Saturday, October 1, 2011

Fantastic Fest is one of the few festivals in Austin that I've never fully committed to in regards to attendance, so this year I set out to make sure I gave it my full attention when it rolled around. And I did. And it was a blast. And I'll never miss another one.

Over the course of a week I saw 20 new films, and since it would just be silly to write full reviews for all of them, I've divided them into three groups - okay, pretty good, and great. As you may have noticed, i don't have a "bad" category, and that's simply because I didn't see anything terrible. Hopefully that's a trend that continues next year.

PS - While the films are divided into categories, they also go from worst to best.
 

Fantastic Fest 2011 Recap
 

The 8 Okay Flicks

- Body Temperature - A strange guy who keeps a life size doll that represents his perfect woman? Yeah, I'm totally in for that movie. Wait. Instead of playing up the quirky nature of the story you're just going to have 70 minutes of nothing? Then I've changed my mind. As is the case with every film that ended up in this category, it has a neat concept hampered by poor execution.

- Penumbra - An asshole of a lead character meets a group of weirdos who are interested in renting her apartment, and then a bunch of crazy stuff happens. That's the best way to describe this film, and while it wasn't a massive waste of time, Penumbra would have ended up in my "pretty good" category if it had some likable characters and a tighter script.

- Let The Bullets Fly - The fun title and the presence of Chow Yun-Fat had me really interested in this, but it turned out to be a flick that didn't do much for me. There's a ton of exposition (the movie is about a group of bandits trying to overthrow a feudal lord) and quite a few moments that just drag on and on without any sort of real payoff once the characters decide to stop running their mouths. Still, not a terrible flick. It just needed better execution.

- Livid - I'm honestly still not sure what Livid was about. I think there may have been vampires. Or perhaps it was ghosts. Or the people in it were just really weird. Like I said, I don't really know. I can only for sure say that I kept waiting for something in the beautifully shot film to happen or be explained, but it mostly sat on the screen and seemed content with simply existing.

- The Day - This one features Dominic Monaghan as the leader of a crew of people wandering for their lives in a post-apocalyptic world. The execution is here, as it looks well made and there's a handful of rather fun moments, but for the most part this is definitely The Road for anyone who thought that film needed less drama and more action.

- Snowtown - I could probably put this in the "pretty good" section and not feel too bad about it. Snowtown, after all, is well made, the brutal story is engrossing, and all the actors in it do a stellar job. Unfortunately, the people who made it seemed to be doing their best to confuse the hell out of the audience. After the movie ended I spent 10 minutes with two friends trying to sort out the list of characters and plot points, and I'm still not certain I know exactly why certain things happened.

- Snowman's Land - This movie was really strong through the first two acts, but then it just sort of sizzled out and abruptly ended. If anything, I recommend seeing it just for their alternate take on hitmen. Normally in films they're made out to be really cool, talented, wealthy, smooth, etc. However, in Snowman's Land they're the total opposite, and I thought it made for a neat dynamic.

- Extraterrestrial - I know Nacho Vigalondo is beloved for directing Timecrimes, but his follow-up is a bit of a swing and a miss. Actually, to be fair, it's more like a pop up that goes all the way back to the warning track. There are plenty of things that really work in the movie that follows an awkward love triangle set under the circumstance of an alien arrival, but there's comes a moment in it where you start to wonder if anything is going to happen ... and then ... nothing does. Oh well. It's still a largely entertaining watch.


The 7 Pretty Good Flicks

- Borderline - If there's one flick in this entire list that I could see getting snatched up and given an American remake, it's this little effort about a family that stumbles across a stash of cocaine and then decides to try and sell it. I just hope that if (or when) that happens, they manage to keep the humor and warmth of this one.

- The Squad - I had some friends that didn't think too highly of this movie, but I dug it. The entire thing is either a close-up or an over the shoulder shot, and I thought that went very well with the already claustrophobic story of a group of soldiers in South America who get stuck in a base at the top of a foggy mountain with a woman who may or may not be a witch.

- New Kids Turbo - This might be the dumbest movie I've ever seen. Seriously, it's completely stupid. If you ever get to watch it, write down some stuff that's probably good to remember (like long division or the alphabet) because New Kids Turbo might cause you to forget such things. On the flip side of that, it's also the funniest flick I've seen in a long while.

- Revenge: A Love Story - Definitely not for the squeamish, Revenge: A Love Story was one of the more difficult things for me to watch at Fantastic Fest. However, like a lot of these bizarre Asian revenge films, it's well made, has a story with just enough twist and turns, and the acting is great. Hard not to at least like it for those things, right?

- El Narco - This one was about a man who returns to Mexico after 20 years in the United States, and then ends up getting involved as an employee for one of his hometown's large drug lords. Naturally, terrible things happen. To be honest, in hindsight I think there's a large portion of this film that's a little too preachy for my tastes, but as it was playing out on the screen I was totally engulfed in what was happening, and that's why it landed in a higher spot on the list.

- Haunters - I never once watched Unbreakable and thought that somewhere in the world someone could churn out a much cooler version. Then I realized about halfway through this exciting ride that I had totally forgotten about Korea. Oops. Seriously though, this superhero-esque film was some of the most fun I had at Fantastic Fest.

- Take Shelter - Admittedly, this probably belongs in the "great" section, but I'm leaving it on the cusp simply because I don't ever want to watch it again. As I said on Twitter, watching a slow descent into madness is not something I want to revisit, and I very much mean that. You, however, need to see it at least once, especially since Michael Shannon is so very good in it.


The 5 Great Flicks

- Headhunters - This one came out left field for me. I went in knowing next to nothing, and then emerged with a giant smile on my face and a willingness to hand out high fives. It's part thriller, part heist movie ... and entirely great. On a random side note, the film features a slew of people who look like famous people. I had moments where I actually thought Steve Buscemi, Heidi Klum, and Leonard Nimoy were in it. They aren't. Weird.

- Melancholia - I'm not in the group of people who slurp Lars Von Trier every waking moment, so I went into this more intrigued by the plot (a planet on its way to possibly crashing into Earth) than anything else. There's some of that sci-fi goodness there, but for the most part this is about depression and anxiety, and it's not something you just kick back and watch. I think a lot of people walked out feeling a bit disappointed that it wasn't another Antichrist, but I thought it was masterfully made and an interesting look into two terrible things that effect people.

- Juan Of The Dead - I probably went into this expecting too much, but it didn't really matter since the movie ended up being an absolute blast. Yes, the title is a trendy rip off of Shaun Of The Dead, but aside from that (and zombies, of course) this is a totally different effort. Instead of heading to a bar to wait things out, the title character decides to start a business to help his fellow Cubans get rid of their "beloved ones" who have joined the living dead. Genius! I can't wait to see this with a big group of friends.

- The Skin I Live In - Pedro Almodovar is one of the best filmmakers in the world, so it's probably no surprise that his new movie is stellar. What you may not fully expect, though, is that it's also one of his more screwed up efforts. If you can watch this and then leave thinking that it's not one of the more true horror efforts of the last few years, then you might need professional help. On a side note, it was great to see Antonio Banderas great again. Will someone force him to start making good movies again?

- A Boy And His Samurai - Easily the best movie I saw at Fantastic Fest. I would try to describe the plot, but it's so run of the mill and uninteresting when said that I think it would just turn you off from wanting to check it out. Just know that it's family friendly, as heartwarming as anything I've seen in 2011, and pretty much guaranteed to have a spot in the top ten of my year-end list. Now join me in willing it to be released in the US soon.

- John Laird -



Unless otherwise expressly stated, all text in this blog and any related pages, including the blog's archives, is licensed by John Laird under a Creative Commons License.