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 four 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.

Mirage Men

In the 1980s, a scientist and entrepreneur named Paul Bennewitz made what was—at least to him—a shocking discovery. Using powerful testing equipment, he learned that the U.S. government was conducting secret UFO research at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After reaching out to the Air Force, Bennewitz was contacted by special agent Richard C. Doty. The Air Force determined that Bennewitz uncovered classified—and purely terrestrial—projects. Doty’s job was to put an end to the snooping. He convinced Bennewitz that his discoveries were related to secret government UFO research. Doty’s disinfo campaign literally drove Bennewitz crazy and planted the seeds of several UFO myths that still persist in popular culture.

MIRAGE MEN, which is based on a book of the same name by Mark Pilkington, explores the government’s UFO disinformation. Numerous people are interviewed, including Bennewitz’s associates, former government officials like Doty, various figures in the UFO movement (e.g. William Moore, Linda Moulton Howe), UFO enthusiasts, and eyewitnesses. MIRAGE MEN isn’t a standard talking heads documentary. All voices are given equal weight. Seemingly reasonable assertions are presented side-by-side with bizarre statements that defy credulity. The interviews are expertly woven together with a judicious smattering of public domain footage to create a mind-bending narrative that seems designed to both confound and provoke. Who is telling the truth? Who is lying? Who knows? Interviewee Linda Moulton Howe calls the quest to unravel the truth behind government involvement in UFOs is like a “fractured hall of mirrors with a quicksand floor.” The same can be said of MIRAGE MEN. (Rodney Perkins)

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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 five 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.

DAY THREE

Vic+Flow Saw a Bear

Vic (Pierrette Robitaille) is a parolee who retreats to her ailing uncle’s sugar shack in Quebec. She is joined by current love interest and fellow ex-con Flo (Romane Bohringer). Vic and Flo’s attempts to live a peaceful life in the woods are constantly interrupted by various people, including a parole officer named Guillaume (Marc-André Grondin) and an intrusive neighbor (Marie Brassard). Eventually, these pesky people create major problems for the couple.

VIC + FLO SAW A BEAR, which played in competition at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, is Denis Côté’s follow-up to the documentary BESTIAIRE. The film’s mix of drama, noir, and dark humor defies easy categorization. VIC + FLO SAW A BEAR takes place in a small town inhabited by weird quirky characters that weave in and out of the story. At first, everyone’s motives are obscure. As the plot unfolds, a nasty underlying truth emerges. Robitaille’s and Bohringer’s excellent performances as the titular characters are at the core of the film’s power. Viewers will root for these flawed yet sympathetic characters. When the pair meets their fate, the impact is simply devastating. (Rodney Perkins)
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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 six 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.

DAY ONE

Greatful Dead

Nami (Kumi Takiuchi) is a young woman with numerous hangups sprouting from a dysfunctional childhood.  She inherits a small fortune that allows her to pursue various interests, many of which are highly abnormal. For example, Nami loves to spy on people who, not unlike herself, have gone crazy from loneliness. She calls these people “solitarians.” Perhaps due to a father fixation, her favorite spying targets are old men with stiff boners. One fateful day, Nami spies on an elderly gentleman (Takashi Sasano) watching porn DVDs at home. She soon transitions from a peeping tom into a full-fledged stalker.

GREATFUL DEAD—the latest film from director Eiji Uchida (LAST DAYS OF THE WORLD)—is a character-driven black comedy that uses dark humor to explore otherwise serious themes such as religious zealotry, aging, and mental illness. The plot takes numerous twists and turns, always leading the viewer to unexpected places. The result is a film that’s alternately touching and disturbing. (Rodney Perkins)

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