I just was just enjoying the characters too much.  In the end the film is saved by the brilliant first hour, the sweet ending, and the gorgeous vistas throughout.  A very good independently funded monster movie, perhaps not as strong as 2010's amazing 'Monsters', but definitely way more romantic.

"Life In A Fishbowl" (Baldvin Zophoniasson, Iceland)

The lives of three people meet in fascinating and tragic ways in this wonderful Icelandic film.  An alcoholic poet haunted by past decisions, a beautiful young woman supporting her child by working days at a childcare centre and nights turning tricks, and a businessman slowly watching his ethics disappear.

The plot twists and turns and the characters's lives collide in many ways.  It all would seem a bit of a convenient narrative if we weren't given the time to really care about them.  Because of this, we're treated to a very human drama as well as a fascinating look at modern Iceland - the failed banking system and the people struggling to make ends meet.  And unlike similar films like Crash with such connected stories of tragedy and pain, this one ends on a wonderfully redemptive note.  It makes sense that this was such a major hit in Iceland as it's an excellent film.

"Kill Me 3 Times" (Kriv Stenders, Australia)

In the vein of many Tarantino and Cohen brothers films that came before, a bunch of very bad people do very bad things in this Aussie crime thriller.  Simon Pegg stars as a PI/hitman who ends up mixed up in everyone's sordid plans.

Unfortunately, this movie lacks any of those other directors' crackling dialogue or memorable characters.  Nothing more than a fun but totally forgettable bloodbath that completely wastes Simon Pegg's talents.  Wait for it to hit NetFlix.

"The Riot Club" (Lone Scherfig, UK)

For hundreds of years Oxford college has had a secret club consisting of exactly 10 wealthy and entitled jerks who make it their mission to live life to its fullest (in other words, drink a lot, treat women like shit, and just be all-around classist assholes).  Two freshmen are initiated into the club and at their first official meeting of drunken debauchery, things spiral violently out of control in shocking but expected ways.

The story of these spoiled brats is entertaining enough but feels pretty familiar.  In fact, most of the characters including the lead aren't particularly memorable, except perhaps the one young man who is quite vicious and bitter due to a prior assault.  But it's a well-done film that still managed to shock and infuriate me despite its predictability.   Worth seeing.