Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fan's Hope (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #27:


Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fan's Hope
Very cool documentary by Morgan Spurlock.
This is the closing night film of this year's Fantastic Fest.
Lots of fans, lots of stories, all united by
one big event.
Love the couple we follow around.
Love the collector.
Interesting stuff.
A dialogue that comes to mind:
"If you're partner tells you to grow up, then
it's time for a new partner."

Recommended to all fans of comics, movies,
and toys!!

No trailer to this but for more info,
click:
Fantastic Fest Page for this Movie

There you have it.
Fantastic Fest is over for this year.
Couple of tears are falling.
But, now it's time to put my favorite films in order.
All 27 of them.

1. Sleep Tight
2. Summerland
3. Elite Squad 2
4. Juan of the Dead
5. A Boy And His Samurai
6. Michael
7. Last Screening
8. Let the Bullets Fly
9. Invasion of Alien Bikini
10. El Infierno
11. Headhunters
12. Revenge: A love Story
13. Snowman's Land
14. Human Centipede 2
15. You Said What?
16. Comic-Con
17. Smuggler
18. Penumbra
19. Underwater Love
20. The Eternal Evil of Asia
21. Livid
22. Haunters
23. The Squad
24. Calibre 9
25. Retreat
26. Extraterrestre
27. Polvora Negra

Livid (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #26:


Livid
I like the premise of the story
but I would of wanted this to go to another direction
than what it did.
Some good scary sequences.
Love the dolls moving scene.
Then there's a scene that kind of ruins the mood
of the movie.
Other than some stuff this French horror reminded
me a little of The Orphanage.



Livid Fantastic Fest Page

Headhunters (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #25:


Headhunters
Now this was 'effing awesome.
Made my day.
Smooth cat and mouse chase sequences.
Just when you thought there was going to be
a flaw, the movie plays smart and corrects that for you.
Lots of twists and turns all done with style.
Them Norwegians sure know how to tell decent stories.
Don't want to add details and spoilers to this,
but this is recommended.

Yet another favorite from this festival.

Retreat (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #24:


Retreat
This kinda sucked.
The plot was promising until almost towards the end.
It's the kind of movie you only want to see once
if interested because seeing it multiple times is pointless.
Big twist towards the end.
The characters were alright.
The only thing to learn about this movie
is, if you're marriage is in trouble, seek counseling,
don't go to your very own island.

Not recommended.

Revenge: A Love Story

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #23:


Revenge: A Love Story
Decent revenge flick from Hong Kong.
I've seen lots of revenge flicks.
So this one in particular, doesn't stand out.
It still rocks.
The whole movie flows very fast.
It's pretty much, cut to the chase revenge movie
with a few flashbacks for the back-story.
Love a few good scenes.
There was some other scenes that were
a little too graphic.
Like all my other Fantastic Fest movie comments,
I won't do any spoilers or talk
in detail about scenes.

I'm a big fan of revenge movies, so, yes,
I might eventually buy this one in the future.
Check it out.

The Eternal Evil of Asia

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #22:


The Eternal Evil of Asia
The screening that I went to it's called,
Movies on Fire: Hong Kong Classics.
They have four screenings of four different
Hong Kong grindhouse films.
Tonight was the third screening and they showed
this Hong Kong classic.
It was cheesy as hell but
with a few Steam Anchors, I enjoyed quite a bit.
It's one of those voodoo movies that go
a little over the top.
Can't help but to make fun of the movie
during a few parts.


Couldn't find a trailer but to find out more about
these kinds of movies at Fantastic Fest,
click on the link below:
Hong Kong Classic Screenings

Smuggler (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #21:


Smuggler
Yakuza/Action movie from the guy who
created the Anime sequence in Kill Bill.
In fact some of this movie reminded me
of that anime sequence.
My favorite character is Vertebrae:

The story was pretty solid then it got a bit
lazy towards the end.
But I love some of the torture scenes and
some of the dialogue.
There were some good characters on here.
Overall, it was okay.
Alright entertainment.

Haunters

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #20:


Haunters
It was hard to get into this screening.
But I was determined.
Had to see a Korean film today.
The whole theater was sold out and this came out.
It wasn't all that great.
It was okay.
I'm a big fan of Korean cinema.
In fact, that's probably my favorite type of cinema.
Sad to say that this didn't meet my expectations.
I usually love the characters in these types of movies,
but for some reason, the ones on here were
a little annoying.
Didn't like the ending either.

Good side to this that there's a few
alright fighting scenes.

Michael (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #19:


Michael
Very creepy film from Austria.
Love the way they told this pedophile story.
We never see the actual acts but
yet we feel everything that's going on.
Original way to tell the story.
Poor kid breaks my heart.
His childhood is locked away.
Every scene where he's either playing
with his toys, cleaning, eating or crying,
is hard to watch.
But the story is not so much on the boy.
It's about this creepy pedophile named Michael.
He lives a normal life and no one will
ever suspect he has this secret.
Love the ending.
A big applause from the audience.

Must see film.

Polvora Negra (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #18:

Polvora Negra
This is my least favorite film of the festival, so far.
It started out promising but it got annoying for me right
away. It tried to be cool and the characters
weren't believable. When you have your main
character doing no expressions majority of the time,
it's hard to like the character.
It was a short movie and I wanted it to end fast.
The opening titles was my favorite part.

Let The Bullets Fly

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #17:


Let The Bullets Fly
Badass Hong Kong cinema right over here.
A great Robin the Hood western.
Fast dialogue, had to be alert at all times.
But the story was cool.
Love the shooting sequences.
Love the whistling scenes.
This group of bandits communicate with each
other while they're out in action using whistling codes.
Good western music.
I made sure to have me my coffee while watching this.

Another great recommendation from Fantastic Fest.

The Squad

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #16:


The Squad
War/Horror movie from Colombia.
First off, I didn't really like it as a whole.
It felt a little long for me.
What I did like was the shots.
Almost every shot was either a close up or medium shot.
It created a tight space and we didn't know
what was around them.
So in that department, it made the movie a little scary.
I thought there was going to be some kind of
big payoff towards the end.
But we start realizing what is really happening.
It's not a witch or crazy creatures out there.
It's the soldiers going crazy and killing each other.

If you like war movies then you might want to check this one out.
It probably won't be available for a long time.
It's supposed to be out in certain festivals next year.

A Boy And His Samurai

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #15:


A Boy And His Samurai
Sweet story man.
This Japanese boy is the cutest boy I've ever see
on the screen.
Another original story by the director who brought
us Golden Slumber (liked it) and Fish Story (haven't seen
it yet).
It's a slow movie with hardly any action except
towards the end a little.
This movie is mostly about family drama and of course
a samurai kicking ass as a pastry chef.
Enjoyed it a lot.
Love the ending.
Love the making snow for the cake scene and
the samurai being Mr. Mom scenes.

Another Fantastic Fest favorite.

Juan of the Dead (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #14:


Juan of the Dead
Now this was pure fun.
I thought it was going cheesy fun and stupid.
But this is far from stupid.
It was funny, it was crazy, and it was good zombie action.
This is the first zombie movie from Cuba.
Actually, this is the first horror movie from Cuba.
How they allowed that?
It's not really horror but it was great.
Saw a midnight press screening to this.
Never once did I fall asleep.
This got me hooked.
Love their fast Cuban accent and dialogue.
There's slow zombies and fast zombies.
I like Juan's friend who is helping killing zombies.
There's one part that he kills a person who wasn't a zombie.
He did it because that person owed him money.
The gore was okay.

Recommend this one.
Good for the zombie section.
Can't wait for this to get released.

Underwater Love (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #13:


Underwater Love
I thought this was going to be a fun over the top
Japanese weird musical.
But I was let down a little.
It's also supposed to be softcore porn but
the scenes don't make it so.
It's nothing worse than what you see in other movies.
I like the beginning.
It created the weird vibe for the movie.
But I lost interest in the story.
There's some good songs but I wanted more out of this.
The only crazy stuff is the "kappa's" penis.

It was okay but probably won't recommend it.

Elite Squad 2:The Enemy Within

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #12:


Elite Squad 2
I wasn't going to see this because
I haven't seen the first one, but I heard this is
a stand alone movie.
Glad I went to see it.
Very badass action movie from Brazil.
Movie is filled with crooked cops, dirty politicians,and gangsters.
The story got even better after half way.
Lots of kills that look very real.
Now I gotta see the first one (which introduces
some of the characters).

Another favorite of the festival right here.
Must see and must buy for the Foreign section.

Snowman's Land

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #11:


Snowman's Land
Cool crime/dark comedy from Germany.
The best thing about this movie is
the badass music.
My favorite part it's the table scene after
these guys were tortured.
Good funny moments.
It reminded me more of the Coens than Tarantino.
Love the closing credits song, even though
the ending was so and so.

Overall, alright crime movie to check out
one but I don't think I would buy it.

Last Screening (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #10:


Last Screening
Love love this movie.
Freaking French slasher flick.
It felt like a 70's arthouse film.
The actor (who was present at the festival)
did a badass job carrying out his role with
almost no dialogue.
Pure expressions.
His performance so good that it made
me want to become a killer and collect ears
from different women.

Gotta watch out for this one in the future.
Need to see it again.
But this is not a good idea to watch very late.
Must be fully awake.
My favorite film from today.

I couldn't find a trailer but for more info,
check out this link:
Fantastic Fest Last Screening Page

You Said What? (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #9:


You Said What?
Another sweet little story here.
This one is from Norway (the same producers
as Dead Snow).
This is a romantic comedy.
Starts out really cool.
Somewhere in the middle I lost a little interest
but not as much.
I like the story.
I like the big reference to Takashi Miike's Audition.
Love watching movies about people making movies.
I like the scene where this group of friends are asking
for money to make the movie.
These friends don't know anything about making movies.
The lady offers them two million dollars and they
got excited and said "we can do a hundred movies."
That's low budget for life!!


Alright charming movie to check out.

Calibre 9 (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #8:


Calibre 9
Wasn't too thrilled with this French action film.
I like some of the action scenes though.
Especially towards the end where that one guy starts shooting kids
all over the place.
But the story was a little too simple and cheesy.
I don't mind that sometimes but
in this case, I wasn't feeling it as much.
Felt like a video game half the time.


The trailer to this kicks ass and I liked it a lot
better than the movie itself.

El Infierno

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #7:


El Infierno
Met my expectations.
Didn't exceed or blew me away but
it had its fair moments.
Badass Mexican music.
Badass cartel scenes.
It's a little too long but had great moments.
My favorite scene has to be the El Grito scene towards the end.
It gets really good a little bit after half way.
Of course, this is a movie not to take too seriously
(even though it does cover some serious stuff like
politics and etc).
I like the crazy dialogue.

Worth to check out, especially with some shots of tequila.

Extraterrestre (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #6:


Extraterrestre
I was disappointed with this one.
This is the movie I was looking forward the most and
I was let down.
I'm a big fan of Timecrimes so I wanted to see
what Nacho Vigalondo can do with his 2nd film.
I didn't like the story and the point of it.
I did like some parts towards the end.
But overall, thought it was a bit boring
and the actors weren't really good.

Least favorite of the festival so far.

Sleep Tight (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #5:


Sleep Tight
This was a very awesome surprise.
Great thriller from Spain.
Love psychological movies and movies
about obsessed people.
This main actor kicked ass in his role.
And the director is the same director
who did [REC] and [REC] 2.
I love that this movie makes you root for the bad guy
even though he's a complete psycho.
Love movies like that.
Man, I love the shots.
Love the actors and the music.
My favorite scene is when he surprises the little girl
and threatens her so she can keep the secret.
Another favorite is the boyfriend bleeding in the bathroom scene.
Man, lots of favorite scenes.

I know I'll probably going to say this about most movies
I see at this festival, but this is now my personal favorite so far.
Must see!!

Summerland

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #4:


Summerland
Great family drama from Iceland.
Lots of comedic moments.
Lots of great shots.
I enjoyed it a lot.
Love love the ending.
I think this is my first movie I ever saw
from Iceland.
The colors were nice.
And we get to know about elves.
This movie is for believers and non-believers as well.
And right now I'm a believer.
Another favorite.

If this ever comes out on DVD, I would buy it eventually.

Invasion Of Alien Bikini (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #3:


Invasion of Alien Bikini
Charming sweet film from South Korea.
Well, there's moments that aren't sweet.
But overall, pretty sweet.
We got some good fighting scenes in the beginning.
We have a cute love story right after.
There's literally a 20 minute scene where they play
Jenga. Then the sci-fi part takes over and gets a little weird.
The ending was so and so, but, I gotta say,
this is my favorite movie so far.
Love the music.
Love the fact that they pause the story
about three times to explain or show other things
and then we go back to the story
(like the Rolex commercial or the explaining the benefits
of eating yam).

This was made with 5,000 and considering that budget,
this is badass. And it will be released in South Korea soon.
So we might see a DVD release next year, hopefully.

The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011)

FANTASTIC FEST 2011

Screening #2:


The Human Centipede II
Damn, this was far more crazy and more disgusting
than the first one.
No one wonder they kept it all in black and white.
Lots of blood and lots of diarrhea.
Seriously, this sick weirdo injected everyone with
laxatives.
I didn't really think the first one was all that.
It was okay.
But this, I don't know if I can recommend this one.
At your own risk.
This one goes all out.
Kudos to the director for going into the extremes.
I went to this press screening this morning.
I shared the whole theater with two other fellow
press people.
I made sure not to eat anything before or during.

The guy who plays Martin did an excellent job playing a
very disturbing weirdo.
Once again, at your own risk.