Fantastic Fest Daily Dispatch #8: Closing Night Chaos Reigns!

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FF09ChaosReignsIt's over. I can't believe it's over. Chaos Reigned.  I was ready for it to be over; eight days of films and fun, nearly nonstop, it can't go on forever, and the party has to end. But it ended on several high notes. 

I had a brief interview with the Spierig brothers, who brought Daybreakers in for the Closing Night film, although it's not getting released until January.  Despite my forgetting my notebook and being dead-tired, the highlight was their response to my saying "How can you forget someone who pulls a gun out of their ass?!" Having seen Undead, and loving it, it's hard to forget Mungo McKay. 

I ended up walking out of Dirty Mind, not because the film is bad, but because I was tired, and not in the mood for white-on-light subtitles.  Bad subtitles is a pet peeve of mine, especially having seen amazing ones in films like Daywatch and Slumdog Millionaire.  At least use yellow or a border around the letters, please!

Even less fun was the final secret screening, which turned out to be Universal Soldier: A New Beginning. Director John Hyams, Dolph Lundgren, and Andrei "the pitbull" Arlovski were in attendance for the film. I'm definitely not the film's demographic, and I found the fighting very monotonous and over simplified.

The highlight of that screening was watching Arlovski take pictures of the film during the screening, while one of the many security guards had to stand helplessly by. I find it ironic, especially since the studios are always so paranoid about things like that from the general audiences.  But I'm really annoyed that the Alamo's perfect record of no one pulling stunts like that is marred, especially by a festival guest. Bad form, but maybe that's why he was so sulky at the Closing-Night Party.

FF09-ClosingNightParty-oThe Closing-Night Film had an unexpected intro due to the unexpectedly viral meme of the fest.  Alamo Drafthouse/Fantastic Fest co-founder Tim League, and fixture David Strong made a special appearance as Crow and Fox from Antichrist, leading everyone in chanting "chaos reigns" enthusiastically before we settled down for Daybreakers.  I liked it as much on second viewing as I did the day before.  I can't wait for it to come back in January.

You may remember in yesterday's post I ranted about the scenester invasion at the Highball.  Never let it be said that Fantastic Fest is not responsive to feedback;  yesterday Tim League tweeted to assure us that it was a fluke, and that the Closing-Night Party would be 95% badgeholders. And it was, or close enough to it no one cared. I ended up not heading over to the "alternate" party at the tables on the Alamo Lamar patio until some time before 2 am, when it was empty.

The Closing-Night party, themed Vampire Prom, was a blast. There were bowls of fangs and a costume contest. I think Nosferatu won, but I was elsewhere. I was there for the final "Chaos Reigns!" chants. Hats off to whomever picked the last few songs of the night: "Deadman's Party," "99 Red Balloons" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" were note-perfect.  It was hard saying goodbye to everyone. This is a very friendly crowd, the Fantastic Festers.

FF09-ClosingNightParty-kI know I'm not alone in wanting to thank everyone who made Fantastic Fest another success, from the programming team, to all the Alamo Drafthouse and Highball staff and the volunteers who made it a success.  I could list names, but it would make a bible.  I do want to single out Jill, Angela and Rae who really went above and beyond to accommodate requests, and really caring that everyone had a great time.  But they aren't the only ones. 

Now we have to wait another year for the next one. We should have some video up in the next week, as well as all our pictures. Chaos Reigns!!