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 6 days.
As a lead up, I’m previewing the movies I’m planning on attending and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.
Friday, September 23rd
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THE YELLOW SEA
Hong-jin Na 2011 | Action, Crime, Drama, Feature | 157 min.
At Fantastic Fest 2008 Na Hong-jin blew audiences away with his incredibly assured debut feature THE CHASER. For his sophomore film THE YELLOW SEA, Na has reassembled his two leads from THE CHASER and crafted a hyper-violent, border crossing crime epic sure to become another audience favorite.
Gu-nam (Ha Jung-woo) is a cab driver in Yanji City, a Chinese region between North Korea and Russia dominated mostly by Joseonjok, Chinese citizens of Korean ancestry. After going into extreme debt with shady types who smuggle his wife into Korea to work, Gu-nam fears his wife has left him in Yanji for good when he hasn’t heard from her for six months. The opportunity for him to pay off all liabilities comes in the form of an offer from Myung-ga (Kim Yun-seok), a powerful crime boss to whom Gu-nam owes many mahjong gambling losses. Myung-ga offers to smuggle Gu-nam into Korea where he will kill someone for him. Gu-nam accepts but gets far more than he bargained for when his plans go off the rails. He must then struggle to maintain balance in an increasingly chaotic series of events and find the time to track down his wife.
THE YELLOW SEA unravels organically, Na taking time to follow Gu-nam in his confusion as he loses track of shifting loyalties. The world he finds himself caught up in, though, is extremely volatile and he soon finds himself on the giving and receiving end of many sharp objects. Featuring enough chaotic knife antics, stress-inducing hatchet acrobatics, extended chases and car crashes to fill 5 movies, THE YELLOW SEA is a the kind of dark, violent crime epic we have come to expect from Korea and a film that firmly establishes Na Hong-jin as a major force in Korean cinema. (Brian Kelley)
INVASION OF ALIEN BIKINI
Oh Young-doo 2011 | Action, Comedy, Feature, Sci-Fi | 75 min.
screens with…
BRUTAL RELAX
David Muñoz, Rafa Dengrá, Adrián Cardona 2010
This micro-budget movie from Korean filmmaker Oh Young-doo (THE NEIGHBOR ZOMBIE) is a brilliant journey into the bizarre. A martial arts romp, the film’s got everything we look for in an Asian cinema: beautiful girls in states of undress, aliens, sweet ‘70s-style mustaches, killer body parts, sperm demands, etc.
The whole film, shot with a budget under $5,000, has all of the excitement and freshness and young passion of a film like THE EVIL DEAD; it was made by a bunch of kids who clearly spent their youth perfecting elaborate martial art stunts, in much the same way that people like Raimi grew up concocting fake blood recipes. Every frame of this film is steeped in the kind of deep love of genre film that can only come from fanaticism. These kids are good and they know their stuff.
The budgetary limitations are often played as camp, as is the case with the hero’s vigilante disguise; he wears a cheap, totally artificial mustache that is constantly peeling off. This only helps Oh Young-doo and Co. in their reverent send-up of genre; from the imperfections and self-referential moments come a very clear message that these filmmakers are having fun, a quality that all too few films are able (and are brave enough) to portray. In that same spirit of play, they manipulate the images, fool with the editing, and do all sorts of other mischievous filmmaking tricks to keep it moving and light.
INVASION OF ALIEN BIKINI also features what is undoubtedly the first ever romance scene to take place over a game of Jenga. If you’ve ever been turned on by your partner slipping out the middle block with a seductive index finger, you’ll completely understand this movie’s most tender and yet most uncomfortable moment. (Daniel Metz)
EXTRATERRESTRIAL
Nacho Vigalondo 2011 | Comedy, Feature, Guest in attendance, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller | 90 min.
screens with…
WE, TIME MACHINES
Raul Navarro 2010
Director Nacho Vigalondo and Producer Nahikari Ipiña live in person!
Julio wakes up with one hell of a hangover. As he gradually takes in his surroundings, it’s obvious he’s not in his own bed. He introduces himself to Julia, his apparent hookup from the night before, and they go through the typically awkward conversation. Julia is clearly trying to get him out of her apartment as soon as possible. But as he gathers his belongings they realize that things are much too quiet, even for a Sunday. A quick trip to the balcony reveals absolutely no one on the street. They gaze off into the distance and see a huge spaceship looming on the horizon. While they struggle to understand what they’re seeing, Julia’s neighbor Angel stops by. Angel brings news of the alien invasion, and it becomes apparent that he’s obsessed with Julia and maybe even spying on the apartment. When Julia’s live-in boyfriend Carlos comes home, things become even more complicated. The four acquaintances must try to find a way to survive threats from both outside and within, and maybe make some sense of their situation.
Fantastic Fest favorite Nacho Vigalondo is back with his second feature film. EXTRATERRESTRIAL showcases Nacho’s sure-handed direction and tight pacing, bringing the audience in and then keeping things moving steadily towards the conclusion. The acting is top-notch, bringing to life a witty, sharply-written script. Engaging and funny, EXTRATERRESTRIAL is a worthy follow up to 2007’s wildly successful TIMECRIMES. (Luke Mullen)
Fantastic Fest preview Day 2 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon