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thxbby is bringing a fresh sound to alternative music

(04/20/26 10:15pm)

There was dirt everywhere. It got into people’s sandals and socks, in between their toes and in their belongings. The wind carried it into noses, hair and mouths. High above the dirt, the sun blazed down onto the three stages, where eager artists performed their sets, and watched in wonder by festival attendees. Just after completing their first major festival set at M3F, thxbby stepped offstage and finally realized they never wanted to stop performing.​

https://www.blazeradioonline.com/article/2026/04/thxbby-is-bringing-a-fresh-sound-to-alternative-music

OPINION: The Altar Boys is Fine and Nothing Else | Phoenix Film Festival

(04/20/26 4:41pm)

WARNING: This article contains spoilers and references to abuse. Reader discretion is advised.“The Altar Boys” is a Polish movie that had its theatrical run in November. The film stars several child actors as Altar Boys who bug a confessional booth and take justice into their own hands.The main group consists of Filip Grabowski (Tobiasz Wajda), a boy who’s neglected at home by his depressed, alcoholic mother (Kamila Urzędowska); Gustaw (Bruno Błach-Baar), Filip’s best friend whose family is moving out of Poland in the near future; and Chicken (Mikołaj Juszczyk) and Little Chicken (Filip Juszczyk), who are also in the movie.The boys overhear a conspiracy by a bishop from the curia (Tomasz Schuchardt) to steal money from collection boxes that are supposed to go to the poor. They decide to steal the stolen money from the parish’s safe and distribute it to those in need. They figure the best way to find those people is to bug the confessional with a hidden camera.Eventually Filip decides that giving money to the poor isn’t enough, and he gets the rest of the boys to help him punish sinners. This sounds like it’ll be cool vigilante action, but in practice it’s just like calling the cops on a drunk driver and framing some lady for shoplifting.Honestly this was the part of the film I found the most disappointing. It was the basis for the film’s synopsis, but it just ends up being pretty underwhelming. After one of these excursions goes wrong, all the boys but FIlip decide to quit.Throughout the movie, Filip has had a crush on this girl, Dominika (Daria Kalinchuk) who’s being abused by her father (Artur Paczesny). Filip wants to do everything in his power to take him out, so he hatches a scheme that would cause the father to beat him in public with people watching. I believe the reason Filip is so dedicated to trying to help and change people is because his attempts at helping his mother always fall completely flat. He’ll show her job listings and she’ll ignore them, he’ll dump out her booze but she just buys more, etc.The plan ultimately succeeds, but at a great cost as Filip is brutally beaten and hospitalized. It’s a nice ending as Filip’s mother finally says she loves him and the boys stay friends.“The Altar Boys” is well shot, edited and acted, but it lacks anything that’ll really stick in your mind. It’s a decent movie, but nothing more than that.Currently it can’t be watched in the U.S. through official means, but if you have a VPN it’s on Polish Prime Video.

https://www.blazeradioonline.com/article/2026/04/opinion-the-altar-boys-is-fine-and-nothing-else-phoenix-film-festival

OPINION: Late Fame is Pretty Lame, Despite Defoe’s Best Efforts | Phoenix Film Festival

(04/16/26 8:39pm)

Every once in a while, there comes a film that seems to have all the potential in the world: an all-star leading man and supporting actress, an interesting concept exploring lost opportunities and new chances based on a book from a celebrated author, a deep look at the state of art in our current society, and an analysis of those who find themselves within it. This is what “Late Fame” has, all the factors are right there, smack dab in the middle of the screen. Yet when I walked out of the theater, all I felt was emptiness, like I had almost just watched nothing for the last hour and a half. The only feeling I can really describe feeling was cringe. Deep, unadulterated cringe. “Late Fame” is a film based on the unpublished Arthur Schnitzler novella of the same name from 1895, which was just recently rediscovered and released to the public. The film is directed by Kent Jones and adapted and written by Samy Burch (writer of “May December”). The film follows Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe), a post office worker whose decades-old poetry becomes rediscovered by a group of young literati, including Gloria (Greta Lee), an actress who is more than eager to gain Saxberger’s attention. With so many wonderful creatives working on this film, being adapted from the work of an acclaimed author, you would think “Late Fame” has a lot going for it. Yet every single factor that could make the film good, substantial, meaningful, or even just interesting is stripped away by terribly overconfident writing, boring direction and cinematography, and a cast that is more interested in playing caricatures than characters. I’ll start with the positives: I thought Dafoe was great as always, and did his best with the script he was given. Unfortunately, he wasn’t given much, so there was never a chance at a deeply emotional or profound performance. He plays Saxberger as a man who has never been recognized or appreciated for the art he made, and the bewilderment that comes from receiving that recognition so much later in his life, along with the eventual ego that comes with it. I also really liked the concept of the film (though most of that credit goes to Schintzler rather than any of the filmmakers). I think someone receiving love and recognition for the first time so late in their life, and seeing how they handle it, is a fascinating concept that could have been executed very well by a different writer/director duo. Yet Jones and Burch failed to take that concept and turn it into anything worth noting, though to their credit, there was at least an attempt. A lot of my issues with the film come from how pompous and unlikable the characters are. The group of young men who obsess over Saxberger is like characters you would see in an SNL skit about 20-somethings who write screenplays, poetry and film critiques (I take personal offense to the latter). They are all-knowing, overly confident and look down upon every person outside of the group. They think they are the future of literary art and act like it, which I suppose is the point. But the point becomes lost when these characters are barely fleshed out at all. I don’t even remember any of their names, I can barely remember their faces, and half the time I was confusing one character for another. They are simply caricatures of what a middle-aged man thinks young creatives are like, and they are written that way so that they can feel the sting of reality by the end of the film when they are told their work is no good. That is why they don’t feel like characters; they feel like vehicles for the story's moral. There is no substance beyond their egotism, and that really bogs the film down. Another issue I had with the film is how contained Saxberger’s personal journey turns out to be. His supposed “fame” is literally the admiration of this group of like 10 people, yet he seems to struggle so severely with handling even that little amount of success. In my mind, that makes little sense. If the story were expanded more, if Saxberger actually received genuine acclaim and recognition for his past work, the themes of the story would have so much more meaning and purpose. His reaction to the fame and the hardships he experiences trying to create new work would be far more impactful if it actually felt like there was genuine pressure on Saxberger. The fame he experiences is so minuscule compared to the reaction he has towards it, which makes the film feel unrealistic and leaves it with little impact. There’s also this sideplot where Saxberger’s sister keeps calling because his brother is dying. It’s barely a sideplot, and the whole thing is forced and contrived; it just feels like something that was forced in at the last minute for some sort of emotional impact.What hurts most about the film is the potential it had. It talks about these themes of missed opportunities, of the need for young people to exclusively reference the past instead of creating something completely new, of admiration and the pitfalls that come with it, and of how volatile and uncaring fame can be. These ideas are absolutely present in the film; they literally smack the audience in the face with these themes. Yet they are never truly explored; no commentary is actually put forward, no moral is really expressed. When you are just being told the themes rather than seeing them in action, it really makes the film a drag. I didn’t care about the so-called “characters,” I didn’t care about Saxberger’s struggle with his rediscovery, and I really didn’t care about the reading that they try to build up as important from the beginning. Despite only being an hour and a half, this movie feels like it just goes on forever, and repeats the same points over and over again, sometimes as an attempt at laughs, and other times as an attempt at biting satire. Yet it turns out to be neither, and I can’t help but feel cringed out by all these weak attempts to create an impactful story. I never like to talk poorly about work that the creators obviously cared about and put effort into, but I just cannot praise a movie that is so far off on everything it says and does. Magnolia Pictures bought this movie a few months ago and plans to release it sometime in 2026, so don’t just take my word for it; go see “Late Fame” and form your own opinion.

https://www.blazeradioonline.com/article/2026/04/opinion-late-fame-is-pretty-lame-despite-defoe-s-best-efforts-phoenix-film-festival

OPINION: Friday the 69th is a B-Movie Cult Classic in the Making | Phoenix Film Festival

(04/16/26 8:37pm)

Spoiler and Mature Content Warning“Friday the 69th” is a mature parody of classic slashers directed by Alex Montilla. The cast and crew consisted of Montilla’s friends and family, and the entire film was shot on an iPhone with a budget of $15,000.The movie follows famous pornography director Ivan Moorehead (Eric Anderson), who’s broke because all of his porn is really mediocre. He hatches a scheme with producer Michael Caime (Alex Montilla) to get rich by making a “Friday the 13th/Texas Chainsaw Massacre” style slasher. They put together a cast of the best pornography actors available that day and secured funding from Fierce Whiskers Whiskey in order to make Friday the 69th.All the characters in this movie have sex-pun names such as Rod Woodcock (Bud Galloway), Rock Hardigan (Robert Zoppo) and Poppy St. Cherry (Anna Bess). The one exception is Penelope Flaversham (Amy Letcher) who is the sole trained actor on the cast. Naturally, she plays the main character Judy in the in-universe film. The in-universe movie follows a group of teens who are visiting a campsite with a shady past over the summer while a mysterious killer starts picking people off one-by-one. Eventually,it is revealed that the campsite was built over an American-Nazi hideout during World War II, and every 69th Friday of each decade a series of murders break out. Of course, this turns out to be a coincidence as the real murderer is Judy’s evil twin sister who kills to protect Judy (and also for fun).In order for the in-universe movie to be shown to mainstream theaters, they couldn’t have any real sex scenes. Moorehead assures everyone that there isn’t any sex in the movie, but Caime snuck a scene in that takes place in a hot tub. Ironically, the actors in that scene, David Arnold Rubin and Amber Kellehan, were exes who had recently broken up in real life making the two nine-hour long shoots of the scene very awkward. The film has a joke-a-minute format. If you don’t like one joke, that’s okay, there’s five more right after.One running gag comes from the in-universe film’s sponsor, Fierce Whiskers Whiskey. They’re required to put product placement throughout the movie, so the characters will just spontaneously do an ad-read mid-conversation.The film spoofs the early era of slasher flicks when everyone had no budget but still managed to make enduring classics of varying quality. Movies like “New Year’s Evil” and “Silent Night, Deadly Night” come to mind. The film does a great job replicating this era by using similar effects, adding a film grain filter and by making a bunch of shots out of focus.Friday the 69th may not win any Oscars, but it's still a great time. The film is planned to get a streaming release later this year.

https://www.blazeradioonline.com/article/2026/04/friday-the-69th-is-a-b-movie-cult-classic-in-the-making-phoenix-film-festival

Phoenix Film Festival’s “Caturday” Event Celebrated Cats on the Big Screen

(04/15/26 10:36pm)

The 26th Phoenix Film Festival is underway and “Caturday,” on April 11 was an absolute treat for cat lovers.The day featured a number of “purrfect” shorts, films, and two feature-length documentaries from director Mye Hoang.Members of the audience – many wearing plastic cat ears and feline-themed T-shirts – cheered as the films played and the animals graced the screen.Hoang’s documentaries “25 Cats From Qatar” and “Cat Daddies” were the highlight of the event, combining the simple joy of watching cats do just about anything with heartfelt messages, poignant themes and exceptional cinematography.“25 Cats From Qatar” follows Katy McHugh, a Milwaukee cat cafe owner who travels to Doha, Qatar, to meet with a network of underground animal rescuers and attempt to bring 25 cats back to the United States, where they will have a better chance at being adopted. What makes this documentary so compelling isn’t necessarily the cats – it’s the people. McHugh’s drive to bring as many cats back to the United States is remarkable enough, but the compassion shown by the locals in Doha who foster the cats elevates the story to another level and offers a glimpse of humanity at its best.The film also explores religious and political themes. Unlike many other companion animals, cats are highly respected in Islam, the official religion of Qatar. However, 89% of the nation's population is made up of foreign workers, most of whom do not take their pets with them when they return home – a reality that has contributed to a surge in the stray cat population.Hoang’s other documentary “Cat Daddies” takes a lighter, more playful approach. The documentary tells the story of nine men, each with a distinct bond with their cats, and challenges the stereotype that men who love cats are somehow less masculine, reframing that narrative with humor, honesty and heart.Both documentaries are visually impressive and leave viewers feeling inspired to go out into the world and make a difference.Hoang has been interested in cat rescue for years, but she said she wasn’t sure how to get involved at first.“I didn’t think I could do anything to help,” Hoang said. “I’m not a rescue person, I’m not an advocate, I’m not going to pass legislation – it’s not me.”Now, through her filmmaking, Hoang has had the opportunity to touch countless lives – human and feline – and the impact of that cannot be overstated.“I feel like I have found a way to kind of help with my filmmaking,” Hoang said. “It’s something small that I can do.”The Phoenix Film Festival ends April 19, and while “Caturday” may be over, there are still plenty of films to pounce on. Passes can be purchased online.

https://www.blazeradioonline.com/article/2026/04/phoenix-film-festival-s-caturday-event-celebrated-cats-on-the-big-screen