{"id":3188,"date":"2014-09-17T15:00:30","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T20:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/?p=3188"},"modified":"2014-09-16T22:22:16","modified_gmt":"2014-09-17T03:22:16","slug":"fantastic-fest-preview-day-four-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2014\/09\/17\/fantastic-fest-preview-day-four-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantastic Fest Preview Day Four"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Poster<\/a>

Poster by Geof Darrow<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s that time again for my annual sojourn to Fantastic Fest<\/a>, the annual Alamo Drafthouse week long love letter to horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. This year\u2019s festival runs from Sept 18-25, here in Austin in the South Lamar location.<\/p>\n

As in year\u2019s past, I begin my coverage with a multi-part\/day preview.<\/p>\n

Fantastic Fest Preview Day Four
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Wastelander Panda: Exile<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/h1>\n

\"WP-poster-FINAL-v1-Small\"<\/a>The Apocalypse has come and gone; its survivors forming small communities for protection. Banished to the vast Wasteland, Isaac – a giant humanoid panda – sets out to find a young girl and reinstate his family into the Tribe of Legion.<\/p>\n

The idea is preposterous on the surface \u2013 a web series fusing elements of Mad Max, Lone Wolf And Cub and Zatoichi revolving around a walking, talking, sword fighting panda bear. It\u2019s the sort of thing that simply should not work, not at all, or at least not without descending into wild camp. And yet it does work. And it works in no small part because talented writer-director Victoria Cocks plays things absolutely, one hundred percent straight. There is nothing camp here, not at all. And, yes, Cocks will make you buy in to the emotional plight of her furry protagonist.<\/p>\n

Driven by the force of its creator\u2019s vision and her team\u2019s remarkable ability to build complex and compelling worlds seemingly for pocket change, Wastelander Panda has become a sort of organically growing beast with an initial proof of concept video going viral and sparking chatter around the world, leading to a three episode prologue arc released for free online in 2013 to prove they could actually carry a proper story and now leading to this: Six ten minute episodes, hopefully leading to a full television series and feature film outings, which we are very proud to bring to audiences for the very first time.(Todd Brown)<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LCk5tRFBDME<\/p>\n

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The Incident<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/h1>\n

\"incident_the_1__large\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A pair of brothers are confronted by a policeman in their apartment. A violent struggle ensues. The fight continues into a stairwell. When they attempt to exit, they find that the staircase has turned into an infinitely repeating corridor from which they cannot escape. During the same time frame, a family leaves home for a vacation. They travel down a familiar road towards their destination. As time passes, the stretch of road and the surrounding desert begin to repeat. Like their counterparts in the stairwell, they are also stuck in a loop.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Isaac Ezban pitched THE INCIDENT at the inaugural edition of Fantastic Market\/Mercado Fantastico. The jury awarded the project with Best Presentation. The completed film premiered at the 2014 edition of March\u00e9 du Film as part of a special week of screenings organized by Blood Window at Ventana Sur. Now, Fantastic Fest is proud to present the film\u2019s North American premiere.<\/p>\n

THE INCIDENT is a surrealistic sci-fi vision that uses the idea of infinite loops to explore both the frailty of human life and broader metaphysical concepts. Ezban\u2019s influences, which range from Philip K. Dick to Rod Serling, are readily apparent, but there is a very original vision at work here. Repetition is a key component of the film with the two stories taking place over a decades-long time span. The characters spend the rest of their lives trapped in loops. While elements of their environments constantly regenerate, none of them escape the reality of aging and death. THE INCIDENT is an ambitious, puzzle-like film from a rising new talent. (Rodney Perkins)<\/p>\n

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Horns<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/h1>\n

\"Horns-Comic-Con-poster-Daniel-Radcliffe\"<\/a>In the opening scene, Ig (Radcliffe) foreshadows, \u201cWhen you go through Hell, the only way out is to walk deeper through the fire.\u201d Since he\u2019s been unanimously accused of raping and murdering his longtime girlfriend Marren (Juno Temple, seemingly named from the EXORCIST priest), Ig can only wonder how much deeper into the fire he can go. He wakes up one morning with horns growing from his head and strange new powers, including the ability to have anyone tell them their darkest truths (\u201cI\u2019ve never been with a jigaboo before,\u201d a neighbor says). Ig also has the skill to make them act on these desires. He\u2019s initially appalled by this development, but the opportunity to use these powers to find out the truth in Marren\u2019s death is a dance with the devil that\u2019s too good to pass up.<\/p>\n

HORNS skillfully navigates several genres and themes: fantasy, religious drama, detective mystery, and it takes the basic structure one sees in superhero origin stories. Aja does a strong job combining all of this, but the heart and backbone of HORNS is a love story. Ig is hellbent on finding who murdered the love of his life while his community is out to lynch him for the very crime that destroyed him. Many flashbacks are given to Ig and Marren, which scope out their entire relationship, elevating the film beyond its dark nature. She was his Garden of Eden, and that drives everything about the film.<\/p>\n

With three superstars behind it\u2014actor Daniel Radcliffe, director Alex Aja and novelist Joe Hill\u2014HORNS is one of the genre event films of 2014. (James Shapiro)<\/p>\n