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After a long flight on my part and a far longer drive for both of us, Scott Weinberg and I have finally arrived in Montréal for the FanTasia International Film Festival (their thirteenth, our first). The genre-heavy festival lasts for nearly three weeks; alas, we've but one to spare, so without much further ado, here's a look at what I've seen already and what I hope to see before Scott tips his own hand with a title or two to recommend.

Of the features playing, I can highly recommend Michael Paul Stephenson's Troll 2 doc, Best Worst Movie; the Aussie revenge thriller, The Horseman (not to be confused with the barely-seen Dennis Quaid vehicle, Horsemen); and Paul Solet's beautifully bloody baby horror, Grace. Those looking for something a bit stranger might end up being a bit more fond of Black and The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle than I was, though I also seemed more easily pleased by the Nazi zombies of Dead Snow than most, so I guess it all balances out. My enthusiasm for the ultra-kitschy likes of Alien Trespass and Lesbian Vampire Killers, not to mention the admittedly boundary-pushing Deadgirl, is all a bit less than what's already been mentioned, so let's just leave those at that.

Read the rest at HorrorSquad!

In some opposite-ish corner of the world right now (from me anyway), the New Zealand International Film Festival kicks off today for the rest of the month, before making further provincial rounds through next November. (Damn, now that's a film festival!) It makes all the more sense that people might want to plan ahead for the highlights, and what better way to do that than to bequeath some awards for the films right from the get-go?

Incredibly Strange programmer Ant Timpson (who's perfectly normal himself, I swear it; that's the name of their specifically oddball selections) has rightfully singled out SXSW '09 alums like Best Worst Movie, Drag Me to Hell, Grace, The Horseman and Winnebago Man for particular accolades (i.e. "Best Film to Show Filmmakers That Low-Budget Doesn't Mean Twenty-Somethings Sitting in Cafes Talking About Their Boring Relationships"), not to mention a couple of other picks.

Timpson sums up his mentality thusly: "I already know these films are very special. I don't need a jury to tell me what I already know. I'm giving these films awards in advance because 99% of the public don't care what films win awards AFTER they've screened, they want to know BEFORE they screen..." Believe me you, the man has a point. The real question is, how will such thinking play in the States?

Toronto's Hot Docs film festival kicked off last night, and among the acclaimed documentaries playing there is Best Worst Movie, which we reviewed at SXSW last March. The short synopsis: Michael Paul Stephenson was embarrassed to star in Troll 2 as a young lad, only to find himself and other members of the cast coming to terms with the film's growing cult popularity years later. The long version: life's a funny thing.

The Toronto Star's Peter Howell, in covering the film and its inspiration, has premiered the latest trailer for it -- see if you can't spot our very own Scott Weinberg in it (hint: he's not the super-genial dentist).

For any of you lucky readers in or around Toronto, it's showing tonight, tomorrow night, and Sunday afternoon. For more information, here's the official Hot Docs page and the official website.

If you starred in one of the worst films ever made, a target of instant derision and international mockery, how long would it take for you to embrace the film and its growing status as an unwitting cult classic? A year or two? A decade or two? Maybe never? Some of the actors in the legendarily awful Troll 2 still leave it off their resumes, while others have come to embrace it alongside a fan base that revels in its ineptitude at packed screenings far and wide, and it's this curious development that makes the documentary Best Worst Movie such an effortlessly interesting watch.

After being forced in the late 1980s to threaten public urination on camera and fend off goblins with bologna sandwiches, director Michael Paul Stephenson has now come around to chronicle the initial embarrassment that the film brought to himself and others and the reluctance of them to embrace the film for all its rampant sloppiness -- a sloppiness yet to be admitted by Troll 2's writer and director (but we'll come back to them). Perhaps due to the risk of navel-gazing, Stephenson hangs the film not on himself, but his on-screen father, George Hardy, whose inherently dynamic personality and charm have garnered him fans regardless (even his own ex-wife vouches for him).

The cult following for the film Troll 2 has always perplexed me. There are lots of lousy movies in the world, after all. What makes this one so special? And doesn't enjoying something ironically get old after a while? (I'm not a fan of that thing hipsters do where something terrible is described as "awesome.")

But I am nothing if not eager to learn, so I took in a double feature Saturday night at South By Southwest. First up was Best Worst Movie, a highly entertaining documentary about the Troll 2 phenomenon, directed by Michael Stephenson, who as a young boy starred in the film. The doc prepared me for a screening of Troll 2 itself, which took place at midnight at the Alamo Drafthouse and was populated mostly -- they asked for a show of hands -- by Troll 2 virgins such as myself. That was nice, actually, because it meant there weren't a lot of people shouting the lines along with the movie, which is always a sure way to prevent newbies from enjoying something.

The verdict? Troll 2 is a singular piece of work. I assumed it would be bad, of course, but it's almost impossible to describe its badness to someone who hasn't seen it. You seldom see a real movie in which none of the actors actually knows how to act, but here it is. Nearly every reading of every line of dialogue is flat-out wrong, and the dialogue itself, as written, is impossibly bad, as if written by non-English-speakers (which it was) and translated by a computer (which it may well have been). There were times when it seemed like a parody of bad movies, like something you'd see on Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job.

Today (3/14)is my first full day at SXSW 2009, and I've seen practically nothing. This day was spent doing some special stuff: This morning I was fortunate to sit on a panel discussion with a bunch of film critics like Shawn Levy, Marjorie Baumgarten, Gerald Peary, and Karina Longworth. The topic was "the shrinking (expanding?) profession of film criticism," and it certainly seemed like the attendees enjoyed what we had to say. One of the main topics was online "vs." print film criticism (the former is better for column space, but the latter brings a certain credibility that's also very important, etc.), but we also discussed various approaches to the craft, why we do what we do, and why it's so important to approach the job for the right reasons.

If I know the hardcore tech-heads who shuffle around behind the SXSW scenes, then this panel discussion should pop up online sooner or later, but be forwarned: I'm kinda loud.

Later in the day I sat it on a very well-attended Actor's Workshop that was run by longtime character actor Jeffrey Tambor, and it was an absolute blast. I actually sat down with Mr. Tambor after the event -- that piece will have to wait for later in the week -- but the man is a natural speaker and mentor: Brisk, quick, honest, and very funny, he spoke before hundreds of people (mostly people who are actors) and I suspect that most of 'em would have stayed if the workshop had run four hours instead of only two.

Tonight I get to introduce a few films (Best Worst Movie and Grace), which means a lot of running to different theaters and not having much time to watch anything NEW to me, but I have a whole week to get through and TONS of flicks at my disposal. As always, the Cine staff will be bringing you a lot more stuff as the week marches on. Thanks for reading!

Click here to view our complete coverage of SXSW 2009

SXSW jumped their own gun last night by announcing their line-up of film titles for this year's festival in Austin, TX.

Right around the ides of March, we'll be treated to the world premieres of:

• Best Worst Movie (all about the cult surrounding Troll 2 and supposedly containing an appearance by none other than our own Scott Weinberg),
• South By staple Joe Swanberg's latest, Alexander the Last,
• Gerald Perry's For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (Scott's in this too? WTF?!),
• John Hamburg's bromantic comedy I Love You, Man,
• Gary Hustwit's new doc, Objectified (go queue up Helvetica already!),
• Jody Hill's Observe and Report (because we can't all love Paul Blart: Mall Cop),

...and much, much more! Personally, I'm also psyched to catch up with Sundance hits like Grace, Moon, We Live in Public, Humpday, and a couple of others -- not to mention the U.S. premiere of The Hurt Locker and a special anniversary screening of Office Space (yes, Austinites, another one). All I'd otherwise beg for is 500 Days of Summer, but who am I to look a gift fest in the mouth?

SXSW '09 runs from March 13-21, and you can expect plenty of coverage around these parts.

OK, this has gone waaaay out of control, but in a hilariously awesomely geeky way. It started with a sold-out midnight screening of the undeniably (hysterically) awful Troll 2 -- which led to an as-yet-unfinished documentary feature called Best Worst Movie -- which led to ... man oh man is this crazy. Turns out that Morgan, Utah is where "Nilbog" was created for Troll 2 ... so it only stands to reason that the Best Worst Movie crew and the Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow lunatics would join forces and bring Nilbog back to life.

I'm including the Alamo's full and complete press release after the jump, but here's a quick recap of the impending festivities: Screenings of Troll (1986), Troll 2 (1990), The Crawlers (1990, aka Troll 3), Quest for the Mighty Sword (1990, aka The Hobgoblin, aka Troll 3), Beyond Darkness (1990, aka House 5) -- some of which have NEVER been seen before! Oh, and there will be panel discussions and meals with the cast and crew members, fan flick contests, dances, parties, eating competitions, and approximately 214 additional insane activities. All in the name of wonderfully inept filmmaking that's so much fun to watch it almost feels dirty.

The date: June 27 - 29. The place: Nilbog (aka Morgan, Utah). The expense: Event packages start at a mere $40. For a whole LOT more information, check out the full press release below. And remember: You don't wee-wee on hospitality like this!