News

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every other day throughout the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. The Free Movie of the Day we have for you today is the sci-fi action movie Riot Girls. You can watch it over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Directed by Jovanka Vuckovic from a screenplay written by Katherine Collins, Riot Girls has the following synopsis: In an alternate 1995, a mysterious disease has wiped out all of the adults. In this new age, two gangs are pitted against each other in a brutal war for territory, resources and survival.

The film stars Madison Iseman, Jenny Raven, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Munro Chambers, Atticus Mitchell, Carson MacCormac, Evan Marsh, Jordana Blake, Ajay Friese, Chris Mark, Robyn Alomar, Jake Sim,...

Zombies, aliens, mysterious diseases, and natural disasters: these are the elements that most frequently drive the post-apocalyptic narratives dominating our movies, TV shows, and video games. It can seem monotonous, as their similarities begin to blend together, but Jovanka Vuckovic’s feature debut, Riot Girls, succeeds in separating itself from the mould, with a hard rock survival tale that feels like something The CW could produce at their full potential.

Riot Girls is introduced cleverly through a comic strip, walking the audience through the aftermath of a mysterious disease that decimated the fictional mid-’90s town of Potter’s Bluff, with all parents succumbing to the disease. What’s left of the town is split in two: a battleground between the town’s children.

Death to the patriarchy is something we often express a desire for, and when it finally comes, we imagine that an anarchic town would thrive under its freedom,...

Following her success helming a segment in the well-received, woman-directed horror anthology Xx, former Rue Morgue editor Jovanka Vuckovic delivers her feature film debut with the high concept, post-apocalyptic teen actioner Riot Girls. Obviously borrowing from the underground feminist punk movement Riot grrrl for its title (with an appropriate aesthetic and love for Joan Jett), screenwriter Katherine Collins’ tale of rival gangs also takes many cues from “The Walking Dead” by applying that 90s-era subculture to its social commentary separating humans into two categories: those who kill to survive and those who kill for power. In a world where adulthood spells death via an unexplained gut rot, teenagers are forced to take control. And if the microcosm of Potter’s Bluff is any indication, youthful exuberance divides on the poverty line.

On one side of the bridge reside rich kids who’ve transformed their high school into a fortress run...

As our Fantasia Fest coverage winds down, here’s a double-bill of two new films from actor Munro Chambers, who came to prominence back in 2015 with a little film called Turbo Kid. His latest films see the actor embrace both ends of the character spectrum: hero and villain. Or do they?

Harpoon

Stars: Munro Chambers, Christopher Gray, Emily Tyra | Written and Directed by Rob Grant

Wealthy Richard (Christopher Gray) is prone to fits of violent anger, particularly when he believes his girlfriend Sasha (Emily Tyra) is cheating on him with his best friend Jonah (Munro Chambers) — who’s been having worse luck than even his Biblical namesake. Once they reassure him that his fears are unfounded, Richard invites Sasha and Jonah on an excursion aboard his yacht The Naughty Buoy to make amends. What starts out as a pleasure cruise becomes a fateful trip when festering suspicions and resentments bubble to the surface,...

An award-winning visual effects artist, editor, writer and now director, Jovanka Vuckovic has been pushing the envelope for women in horror for years and when she transitioned to making films, the excitement for horror fans was palpable. With four short films under her belt, Vuckovic makes her feature film debut with Riot Girls.

Set in a future where adults have disappeared and teenagers are the oldest people on earth, Paloma Kwiatkowski and Madison Iseman star as Scrath and Nat respectively, a pair of teens who venture into unfamiliar territory to rescue Nat's brother who has been taken by a rival gang.

It's a simple story but one that unfolds in a fascinating world built by TV writer Katherine Collins. This universe feels like a post-apocalyptic version of...

If you caught Jovanka Vuckovic's segment "The Box" in last year's female-driven horror anthology called Xx you'll already be familiar with her work and are maybe even a fan. Well, good news! Vuckovic has started production on her first feature, a post-apocalyptic film called Riot Girls, set in 1995.

Riot Girls is written by Katherine Collins who has worked on numerous films behind the scenes and has written for the show Blindspot. It stars Madison Iseman, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Alexandre Bourgeois and Jenny Raven.

Synopsis:

A post-apocalyptic thriller set in an alt [Continued ...]...

The American Film Festival is building families. The 6th edition (October 20-25, 2015) of the Wroclaw, Poland film fest was better than any of the previous four I have attended as a jury member for the Us in Progress section. Networking with the USiP filmmakers, past participants Matt Sobel (“Take Me to the River”),Leah Meyerhoff (“I Believe in Unicorns”),Reza Sixo Safai (“A Girl Walks Home at Night Alone”) and whose present project “ The Loner” (he produced and stars in it, Daniel Grove directed) won at USiP, etc. mingled with Indie Star Awardees David Gordon Green and Hal Hartley and other filmmakers like Jenner Furst ("Welcome to Leith") invited to present their films and to eat and party together over five days and four nights which lasted until the wee hours of the morning.

African American Women's classics also showed for the first time ever to appreciative Polish audiences. Though luckily for them, but a sad miss for the audiences, every one of the filmmakers was too busy with other work to attend. The selected films brought rarely before scenes of life in America to a new public.

You can be sure Ava DuVernay was invited, and you can be equally certain that she was very busy with multiple projects.

When I was in Trinidad, I heard from the film's distributor, Michelle Materre, a well known lecturer and film curator whose film series and discussion group, Creatively Speaking, takes place at the N.Y. Film Society’s Lincoln Center and in L.A. that Julie Dash was busy working on a TV series or a doc. I hope one of you reading this will email me a more news of her, because since her film “Daughters of the Dust” premiered at Sundance in 1991, her fan base has grown and eagerly awaits more stories from her. For those who missed her instant classic at Sundance, "Daughters of the Dust" presents a transgenerational saga set on the fictitious island of Ibo's Landing in 1902 about a young woman's quest for identity. Guichees, or Gullahs, aka the Georgia Sea Islanders are U.S.'s most African community still living today off the Georgia and South Carolina coast. The film was presented to the audience as a radical feminist manifesto and landmark of independent American cinema.

Other films included in the series, curated by Ula Sniegowsk and a young film academic Ewa Drygalska, included Katherine Collins' (who tragically died of cancer at age 46) 1982 film "Losing Ground", Tanya Hamilton's "Night Catches Us", the popular and fabulous " The Secret Life of Bees" another Sundance premiering film, by Gina Prince-Blythewood (2008), Dee Rees' 2012 Sundance film "Pariah" and her recent HBO (who incidentally is an important sponsor of the festival with a showcase of its own films) fictional doc "Bessie" starring the one and only Queen Latifah, and Ava DuVernay's "Middle of Nowhere" and "Selma".

While we're on the subject of African American movies, the Spike Lee mentored new talent Michael Larnell, was here with my favorite "Next" generation film " Cronies".

Us in Progress had two out of six selected films about African Americans, the Four Award winning "Alaska Is a Drag" directed by former L.A. and Sundance Festival worker, debuting director Shaz Bennett, produced by Melanie Miller and Diane Becker; and "The Alchemist Cookbook" written and directed by Joel Potrykus. Other films included "Dope", documentarians' Albert Maysles' " In Transit", Nick Broomfield's "Tales of the Grim Sleeper" and Frederick Wiseman's "In Jackson Heights", Mark Silver's "3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets", sleeper hit "Tangerine" by Sean Baker, "Field Niggas" a nocturnal portrait of Harlem by Khalik Allah, David Gordon Green's “George Washington", and last, but by no means least, Clint Eastwood's "Bird" as part of his extensive retrospective.

This festival is held in the largest Arthouse multiplex in Europe, built and owned (as is the festival itself, along with New Horizons Film Festival in July and several others) by arthouse film distributor and entrepreneur Roman Gutek.

Fabulous. Written by Sydney Levine in her hotel room at The Monopole where an opera rehearsal wafts through the morning air of a sunny, dry 50*F metropolis mixing with the sound of the streetcar. This has been a fabulous experience topped off by a fabulous tour of the city and today a visit to Europe's most fabulous zoo and aquarium.

You can put dinosaurs in just about anything and we'll watch it, which is one reason why we're sharing this first look promo for Syfy's newest Original Series, "Primeval: New World," premiering June 8th. The remaining reasons? All the other creatures that come through the anomalies with them of course! Check it out.

Synopsis:

The 13-episode "Primeval: New World" stars Niall Matter ("Eureka"), Sara Canning ("The Vampire Diaries"), and Danny Rahim ("Eastenders") as a team of animal experts and scientists investigating paranormal events while battling both prehistoric and futuristic creatures. Amanda Tapping, who starred in the Syfy series "Sanctuary" and is currently recurring on "Supernatural," directed several episodes.

Based on the original "Primeval" series from Impossible Pictures, the "Primeval: New World" creative team is led by executive producers Martin Wood ("Sanctuary," "Stargate: Atlantis") and Gillian Horvath ("Sanctuary," Highlander"). The spinoff was created by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens ("Star Trek: Enterprise...

Summer used to be the time that we’d see Warehouse 13, Haven, and – sigh – Eureka return with new seasons, but that’s all changed. Warehouse 13 returns for the second half of its giant 20-episode season on Monday, Haven is now a fall series, and Eureka… well, you know.

But chin up! We have Season 2 of Continuum and standalone seasons of Sinbad and Primeval: New World coming our way, along with the return of Face Off, Ghost Hunters, and many other competition and nonscripted series, not to mention a Twilight Zone marathon, a Roger Corman marathon, and more Original Movies with excellent titles. Check em all out below; series broadcast info will be updated on the SciFiMafia.com Spring and Summer Primetime TV Schedule.

Syfy Launches A Summer Of Imagination And Adventure Premieres Of Reality Series Joe Rogan Questions Everything, Cosworld, Notorious Hauntings And Exit All-new Episodes Of Face Off,...

If you watched the British series "Primeval" (which we absolutely loved), then this news should be of interest: Building on its success with acquired series such as "Lost Girl" and "Continuum," Syfy will air the "Primeval" spinoff "Primeval: New World" beginning Saturday, June 8th.

From the Press Release:

The 13-episode "Primeval: New World" stars Niall Matter ("Eureka"), Sara Canning ("The Vampire Diaries"), and Danny Rahim ("Eastenders") as a team of animal experts and scientists investigating paranormal events while battling both prehistoric and futuristic creatures. Amanda Tapping, who starred in the Syfy series "Sanctuary" and is currently recurring on "Supernatural," directed several episodes.

Based on the original "Primeval" series from Impossible Pictures, the "Primeval: New World" creative team is led by executive producers Martin Wood ("Sanctuary," "Stargate: Atlantis") and Gillian Horvath ("Sanctuary," Highlander"). The spinoff was created by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens ("Star Trek: Enterprise", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World...

It looks like our summer is shaping up very nicely, thanks to some excellent scheduling by The Powers That Be. At least our weekends will be taken care of. True Blood will almost certainly return in its usual Sunday at 9/8c slot, so there’s Sunday sorted. We told you earlier today that Zero Hour will be airing Saturdays at 8/7c, which fits in perfectly with this latest scheduling announcement: Primeval: New World will be airing Saturdays at 9/8c, followed by Sinbad at 10/9c on Syfy.

You may recall that we told you about the Syfy pickup of Primeval: New World back in October. You’ll recognize it as a spinoff from the original Primeval which aired here originally on BBC America. You’ll also recognize the star, Niall Matter, as Zane from the late great Eureka. Primeval: New World is another series acquired by Syfy from our pals up in Canada,...

We have been reading, longingly, about the upcoming Canadian spinoff of the UK dinosaurs-in-the-modern-world series Primeval entitled Primeval: New World. We thought it would be fun. Then when we heard Niall Matter (Zane on Eureka) had been cast, we got even more jealous of our northern neighbors. Then when we heard it would be promoted as “darker and scarier” than the original series from whence it sprung, it sounded right up our alley. But since it wasn’t literally up Our alley, we sat and stewed.

But that is all behind us now as we rejoice over today’s announcement that Syfy has picked up the series for the U.S. market. First we have a trailer for you to check out, so that you can be as excited as we are, before getting to the details of the press release:

Trailer: Primeval: New World

Click here to view the embedded video.

Andrew-Lee Potts will reprise his role as Connor Temple from the original series of Primeval but only as a guest.

Canada’s stellar channel for science fiction, fantasy and horror, Space, has announced the start of production on Primeval: New World, the spin-off from the popular British sci-fi series Primeval. Thirteen episodes of the one-hour drama will be filmed in Vancouver.

“Space is delighted to begin production on an exceptional homegrown series that is a counterpart to one of our channel’s most successful shows,” said Corrie Coe, Senior Vice-President, Independent Production at Space’s parent company, Bell Media. “We are thrilled to work with Omni Film and, with the support of Impossible Pictures, we know it will both capture the essence of the original U.K. series and bring a unique sensibility to the screen. Both existing fans of the Primeval brand and the Space audience alike are sure...