Ghostly greetings, Panthers! Halloween is around the corner, sneaking up on us like a ghost. For those of you already in the spooky spirit, here is a quick guide to all the horror movies you can find in Miami this ominous October. Don’t forget to stop in for a spell!
With Halloween right around the corner, we’re wondering which horror franchises you’ve been dying to binge. Vote For Your Favorite Horror Film Franchise!
Panther Filmmakers! Join us this Thursday, October 19th, at the first of several Panther Filmmaker Mixers at Deuxieme Maison (DM) 457 from 3:00-5:00 PM. This first event will serve as a Meet & Greet where those of you interested in learning more about the Panther Film Festival (PFF) will have an opportunity to ask us questions and meet other students who are interested in making films. We encourage you to stop by and pitch your ideas to everyone in attendance as you look to potentially fill some missing roles in your production crews! Oh, and as if you needed more of a reason to attend: there will be food and refreshments available. We’re excited to meet you all this Thursday and look forward to watching you develop your projects in the coming months!
There are times you see a trailer for a film like Martin Cambell’s The Foreigner (2017), and feel you’ve seen it once before. However, seeing such a film being produced feels like a return to normalcy in a cinematic market that attempts to pump out more blockbusters than low-budget films. Some of us here at the Film Studies Program, myself included, were lucky enough to watch The Foreigner a day in advance, and with the film’s star Jackie Chan making an appearance to discuss the film. After confirming Rush Hour 4, Jackie Chan discussed how he produced the film after watching the Taken series with Liam Neeson, wishing he could’ve been in those movies. Jackie Chan also discussed his hope that the role he plays in this film would show that he’s more than just a great martial artist and stuntman, but also a good actor.
Jim Henson is one of the great creative visionaries of the past century. From the long-standing, highly praised educational program Sesame Street, to the wonderful Labyrinth starring the late David Bowie, to the charming cast of The Muppets, who blur the line between fictitious character and real-world celebrity, Jim Henson’s career is truly underappreciated. Though among his body of work, few of his projects are as unique as his 1982 fantasy film, The Dark Crystal, which Jim Henson himself has called the hardest project he ever worked on. Despite being among the least well-known of the Jim Henson properties, the world of The Dark Crystal has inspired a huge cult following, spawning spin-off novels, comic books, and soon a Netflix prequel series. With this much buzz around the film, and a 35th anniversary screening coming to the O Cinema theater in Wynwood later this month, it’s difficult not to be intrigued by an 80s family film deemed ‘too scary for kids’.
Thirty-five years. That’s how long fans of Ridley Scott’s 1982 neo-noir classic Blade Runner have mulled over the question of whether or not Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a replicant. Today, they might finally get their answer — or simply find themselves further entrenched in the long debate for another few decades, despite Ridley Scott having voiced his own authoritative opinions on the matter. Regardless, for fans of the ’82 film, Blade Runner 2049 is going to be something special. A trip down memory lane with some intriguing new twists and turns that delve deeper into the original’s themes of human consciousness and identity. For the uninitiated, however, things might get a little ugly.
We at Florida International University’s Film Studies Program, in cooperation with the English Honors Society (Sigma Tau Delta) and The Film Initiative Underground, are proud to announce the first annual Panther Film Festival (PFF). The creation of this festival marks an exciting moment in our program’s history as we seek to provide you, the students that make up our wonderfully diverse community, a platform to share your ideas and stories. Learn more here.