Things didn’t go completely as planned, but I did manage three movies.

The Warped Forest

Surreal and psychedelic, Shunichiro Miki’s dreamlike The Warped Forest flounders in a tedium of absurdity. A series of quasi-interrelated tales form the film’s flimsy backbone: A young girl, armed with a penis-rifle, tracks down the elusive Pinky-Panky; a giant-sized girl works in a Very Small Shop; the local brothel with furry, nipple sucking creature; an escaped wood nymph struggles with love. Miki displays an unsettling fascination with belly buttons and crotch play. Largely a collection of bizarre images and scenes, The Warped Forest plays like a charmless, live action Miyazaki film.

 Combat Girls

An unflinching insight into the contemporary German Neo-Nazi movement, Combat Girls follows Marisa and Svenja, two young women at two very different stages of their involvement within the illicit movement. The twenty year old Marisa, portrayed by the brilliant Alina Levshin, sports Nazi-era tattoos and hates anything not white German. Only fifteen, Svenja (Jella Haase) sneaks out to smoke cigarettes and when puppying after the 20 year old family gardener, becomes embroiled with the group. Director/screenwriter David Wnendt masterfully relates Svenja’s indoctrination and Marisa growing disillusionment. Wnendt’s attention to detail astounds from the tattoos to style of address. He even commissioned composer Johannes Repka to create faux Neo-Nazi punk music specifically for the film. Engaging and disturbing, Combat Girls delivers a must-see movie, one that will be discussed and analyzed for years to come.

 Vegetarian Cannibal

Amoral gynecologist Dr. Danko Babić’s (Rene Bitorajac) sociopathic tendencies leads him down some dark and harrowing paths. He routinely does drugs, works for gangsters, avoids corruption charges, and hits on women. Director Branko Schmidt aided by Bitorajac’s masterful performance steers Babić through the harrowing Croatian underworld, some surprising plot twists, and a jarring conclusion. Enjoy the disturbing Vegetarian Cannibal but expect to need a bath afterwards.

Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin on September 20. During the course of the eight day festival, I’m blogging about my cinema experiences.

Day One

Day Three

Fantastic Fest Day Two was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

With Day One in the books and only three movies, Fantastic Fest has already supplied some surprises.

Antiviral

Despite its interesting concept, the first directorial effort from Brandon Cronenberg, son of the legendary David, disappoints. Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) works for a clinic that injects fans with diseases of their favorite stars. Syd contracts a fatal designer virus that kills megastar Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon). In order to survive, Syd must discover its origins. Emotionally cold, the film features stark scenes punctuated with bright red blood and occasional action. Jones, almost always clad in white, successfully blends his bland character into the similar background. Though this exploration of the cult of celebrity toys with some interesting concepts, the film fails to shed new insights (or really any) on the fascination. While delivering some disturbing and even memorable imagery, Antiviral falls far short of its lofty promise.

Final Member

The compelling Final Member introduces Sigurdur “Siggi” Hjartarson and his Icelandic Phallological Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of mammalian penises. Siggi’s collection lacks one thing: a human penis. Meeting the “legal limit” requirement, two men offer to help: 95-year-old Páll Arason, a legendary Icelandic explorer and philanderer who wants his well-traveled member preserved after his death; and Tom, an eccentric American who dubs his manhood “Elmo” and is eager to donate while he is still around to view it. Co-directors Jonah Bekhor and Zack Math treat the potentially humorous subject with class and style. The compelling documentary delivers with intriguing sub-stories, fascinating information, and a tension-filled race to be the first human phallus in museum.

Dredd 3D

Seventeen years since his disastrous big screen appearance, the iconic Judge Dredd returns in the surprisingly good Dredd 3D. This time the movie features a modest budget and focuses on the characters rather than a big name superstar. Karl Urban masterfully portrays the dour. helmet-headed Dredd, successfully submerging himself in the role. Olivia Kirdby excels as the rookie Judge Anderson. Though the film displays some noticable flaws, the smartly simple Alex Garland script keeps the action and the story moving. Essentially a buddy film with elements of Training Day, Robocop, and Die Hard tossed in, Dredd 3D delivers a quality actioneer.

For more on Dredd 3D, check out my Blastr interview with Urban and Anderson.

Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin on September 20. During the course of the eight day festival, I’m blogging about my cinema experiences.

Day Two

Fantastic Fest Day One was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin tomorrow! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.

http://youtu.be/2p7FhIyHhgI

The King of Pigs

South Korea’s very first animated film to screen at Cannes, THE KING OF PIGS is a time-tripping, soul-shattering mystery about the scars that make us, and the secrets we bleed to keep. Kyung-Min has just killed his wife, but it didn’t make him feel any better. His business is failing and he can’t stop thinking about his middle school days, back when he was one of the lowly, bullied “pigs”, the rock-bottom caste of the social animal kingdom, at the mercy of the popular “dogs”. His old school friend, Jong-Suk, agrees to meet, and each man tells the other polite lies about his wrecked life. But both of them have one thing on their minds: Chul-Yi, their old class comrade, the quiet, deadly boy in the hoodie who fought back against the bullies and became, for one blazing moment in time, The King of Pigs. “Be my friends,” he offered, “and you will never cry.”

THE KING OF PIGS animation style evokes memories of the great Satoshi Kon (PAPRIKA), sinuous yet rippling with organic textures that mimic the flesh and failings of real, flawed human beings, with every tear, bruise and knuckle to the face meticulously rendered. One thing the film never allows us is too much room to breathe: these kids are suffering, and so must the audience. Every moment is tripwired, every scene is a time bomb. In keeping with the film’s thematic resonance, the adult and child Jong-Suk are voiced, respectively, by Yang Ik-June and Kim Kkobbi, the stars of NYAFF 2009’s harrowing, BREATHLESS.

Inspired by his own experiences in middle school, director Yeun Sang-Ho also drew upon recurring dreams to tell his dual-narrative story about the cycles of abuse and the bullied who become the bullies. THE KING OF PIGS is a meditation on the impotence and violence in the world of young adults, and the cancer of memory. In Yeun’s dark vision, Korea today is bound by an invisible web of resentment, classism, and persecution from birth to death, where souls are trapped by their hidden sins. The only way to break free is to face the ugly truth about where we’ve been and where we’re going. (NYAFF)

http://youtu.be/gNQlpVYLxoU

The Exorcist in the 21st Century

It has been done so many times now that it has become cliché, eyes simply rolling and glazing over when the ‘Based on a true story’ tag scrolls across the screen to add gravity to the latest Hollywood concocted tale of demonic possession. But THE EXORCIST IN THE 21ST CENTURY really is the true story, a detailed and nuanced documentary of highly specialized priests – real life Vatican-approved exorcists – and the people who seek out their services.

Filmmaker Fredrik Horn Akselsen has been granted a remarkable degree of access to tell this story, presenting information and first hand experiences in a steady, even hand that leaves the audience free to draw their own conclusions. He meets with believers in the phenomenon as well as skeptics, both inside and outside of the church. But mostly he tells his story through two people.

First, there is Father Jose Antonio Fortea, a Roman Catholic priest based in Madrid. Father Fortea first rose to prominence as the author of Summa Daemoniaca, a treatise on the history of demonology throughout Catholic history including, yes, a manual of Catholic rites of exorcism. Father Fortea has become known around the world as an expert on the topic, traveling to speak about demonology around the world and – as one of a small group of Catholic priests approved by the Vatican to perform exorcisms – he very definitely practices what he preaches.

And then there is Constanza – an articulate, university educated Colombian woman who sincerely believes she is demon possessed and is seeking out the help of Fortea or any other priest who may free her of her affliction.

Akselsen tells these stories with a minimum of fuss and bother, choosing to let the day to day life of the men who live out this very unusual vocation be the story rather than attempting to embellish for shock value. It makes for fascinating viewing. (Todd Brown)

http://youtu.be/xZNVPiyl_ag

The Conspiracy

When two young filmmakers select a crazed conspiracy theorist as the subject of their new work, the task seems simple enough: Befriend him, gain his trust, and let his theories speak for themselves. But things prove much more complicated than that. Despite his wild street preaching, their subject proves to be an articulate and intelligent man; one prone to seeing patterns others don’t, sure, but hardly the expected lunatic. Listen long enough and his arguments even start to make a certain sort of sense. It’s enough to make you wonder if maybe, somewhere, there’s some basis to what he’s saying…

And then he simply disappears. No word. No trace. Just gone.

While one of the filmmaking duo is prepared to walk away, the other becomes obsessed. This should not be possible. People don’t just disappear. Not unless someone wants them to. What if he was correct? What if he was on the verge of exposing some greater scheme? And what if he was taken? And so begins an obsessive effort to reconstruct his work, an effort that points the duo to a hidden society, a high powered retreat and networking organization for the political and business elite.

A meticulously researched and cannily constructed bit of work, THE CONSPIRACY systematically blurs the lines between fact and fiction, deconstructing the distinction between facts and news, news and propaganda. Using one of the most persistent memes of our time – the conspiracy theory – to create a fact-based thriller, THE CONSPIRACY is more than just entertainment. It’s a sly commentary on a world in which the medium really has become the message, a world in which the most important question is not “What happened?” but “Who is telling us?” (Todd Brown)

http://youtu.be/T3tj98HeBi4

No Rest For the Wicked

Santos Trinidad (José Coronado) is a dirty cop with a violent streak and a serious thirst for rum and Coke. During a drunken binge, he murders three people in a bar. A witness escapes from the building before Santos can catch him. While Santos sets out to kill the witness and cover up his crimes, a judge and the police conduct a investigation into the murders. Santos’ hunt for the witness and the parallel police investigation slowly converge to reveal a massive criminal conspiracy that no one involved could have ever anticipated.

Enrique Urbizu’s NO REST FOR THE WICKED (NO HABRÁ PAZ PARA LOS MALVADOS) is a briskly paced thriller that deftly juggles intertwining plot lines with surprising and explosive results. The film swept the 2012 Goya Awards—the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars—with wins for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Sound. The accolades are well deserved because NO REST FOR THE WICKED is amongst the strongest thrillers to emerge from Spain—or anywhere else—in the past few years. The film’s secret weapon is José Coronado, who delivers an award-winning performance as a completely despicable cop. Focusing a film on such an unlikeable character is a risky move, but Coronado handles the role with menacing precision. An American remake of the film is already in the works—Sylvester Stallone has expressed serious interest—so now is the time to get ahead of the curve and experience the power of the original NO REST FOR THE WICKED. (Rodney Perkins)

http://youtu.be/ie50tZGKY7U

Hail

Danny (Daniel P. Jones) is released from a Melbourne jail and immediately returns home to his girlfriend Leanne (Jone’s real life partner Leanne Campbell). Though his relationship with Leanne picks right back up where it left off, Danny’s attempts to reintegrate into society are met with resistance at every step of the way. Haunted by the mental and emotional demons of prison and the lifestyle that put him there, he soon resorts to the familiar crutches of alcohol and outbursts of anger to alleviate tension. Danny is able to maintain some amount of control until things begin to fall off the rails, triggered by a visit from Leanne’s heroin dealing friend Anthony.

HAIL is a startling and brutal hybrid film, a semi-autobiographical pastiche of events from Jones’ life and from those of his acquaintances in the criminal world he used to inhabit. Director Amiel Courtin-Wilson worked with Jones to piece together a narrative from his memories and cast Jones, Campbell and other real life characters to create HAIL. The result is a gripping experimental film full of a palpable reality. The narrative is as free-flowing and surreal as it is straightforward with scenes of intense grit inter-cut with those of arresting artistic beauty all coupled with an inventive and unforgettable score. It all works thanks to stunning performances from everyone, especially Jones who has spent his entire life preparing for this role.

We at Fantastic Fest certainly do love our crime dramas but HAIL is certain to defy attendees’ expectations of what a film of its kind can be. Like other ultra-realistic films coming out of Australia, HAIL will take you uncomfortably close to the mind and misdeeds of people who have actually lived the kind of lives most of us only see in movies. (Brian Kelley)

Day Five preview

Day Seven preview

Fantastic Fest Day Six Preview was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin tomorrow! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.

http://youtu.be/TA44XDkPOYY

Memory of the Dead

Alicia is devastated by the death of her beloved husband, Jorge. Not surprised, but devastated nonetheless. Not surprised because Jorge, a practitioner of the occult with remarkable powers, foresaw his own death and warned his beloved wife ahead of time. Warned her and left her with instructions on how to bring him back. And Alicia intends to follow those instructions to the letter.

And so, just a few days after Jorge’s death, Alicia has gathered their closest friends in their home to undertake the rite Jorge laid out for them. A rite that she tells her friends will send their love shining out like a beacon through the afterlife, a shining beacon to guide Jorge home. Yes, there will be difficulties. All involved may find themselves visited by the spirits of their own dead. But – and this is important – as long as all involved stay inside the house they will be perfectly safe. Nothing can harm them there.

Alicia is lying, of course, the ritual and its risks not exactly as she has presented them to her guests. And it quickly becomes clear that not everyone will survive until the morning.

A compelling fusion of visual bravado and reckless energy, LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO announces the arrival of a major new talent in Argentina’s Valentin Javier Diment. Blending the DIY bravado and grotesque sense of humor of an EVIL DEAD II era Sam Raimi with the baroque sensibilities of classic giallo, LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO is simply astounding in its ambitions and even moreso in its ability to accomplish those ambitions on a tiny budget. Diment is clearly some sort of gonzo genius and this the film that he packed all of his loves and obsessions into as though afraid he’ll never get the chance again. (Todd Brown)

http://youtu.be/cGG9W-7j_2k

Besties

Sandy (Olivia Croicchia) is a high school freshman. She is a self- described loser, an outcast. She is infatuated with a high school senior named Ashley (Madison Riley). Sandy convinces her dad (Corin Nemec) to let Ashley stay over while he is out of town. Ashley takes up the offer on the condition that they secretly hold a party at the house. As the party dies down, Ashley’s ex-boyfriend (Christopher Backus) shows up. After a series of disastrous events, he ends up dead and the two girls have to clean up the mess.

BESTIES is the featured debut of writer-director Rebecca Perry Cutter and delivers a smart, clever twist on a familiar coming-of-age thriller formula. The film differentiates itself from the pack by rooting its story in the strange relationship between the two main characters. Ashley is manipulative and self-absorbed. On the other hand, Sandy is a confused naif. She knows that Ashley is manipulating her, but a mixture of admiration and sexual desire keeps her engaged. The film smartly plays off this dynamic to create an atmosphere of awkward tension and suspense. Cutter also injects issues of class into the mix, thus adding an additional layer of subtext to an already loaded scenario. (Rodney Perkins)

http://youtu.be/_axcrBoG7IM

Cold Blooded

Charged with the theft of a bag of precious diamonds and the murder of his partner in crime, Cordero is comatose and chained to a hospital bed on an isolated and otherwise empty overflow floor. Officer Jane is the stern, by-the-book policewoman guarding Cordero’s room when he wakes from his coma and immediately claims he was framed in the killing of his partner. The two quickly establish a playful rapport, which is broken when Cordero makes his first escape attempt. His efforts to slip away prove to be the least of Officer Jane’s worries as violent, no-nonsense crime kingpin Louis Holland arrives at the hospital looking for the jewels. Officer Jane finds herself trapped on an empty hospital floor guarding her prisoner and trying to find a way out while Holland is quick to prove he intends to maintain the upper hand.

Director Jason Lapeyre (who comes to Fantastic Fest with this and another film, I DECLARE WAR) squeezes every bit of excitement out of a setup that’s limited in scope but not in cleverness. Combining crime, thriller and some occasional humor elements, COLD BLOODED moves at an incredible pace and is smattered with some seriously violent moments proving that no character can ever be considered safe. Holland is a formidable baddie, a brash hulk of a man who’s unflinchingly evil when anyone stands in his way. Officer Jane is a refreshingly well-rounded female lead character, a woman intent on doing what is right and just, regardless of the cost to her own well being. As the two collide, COLD BLOODED shows how much fun a movie with just a handful of characters in a single location can really be. (Brian Kelley)

http://youtu.be/2tsnPVsApp8

Paris By Night

Phillipe Lefebvre’s PARIS BY NIGHT is a sleek French cop thriller that follows a pair of vice cops as they patrol the Parisian club scene over the course of a single evening. Simon Weiss (Roschdy Zem from SLEEPLESS NIGHT and POINT BLANK) plays a suave chain-smoking, hard-drinking cop with the brigade mondaine. Wiess’ job is to make sure the Parisian night clubs operate legally, but his methods of enforcing the law are unorthodox. In exchange for cash and crime tips, he doles out favors to numerous club owners, including his friend Tony Garcia (Samuel Le Bihan from BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF and FRONTIER(S)). Each night, a different colleague chauffeurs Weiss around Paris. On this particular evening, Sergeant Laurence Deray joins Weiss as his driver. A seemingly normal shift evolves into a long night of beat downs and shake downs.

PARIS BY NIGHT provides a behind-the-scenes look at the seductive and dangerous world of the Parisian club scene. The film is based on the experiences of co-writer Phillipe Asard, who worked with the Paris vice squad for fifteen years. In fact, PARIS BY NIGHT was shot entirely in the same clubs that Asard once worked as a cop. In the film, Weiss and Deray are constantly in motion, weaving in and out of tight-knit network of bars, brothels, and dives. Each stop on the beat introduces the audience to a motley array of characters, ranging from mobsters and drug dealers to hookers and drag queens. Over time, the seemingly routine trips reveal become parts of a puzzle that suggests that Weiss is involved in something far elaborate simple graft and bribery. PARIS BY NIGHT is an intoxicating ride through a seductive world of booze, drugs, and sleaze. (Rodney Perkins)

Day Six preview

Day Four preview

Fantastic Fest Day Five Preview was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin in just two days! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.

http://youtu.be/YgLsv77HcDo

Lee’s Adventure

Li Xianje is a video game-loving slacker, who coasts through life at his own pace, thanks to a rare condition known as Temporal Dilation Disorder. TDD causes time to pass more slowly than for everybody else – minutes feel like days, a day like an entire lifetime. It proves a lonely existence until he meets the beautiful Wang Qian, who shares his affliction. However, when a tragic car accident snatches her away, Li will do whatever it takes to be reunited with the woman he loves. Perhaps a mysterious video game is the answer – a game rumoured to hold the secret to time travel. If he can beat the game, he might just be able to save Wang Qian.

Adapted from a hit animated short that appeared online in 2009, director Li Yang teams up with TV ad man Frant Gwo to expand his unique, frenetic vision into a feature-length blend of live action, hand drawn animation, epic CGI landscapes, crude cut-outs and East-meets-West pop culture iconography. Jaycee Chan, son of martial arts legend Jackie Chan, stars as bewildered, heart-broken “Devotion Lee”, who must become the kind of ass-kicking name-taking hero he’s only experienced in video games, if he is to succeed in his mission.

The result is a wholly unique and exhilarating experience, a gorgeous visual odyssey packed with comedy and adventure, that remains, at its core, a beautifully touching quest for love played out with the unabashed romanticism only Asian Cinema can get away with. At a time when China is spewing out nothing but nationalistic period dramas and crass consumerist rom-coms, LEE’S ADVENTURE proves fantasy, sci-fi and imagination are still alive and kicking in the Mainland. (James Marsh)

http://youtu.be/dcSfybhylR4

Errors of the Human Body

While it is very tempting to refer to Eron Sheean’s ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY as a sci-fi thriller, that would simply not be accurate. Because while it is very much a fictional story that revolves around science, the science in this film – shot on location at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics – is all as real as can be. Call it a scientific thriller, if you will, with all of the science grounded in reality.

THE DIVIDE screenwriter Sheean makes his feature directing debut following a string of acclaimed shorts with ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY, the story of geneticist Dr Geoff Burton obsessively struggling to find a cure for the rare genetic ailment that killed his infant son years before. Though brilliant, his obsessions and often unorthodox working methods have left Burton’s career in a shambles, forcing him to relocate to Germany to continue his work.

It seems a promising move at first, a well equipped lab with a sympathetic administration and a former student in a key position, but Burton is soon swept up into a web of deceit and jealousy when he discovers that his former student may have found the solution he has searched for – and another researcher may be stealing it.

An icily precise thriller anchored by a subtle, nuanced performance from Michael Eklund (THE DIVIDE, THE DAY), with support from indie faves Karoline Herfurth (PERFUME, WE ARE THE NIGHT) and Tomas Lemarquis (NOI THE ALBINO), ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY offers up a surprisingly human take on science, a story ultimately more concerned with its characters than the tools they wield. It is a refreshing, yet challenging approach. (Todd Brown)

Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman

Santiago Fernandez is an aimless young man content with spending hours on the couch playing Grand Theft Auto and fantasizing about an exciting life of crime and gun fights. By night he DJs at a club owned by ruthless Argentinian kingpin Che Longana. One evening, Santiago finds himself trapped in a bathroom stall as Longana holds a secret meeting to make known his offer of $300 million pesos for the head of Machine Gun Woman, an ex-girlfriend turned hitwoman who has it out for him. When he is discovered eavesdropping on the conversation, Santiago’s only choice to avoid being executed is to lie, claim he knows Machine Gun Woman and offer to bring her in. When he is given 24 hours to make good on his claim, Santiago’s life turns into a violent video game of its own complete with missions, guns, sexy women and brutal violence.

BRING ME THE HEAD OF MACHINE GUN WOMAN is that latest film from Chile’s Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, a man who is no stranger to Fantastic Fest. His first three features (KILTRO, MIRAGEMAN and MANDRILL) have blown audiences away in years past and he also has a segment in this year’s THE ABCS OF DEATH. In a departure from his string of Marko Zaror actioners, Espinoza has crafted an incredibly entertaining exploitation film all centered around a beautiful Chilean goddess clad in small swaths of leather and, of course, machine guns. As Santiago tracks down the killer, he is thrust into a strange criminal underworld that frequently erupts in unexpected violence and when he comes face-to-face with her, all bets are off. Espinoza keeps BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE MACHINE GUN WOMAN fast and fun from sexy start to explosive finish. (Brian Kelley)

http://youtu.be/5kGFyVKmqA0

Looper

http://youtu.be/Q91xa2Qs7Ok

The American Scream

Chances are you’ve come across one in your lifetime. Your neighbor may be one. Your co-worker may be one. There could even be one in your family. Sometimes they operate alone and sometimes they involve their loved ones. The moment they wait for is over in what seems like the blink of an eye but there can be months of planning, designing and building leading up to a night of terror.
These people are home haunters.

The idyllic East Coast town of Fairhaven, MA is the home of several home haunters, individuals who are obsessed with turning their properties into elaborate and horrifying spectacles every Halloween. THE AMERICAN SCREAM follows three of them – a perfectionist IT professional whose wife and children help out with varying levels of enthusiasm, a friend inspired to create his own haunt, and a father and son duo- as they prepare for the big day. Their passion is immediately apparent and their methods are varied with some opting for obsessive attention to detail and others more concerned with overall effect. The common link between them all is an artistic genius bred from the love of scaring the pants off their friends and neighbors.

Director Michael Stephenson (BEST WORST MOVIE) has crafted another extraordinarily entertaining and heartwarming documentary with THE AMERICAN SCREAM. Despite bumps along the way in the days leading up to Halloween, the payoff captured is something truly special. In the end all the mishaps, slips, spills, scrapes and creative differences don’t matter. What really matters is the sense of pride a home haunter feels by bringing together his or her community to experience the product of months of hard work. That and the look of frozen terror on the faces of men, women and children alike. (Brian Kelley)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoIha7xHKSo&feature=share&list=PLY5R1HVSjHrIdBIYBN0uqpO1W6iHnj1HW

The History of Future Folk

When a comet threatens to destroy their planet, the citizens of Hondo send General Trius (Nils d’Aulaire) to find a new planet on which they can live. After landing on Earth somewhere near Brooklyn, General Trius chooses to ignore his mission to eliminate the indigenous peoples after wandering into a megastore and hearing music for the first time. He assumes the name Bill and starts a family and one-man bluegrass act.

His peaceful life is disrupted when the Hondorians send a representative- a bumbling fool named Kevin (Jay Klaitz)- to Earth to assassinate General Trius and clear the way for an invasion. Bill finds it easy to subdue Kevin with music and the two form a band called Future Folk that becomes popular in New York bars. The problem is, though, the Hondorians have no intention of calling off their plan to eliminate mankind.

THE HISTORY FUTURE FOLK, the feature debut of directors John Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker, is the impossibly charming and clever origin story of the real life “Acoustic Space Aliens” who have been perfecting their act for more than 6 years in the New York City area. For all of its sci-fi elements, at the heart of the film is the immediately lovable personality of Future Folk, whose songs are enormously catchy and lyrics are full of the wit on which the movie the built. The deep love d’Aulaire and Klaitz have for music is apparent in every scene and while watching their musical performances in the film one starts to believe that two guys with a banjo and a guitar (along with some fancy red spacesuits) really could save the world through sheer charisma. (Brian Kelley)

Day Five preview

Day Three preview

Fantastic Fest Day Four Preview was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin in just two days! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.

http://youtu.be/NFGzl6uTGL4

Everybody In Our Family

First and foremost, it should be clear that EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY is a film best experienced blind. Innovative, daring and about as original as film can get, the latest offering from the Romanian new wave is something that is better experienced and than read about. If you’re interest is piqued, stop reading and start watching.

The story is simple. Marius, a single dad in his thirties, travels to his ex-wife’s house to pick up his daughter, Sofia, for their annual beach holiday. Upon arrival, he is told by her grandmother and her step father that Sofia is sick and must stay at home with her mother. As Marius’ insistence grows, so do tensions in the household, pushing the situation to unimaginable heights.

Shot in almost real time, EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY shows how much can really change for someone over the course of one afternoon. Director Radu Jude’s hyperrealistic style helps to sets the stage for an intense discussion on family values. Drawing the most out of a plethora of incredible performances, he peppers the intensity with a dark and witty humor that resonates through the humanity of the film. As the action builds to a climax, Jude tries his best not to suffocate the audience, presenting the facts for a pure reaction. The result is often as humorous as it is horrific.

Breaking out of any mold that you could possibly put it in, EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY is not your typical Fantastic Fest fare. It is, however, simply too good and too unique to be ignored. (Michael Lerman)

http://youtu.be/hK6vzpAWqfc

Cold Steel

Bullets show no mercy! War has ravaged China and chaos has reigned in many parts. An elite group of snipers have been assembled to take out enemies and traitors. Mu (Peter Ho), a rather young and naïve hunter, has been drafted to be part of the 204th unit after heroically shooting down enemies during an ambush. Squad leader Zhang (Tony Leung) welcomes him into the brotherhood by assigning him his first official mission. His task is to join the team in taking out four enemy generals and a handful of Chinese traitors. Mu’s recklessness and soft heart begin to cloud his judgment, and even diminish his abilities – as the best snipers need to be emotionally detached. Meanwhile, General Masaya sends some of his best sharp-shooters to retaliate. Whose bullets will speak louder?

Lock and load! Frequent John Woo collaborator David Wu returns with a vengeance and directs one of the most dynamic war films in years. Wu hits bulls-eye after bulls-eye with fast and furious gunfire action with a heavy dose of the kinetic energy from the best 80s Hong Kong action that will undoubtedly kick your adrenaline gland into overdrive.  Based on the famous and popular online Chinese novel, Wu improves upon original material with more humor and excitement. Wu is one of the most influential action editors for 40 years starting with Chang Cheh and Lau Kar Leung at Shaw Brothers to Tsui Hark, Ronny Yu and of course John Woo (A BETTER TOMORROW, HARD BOILED is back to assault action cinema. Newcomer actor Peter Ho (upcoming MONKEY KING) brings a breath of fresh air as a leading actor to look forward to in the future, he keeps his performance intense yet funny and charismatic. (King-Wei Chu, Fantasia International Film Festival)

http://youtu.be/m_w53-cd-7A

Taped

Johan and Saar are a couple in trouble. Their marriage on the rocks, the couple have left their daughter at home and hit the road, returning to the site of the Argentinean honeymoon in a desperate last attempt to recapture the spirit of their relationship and save their marriage. This is it for them. Should this trip fail their marriage is at an end. What Johan and Saar never suspected, however, is that this trip could be the end of them, period.

In a classic case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’ the couple not only witness a shooting, they capture it on camera. Even worse, the shooter is a police officer and his target left dead in the street. Worse still, they were spotted on the scene. And suddenly their idyllic vacation spot has become a terrifying trap, the couple chased through a hostile environment unable to communicate with the locals and unable to trust any of the authorities they would normally be able to turn to for help. If they do not find their way to safety before being tracked down by the shooter then Johan and Saar will surely become his next victims.
A lean, taut thriller anchored by stellar performances from Barry Atsma and Susan Visser, TAPED takes a simple premise and works it out to its logical extreme. It is a film that takes the primal, irrational fear of being someplace unknown and suggests that the fear may not be irrational after all. Director Diederik Van Rooijen finds just the right balance between style and grit, tension and character as he delivers a thriller that Hollywood has already snapped up for remake. Here’s your chance to see the original version first. (Todd Brown)

http://youtu.be/64QmivaWEnQ

Plan C

Detective Ronald Plasmeyer is good at coming up with plans. The problem is that he’s bad at coming up with good plans. This is a particularly significant problem given the large Asian men who turned up for a ‘chat’ with Ronald’s estranged wife and young son over the money he owes them.

It’s not that Ronald doesn’t want to repay the debt, it’s just that ten thousand Euro is a lot on a policeman’s salary. Plan A involved winning at poker. But poker is how he racked up the debt in the first place so – no surprise – Plan A just makes the problem worse. Plan B? Well, since Ronald can’t win at poker why not steal a tournament’s worth of poker winnings, instead? But Ronald is even worse at hiring henchmen than he is at making plans and that goes spectacularly badly. And now Ronald is on the run and desperately in need of a good Plan C.

A deliciously dry and slyly absurd comedy, Max Porcelijn’s PLAN C captures a train wreck in slow motion, a Coen-esque tale of criminal ineptitude. Ruben van der Meer anchors the film with his nuanced, understated, and very funny central performance as Plasmeyer.

A weak willed and deeply passive man Plasmeyer as played by van der Meer is the world’s least likely criminal mastermind. This is, of course, entirely the point and Porcelijn takes great delight in letting the dominos fall as this incompetent cop proves to be an equally incompetent robber. As the chaos swirls ever higher Plasmeyer remains in the eye of the hurricane, not so much a beacon of strength but an icon of confusion and indecision. (Todd Brown)

Day Four preview

Day Two preview

Fantastic Fest Day Three Preview was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin in just two days! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.

http://youtu.be/rGlBxhBa1Z0

The Warped Forest 

Plays with “Crown”: A gang of street kids turns an unassuming house into a haven for middle aged junkies hooked on a most bizarre narcotic.  Doug, a habitual user, returns to experience a surreal high from which he may not return.

In 2005 a trio of directors combined to unleash one of the most deliriously silly, surreal, and psychedelic experiences ever witnessed on theater screens on to an unwitting audience. Loaded with absurdity and stylistic excess THE FUNKY FOREST was like a guided tour through the subconscious minds of its creators, a visual guide to the adolescent fantasies of a trio of immensely talented directors who refused to acknowledge any limitations whatsoever.

And now one of them is back to do it again.

Entirely self funded with money squirrelled away during a decade of directing high-end television commercials, Shunichiro Miki’s THE WARPED FOREST will delight and confuse – and delightfully confuse – fans of the esoteric and strange. Follow the adventures of a young girl tracking down the elusive Pinky-Panky with her trusty penis-rifle at her side! Marvel at the normal sized girl working in a Very Small Shop! Wonder at the psychic powers of the inverted pyramid hovering deep in the nearby forest, the strange pod-like growths that pop up throughout and the furry, nipple sucking creature on hire at the local brothel!

Just a touch less manic than its predecessor, THE WARPED FOREST is every bit as much a delicious sensory experience. There are narrative threads holding it all together, to be sure, but this is film as experience far more than film as story and what an experience it is. Fans of THE FUNKY FOREST will recognize Miki’s distinctive touch immediately while those walking into this bizarre world for the first time will want to seek out that earlier effort immediately. (Todd Brown)

The Collection

Elena has always been a survivor. As a child, she and her father lived through a horrific car accident. That propensity toward survival may be what made her such an attractive specimen for the infamous serial killer known as The Collector. The Collector’s last find, a petty thief named Arkin, escapes during a massacre that lands Elena in his clutches. Arkin is then hired by a mysterious mercenary to return to the site of his captivity and save Elena. Will any of them make it out alive, or will they all become permanent fixtures in THE COLLECTION? (Brian Salisbury)

http://youtu.be/haknOblEAJA

Holy Motors

Mr. Oscar is a busy man. Obviously quite wealthy and important, he bids his young daughter good day while walking from his expansive home to his limousine to start the day’s appointments, as his bodyguards follow in a BMW. Seemingly exhausted already, he speaks with his driver, Celine, who informs him that he has 9 appointments scheduled for the day. But it quickly becomes apparent that these are not normal appointments and Mr. Oscar is not your normal businessman.

A film that’s far better to experience than to read about, Holy Motors is a wild ride down the proverbial rabbit hole. Directed by Leos Carax, a Frenchman perhaps best known for his 1999 film Pola X, and starring Denis Lavant in an unbelievably difficult and demanding role, Holy Motors is a film that is constantly changing and evolving into something different. Carax and Lavant previously collaborated on Merde, the triumphant centerpiece of the anthology film Tokyo!, a Fantastic Fest alum from 2008. Fans of that film will find an extra layer of appreciation for Holy Motors.

An absurdist adventure featuring everything from a random musical number to an impromptu fashion show in the Paris sewers, Holy Motors is crazy but not without purpose. It is hilarious and completely insane yet strangely brilliant at the same time. An incredibly astute and acute meditation on acting and identity and the needs we have as audience members as well as the increasingly blurry line between fantasy and reality, Holy Motors is exactly the type of film you hope to discover at Fantastic Fest. (Luke Mullen)

http://youtu.be/oVtyOwcQo-w

Miami Connection

THE ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT IN TAE KWON DO ANTI-SANITY! The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida’s narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martial arts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song “Against the Ninja,” Mark (kung-fu master/inspirational speaker Y.K. Kim) and the boys are kicking and chopping at the drug world’s smelliest underbelly. It’ll take every ounce of their blood and courage, but Dragon Sound can’t stop until they’ve completely destroyed the dealers, the drunk bikers, the kill-crazy ninjas, the middle-aged thugs, the “stupid cocaine”…and the entire MIAMI CONNECTION!!!

Real life martial arts grandmaster Y.K. Kim only made one film in his life, but it’s without a doubt the most rampaging crowd-pleaser of the ’80s, bursting with vibrance, violence, honor and hilarity. Completely lost for decades, a 35mm film print has been unearthed by the Alamo, and its first viewing opened a dimensional portal to pure, unstoppable FUN. After demolishing the crowd with it at select festivals, we’ve allied with writer/producer/star Y.K. Kim and the rest of the cast to detonate Fantastic Fest with the supreme synth-rock anti-ninja experience. Miss this epochal screening event and you’ll hate yourself for a thousand lifetimes…guaranteed!!! (Zack Carlson)

http://youtu.be/gMOjFZ8U_-w

Vegetarian Cannibal

Dr. Danko Babić (Rene Bitorajac) is a studly gynecologist with a lust for life. Snorting drugs, having sex, and playing the drums are as routine for him as delivering babies or performing abortions. A crooked cop (Leon Lučev) introduces Babić to a crime boss (Emir Hadžihafizbegović) who offers him a sweet deal: perform illegal abortions to a stable of high-end prostitutes in exchange for fast cash. He accepts the offer and is soon faced with series of decisions that test the limits of his already questionable ethics.

Branko Schmidt’s VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL is an indictment of corruption in Croatian society. Babić, whose profession is supposedly one of health and healing, is used as a prism through which analyze the ills of the entire nation. Babić is a cocky manipulator with a complete disregard for laws and ethics. Babić blasts his way through a series of dilemmas and makes the bad choice every time. It is hard to fault him however, because his transgressions are continually rewarded with money, power, and sex. Despite the film’s focus on social ills, VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL isn’t simply dour agit-prop. It’s very affecting, albeit in an extremely negative way. What’s more, the film boasts some scenes that will test the tolerance of even the most hardened viewers. In other words, VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL is right at home at Fantastic Fest. (Rodney Perkins)

Day Three preview

Day One preview

Fantastic Fest Day Two Preview was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin in just two days! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.

http://youtu.be/JDkVW8IXkWQ

Doomsday Book

Kim Ji-Woon is one of Korea’s most fascinating directors, and a new movie from him is always an event. Whether it’s the stylized horror of A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, the intense action of A BITTERSWEET LIFE, the wild spaghetti western madhouse of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD or even the dark psychodrama I SAW THE DEVIL, he has consistently delivered some of the most challenging, gorgeously shot, innovative genre movies to come out of Korea.

Originally planned to be a three-part omnibus directed by Kim Ji-Woon, Yim Pil-Sung (director of HANSEL & GRETEL and ANTARCTIC JOURNAL) and Han Jae-Rim (THE SHOW MUST GO ON), production started on DOOMSDAY BOOK in 2006, and then fell apart when Han’s film (a retelling of an O. Henry short story) proved to be unworkable. With only two-thirds of the movie completed, it was shelved. Then, after a new influx of cash in 2010, Kim and Yim worked together to complete the movie’s third segment. Now their collaboration about the end of the world is finally ready for the big screen.

Outlining three ways in which the world ends, DOOMSDAY BOOK starts with Yim Pil-Sung’s “A Brave New World,” a rollicking, hilarious tale about rampant pollution that leads to an outbreak of zombie-ism that robs man of even his ability to choose to die. The second short, Kim Ji-Woon’s “The Heavenly Creature” is about a future where robots have become our main source of manual labor. One android, which resides at a Buddhist temple, achieves enlightenment, and the company that produces robot workers realizes that it’s got a crisis on its hands. The movie wraps up with the two directors collaborating on “Happy Birthday,” about a young girl whose wish results in a giant meteor heading straight for the planet Earth. Injecting welcome doses of comedy into three hard science fiction scenarios, this two-fisted dose of apocalypse is the smartest sci-fi flick to hit movie screens all summer. (NYAFF)

http://youtu.be/XIZb50HiBCo

Antiviral

The Lucas Clinic exists to serve – or prey upon, depending upon your perspective – the most celebrity obsessed elements of our society. Striking exclusive deals with major celebrities to harvest their illnesses, the Clinic offers a most intimate communion between the famous and their admirers. For a price you can be infected with the very same viruses that grew within their very cells. What was part of them can be part of you.

Syd March is an up and comer within Lucas, a salesman adept at capitalizing on patients’ yearning for connection. He’ll tell you exactly what you want to hear as he injects herpes into your lip or influenza into your veins. But Lucas isn’t enough for Syd. Whether for boredom or greed Syd is playing both sides of this particular game, peddling Lucas’ wares by day but also infecting himself with their most rare and elusive offering so that he can incubate them within his own body, break the patented copy protection and sell them on the black market. So when he sees the opportunity to harvest a new virus from the famed Hannah Geist – Lucas’ top seller – Syd sees a chance to profit and injects himself with Hannah’s blood. And then Hannah dies.

Brandon Cronenberg makes his feature debut with ANTIVIRAL, a film that would do his father David proud. A jet black satire of celebrity obsession run through with enough needles and body fluids to make even the most hardened squirm, ANTIVIRAL is an icily precise affair. Star Caleb Landry Jones (THE LAST EXORCISM, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) delivers a mesmerizing performance as the inscrutable March, his physical breakdown as the virus takes hold an alarming yet compelling sight to behold. (Todd Brown)

http://youtu.be/jDGcTn1YDcs

Dredd 3D

The future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One – a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called “Judges” who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge – a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of “Slo-Mo” experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed. During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson, a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation. A heinous crime calls them to a neighborhood where fellow Judges rarely dare to venture – a 200 story vertical slum controlled by prostitute turned drug lord Ma-Ma and her ruthless clan. When they capture one of the clan’s inner circle, Ma-Ma overtakes the compound’s control center and wages a dirty, vicious war against the Judges that proves she will stop at nothing to protect her empire. With the body count climbing and no way out, Dredd and Anderson must confront the odds and engage in the relentless battle for their survival.

Final Member

Since 1974, Sigurdur “Siggi” Hjartarson has run the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of mammalian penises. Siggi’s private collection runs the gamut from microscopic to gargantuan, including penises from whales, dogs, pigs, bears, bulls and hamsters. Siggi believes that his museum—and his legacy—will be incomplete without an important addition to his museum: a human penis of “legal length.” After years of searching, he tracks down two donors: an aging Icelandic philanderer and a weirdo from California who refers to his penis as “Elmo.” Siggi’s quest for penile perfection morphs into a race against time as the donors compete to become the first human to have their members severed and preserved for posterity.

With THE FINAL MEMBER, co-directors Jonah Bekhor and Zack Math have created one of the most unique and memorable documentaries in recent years. The film initially seems like a quaint exploration of a single man’s weird obsession, but evolves into a deep character study of three dudes who are pathologically obsessed with male genitalia—human or otherwise. Siggi uses his museum to break sexual taboos and educate the public. The Icelandic ladies’ man wants to preserve his rapidly aging penis before it shrinks down to the size of a raisin. Unlike his aging counterpart, the cowboy wants to chop his off before he dies. THE FINAL MEMBER delivers everything one could want from a documentary—it’s emotionally engaging, funny, and highly disturbing. (Rodney Perkins)

Day Two preview

Fantastic Fest Day One Preview was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon