Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fan's Hope

I don't usually see documentaries, especially at Fantastic Fest, but as I've probably mentioned before I like Morgan Spurlock.  As it turns out, though, there's very little Morgan Spurlock in this film, as he really steps back and lets the small set of real-life characters he's chosen to follow tell their own stories of Comic Con.

2011, 88 minutes, directed by Morgan Spurlock

You Said What?

Films about making films can be total shit.  But in Norway they work.  Glenn, recently single after he catches his girlfriend cheating on him, is talked into staging a fake film audition in order to meet women.  But when he meets one he likes and tells her she has the part - well now he has to actually make the film...

You Said What?
2011, 107 minutes, directed by Patrik Syversen and Nini Bull Robsahm

Blind

A woman and former police cadet, blinded in an accident that killed her brother and cost her a career, witnesses a hit and run by a serial killer who then stalks her.  Brilliant in its execution, this psychological thriller has you crawling up your seat wishing the lead character could see what was going on around her on screen.

Blind
2011, 111 minutes, directed by Ahn Sang-hoon

Paranormal Activity 3

I saw the first installment of this franchise at Fantastic Fest back in 2009.  It was formulaic and clinical in its execution, which left me wanting more.  Alas, this was not it.  (I never saw the sequel.)  This wasn't nearly as frightening as the first film.  All the setups are now so obvious.

It was really strange watching commercials for this over the next few months and thinking to myself, "Wait, that scene wasn't in the film!"  Yes we were told that the version we watched wasn't 100% done, but seriously half the scenes in the commercials weren't in the movie itself.  Either they used cutting-room scraps to promote the piece, "not 100% done" meant "half the scary bits aren't in yet", or, just maybe, they read bad reviews like this one and choose to spruce it up with the more mildly frightening bits.  It's unlikely I'll ever bother to watch it again to find out if any of that extra film made the final cut.


Paranormal Activity 3
2011, 84 minutes, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Shulman

Before the film began, I had a brief one-on-one conversation with Elijah Wood which went something like this:
Me: "Glad you came this week and glad you stayed.  Usually the stars all leave."
Mr. Wood: "Fuck all that."

Awesome

Calibre 9

All hell breaks loose when a gun, possessed by the soul of a dead hooker named Sarah, decides to use a mild-mannered city planner named Yann to exact revenge on society, corruption, and anyone else who gets in her way.

This is just what the festival has so far lacked and I greatly needed - glorious, glorious, violence.  With guns.  Well, one gun, named Sarah.

Calibre 9
2011, 84 minutes, directed by Jean-Christian Tassy

Sumarlandid (Summerland)

The stress of making ends meet leads Oscar, who runs a haunted house in the basement of the family home, to agree to sell an elf stone off their property.  If only he had ever believed his wife when she warned that the elves would not be happy...

I enjoyed this pleasant film, focused on a light-hearted struggle between progress and heritage.

Sumarlandid (Summerland)
2010, 85 minutes, directed by Grímur Hákonarson

Kalevet (Rabies)

Stupid fucking people wandering around in the woods making dumb decisions that get each other killed is not what I want to see.

Kalevet (Rabies)
2011, 90 minutes, directed by Aharon Keshales and Navol Papushado

Milocrorze: A Love Story

This film is comprised of three stories that vary in tone, style, mood - really anything to tie them together except the lead actor and the base theme of searching for love.  I left sad and confused.  Or confused and sad.

Milocrorze: A Love Story
2011, 90 minutes, directed by Yoshimasa Ishibashi

Manborg

God damn it don't put a long short or two or FIVE and a Q&A before midnight films!


Robocop meets Army of Darkness with Tron thrown in.  It's not the best film I've seen this year, this week, or even today, but it was a film.

Manborg
2011, 60 minutes, directed by Steven John Kostanski

The Day

Post-apocalyptic survivors, 10 years in, face their final stand.  I liked it.  Watch for the badass female star, refreshingly more badass than female.

The Day
2011, 90 minutes, directed by Douglas Aarniokoski

Smuggler

Boy falls into debt, and must work it off as a smuggler, any cargo accepted.  But when the cargo is notorious killer Vertebrae and his partner Viscera, will he survive the job?

This film is awesome!  It does everything well that Yakuza Weapon didn't.

Smuggler
2011, 115 minutes, directed by Katsuhito Ishii

Yakuza Weapon

They give the impression that they want us to take the film seriously.  And that's just not going to happen.  There's far too much gutteral Japanese.  It's way too cheesy.  But then again the yakuza star has a machine gun arm and a rocket launcher leg.  And then there is an awesome 4 1/2 minute 1-take scene - due to the star breaking his neck on the second take!

Yakuza Weapon
2011, 106 minutes, directed by Tak Sakaguchi and Yudai Yamaguchi

Julia X

Kevin Sorbo has spent far too long playing the good guy, so an opportunity to be a serial killer must have a delight.  Indeed, all the actors seem thrilled to play these roles.  The Stranger (Sorbo) meets, kidnaps, and tortures women, branding each in turn with a letter of the alphabet.  But when he meets Julia, 'X' could be his match.

The director had a vision.  It just didn't match mine.  But I wasn't very disappointed, what with Kevin Sorbo himself attending this second screening and giving an excellent Q&A.

Julia X
2011, 92 minutes, directed by P.J. Pettiette

Klovn (Clown: The Movie)

I'm seeing this based on my sister-in-law's wholehearted recommendation.  As I've said many times before, the uncomfortable-situation genre of film comedies are difficult to watch.  To the credit of Clown's nationality, though, it's much easier to handle when the actors are European.  Based on a smash hit television series, the story is about two friends - one creepy, one hapless - who embark on a weekend of debauchery to escape their "boring" normal lives.  Except the hapless one brings along his 11-year-old nephew so as to prove to his girlfriend that he's ready for a family.  Significant crude hilarity follows.

Is the film funny?  Yes.  Does it deserve the fanboy-adoration I saw last night when it won the Gutbuster award for best comedy?  Not really.  I prefer the humor of Carre Blanc.  Watch this if you can tolerate stupid funny and lots of uncomfortable situations.

Klovn (Clown: The Movie)
2010, 90 minutes, directed by Mikkel Nørgaard

Knuckle

I had to be talked into seeing this, the only documentary of the festival.  Knuckle follows an Irish gypsy family, the Quinn-McDonaghs, for a decade of illegal bare-knuckle brawls with rival gypsy family with whom they are closely intertwined.  The film spends a lot of time asking Why? but never seems to find a satisfactory answer.  All I can say is that no fake blood was required for this film.

Knuckle
2011, 97 minutes, directed by Ian Palmer

The director chose to subtitle the Irish English, but only prints the gist of each sentence.  Watching the discrepancies between what is quoted and what's actually said is half the fun of seeing this.

Underwater Love

In the film's lore, Kappo are underwater reincarnated spirits who love cucumbers.  One particular Kappo wants to save a girl he loved in life from her own early death.  A German-funded Japanese pinku musical ensues.  It was actually much tamer in those ways than I expected, and was otherwise pretty fantastic.  It's another excellent film from the director of Uncle's Paradise.  The song lyrics are worth it alone.

Underwater Love
2011, 87 minutes, directed by Shinji Imaoka

Carré Blanc

What a surprise.  Another slow-burning story of dystopian future.  And yet this one just works.  The style is excellent, as is the film's overall tone.  Croquet-based humor at its best.  This film might be up there with The City of Lost Children as one of my favorite films of the genre.

Carré Blanc
2011, 77 minutes, directed by Jean-Baptiste Léonetti

Alas, the director couldn't make it.  He was literally in the airport in Paris when his coat was stolen along with his passport.  I would have liked to see him talk about his film.  I think you have to be a pretty interesting guy to be able to put humor in a film like that - and pull it off so well.

The Skin I Live In

I'm sitting in Maudie's Mexican restaurant Tuesday morning, writing up my reviews of films from the past few days.  Maudie's salsa is good, not great.  "Pete's" tacos, with eggs, jalapenos, cheese, onions, sausage, are decent.  But if you put Maudie's salsa on Pete's tacos, something magical happens.  The flavors blend and merge and they become my favorite breakfast tacos.

I mention this because The Skin I Live In, the first secret screening of FF2011, is the best film I've seen so far.  And yet, I can't pin it down to any one thing.  Parts of the film are a little slow, a few parts are a bit uncomfortable, and a few continuity goofs just don't make sense.  But when you put the whole film together as the director did, something magical happens.  The bits and pieces from the three-act story join and it becomes totally fantastic.  It's Antonio Banderas at his creepiest.  You have to see this film.  Do your best to read as little as possible about it first.


The Skin I Live In
2011, 117 minutes, directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Before the screening, we were told that Sony politely asked us to not say what the film was, or to review it before October 12.  WTF?  It premiered at Cannes, so it's not like it's new.  All I can guess is that they want buzz in the days before its Oct. 14 New York limited release.  Sorry Sony, but this isn't the 1980s any more.  You don't get to control your films' social exposure.  And you certainly don't get me to join into your advertisement campaign unless you're comping me something. =)

The Cooridor

The writer and director of this film describe it as a "Sunday morning hangover film", so it seems appropriate that I saw it early Sunday after a late night at the Fantastic Debates.  (No, I'm not hung over.)

Tyler, lifelong friend to Robert, Chris, Everett, and Jim, has a nervous breakdown upon the death of his mother, stabbing two of his friends before he's subdued.  Months later, all five of them gather in the woods at Tyler's mom's retreat cabin to reminisce and make amends.  When Tyler sees a strange cooridor in the woods, has his psychosis returned?  Or is he the only one sane?

This was much more cerebral than I expected, but then again that seems to be the theme this week.  The characters are obsessed with their own pasts and unsure what comes next, which resonates well with me.  This was a good film, worth seeing on a Saturday night.  Gore is minimal but present, so be prepared.

The Cooridor
2010, 100 minutes, directed by Evan Kelly

Urban Explorer

Double tap, damnit.  Stupid people.

Urban Explorer
2011, 88 minutes, directed by Andy Fetscher

Beyond the Black Rainbow

I'm already a little tired from the slow, plotless animated shorts and two hours of Melancholia, but this is just silly.  I could barely stand the imagery scenes scored with loooong, sloooow chords from a 1970s synthesizer, and act II, from 1966 to Rosemary's death, was excruciating.  At least something happens in act III.  Check this out only if you love the look of early 80s dystopia and have access to a fast forward button.

Beyond the Black Rainbow
2010, 115 minutes, directed by Panos Cosmatos

Melancholia

Epic in its ambition, Melancholia presents a clinically-depressed view on the end of the world.  The director (via Skype introduction) sums it up best: "The whole film is on the edge of being kitsch and being unbearable, but please see it anyway."  I am genuinely impressed at the extraordinary lengths he went to not to tie up any of the emotional and inter-character loose ends.

Melancholia
2011, 136 minutes, directed by Lars von Trier

Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead)

Finally, a film that was just what I expected.  Sure, it was designed for the Fantastic Fest crowd - the director used what slow, limited internet access he could to read film sites like Ain't It Cool News.  And sure, it was pretty predictable.  But that's okay.  That's what I expect from a zombie film.  A Cuban take refreshes the genre again.

Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead)
2011, 100 minutes, directed by Alejandro Brugués

"I took many scenes from real life, and just put zombies in it." - Alejandro.

Director Alejandro Brugués of Juan de los Muertos.  My sister-in-law also calls him "hot".

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Extraterrestre (Extraterrestrial)

So, Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood are in the row right behind me.  They weren't involved in the film; they're just here hanging out.  Gotta love Fantastic Fest.

The film is a little slow paced.  There's no rolling-in-the-seats laughing, but it's enjoyable nonetheless.

Extraterrestre (Extraterrestrial)
2011, 90 minutes, directed by Nacho Vigalondo

The intrepid Tim League, introducing the director of Extraterestrial

Director Nacho Vigalondo introduces his film Extraterrestrial

Nacho Vigalondo alongside star Julián Villagrán of Extraterrestrial during the Q&A

Invasion of Alien Bikini

I'd say this Korean independent film gets weird, but that implies that it didn't start weird.  Filmed with a total budget of $5000, this "comedy" features an alien who must reproduce tonight, and a vow of chastity by the man she's chosen.  Light-hearted torture ensues.  Seriously.  And then it gets really weird.  Quite a head scratcher, this one.

Invasion of Alien Bikini
2011, 75 minutes, directed by Yound-doo Oh

Chonmage purin (A Boy and His Samurai)

A 19th-century samurai appears in modern Tokyo, befriends a woman and her young son, and takes up work as a master pastry chef.  Yes, that's right, pastry.  From the director of the amazing Fish Story, the film is one part Japanese, two parts dessert, topped with Yoshihiro Nakamura magic.

Chonmage purin (A Boy and His Samurai)2010, 109 minutes, directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura

From the introduction, the film is:
"...gonna make you laugh.
...gonna make you cry.
...gonna make you pretty fucking hungry."

There weren't any guests for this film. I took the these while waiting for my next screening.

Fans eagerly await their tickets for the day's awesome.

Penumbra

Again, like the last film, this was not at all what I was expecting.  This was a dialog-driven film more than anything else.  Fortunately the lead actress Cristina Brondo pulls it off.  As a Spanish realtor, she spends a few months each year handling business in Argentina, including for an old apartment she inherited with her sister.  A prospective tenant is running late, but when he arrives, his motivations are suspect.

Penumbra
2011, 85 minutes, directed by Adrián García Bogliano & Ramiro García Bogliano

Director Adrián García Bogliano and a member of the production crew during the Q&A.

This has nothing to do with the film, but I wanted to point out the suckling pig display at the Highball during the opening night party.

El paramo (The Squad)

This was not what I expected.  When I think "military squad" and "horror" images of Predator waft through my mind.  Instead of a murderous rampage with an alien/occult foe, The Squad is very close up, very suspenseful, very introspective.  If such a film sounds appealing, look for this in 2012.

El paramo (The Squad)
2012, 107 minutes, directed by Jaime Osorio Marquez

Director Jaime Osorio Marquez of El paramo.  My sister-in-law called him "hot".

The director during the Q&A.  He sat near us during our subsequent screening, but my sister-in-law wouldn't go talk to him.  Not that he spoke English...

Director BenDavid Grabinski of "Cost of Living", a short film that played before the feature.

"Cost of Living" production crew.

Une pure affaire (Borderline)

If the first two seasons of Weeds taught us anything, it's that hot moms dealing drugs can be cool.  This film features a French couple who "stumble" into the cocaine business.  It's starts very light-hearted, but it's hard to enjoy when I know it's going to go horribly wrong.  And then it all does.  But hang in there.

Une pure affaire (Borderline)
2011, 88 minutes, directed by Alexandre Coffre

Outside the theater after the screening.  I can't help but think that the marquee above his head is reading his thoughts.

Bones

This film makes for great background content while doing my taxes.  Highly recommended for this.

Bones
2001, 96 minutes, directed by Ernest R. Dickerson