Fantastic Fest 2016

[Sock Monkey]

Is anybody going to Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas this year? Or has attended in the past? This year will be my first time attending and I'm pretty excited. I love independent horror and weird cinema so this is completely up my alley. My wife, on the other hand, might have a rough go at it.

If anybody knows the area and has any suggestions for things to do in and around Austin, I'd love the input. We are doing the second half pass of the festival, but we'll be arriving a few days before to give us some time to explore.

[Sock Monkey]

So I'll take that as a no...

Lot's of interesting movies playing this year. If anybody is interesting in checking out the films here is a link to the list: http://fantasticfest.com/films This list includes all the short films playing as well.

I'm pretty excited about the 4k restoration of Phantasm and the new film by director Chan-Wook Park, The Handmaiden. Oldboy is a classic and I loved Stoker and Thirst, so anything new by Park is a must-see for me.

[bugen]

Oldboy was really good. It's also got one of my favorite fight scenes from any movie.

Enjoy!

[Theli]

Sounds very promising! I also really enjoyed Oldboy and Thirst, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance was solid too.

[Sock Monkey]

It's been a while, but I remember not being a big fan of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. I don't know if it was because my expectations were so high coming off Oldboy or if I was just not in the right headspace for it. I need to revisit it soon along with finally getting around to Lady Vengeance.

[Sock Monkey]

I have returned from Austin, Texas and the amazing Fantastic Fest! Over the four days that we spent at the festival, I was able to see 15 films including A Monster Calls and the new Anne Hathaway film, Colossal. It was so much fun, if somewhat grueling (five movies in one day is not as easy as it sounds). I truly can't say enough about the Alamo Drafthouse and the festival!

Beyond the films, one of the highlights is getting to see the Q&As with the directors and producers after the films, including one with Paul Schrader that was amazingly candid (At one point, he stated that he and Nicolas Cage wanted to work together again to remove the stain from their previous project and joked that Cage had so many stains at this point it wouldn't be possible). I also saw both Leonard Maltin and Bruce Campbell in the flesh and pretty close-up (we were maybe seven feet away from them), though I didn't attend the screening of a couple episodes of Ash vs Evil Dead or the subsequent interview of Campbell by Maltin.

A couple things I did miss out on was The Handmaiden, and the Secret Screening that turned out to be M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, Split and had both Shyamalan and James McAvoy present for the after-movie Q&A, which would have been cool to attend.

I plan on posting reviews for the movies I did see during the festival as there are some stunners. I was blown away by the just how high the quality was of the films shown. Out of the fifteen, there was only one I didn't like and only one that was rather mediocre. The other 13 were good, if not great, films.

Highly recommend it to any and everyone. I'm already in negotiations with the wife to attend for all eight days next year!

[Brian861]

I have returned from Austin, Texas and the amazing Fantastic Fest! Over the four days that we spent at the festival, I was able to see 15 films including A Monster Calls and the new Anne Hathaway film, Colossal. It was so much fun, if somewhat grueling (five movies in one day is not as easy as it sounds). I truly can't say enough about the Alamo Drafthouse and the festival!

Beyond the films, one of the highlights is getting to see the Q&As with the directors and producers after the films, including one with Paul Schrader that was amazingly candid (At one point, he stated that he and Nicolas Cage wanted to work together again to remove the stain from their previous project and joked that Cage had so many stains at this point it wouldn't be possible). I also saw both Leonard Maltin and Bruce Campbell in the flesh and pretty close-up (we were maybe seven feet away from them), though I didn't attend the screening of a couple episodes of Ash vs Evil Dead or the subsequent interview of Campbell by Maltin.

A couple things I did miss out on was The Handmaiden, and the Secret Screening that turned out to be M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, Split and had both Shyamalan and James McAvoy present for the after-movie Q&A, which would have been cool to attend.

I plan on posting reviews for the movies I did see during the festival as there are some stunners. I was blown away by the just how high the quality was of the films shown. Out of the fifteen, there was only one I didn't like and only one that was rather mediocre. The other 13 were good, if not great, films.

Highly recommend it to any and everyone. I'm already in negotiations with the wife to attend for all eight days next year!

Sounds like an awesome experience!

[Martin]

I have returned from Austin, Texas and the amazing Fantastic Fest! Over the four days that we spent at the festival, I was able to see 15 films including A Monster Calls and the new Anne Hathaway film, Colossal. It was so much fun, if somewhat grueling (five movies in one day is not as easy as it sounds). I truly can't say enough about the Alamo Drafthouse and the festival!

Beyond the films, one of the highlights is getting to see the Q&As with the directors and producers after the films, including one with Paul Schrader that was amazingly candid (At one point, he stated that he and Nicolas Cage wanted to work together again to remove the stain from their previous project and joked that Cage had so many stains at this point it wouldn't be possible). I also saw both Leonard Maltin and Bruce Campbell in the flesh and pretty close-up (we were maybe seven feet away from them), though I didn't attend the screening of a couple episodes of Ash vs Evil Dead or the subsequent interview of Campbell by Maltin.

A couple things I did miss out on was The Handmaiden, and the Secret Screening that turned out to be M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, Split and had both Shyamalan and James McAvoy present for the after-movie Q&A, which would have been cool to attend.

I plan on posting reviews for the movies I did see during the festival as there are some stunners. I was blown away by the just how high the quality was of the films shown. Out of the fifteen, there was only one I didn't like and only one that was rather mediocre. The other 13 were good, if not great, films.

Highly recommend it to any and everyone. I'm already in negotiations with the wife to attend for all eight days next year!

Sounds really fun. Wish they had something like that closer to home.

[Sock Monkey]

Sounds really fun. Wish they had something like that closer to home.

I hear you on that. If one lived around the Austin area it wouldn't be so bad money-wise, but living out of state and flying in like we had to really jacks up the price. They do have quite a bit of film festivals here in California, but nothing that hits my sweet spot for films like what they show at Fantastic Fest. Also while the prices to attend aren't necessarily "cheap" (our second half badges were $190 each; the Fan badge to attend all eight days is $355 a person), it is by far one of the most reasonably priced festivals when compared to others.

[Martin]

I hear you on that. If one lived around the Austin area it wouldn't be so bad money-wise, but living out of state and flying in like we had to really jacks up the price. They do have quite a bit of film festivals here in California, but nothing that hits my sweet spot for films like what they show at Fantastic Fest. Also while the prices to attend aren't necessarily "cheap" (our second half badges were $190 each; the Fan badge to attend all eight days is $355 a person), it is by far one of the most reasonably priced festivals when compared to others.

The entry price seams very reasonable.

[Sock Monkey]

When I broke it down, it was a little over $12 per movie which isn't too bad by itself and then when you throw in all the extra festival stuff it is actually a great deal. I was looking at some other film festivals and their prices are INSANE!

[Sock Monkey]

So I have been super busy at work and haven't gotten around to posting reviews for all the movies I saw at Fantastic Fest. With my workload not letting up any time soon, my hopes of doing full-length, in-depth reviews are out the window--if it was a handful of movies I might find the time, but fifteen would take me forever right now--so I'm going to do some mini-reviews because there was so much good stuff that I at least want to point the curious in the right direction. So onward, we go...

DAY ONE:

Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses: The debut feature from director David Stubbs is a beautifully shot, wonderfully acted documentary detailing the attempts of one family to exorcise a demon they believe a family member--the titular Janet Moses--was cursed with. Utilizing police transcripts of the family interviews to form the basis of the re-enactments, Stubbs creates a sympathetic look at a family who, with the best interests in their heart, wound up leading the exorcism to a tragic end.

I typically stay away from documentaries that have re-enactments as they tend to remind me of bad episodes of Unsolved Mysteries, but the acting is so good that I sat riveted for the movie's runtime. At times, creepy, unsettling, heartbreaking and sad, Belief is a captivating look at family, religion, faith, fear, and what, if any, role government should take in judging these topics. Seek this one out. Grade: A

Fashionista: A fever dream of a movie about a young woman with an obsession with clothes whose life and mind begin to unravel after a uncovering a mistake her husband has made leads her into the arms of stranger.

Before going into my personal feelings about he movie, I have to make a confession that I am a pretty big Ethan Embry fan, from Empire Records and Can't Hardly Wait to the more recent Cheap Thrills, so I was already pre-disposed to like this movie. And, overall, I did, but it is also a hard movie to recommend as it's a challenging movie that lends it more to the crowd in a festival setting than a casual movie-goer on a Saturday night. The movie was deliberately written and shot with short scenes which gives the movie an initially disorienting pace, couple this with a non-linear narrative and most viewers might be put off. This stuff is my cup of tea so I was enjoying the ride hoping that they were going to end the movie in a satisfying manner--which they did--but was concerned that my wife was going to be confused the entire time and would leave the theater mad. Thankfully that wasn't the case and we both left having enjoyed the movie.

The cast--including the before-mentioned Ethan Embry and Eric Balfour (whom I recognized as Xander's friend from the first couple episodes of Buffy)--did a great job, but the movie is carried hands down by Amanda Fuller's performance as the clothes-obsessed April. Recommended to those who like movies with Lynchian underpinnings. Grade: B+

[I]Down Under[/I]: A film about setting during the race riots in Australia shouldn't be as laugh out loud funny as this movie is, but thank god it was. Set during the real-life Cronulla race riots in 2005 between white and Lebanese populations, the film follows two carloads of individuals representing each population: one led by Jason who along his Ned Kelly-obsessed friend bullies slacker Shitstick and his cousin to join them on a mission to make "the streets safe from the Lebanese"; the other led by Nick who wants nothing more than to get vengeance for the him and family being treated like second-class citizens. What ensues when during the course of the night and the inevitable clash between these two groups results in a dark--and darkly funny--look at racism, toxic masculinity, and the cyclical nature of vengeance. Not all the jokes hit and the pacing falters beginning, but when the movie clicks it fires on all cylinders. I really liked this one and it played like gangbusters with the audience. Grade: B+

The Girl With All the Gifts: I'm a huge fan of Mike Carey and enjoyed the book but wasn't necessarily chomping at the bit to see the screen adaptation of a peculiar girl named Melanie. That being said, my wife REALLY wanted to see this one so I tagged along. If you've read the book you know the story already, and if you haven't the least you know the more you'll enjoy yourself. To talk in any depth about the film spoils it so this review will be rather short. Ultimately, the movie stays pretty true to the book save for one big change that I won't spoil. Glenn Close is fantastic in her role and I'm always a fan of Gemma Arterton. Director Colm McCarthy has a steady hand on the material and ratchets the tension accordingly. The main stumbling point with both the book and the movie is that the middle section is a pretty straight forward affair with little surprise to this genre. And maybe that's the part that I struggled with: I knew the twists and turns so I was never taken off guard, which is the death-knell for any thriller. My wife absolutely LOVED the movie so it definitely works for those that aren't familiar with source material. While I wasn't blown away, I can say that it is a well-acted, well-directed thriller. Grade: B-

A Dark Song was my last movie of the Day One and ran a little late from its stated start time of 11:30pm, combined with the fact that it was one of the movies preceded by a short (in this case, Givertaker, which can be seen on the Fantastic Fest website; it's a pretty fun, 90s throwback) means that it didn't start until around midnight. If I had seen it earlier in the day, I would have enjoyed it more as this is a slow burn of film that my poor tired mind struggled through, which is not to say it isn't good. It is. Just don't watch it at midnight after four movies.

Sophia is heartbroken over a loss and seeks out occultist Joseph Solomon to lead her through a black magic ritual that will be a grueling six-month affair testing them both mentally and physically. As the months go on, both people begin to fray at their edges leading them down dark paths. As with a lot of these reviews, to speak of more really ruins the experience of seeing it for yourself.

As 95 percent of the movie takes place in one location and with only two cast members, this could be a difficult movie to pull off for numerous reasons: limited possibility for scares, poor chemistry between actors, or simply weak dialogue that fails to engage. Fortunately, writer/director Liam Gavin gives us two fascinating characters (fully realized by Catherine Walker and Steve Oram), a ton of atmosphere, and some stunning visuals that never feels out of place or not detached from the gritty reality that the film establishes even when it goes full horror. More on par for the subtle horror fan, this was a pleasant surprise. Grade: B+

[Sock Monkey]

Day Two:

This wound up being my "Foreign Film Day", with two from France and one from Spain. After the Day One's five movie sprint, I needed a little break so after the first film I went back and crashed for an hour or so, therefore missing out on one of the horror shorts showings. It was worth it though as I was reenergized upon returning to the festival and wound up catching two great films. It is a day like this, after watching a trio of great foreign films, that reminds me how much great cinema is out there and how much of it is not be created by Hollywood.

Faultless: Now in her mid-40s and her life in Paris in shambles, Constance returns to her hometown hoping to mend the bridges she burned when she abruptly left years before. Unfortunately her plans begin to sour immediately as she finds the vacancy at her old job she was hoping to which she was hoping to return has been filled by a new younger woman. Curious, Constance reaches out to young woman in the pretense of wanting to purchase a new home and slowly worms her way into the young woman's life, slowly leading to revelations that Constance might not be as forthcoming about her past as we thought.

This is a divisive film as it is touted as a thriller, but any thrills it has is pitched at such a low-key that viewers looking for something more visceral will feel let down. Even the audience I watched it with couldn't decide what it was; I was viewing it solely as a thriller, while others were laughing at it as if it were a dark comedy, which made it a strange viewing experience. In fact, when I left the theatre I was initially underwhelmed--it was good, but not great and it was by no means heart-racing--but as the day wore on, my thoughts kept going back to it like the mental equivalent of tonguing a loose tooth. Ultimately, I fell in love with it.

It might not be a traditional thriller, but it is a fascinating portrait of our narcissistic society and how we lie to ourselves and those around us so we never have to face the truth about our actions and their consequences. Grade: B+

The Invisible Guest: My wife's favorite film at the festival--and probably in my top three--this is everything that Faultless was not: fast-paced, thrilling with twists and turns and great plot reveals.

Adrian Dora is at the top of the world: he's handsome, successful, and married to a beautiful woman. He's also having an affair and being blackmailed. And things go from bad to worse as after an attempt to pay off his mysterious blackmailer ends in Adrian being knocked out in his hotel room and awakening to find his mistress dead, the room being locked from the inside with no way in or out. Now as the prime suspect in his lover's murder, Adrian hires Spain's best defense lawyer and in one night, they have to find the truth in what happened that night.

I love locked-room mysteries and this one is so fun and so smart. Good adult thrillers are hard to find these days and this is definitely one of them. Check it out as it really is just that darn good. Grade: A

Elle: Oh, Paul Verhoeven...the director that has given us such highs as Total Recall and Robocop and such lows like Hollow Man and Showgirls. Leave it to him to give us the world's first rape-revenge comedy and leave it to the French to submit this film as their official selection to Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film.

The movie opens on the aftermath of Michele LeBlanc (the stunningly beautiful and masterful actress, Isabelle Huppert) being raped. As brutal and horrible as it was--and as it is portrayed--Michele is a woman used to being in control. She has a business to run, a son to take care of, and some secrets of her own to keep under wraps. To her, this is a situation that happened, but there is no reason to contact the police or to fret about it, even casually announcing to her friends on a night out to dinner. The thing is, it has affected her and the course Michele takes through out the movie is both hilarious and unsettling.

This movie should not work. You should not be as deeply unsettled by a woman being victimized at one moment and then laughing out loud fifteen minutes later. The tones should clash and in lesser hands, it would. The humor would undermine the horrible crime Michele suffered and dark areas the movie transverses should make it impossible to allow the comedic beats to hit properly. But it doesn't and it works. And besides a wrapping up a little too neatly for my tastes, it works very well.

The movie is a journey and the less that a person knows going in the better. Just don't expect to not be challenged. Grade: A

[Sock Monkey]

Day Three:

There wasn't anything playing in the first or last slot of the day that I was dying to see, so it was another light three-movie day.

The High Frontier: In an attempt to share his younger days as a border guard, a father takes his two sons on a winter camping trip to the Poland-Ukraine border. Alone in the remote region, the father must make a tough choice when a stranger, injured and cold, arrives at their doorstep before falling unconscious.

This was only one of two disappointments that I had at Fantastic Fest. It's not that The High Frontier is a bad movie, but merely a mediocre one programmed in a festival with a lot of great ones. And as a thriller it commits the most terrible of sins: it is just not very exciting. it promises some excitement by sending the father out to search for others who were travelling with the stranger and possibly hurt in the same incident--which revealed is rather meh--and leaving the two sons alone with unconscious stranger, who we know is going to awaken and cause trouble.

And for the first part of the movie, it kinda works. The stranger is unsettling and cunning and the tension begins to ratchet up a notch. Unfortunately, once things are supposed to truly hit the fan, the movie shoots itself in its own foot and has the stranger make a decision that deflates all the tension in the movie, because you realize that the movie is not going to go there; it's going to play it safe and at that point it is just a basic cable movie in disguise. Like I said, it isn't horrible, but nothing to get excited about either. Grade: C-

Safe Neighborhood: After The High Frontier, I wanted something fun, so I wound up switching movies and seeing this instead of The Handmaiden (I love Park Chan-Wook, but his movies require a certain amount of focus which I wasn't quite in the mood for. Also, I knew the movie would be distributed, unlike some of the other films playing, so I didn't feel the need to HAVE to see it).

At 12-years-old, Luke doesn't really need a babysitter when his family goes out for a Christmas party, but since he is harboring a crush on his long-time babysitter Ashley, he figures this might be his last chance to make something happen before she leaves for college. Luke's plans are dashed when they become victims of an unusual home invasion and things begin to spiral further and further out of control.

Horror-comedies have a hard note to hit. If it's too funny, then the tension can't quite build up enough to make the scares effective and if it's too scary, then some of the funny bits feel forced or out of place. I enjoyed Safe Neighborhood quite a bit, so I'd like to say that it finds the right balance between the two, but I really can't. I can say that when it works, it really works, especially a bit at the end that had the theatre cheering and clapping. I don't believe that this is the movie that will launch director Chris Peckover to fame, but I'd love to see what he does next. Grade: B-

The Autopsy of Jane Doe: Austin Tilden wants nothing more to go hang out with his girlfriend for the night, instead of helping his father out with his duties as the town's coroner. Unfortunately, the sheriff brings in a perfectly untouched body of a young woman found at a crime scene where all the other parties were brutally murdered. With a storm bearing down on them, Austin and his father start the autopsy and find the mysterious body holds some secrets that they might not have wanted to uncover.

This was one of my favorite movies of the festival and currently resides at number two of the year, just behind Green Room. It also happened to take Best Horror Film at Fantastic Fest. Suffice to say, it's good. Like really good. It's original, clever, drenched in atmosphere and featuring knock-out performances by Emile Hirsch and Brian Cox, who just steals the whole darn movie. It works not just because the scares are good, but because we CARE about the characters. Austin loves his dad, feels responsible for him after his mother's death, and doesn't want to leave him alone. And Cox as Tommy, wants his son to be happy but has a hard time letting go of one of the last good things in his life. It's a tender true relationship with no back-biting or betrayals you'd normally see in a horror movie. And it's spooky scary.

This is being released by IFC Midnight, which probably means that it will only have a limited theatrical run. It's unfortunate because I really think that they should go wide with this as it KILLED at Fantastic Fest (they actually added additional showings because it was so popular; and I almost went back to watch it again) and I think would be the kind of movie that could gain momentum by word of mouth. Anyways, if I'm wrong and it goes wide, check it out. If not, then seek it out on DVD or Netflix upon its eventual release. Grade: A

[Sock Monkey]

Day Four:

After taking it easy for the previous two days with only watching three movies a piece, the last day we decided to add four more movies to the list:

Dog Eat Dog: Nicholas Cage and Willem Dafoe star in this Paul Schrader-directed crime thriller about a trio of ex-cons who decided to pull off one last heist which includes kidnapping a baby for ransom. In all good crime thrillers, the tension is ratcheted up as mistake after mistake builds to suspenseful ending for the protagonists, leaving the audience on the edge of their seats wondering how the characters are going to get out of their situation. Unfortunately, this isn't a good crime thriller. I previously complained about The High Frontier not adding anything new or trying anything different and that being the ceiling that kept it from rising above mediocrity. Well, Dog Eat Dog is the exact opposite: from the beginning sequence with a drug-crazed Willem Dafoe committing an atrocious crime amidst some trippy camerawork and effects, to Nicholas Cage sporting a bad Bogart impression during the climax's surreal dreamlike set piece, there seems to be decisions made to make the movie stand out from the previous crime thrillers made (during the post-movie Q&A, Paul Schrader mentioned that Dog Eat Dog was a movie about crime thrillers, which, if it did have something to say about crime thrillers, it was lost on me) instead of trying to just be a good movie.

Which is disappointing because there is a segment of the movie where our three protagonists have just finished their first heist together and have gone their separate ways to celebrate and we get to peek into their private lives. Cage's character wants nothing more to convince the escort he's with to run away with him to a foreign country, Dafoe's Mad Dog loses control of his temper when mocked due to his lack of sexual prowess, and Christopher Matthew Cook's Diesel wants nothing more to connect to the cute girl at the bar, but his previous life in prison--and his insecurities about it--ruin the relationship before it can start. If the movie had followed the course of this sequence in developing its characters, it could have been a solid movie. Unfortunately, it unravels into a rather boring mess.

Dafoe as the manic, psychotic Mad Dog is fantastic, but the true standout is Christopher Matthew Cook who adds real pathos and grounds the movie as the straight man surrounded by Dafoe and Cage's idiosyncratic performances. Grade: D-

A Monster Calls: A young boy, faced by the oncoming death of his mother from cancer, summons a tree monster as an unlikely ally in this funny, moving movie about grief and love. This is probably the biggest surprise for me at Fantastic Fest as it wasn't one that I was really excited to see, but it was high on my wife's list so I tagged along. I absolutely loved this movie. Lewis MacDougall as Connor is fantastic and the script and direction are carefully balanced to never let the movie drift across the line from emotional to eyeball-rolling cheesiness. In fact, for a movie that I originally felt was aimed more toward a family-oriented audience, it actually handles some rather complex topics about life and death.

It was also interesting to be in a movie theatre full of genre fans with nary a dry eye in sight. After the showing, Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League pretty much stated that if you weren't crying by the end you were a sociopath. Grade: B+