It was okay. Not many funny parts, to me at least, it takes a lot for a movie to make me laugh. I enjoyed some of it. But, after a while, it gets old. Love all the movie references. This is the kind of movie you want to drink to in order to somewhat enjoy it. They sure do a lot of that in here. Story kind of sucks. Forgetting Sarah Marshall was a lot better than this, in my opinion.
Undocumented Immigration/Horror movie done Blair Witch Project style. They had better cameras and quality than the Blair Witch. The beginning was going good. I couldn't wait to get to the juicy stuff. And when we got there, it didn't meet my expectation. I like what they were going for, just I wanted so much more out of it. We meet these patriots who torture and kill immigrants about halfway through. I wanted them to go all out. But, they weren't believable. It's funny that my last screening at Fantastic Fest is my least favorite. There is no trailer to this movie, yet.
Fantastic Fest had so many good movies. I think all of them were good. There's only one or two that were so and so. So, no movies that sucked.
Here's my top 10 Favorite Fantastic Fest Movies from this year: 1. I Saw The Devil 2. Sound of Noise 3. Bedevilled 4. I Spit On Your Grave 5. We Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay) 6. The Man from Nowhere 7. Red White & Blue 8. The Housemaid 9. Outrage 10. Rammbock
The first five have a big chance in being in my top 10 of the year. The first one is officially my second favorite film of the year.
New Release Tuesday is cancelled today due to Fantastic Fest. The movie would of been Iron Man 2. I will see that one later this week.
Fantastic Fest 2010
Screening #17:
Rammbock I like the concept here. There's a zombie outbreak going on,
but we're stuck in this German neighborhood. We never see the rest of the world. We just stay with these characters all the way until the end. The zombies are the exact same zombies from 28 Days Later.
They get infected and they have rage. So, technically, they're not dead, but they're causing chaos
just like a zombie movie would.
The gore was kept to a minimal. Overall feeling, I thought it was alright. Nothing special. Still good to have in the zombie section.
Hatchet 2 Cheesy, very cheesy. This is the goriest film I've seen so far at Fantastic Fest. This also has one of the best endings. Majority of it kinda sucks. But, it seems like they made it for that purpose. Campy. This was more like a comedy with a bit of horror. The kills and gore had like a Troma touch to it (Lloyd Kaufman from Troma has a cameo). It was good for a midnight screening. This is just a tad better than the first one. Horror fans, check it out. Others beware.
Rubber They passed out free chicken to the audience for this movie. We all ate it during a certain part. When I saw a tease for Rubber earlier in the year, I said to myself, I'll check it out one day on DVD. Then I saw a clip on youtube of the swimming pool scene, and I laughed my ass off. So here it is at Fantastic Fest. To me, it wasn't all that funny. The beginning parts were hilarious. It does have its moments. For the most part, nothing special. But, that's the point of the movie. The message is that there's no reason for nothing. This is the movie that plays with the audience. It's a love it or hate it kinda movie. I'm there kinda in between.
Never Let Me Go I was able to get in this screening at the last minute without knowing what it was. When director Mark Romanek got on stage, that's when everyone knew that we were going to watch this movie. It's not your typical Fantastic Fest movie. It's a romance drama with a little dash of sci-fi. If my wife Linda was here, she would of probably enjoyed this more than I did. Kinda boring and that's mainly because I didn't expect to see this at all. Story is alright. Good thing this was short. It was a little sad but it had a good message. Never read the book, but I heard this movie is close to it. This is one of my least favorites. You have to be in the mood to watch it. If you like the trailer, go see it.
Golden Slumber Long but alright movie from Japan. Some of the comedy here is great. Love the characters. Felt original, even though the main plot has been done before. But, it's a good movie to watch about friendship and about remembering the past through a Beatles song. Dialogue was great. Only complaint, it was a little too long.
The Man From Nowhere I had no idea this was from Korea until they intoduced this today. So this is my fourth Korean film at Fantastic Fest. Freaking Awesome. This is the Korean version of "The Professional" mixed with "Taken." Some kick ass action. You have to suspend your belief for a second. Good flow. It has some sweet moments, a little emotional, and badass kills.
Stake Land Imagine 28 Days Later with vampires instead. That's what this is. Some good scary moments. It also felt a little bit like "The Road." If you like vampires, then this is a good little treat. For everyone else, this is alright for a one night stand. This was a liitle better than I expected.
Bedevilled This Korean revenge flick needs distribution. Very good. A serious brutal story with consequences and thrills. The movie, "Enough" with J-Lo don't have anything on this. As a matter of fact, when it comes to domestic abuse related movies, this one is hardcore in that category. I wouldn't want to be any close to this island. Felt a little bit like "The Stoning of Soraya M." This is a must see. Hope they get distribution so more people can see it.
Met the director, Jang Cheol-so, awesome dude. I've never met an actual director from Korea. This is his first movie.
Bibliotheque Pascal Artsy film from Hungary. This drama gets a little weird, then again this is a Fantastic Fest screening, so it can't be all normal. This felt like a mix between "The Fall" and "Big Fish." Nice cinematography and colors. Overall, I thought it was halfway decent. Not a highlight of the day, but, something different to look at.
Outrage Badass typical Yakuza movie. Slowly develops into non-stop violence. The guy being tied inside his car and the other end of the rope tied to a pole outside was a crazy shot. The other kills are just like other yakuza movies. It was a bit confusing with who was who towards the beginning.
I can't wait to add this to my Gangster collection when it comes out on DVD.
Red White & Blue A revenge drama shot entirely in Austin, TX. Brutal, gritty film. What starts out to be a slow indy film turns into a hardcore revenge flick. Felt a bit real. Some surprising moments. Never mess with a veteran who was offered a job at the CIA. He or She would mess you up bad. This one is now available On Demand. If you have Time Warner or Cox, this is alright to check out. IFC cut a deal to show this and 3 other films from Fantastic Fest.
I Spit On Your Grave This remake of one of my favorite grindhouse movies delivers the goods. This revenge felt more brutal and personal here than the original. It took a more serious route. Loved it. Gore hounds, this one is for you. They make justice to the original. It's the same movie except some minor details, add today's technology, and kill scenes that are as good as the ones in movies like Hostel, and you have yourself a great but messed up time. No more comments, just see it. Comes out next week in select theatres.
We Are What We Are Clever cannibal movie from Mexico. It was dark. Performances are top notch, in my opinion. Some disturbing scenes. Most of the film is slow and character-driven. We get to know this family. Then it gets really crazy in the last part of the film. I won't be surprised if the U.S wants to remake this. Some nice medium rare steak tacos will go nice with this one. Support the Mexico independent industry and see this in the near future.
Sound of Noise Very original and unique film we got here from Sweden. Love the way it was all put together. It had a few laughs and nice beats. Love the way these musical terrorists created music using everything around them. In the end, it turned out sweet. Left me with a nice feeling. Another favorite of this year. Tim League (owner of Alamo Drafthouse) started a company called Drafthouse Films. He will put this film on his label. There's no actual trailer, here's part of a scene:
I Saw The Devil The secret screening prize was this S. Korean Revenge flick. I was very impressed. This is one of the best strong revenge flicks I've ever seen. This movie makes it in my top 10 favorite movies of the year. It was a little long, but man, there was some bad ass scenes. The whole audience responded well with each brutal scene. This is a must see film of the year.
This covers revenge, little bit of cannibalism, and torture. This is a perfect example of how bad ass Fantastic Fest is.
The Violent Kind Some of the cast were out there handing out Pabst Blue Ribbons to all the audience members right before this screening. This movie was alright. Nothing mindblowing. The last 30 minutes were the best parts. It turns from a party/biker movie to a horror to a sci-fi movie. Some of the acting bothered me a bit. But I enjoyed it when we finally get to see the "villains." That's when it does get weird. This has B-movie written all over it. To me, it felt like a 50's B-Movie. Not good but not bad. Love the story. The reason I saw this was because of the following tease:
I was waiting for the movie to show this moment. When it finally got there, it wasn't the same as the tease. It had similar shots, but it had a different song.
(Due to my Fantastic Fest schedule, I decided to move Grindhouse to early Friday Morning instead of late Friday Night. Either way, it's still Friday.)
Friday at the Grindhouse Presents: The New York Ripper Entertaining slasher/sleazy flick by Lucio Fulci. It's got grindhouse written all over it. The opening sequence sets the mood to this trip. I like how they throw in suspicious characters just to fool with the audience about who the killer is. And what other movie has a serial killer that talks like a duck? Funny moments. A few scares, Fulci style. Great for a grindhouse flick. Recommend it.
The Sinful Dwarf Dwarfsploitation/Sexploitation. This reminded me of Thriller: A Cruel Picture except with a dwarf and his mother running the show. This was more weird. Seriously weird. I like the first half. Very weird and disturbing with some great grindhouse dialogue. With a title like, The Sinful Dwarf, you should know what you're getting yourself into. I first heard about this through an Alamo Drafthouse guide. They showed this at one of their Weird Wednesdays. Not a film I would be proud of owning for the Grindhouse section. Well, maybe, if they have it dirt cheap. There's this one part that kinda ruins part of the movie. When the main girl goes into the attic and finds out what's going on, she decides to call the police. She goes back to her room. She doesn't call the police. A few minutes later, she's back up there in the attic and she gets caught. If they would of just cut that scene out, this would of been a little better. Points off for that. Not a pleasant movie to see right away. Have to be in the mood.
Hatchet The main reason I saw this today is because Hatchet 2 will be playing at Fantastic Fest and I have an opportunity to catch that screening. Part one was okay. Love the first half. Cheesy, fun, and bloody. The second half took itself a little more serious. Good gore, though. Would of wanted this to keep up with the cheesiness in that second half. I enjoyed some of these stupid characters like that one dude that gave these people the tour.
This month's director is Won Kar-Wai. I've seen four of his films this month already. Today I close this month's director segment with: In The Mood For Love Great original love flick. The visuals are bad ass here. Great directing. The music is a plus. Like all Wong Kar-Wai films, his trademark is all over this. Ending could of been a little better. I like how the story is told in the beginning. And we never get to meet the spouses of these two main characters. Genious. Here's my top favorite Wong Kar-Wai films from most to least:
1. Chungking Express 2. Fallen Angels 3. Ashes of Time 4. In the Mood for Love 5. As Tears Go By 6. 2046 7. Happy Together 8. Days of Being Wild 9. My Blueberry Nights
New Release Tuesdays Presents: The Secret In Their Eyes Brilliant film from Argentina. Great freaking storytelling and performances. I just wanted to take a shot of whiskey everytime these detectives were in the bar. And for the record, this may seem predictable, but I assure you, it is done with style, and you won't know until the end. This won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of 2009. Personally, I would of wanted "A Prophet" to win. But, this with "A Prophet" and "Ajami," what a tough call to decide. They're all almost equally bad ass in their own way. If you're looking for a detective crime story with drama, look no further than this. Yes, I'll have a shot. Make it double.
Monster House I know I already had my animation night, but, today I made an exception. This was on tv and I decided to watch it this morning with my son (even though he hardly paid attention). It was decent. Nice little story with some cool characters. Love the voices. It would of been better if there was actually a monster instead of a ghost. But, oh well. My favorite part is the first 20 minutes. Good to watch on Halloween.
