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ESCAPE FROM THE 21ST CENTURY MOVIE REVIEW
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road, but what if time didn’t grab you by the wrist and direct you where to go? What if time violently chucked you 20 years into the future every time you sneezed? Written and directed by Yang Li, Escape from the 21st Century is a story about the future every young adolescent wants, the future we deserve, the future we get, and the future worth fighting for. Three friends spend their summer vacation saying goodbye to childhood things and embarking on a journey of self discovery and wibbly wobbly timey wimey shenanigans. Whang Zha, our bright eyed protagonist and narrator (Ruoyun Zhang and Yichen Chen) Paopao, the overweight underachiever looking to leave his mark (Leon Lee and Qixuan Kang) , and Wang Chenyong, the too cool for school rebel of the group (Yang Song and Zhuozhao Li), are gifted with time traveling powers during an altercation with some bullies. They must decide whether to use the powers for selfish desires, or for the good of all mankind. Bradly, Kate, and Mike discuss the Wes Anderson-like presentation with pinches of Edgar Wright and full on homages to Stephen Chow. It’s Looney Tunes meets Howard Hughes, or perhaps if you’re not a film buff cinephile, it’s the most original and unique coming of age story you’ll see all year.
You can also check out our review from Fantastic Fest 2024 right here.
DIRECTED BY: Yang Li
STARRING: Ruoyun Zhang, Elane Zhong, Yang Song, Xiaoliang Wu, Yanmanzi Zhu, Leon Lee, Zhengrong Wen, Liang Shi, Yichen Chen, Zhuozhao Li, Qixuan Kang, Fanding Ma, Marina Malaia
YOUR REVIEWERS
Bradly Martin (Screener Squad, Eye on the Prize, Breakfast Pub)
Bradly Martin was born in the united states and grew up on a healthy diet of sports, films, and books. A rather shy lad who kept to himself, Bradly soon discovered the best way to know a person was to know what people liked. Throughout the years Bradly became a fan of many things and a fanatic of none. From Doctor Dre, to Doctor Strange and the who’s who of Whos. From Playstation to the Dreamcast and Marvel to DC. From LeBron James to James Bond and Lord of the Rings to Lord Palmerston (or Pitt the Elder if you agree with Wade Boggs) and is a huge fan of dad jokes and randomly obscure Simpsons references. Armed with a vast knowledge of comics, films, and pop culture. Bradly traveled the world making friends and sharing takes. As a young man Bradly married the love of his life young and grew older every year with each new child brought into the brood. If trends continue, Scientists predict that .2% of Canada (where Bradly and family reside) will be populated by Bradly’s children by the year 2029. You can hear him leading and listening to his favorite critics on the Screener Squad and Eye on the prize and maybe even provide some comments of his own.
Kate Chambers (Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad)
Kate is a certified horror fiend and Horse Girl™. Her name isn’t short for anything. A native Austinite, she graduated with a BFA in Film Production from the University of Colorado Boulder then returned to the Lone Star State to make her home amid the cinephiles of the Alamo Drafthouse and the Austin Film Society. In her spare time, you can find her either down at the barn with her noble steed Jazz, watching as many movies as possible (often at work), cuddling with her pair of black cats and writing horror scripts, or nursing a beer in any available body of water… or doing Duolingo, where she’s currently on a 1000+ day streak.
Mike J. McAllister (Screener Squad, Staff Writer, Head Video Editor)
Mike J. McAllister is an award-winning creative jack of all trades, and is pretty competent with most of them. He is a writer, director, animator, video editor, and motion graphics artist. He has tried his hand at nearly every form of artistic expression at least once. He was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania where he fell in love with film, writing and special effects at an early age. His obsession with film would lead him to being locally known as a “human IMDb” and being on a first-name basis with every video store clerk in town. He would study film in Pittsburgh before taking his talents to Austin. Not letting something like Tourettes get in his way, he has produced a handful of animated short films that have won awards from film festivals all over the globe. He has also written several yet-to-be-produced screenplays and TV pilots, with some of them being recognized in screenwriting competitions. He has even created motion graphics and animations for several clients, from movie theaters to Twitch streamers. When not creating or watching films, he enjoys MST3K, classic video games and buying vinyl records. He loves dogs, dropping obscure pop culture trivia and watching travel videos. He currently resides in Austin Texas and can be followed on the Instamagrams at @ohheyitsmikejm. His body of work can be found at his homepage or you can take a gander at his somewhat-impressive IMDb listing here.
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