Fantastic Fest Flashbacks: 2009

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Highball, deer

I'm so tired. But I'm a bit tense. only two days left, and I can feel the start of Post-Fest Depression wanting to rear its ugly head. But there's two full days left...

That's how one of my 2009 Fantastic Fest Daily Dispatches started. It brings me right back to the fest. This is it, the final entry in our Fantastic Fest Flashbacks (we've already covered 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008). How the fest has grown. I'm looking at the screening schedule and it's now two columns of small fonts filling the page. So much to do and not enough hours to do it. The 2009 lineup ranged fromhorror-lite targeted to a younger audience like The Vampire's Assistant and Under the Mountain to the shocking Antichrist, and every possibility in between and around them. Literally something for everyone, Fantastic Fest 2009 seemed about as big as it can get, although we already know this year will be even bigger.

The opening-night film, Gentlemen Broncos, may not have been an audience favorite, but everyone seemed to enjoy the opening-night Party with cast and crew at the newly opened and not quite finished Highball, another venture by the intrepid Tim and Karrie League. The Battle Stag from the film could be seen in the Highball throughout the fest, and post-fest everyone was sad to see it leave. Other gala films screening at the Paramount had a stronger response, including Zombieland, which made everyone happy with a particular cameo from a 2008 Fantastic Fest alum, not to mention the Austin mention. I'm still regretting missing Survival of the Dead, but with so much to cover, and knowing how crazy downtown was with a UT home game and the Pecan Street Festival over the weekend, the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar was the place to stay for me. And guess what? Same thing is going to happen this year on Saturday; there's a UT home game and the Old Pecan Street Festival again on Saturday night.

The closing-night film was one I was positively squirming to see: Daybreakers, by the Spierig brothers. I loved their cross-genre Undead at SXSW a few years back so I couldn't wait for Daybreakers, which made an excellent close to the fest, complete with the ritual chanting of "Chaos Reigns," the festival's slogan that year. I'd explain "Chaos Reigns" but if you weren't there, it doesn't quite work, and it spoils a certain film as well. But there were t-shirts and even a onesie for the youngest Fantastic Fester, only a few weeks old.

This was the first year I attended Fantastic Fest as press, so I had the good fortune of a stack of screeners to preview films and start working on reviews in advance. This meant I didn't have to worry about missing so many films, although it was still impossible to see everything I wanted to see. But it also meant I found some festival favorites early, including the delightfully absurd A Town Called Panic. I still love that movie. Cheval!!

FF09-Private Eye QandA by you.

It tied for my favorite of the fest with Private Eye by Park Dae-Min. I would have seen it twice if my schedule allowed. The audience at my screening was very disappointed to find out that a sequel would have to be delayed because a co-star was involved in required military service. It's a great detective story, with very engaging characters. No news on U.S  distribution, which is a crime, because it's a fantastic film. 2009 was a good year for Korean films, between Private Eye and Breathless, a grim tale of a criminal and his dysfunctional family. Between Fantastic Fest and aGLIFF selections, finding out a film is from South Korea bumps it up on my "must-see" list.

I've also become fond of the documentaries that screen at Fantastic Fest, and this year was no exception. I really enjoyed Cropsey, a documentary about a childhood bogeyman legend that ties to a number of real life murders. Cropsey should be watched by anyone with an interest in true crime or horror, as it forces the audience to question guilt versus perception and how society responds to accusations.

This year's retrospective was with Jess Franco, who was in attendance. There was also a mini-retrospective of Japanese Pink films, a series of 3D panels, demonstrations, and films, including Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and a special clip screening from Avatar, which I gladly missed because I'm not a big fan of seeing just part of a film. Is that just me?

FF09-Lunch Down Terrace guys-cI did get a chance to attend some of the filmmaker outings this year, including a filmmaker lunch at the Leagues' place that included the traditional sword opening of champagne bottles, and the incredible food Chef John Bullington prepares. I love the fact that the flowers and basil on some of the appetizers were from John's own garden. Despite the intense sun, a great time was had by all.

Fantastic Fest is committed to giving the filmmakers plenty of opportunities to experience Austin and Texas, including a welcome luncheon, a Filmmaker Feast, two barbecue runs, tubing on the Guadalupe, Rambo-esque gun events, and more. The filmmaker feast event included the Rolling Roadshow screen with a four-course feast inspired by the film that was delicious. My fortune read, "A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts." Seems apropos for a film festival. I spent quite a bit of time talking to the Down Terrace crew, including star and co-writer Robin Hill. Down Terrace won an award at Raindance, and is an official selection for the upcoming Vancouver Film Festival. Way to go, guys.

FF09-ClosingNightParty-oLots of filmmakers were in attendance, including mainstay Nacho Vigalondo (who does great Elvis Karaoke) and a host of Spaniards he brought with him, Robin Hill and the Down Terrace crew, Cory McAbee, Private Eye's Park Dae-Min, Mandrill's Marko Zaror (who impressed the hell out of us with his gymnastics during the awards ceremony), Doghouse's Jake West, Buratino, Son of Pinocchio director Rasmus Merivoo, the Van Diemen's Land crew and more who stayed for nearly all of the festival.

And unlike some festivals, the directors and cast don't just show up for their screenings, they spend a good deal of time hanging out at the festival. It's something in particular I love about Fantastic Fest, it's a very friendly fest where filmmakers and fans really get an opportunity to mingle, and they enthusiastically do just that. Texas Monthly sent a writer to the fest who did a feature in January on it called "Revenge of the Nerds." I should caution you, it was more "sour grapes at the thought of revenge of the nerds" as the writer was clearly unable to see past outdated stereotypes.

So many films to see. I had to choose between Mandrill versus Bronson on their last screenings and it was a hard choice, and ended up with Bronson because I was too tired to read subtitles. Loved it, and eventually got to fall in love with Mandrill a few months ago when it screened with Undisputed III: Redemption -- complete with a not so fresh off the plane Marko Zaror in attendance. But who would be fresh off a 14-hour flight? Will Marko be back this year for more Fantastic Fest? He doesn't have any new films coming out according to IMDb. But wouldn't it be fun to see a stunt fighting demo with him as a "panel" event?

I was looking forward to District 13: Ultimatum but it just didn't live up to the original. I barely managed to sit through it, just to be able to say I gave it a chance. I couldn't sit through Rec 2, as it seemed like more of the same, and I didn't want it to ruin my impression of the first film. I was pleasantly surprised by Uwe Boll's latest film, Rampage. While not a favorite, it was almost good, and despite about being someone going postal, it was a more logical film than his previous ones. Boll was in attendance during the fest and even debated Tim League at the now infamous Fantastic Debates that end with a round of boxing between the opponents. I was outside watching because the South Austin Gym is just not big enough for all of us. But you can watch the two-part video on Youtube.

FF09-Uwe Boll-b

While there were plenty of over the top films, there also plenty of quieter films, like The Children and Duress, and this year's feast film, Truffe.

A surprise film for me was Fish Story, a Japanese end-of-the-world film, where a song saves the world. I started to get very impatient with it, but the payoff was worth it. It's a strong film, worth your time. Fish Story will be available for Netflix streaming on September 1, so watch it. I wish I could say the same about Kerry Prior's The Revenant, which is listed on Netflix, but not yet available on DVD but it's also still on the festival circuit. The Revenant is a refreshing new take on the undead and buddy movies, starring David Anders (Adam on Heroes).

And not 10 minutes after I finished the draft of this Flashback, someone retweeted this amazing collection of Netflix streaming links for Fantastic Fest selections. @John_W_Smith, you are my hero.

I am disappointed that I only managed to make it to one of the shorts reels, the Drawn and Quartered animated shorts collection including the funny Pixar-esque Pigeon Impossible by Austin's own Lucas Martell and The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9. I want to see more of Jake Armstrong's work because that was one of the funniest twists on classic tales ever.

FF09-CoryMcAbeeDrPepperSpeaking of unusual, did you catch the episodic western space lounge act, Stingray Sam ("Stingray Sam is not a hero... But he does do the things that folks don't do that need to be done" -- oops, did I give you an earworm? Sorry. Well, not really, it was brought to you by Liberty Chew). Stingray Sam is another one of those cross-genre surprises that everyone couldn't stop praising. Director, writer and star Cory McAbee may have lost his luggage but he made the best of it, and looked quite at home at the Highball, and you would be too if you heard people singing snippets of your songs throughout the festival. Chris Holland and I introduced him to the wonder that is Dublin Dr. Pepper, which the pharmacy next door stocks. If you haven't had one, it's very good, and made with real cane sugar. The picture of him to the right is one of my favorites from the festival.

The Highball was home to many parties, and the parties got wild; a stripper pole was temporarily installed as the star of Robogeisha was an expert. Was Robogeisha the film that resulted in Tim League running around in a sumo diaper? I can't remember.

The pole stayed up for days, and one attendee was working out on it during Karaoke Apocalypse when True Blood star Alexander Skarsgård was at the Highball. Skarsgård left the set of Straw Dogs just for the night to support Metropia director Tarik Saleh. I've never seen so many normally chill people freak out at the thought of seeing an actor, but that's what happened when Skarsgård came into the Highball after making a diplomatic escape from the cougars who crowded him after the Metropia screening. That was the only Fantastic Fest screening I know of where the crowd was overwhelmingly ticketholders. And female. And apparently from Houston. Skarsgård is perhaps the most well-mannered celeb I've ever met, as he was there without an entourage or security and I was starting to get concerned post-screening at the mob of women touching him during photo ops. When he made it to the Highball, he was constantly shaking hands and standing up when women approached his table.

My one regret was not staying that night, because Karaoke turned into Team Bill versus Team Eric, leading to an infamous picture of a very sweaty and half naked Tim League with his hand on Skarsgård's chest in the beer fridge. But I was there when Caitlin from the programming team managed to beat me to the punch, telling Skarsgård that his brother Bill had a film at the fest (Kenny Begins). Skarsgård was happily surprised and proud of his brother, which further endeared him to me (and Caitlin, I'm sure). This year, another True Blood star is in a Fantastic Fest selection, so everyone wants to know if Ryan Kwanten will be in town to support Red Hill. I think badgeholders want to collect the whole set. Not that Anna Paquin was there to support a special screening of Trick 'r Treat, but still, we can dream can't we?

FF09-Alexander Skarsgaard-a by you.

 It was a fun, busy year, but the question is, is Fantastic Fest too big? On a trip to Smitty's for Barbecue, Karrie League mentioned that this was about as big as they planned to take it, but it looks like 2010 is going to exceed it. Then again, the additions to Fantastic Fest seemed to be designed to create more options for people and perhaps make it easier for people to get into the films of choice. Last year, a chief complaint was that regular badge holders couldn't make it into many of their first-choice films, even with many in line for tickets at 9 am or even earlier. I can't comment with any accuracy on that, having only not gotten into a first-choice film as a press badgeholder twice, and they weren't high on my list anyway.

Quite a lot of frustration built up at around the Highball later into the festival, as some parties were open to the public two hours before the official party started for the festival goers, meaning drink tickets disappeared quickly and badgeholders had to wait to get in. It definitely altered the mood for many, and caused some to avoid the parties or leave in frustration, and on at least one night there was an unofficial party planned as an alternative to the overcrowded Highball. Hopefully that won't happen this year, especially with Fantastic Arcade siphoning off some people for part of the fest. In fairness, half the staff at the Highball was new, and the place wasn't even officially open yet. It's since become a local hotspot, so here's hoping the Highball is just for Fantastic Fest this year.

FF09-Caitlin Shows FangsOther than crowding, Fantastic Fest ran really well, apart from the Alamo's perfect "no recording during the movie" record being ruined by none other than one of the stars of Universal Soldiers: A New Beginning who had to take several pictures during the film, but even the studio-supplied security didn't interrupt him, so that can be overlooked, can't it? Other than those of us sitting directly behind him who kept seeing his camera screen and the rest of the over capacity crowd who saw the flashes.

But other than that, it was another great year, with few hitches, and the one big hitch was no sweat for the Alamo/Fantastic Fest team. That's not to say there weren't technical difficulties; the Yatterman print didn't have subtitles so Zack Carlson McGyvered a live split-screen presentation, showing the bottom of the DVD screener with the subtitles, and the film print on top without them. Talk about creative solutions. They couldn't just run the DVD screener as it had a huge watermark smack in the middle, making it a very hard film to watch at home, let alone in a big theater.

That brings us to 2010. Already 30 films have been announced. One of the gala screenings is tied into a Rolling Roadshow "for one" experience, where four people get to experienced Buried when they're actually buried. Well over 400 people have RSVP'd "Yes" as of Sunday night, and not quite 10 percent of that number have said "No," which just goes to prove this is one crowd that appreciates the extreme and the fantastic.