Fantastic Fest Dispatch #3

Coming down the homestretch, only a few movies/events left to go over. See also: Dispatch #1 and Dispatch #2.

  • Extraterrestrial – So. Nacho Vigalondo. Best director name ever? Probably. But he’s an institution at Fantastic Fest. You see him all over the place, and later in the night, he’s usually drunk and very animated. Here at Kaedrin, we’re big fans of his work. His 2007 film Timecrimes made my best of the year list, and is an entertaining and intricate time-travel story. He’s also the director of numerous short films, including 7:35 in the Morning, which was nominated for an academy award (note to self: seek more of these out!)

    Extraterrestrial Poster

    As a followup to Timecrimes, Vigalondo started working on an even bigger, even more intricate script. Knowing that it would take a few years to get that going, he set about doing a film in the meantime, which brings us to Extraterrestrial. Julio wakes up in Julia’s apartment with quite a hangover. After some awkward pleasantries, he seeks to depart… and that’s when they notice. Cell phones, land lines, television, and the internet are down. And there’s something, something massive, in the sky, sitting above Madrid.

    It’s a setup we’ve seen a million times before, but it doesn’t play out like any other similar film. In a very real sense, this is similar to Melancholia in that the SF premise is only a catalyst for the human story. It is almost literally window-dressing. But unlike Melancholia, this movie remains awesome. It’s twisted and funny. Really funny, actually. It’s Nacho Vigalondo’s take on the romantic comedy, and probably best of it’s ilk that I’ve seen in a long time. It’s perhaps a bit silly (it is a comedy, after all), but I think it works very well. It doesn’t hit all of my personal buttons in quite the way that Timecrimes did, but in a big way, this is a more assured film, and I’m glad that Vigalondo has avoided the dreaded “sophomore slump”. Highly recommended – if you get a chance, give it a watch. ***1/2

  • The Day – I don’t like post-apocalyptic movies. There are a few exceptions, but a filmmaker has to do a lot to make me overcome my disdain. In this film, we follow a group of 5 survivors as they attempt to make it past cannibal-infested land. They’re carrying two jars of hope and faith (i.e. seeds), with which they hope to establish a semblance of civilization again. Of course, they get cornered and have to fight, and there are revelations and twists and turns and badass action sequences. In particular Ashley Bell was impressive as the female lead. Not quite Ripley, but clearly a conflicted badass. It’s ultimately a fun film, but I always have nagging questions about post-apocalyptic worlds that are never quite explained. Fortunately, this film wisely chooses to completely ignore whatever caused the apocalypse, instead focusing on the struggle for survival. This mitigates the nagging question problem, though those issues still arise after the film ends. This sort of thing might hold it back from true greatness, but I’m also willing to go with it, and the film manages wring tension out of its premise. Good ending too. If you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic movies, give it a try. **1/2
  • 100 Greatest Kills – So I was sitting next to a guy during The Day whose name was Tron (apparently not named after the movie – he was born before it came out). Very nice fella, and he told me that I would LOVE this 100 Greatest Kills event. I didn’t realize it, but apparently they take submissions for the best onscreen kills, and if you submit it, they’ll play it during the event. That being said, they try to keep things obscure, though they do give the classics their due. When I first got in the theater, the lights dimmed, and they started playing Stairway to Heaven while showing all of the most famous death scenes. Great selections here, but this isn’t really why you attend. They immediately started playing some truly obscure stuff (quite frankly, I don’t remember any of these), including a series of kills from 80s VHS movies. Some of the kills were also quite disgusting. For example, in one of the video movies, a guy cuts open a pregnant woman, grabs the baby, screams, and throws it against the wall. This actually sounds a little more horrifying than it looks, as it’s quite low budget and very poorly acted, so it comes off as being a little comical. But still disgusting. Some of the others were also pretty gross. Not helping was the little digital gizmo they had that let them play and replay death scenes, sometimes in excruciating slow motion. Examining the Scanners head explosion frame by frame was pretty darn fun. We also watched the Brad Pitt death from Meet Joe Black many times. The final clip was a 15 minute gorefest from another of those video movies from the 80s (seriously, how do people find these things?) and it was quite disturbing. But they gave out free copies of Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive, so look for a capsule review of that during the 6WH… Overall, it’s a really fun event. If you’re not squeamish, it’s highly recommended…
  • Master Pancake Presents: Highlander – So this wasn’t actually part of Fantastic Fest, but my Austin friends got me a ticket to see it and I cleared my schedule that night to see it. For the uninitiated, Master Pancake is basically like MST3K, but it’s performed live. The three guys that do it are very funny, and it’s actually quite a production. They start off with a simple introduction and banter, set up a drinking game (in this case, you have to drink anytime sparks appear on screen – and if you’ve ever seen Highlander, you know that anytime a sword strikes something, it emits sparks, so there was a lot of drinking), and then launch into the film, with a brief intermission and skit performed live onstage in the middle of the film. Lots of mocking, especially of Sean Conner’s unbelievable performance as Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (seriously, he plays this Egyptian Spaniard without even attempting to maks his Scottish accent). Very funny, and a great time. If you’re ever in Austin, it’s well worth trying to get yourself a ticket for Master Pancake! Thanks again to Kaedrin reader and friend Spencer!

And that about covers what I saw at Fantastic Fest. I saw 19 movies, went to 4 events, and of course, Master Pancake too. I won’t go through the pomp and circumstance of a full awards post, but here are a few:

All in all, quite a successful festival. Will I go again next year? It would certainly be really nice, but I’ll have to see what my schedule is like (not to mention money, vacation time, and so on). I definitely want to go to the festival again sometime, as I did have a blast… And that concludes my Fantastic Fest posting. Regular 6WH posts to resume this weekend (this week’s theme: Val Lewton horror!)