FF09 Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Fantastic Fest Review: Merantau
Filed under: Action », Drama », Foreign Language », Theatrical Reviews », Fantastic Fest »
Just as bad business and worse storytelling conspire to rob us of the physical glory that is Tony Jaa, in steps Indonesia's Iko Uwais, bringing the martial art of silat to the big screen in a big way with Merantau.
Yuda (Uwais) leaves his small farming village on "merantau," a rite of passage meant to demonstrate a young man's independence from his family. However, life is tough once he arrives in Jakarta, and tougher still once he steps in to help Astri (Sisca Jessica) as she's bullied by first her boss, then the head of a European human trafficking ring (Mads Koudal).
Fantastic Fest Review: Daybreakers
Filed under: Action », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Lionsgate Films », Theatrical Reviews », Fantastic Fest »
Ten years from now, 95% of the human population has been transformed into vampires, with those few uninfected survivors evading capture as best they can and those already captured being farmed for every last drop of their blood. However, supplies are dwindling, substitutes aren't working, and vampires who are driven by starvation to feed on one another tend to mutate for the worse.
This is the world of Daybreakers, a more ambitious and straight-faced follow-up than anyone might've expected from the Spierig Brothers in the wake of their cheeky low-budget aliens-and-zombies debut, Undead; better yet, it's a smarter and more refreshing take on the vampire genre than most of late, and a solid action flick in its own right.
Read the rest at Horror Squad!
Fantastic Fest Interview: Dolph Lundgren from 'Universal Soldier: A New Beginning'
Filed under: Fantastic Fest », Interviews »
Dolph Lundgren with the Alamo Drafthouse's Lyrae Anderson
Dolph Lundgren isn't the first name that springs to mind when you think "chemical engineer," is it? You might be surprised to know that the guy who has made a career out of playing muscular bad dudes in movies has a masters in that field from the University of Sydney, and he was also a Fulbright scholar to MIT. However, he dropped out after two weeks to pursue acting full time, and that's left us with his performances in everything from Rocky IV to The Punisher to Universal Soldier.
He'll also be going toe to toe with Sylvester Stallone once more in The Expendables, but we found him returning to his Universal Soldier roots at Fantastic Fest in Austin with a sneak peek at Universal Soldier: A New Beginning. Read on beyond the break for the full interview, including an homage to Rocky IV that you'll see in onscreen.
Fantastic Fest Review: Down Terrace
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Fantastic Fest »
If "The Sopranos" had been cooked up by Mike Leigh instead of David Chase, the result might resemble Down Terrace, an unassuming little dramedy that barely seems to mesh with the genre criteria of most other Fantastic Fest programming and yet managed to take home a handful of awards, and rightfully so.Karl (Robin Hill) has followed in his father's footsteps, to the extent that they've both just been let out of jail, and Bill (Robert Hill) wonders who may have ratted them out. Karl has more pressing concerns, though -- namely, a girlfriend (Kerry Peacock) whose pregnancy will require more responsibility on Karl's part than he's ever known.
Sure, Bill's not terribly keen on the prospect of becoming a grandfather, just as Maggie (Julia Deakin) is wary of becoming a grandmother, especially with them all already living under one roof. But their top priority is finding the leak and plugging it, because although we're never explicitly told what criminal shenanigans the family is involved in, it quickly becomes apparent that they'll do whatever is necessary to protect their interests, as their paranoia draws them closer -- and downward -- together...
Fantastic Fest Review: Rampage
Filed under: Theatrical Reviews », Fantastic Fest »
This is my first time reviewing a film directed by the notorious Uwe Boll (Bloodrayne, Postal), and I am a little disappointed. I'd always heard that Boll provides critics with wonderful opportunities to incorporate the most colorful derogatory phrases possible in reviews, perhaps even creating new metaphors specifically to describe the mediocrity of his films. I was ready to have fun after the movie, rather than while watching it. However, it turns out that Rampage, Boll's latest film, is not at all a bad film. In fact, many people may actually like it, as much as it's possible to like a film about a senseless massacre. What is this world coming to?
Rampage is about Bill (Brendan Fletcher), a college-age guy who's disgusted with everyone and everything around him, from his parents -- with whom he still lives -- to the barista who can't make Bill's favorite drink properly to incompetent fast-food workers. His friend Evan (Shaun Sipos) shares his disgust. Bill assembles a full-body Kevlar suit and decides to go on a rampage (thus the title) of destruction in his small town. Falling Down is Capra-esque in comparison. However, the ending is satisfyingly unpredictable -- I assumed an obvious outcome, and was pleased to be wrong.
Fantastic Fest Interview: Cory Mcabee of Stingray Sam
Cory McAbee is not your average indie filmmaker. He's more of a self-taught Renaissance man who paints, writes, composes music, and also directs mind-bending films. At Sundance earlier this year, I had a slot to fill in my schedule and I thought Stingray Sam sounded interesting. Science fiction meets the Western? Sign me up.
What I didn't know was that I would be treated to a bizarre musical that was sliced up into a serialized format, complete with dance numbers, elaborate 60-second long handshakes between partners, and social commentary on everything from the U.S. prison system to tobacco companies. It's great stuff, and the songs will stick with you long after the movie ends.
Cory is no stranger to film festivals, having been at Sundance with three different films. I spoke with Cory at Fantastic Fest, where he was screening Stingray Sam. Check out the full interview after the break.
Fantastic Fest: Discussing the Future of Video on Demand
Filed under: Distribution », Exhibition », Fantastic Fest »
For many filmmakers, film festivals are a way to potentially secure distribution for their indie films. Maybe a very few will hit the jackpot and land a deal with a big studio. However, most deals are likely to incorporate a limited -- if any -- theatrical release, followed by DVD or increasingly, online distribution or video on demand (VOD). At a brunch hosted by Cinetic FilmBuff during Fantastic Fest, a bunch of film journalists gathered to discuss the future of VOD and alternate methods of distributing films.
The big question we discussed is: How do people watch movies these days? Movies that don't get theatrical distribution are often automatically considered second-tier, and the term "direct to DVD" is still derogatory. But many people do most of their movie viewing in their own homes, either on TV or on a computer or other device, like the iPhone. We watch movies on DVD, but also on cable, through VOD channels that are available through cable TV or online, and through online streaming sites, like Netflix Watch Instantly and Hulu. A month ago, I had the choice of watching World's Greatest Dad on Amazon VOD, or waiting a week to see it in the theater -- this model made it possible for people in any city, not just those getting a theatrical release -- to watch the movie.
Jess Franco Receives Lifetime Achievement Sword at Fantastic Fest
Filed under: Awards », Fantastic Fest »
Director Jess Franco was on-hand at Fantastic Fest during a screening of his 1969 film Venus in Furs, and he was surprised by the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Sword. Lars Nilsen, film guru extraordinaire of the Drafthouse presented the award as part of the celebration of Franco's films going on during Fantastic Fest. The festival officially opened last Wednesday with a midnight screening of Franco's Eugenie: The Story of Her Journey into Perversion (1980), and since then they've shown Succubus (1968), and The Bare Breasted Countess (1973).
Franco has directed nearly 200 films since 1957, up to and including A Bad Day At The Cemetery from 2008. He's worked tirelessly in Spanish cinema as everything from composer, writer, cinematographer, and editor for years, and his films are truly different. To dismiss them as arthouse schlock is a crime, and if you have a chance you should seek out one of the three films featured on this special Franco poster created for Fantastic Fest. They are chock full of oddities, nudity, and era-specific slang.
Fantastic Fest: 'Avatar' - A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action
Filed under: Action », Drama », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », RumorMonger », Fandom », 20th Century Fox », Movie Marketing », Fantastic Fest »
Last night saw attendees of the Real D-sponsored Fantastic Fest greeted with an extended look at footage from James Cameron's forthcoming Avatar, and with it (for me at least) a more defined shift in expectations for the long-awaited film. The footage -- more often than not composed of extended scenes from Avatar Day -- still looks terrifically realized in 3-D, but the bits and pieces of story filled in by producer Jon Landau between scenes and the voice-over of Sam Worthington's character during them suggest something a little less... rapturous.
Fantastic Fest: Alexander Skarsgard and the Cloud of Estrogen
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Fandom », Fantastic Fest »
When I went to see Metropia (and reviewed it) at Fantastic Fest on Saturday night, all I knew about Alexander Skarsgard was that he had a role in the film, and that he was the son of actor Stellan Skarsgard -- I hadn't seen him in anything. Metropia director Tarik Saleh had told me earlier in the day that Alexander Skarsgard was in Shreveport shooting Straw Dogs, but would drive down here for the screening, and I thought that was awfully nice of him. I hoped the screening would have a full house so the actor wouldn't feel like his efforts were wasted.
I don't watch the TV show True Blood, and had no idea that Skarsgard had such a following of female fans. The theater was packed, and many attendees were nicely dressed women. During the Q&A, more audience members than usual were snapping photos. Admittedly, Skarsgard is very easy on the eyes. But I was completely taken aback when, after the Q&A, a crowd of women mobbed the Alamo Drafthouse lobby to get photos taken with Skarsgard. As a friend of mine remarked, it was as though a cloud of estrogen had descended upon the film festival -- there are plenty of women at Fantastic Fest, but they aren't usually clamoring around a male movie star.
Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams Reunite for 'Mission Impossible 4'
'Big Top Pee-Wee': The Original Benicio Del Toro Wolfman
Spin-ematical: New on DVD and Blu-ray for 2/9
Watch This: Brilliant Oscar-Nominated Short 'Logorama'
Chris Nolan to Lead 'Superman' Reboot!?
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