Fantastic Fest 2019

Another year, another Fantastic Fest. 8 days, 37 movies, plus associated craziness, Q and As, a chance to interact with directors, cast, crew, and to dive into a whole bunch of genre cinema (which is to say - action, crime, thrillers, horror, sci-fi and fantasy), cinema dedicated to making sure your pulse is racing and your eyeballs and soul are engaged. This is not the festival to go for deep long contemplation of a disintegrating middle class marriage - unless that disintegrating marriage is also being attacked by enraged demonic bear. Which is not to say that it's an intellectual void - just that this is cinema that knows that a metaphor is sometimes stronger for being accompanied by something mindbendingly weird or disgusting.

This is my third go at Fantastic Fest,and I am going to take a break next year for personal reasons (rushing away to the other side of the planet for a film festival every year is fun but it does mean, this year and next year, leaving my husband, currently studying, alone at home for a little too long). I will be back, though! If you want to hear me (and two other guys) talking about the festival and my favourite films (including a probably quite self-indulgent rhapsody about one particular film), I also got a chance to record as part of the Movie Bears Podcast wrap on Fantastic Fest, which you can hear at this link here or else by picking up the 2019 Fantastic Fest episode of the podcast wherever you get your podcast feeds.

Otherwise, here's a summary of the 37 films I saw, plus a coupla extras at the end where I saw films that were showed as part of the fest outside the fest (one before the fest, and two after). 

Film 1 - Jojo Rabbit - a sweet funny occasionally heartbreaking story of a 10 year old in Nazi Germany. I giggled cried and enjoyed greatly. 4

Film 2 - First Love - boxer gets mixed up with the yakuza, a corrupt police conspiracy and a drug addicted prostitute in a Takeshi Miike movie with all the usual violence. Has a few too many subplots and doesn't always pay them off in order of least to most interesting, but there's a heap of entertaining violence and plans going haywire. 4. Film 3 - happiness of the katukuris - sweet natured family tale of guesthouses, sudden deaths and dance numbers. It's sweet and strange and a little silly - but also not quite focused. I suspect a Shinto parable about death is in here that I don't quite get. 3 Film 4 - the black pit of doctor m - Mexican 1930s horror about a psychiatrist who gets a dying friend to send him a message on what lies beyond death, but a surprising daughter, a few bottles of acid, some easily shatterable doors and an insane gypsy ensure things get complicated. It's... an okay sample but doesn't transcend it's type and is a little slow. But there's nice shadowy sets and it has its moments of thrills. 3 Film 5 - Prey - 1977 alien versus 2 British lesbians- another of its era but I think I like this set of cliches better (particularly the bitchier controlling lesbian Jo, and the slightly naive carnivorous alien. So it's a 3.5 Film 6 - the true adventures of wolfboy- A hairyfaced 13 year old receives a birthday present that will send him on a journey that is scary, emotional, inspiring, heartbreaking and amazing. I kinda loved this one - it plays the outsider tropes interestingly and with a few new spins. And there's a great payoff and a strong soundtrack. John Tuturro's slightly hammy performance is the only thing keeping this from being a 5. 4.5 Film 7 - Color out of space -Nick cage movie from the not-actually-the-director of the Marlon Brando version of island of Dr moreau about a meteorite that affects a farming family. It's strange, looks like nothing I've ever seen, drew me in, was occasionally incomprehensible and astounding. I'm tempted to dive outside all known ratings scales and give this a purple out of five. But it's a 4.5 Film 8 - rock, paper, scissors - three Argentinian siblings are reunited after the death of their father, but the one who left is held behind by the other two's increasingly desperate behavior - this was too slow and not sufficiently surprising to hold attention in a midnight slot - there's nothing here that hasn't been seen elsewhere, and it's not committed to its gruesome aspects enough to hold attention. There is a nice guinea pig in it. 2 Film 9 - Cosmic Candy - a Greek supermarket clerk obsessed with a favourite snack becomes entangled with a young girl left alone in her apartment building - a sweet study with a suitably troubled core as the woman with arrested development finds her way - with some suitably weird dream sequences. 4 Film 10 - The long walk - a Laotian timetravelling ghost story - this is a slow-burn of a film (though there is good payoff) and if you have a specific theory of how time travel is supposed to work then this probably breaks it, but it's a strong emotional experience about regrets and attempting to fix the past. 4 Film 11 - Jalikattu - an escaped bullock ignites havoc in a small Indian village as the men compete to stop it. (incidentally, this isn't Bollywood, it's Malayalam, which is india's fourth biggest film industry) - This is a case of a film that is overstuffed and uneven as hell (there are a LOT of men arguing, in a lot of subplots, and not all of these really serve to deepen the film so much as pad it out) but it's completely redeemed by a couple of moments near the ending, particularly one image that shows the power of obscure Indian cinema having access to vast armies of extras who don't appear to care about oh&s. It's unsubtle but it's a 4 Film 12 - the pool - a Thai art director sticks back after a commercial shoot at a soon-to be decommissioned pool. But when it's drained while he's resting he finds himself unable to get out... and that's just the start of his problems. A classic "how much can we Fuck over the protagonist" film that keeps tension going for the full runtime (give or take a gratuitous pizza hut plug. Thoroughly enjoyed how this played the audience. 5. Film 13 - butt boy - after his first prostate exam a man begins inserting more objects inside him - first everyday household implements, then pets and people... in some ways this is an overgrown student film and seeing it at a screening with overenthusiastic friends and family of the cast and crew wooing and over giggling was not the best environment, however I give it credit for playing the ridiculous premise straight, and going as far as it goes. The acting is variable and it has longeurs in the middle but it has a suitably ridiculous conclusion that earns it a 3.5 Film 14 - memory origins of alien - look at some of the historic, mythological and sociological background to the 1979 film - a nice deep dive that I liked better than the same directors' "78/52" - the wider focus means this isn't running on quite as narrow a groove and while Alien has been heavily analysed this still finds a few new dimensions. 3.5 Film 15 - The platform - in a Spanish pit, two men are held as part of something part punishment, part experiment. Must admit this one where I'd forgotten why I picked it beyond that I'd given it a reasonable appraisal based on the description a month ago, and I liked what I got, but part of enjoying was the discovery. It's an unsubtle metaphor but it goes all out with it so it's a 4.5 Film 16 - Fractured - bog standard thriller about guy whose daughter has an accident and he takes her and his wife to hospital only for sinister things to emerge - this kinda fails to surprise and foreshadows it's alleged big twist in the first 10 minutes, leading to a distinctly dull experience. This is a 1.5 cause... I dunno, it's in focus Film 17 - secret screening 1 (of 2) - dolomite is my name - the story of Rudy Ray Moore, musician turned comedian turned blaxploitaition cult figure - ridiculous and hilarious with great soul and a great heap of good performances. It's a warm hug of a film - the only downside, perhaps, is that it's such a loving tribute to the cult figure that it never really tries to consider whether it matters whether his work is any good. 4 Film 18 - why don't you just die - matvei is a twentyish Russian meeting his girlfriends father for the first time. He's brought a hammer with him. In five minutes he will swing it. A lot of blood follows. An extreme gorefest with just about enough plot to tie together the splatter with a ruthless sense of very Russian humour. There is a little plodding in the middle as plot plays catchup but enough twists and reversals to make this a solid 3.5 Film 19 - happy face - a Montreal support group for people with facial deformities is disrupted by a young man who has no deformities but his own issues - an engaging story about finding a community among outsiders - it does have a little bit more "inspiration porn" moments than I'd really like but there are enough moments that play against that to complicate the case that it overcomes that. 3 Film 20 - Patrick (not the Australian one or the other Australian one) - in a Belgian nudist colony, Patrick is the son of the owner and general handyman. When his hammer goes missing a quest begins that will discover a lot is hidden. Oddball charactepiece that gives a lot of nude Belgians plus a minor role for Jermaine Clement, it's nice enough but not something I flipped for. 2.5 Film 21 - secret screening 2 of 2 - The lighthouse - isolated in a lighthouse two men fall prey to their rivalries, paranoia, superstitions and nature's forces - a tense gripping piece as Robert Eggers again shows why he is in the race for best contemporary horror director (the battle is so strong between him, Are Aster and Jordan Peele that I can't call it. It's a triumph. 5. Film 22 - the lodge - in the wake of their parents divorce, two kids spend the days before Christmas in an isolated snowed in lodge with dads new girlfriend. This goes about as badly as it can. Rather blah, with only some weird religion baiting keeping it vaguely endurable. 2 Film 23 - Wrinkles the clown - a documentary about a Florida clown who parents call to scare their children, this is as much about urban myths and how they spread in the YouTube era as it is about the titular clown. There's also a twist that changes the tale a little. It's still a little rambly at 78 minutes but has enough to get to 3.5 Film 24 - ride your wave - anime about a girl who surfs, a firefighter and what draws them together in a love story that squires weirdness along the way. Loved it. It justifies some fairly extensive song plugging and goes to some decently odd mental places - it's more in the modern teen emo phase of anime rather than the Miyazaki clones, but it's a superior example with a insane climax that is simultaneously surprising and completely prepared for. 5 Film 25 - Swallow - a young woman has a rich husband and the perfect house. But then she decides to swallow a marble. And then other objects and things begin to unravel. A solid psychodrama - it slightly becomes a different film in the last 20 minutes but it wasn't a badly wrong different film. Though some of the swallowing scenes did cause me to have my own sympathetic gag reflex. 3.5 Film 26 - iron fists and Kung Fu kicks - doco about the history of Kung Fu cinema and how it's rolled out across the world - it's a solid fun doco with a lot of good angles on its subjet (it does have some curious pacing, though -trying to trim everything into 100 odd minutes while giving enough time to properly cover, say, Bruce Lee, does mean that some elements are whooshed through - not necessarily retaliatory but fun. 3.5 Film 27 - scream, queen: my nightmare on elm street - documentary about the complicated legacy of nightmare on elm street 2 and what happened to its young lead, Mark Patton - it's an important and interesting story about homophobia and the early aids era and survivors - it's also probably ten to fifteen minutes too long as it sorta reiterates a few too many points. But still a 3.5 Film 28 - synchronic - two paramedics encounter a new designer drug and suddenly it's effects hit close to home - low budget sci-fi largely playing with ideas - the main visual effects work is a good distinctive approach - with decent character work thrown into the mix. It's a 3.5 Film 29 - the death of dick long - three Alabama friends hang out practicing for their crappy band but when one of them dies and the other two try to cover up the circumstances mistakes quickly accrue - a little bit of an Alabama Coen brothers movie about men who Fuck up and the women who clear up behind them, with one suitably squicky twist. I found it funny and odd and with a strange mix of compassion and inevitable justice. It's probably a 4 Film 30 - Wyrm - wyrm has typical adolescent problems, like squabbling with his sister, dealing with his weird uncle, the death of his brother and the school requirement to kiss someone for thirty seconds to get the mandatory collar removed - a good variant on coming of age with an interesting take on societal expectations - good mix of humour and melancholy. 4 Film 31 - Dogs don't wear pants - a Finnish doctor starts visiting a dominatrix after seeing her while getting his daughter a piercing, and their limits both get stretched - fairly intense as it goes along with two look away from the screen moments but also good at giving both leads chances to be a lot more than just their fetishes. 4 Film 32 - Saint Maude - a young nurse who's recently had a religious conversion starts caring for a dancer but her obsessions take over from the care - grows in effect strongly, and Maude is one of the great nutso roles. It is a bit clunky in setup but pays off well. 4 Film 33 - Guns Akimbo - after annoying the runners of an internet death tournament by his online comments, a guy gets two guns bolted to his hands and is the next target in the tournament. Loud, over the top action with New Zealand doubling for anonymous US city, it's basically pantomime with guns, and rises or falls on how you respond to the dumb. Annoyingly it doesn't quite have enough variety of setpieces to sustain that level of dumb, but it still kept me awake for my seventh midnighter in a row, so it gets a 3 Film 34 - Phil Tippet Mad Dreams and monsters - doco about the seminal stop motion designer and his professional transition post the Jurassic Park CGI revolution - a nice summation of a key effects designer of the modern era - perhaps a little bit authorised biography but it's still strong. 3.5 Film 35 - koko-Di-koko-da - a Swedish couple post bereavement are haunted by three mysterious figures who recurringly assault them while they're camping - this is one where i appreciate the personal and individual vision but it's not quite for me - I don't know if it's just that I didn't find the people engaging or that the brutality is a bit nihilistic or that the earwormy tune is kinda a lot. 2 Film 36 - The Whistlers - an international crime gang who communicate largely in a Canary Island whistling language are infiltrated by a Romanian cop - this has a couple of interesting noir moments but most of the time is pretty by the numbers familiar. It does score with some nice soundtrack bits. 3 Film 37 - knives out - a fun old fashioned country house murder mystery with a new fashioned political side to it - it plays with the form in tricky ways, and remains fun and invigorating throughout - 4.5

Films that showed as part of the festival but I saw outside it:

I'd already seen Parasite, which showed in Slot 36, and was somewhat strongly tempted to again (particularly as director Bong Jon-Hoo was going to be present for a Q and A) - never the less, it is currently my film of the year and I'm glad it went over well with everybody I knew. If you want to read my write-up, it's at this link bit here..

Lyle (2014) showed as part of the LGBTQIA+ horror sidebar (that also included films above "Scream Queen" and "Prey") - it's an effective lowbudget thriller about two lesbians who move into a new york apartment with their daughter only to discover sinister things are brewing. It becomes apparent what horror myth this is tied into partway through, and due to the brief running time, there's perhaps one or two interesting angles that do get skipped, but it's still pretty effective and worth catching.

The other film in the sidebar was a 35mm print of "Nightmare on Elm Street 2" (the main subject of "Scream Queen") - it's indeed an oddly messy sequel that's more interesting for its subtext than necessarily what's going on onscreen, (and the final confrontation kinda doesn't work at all) but there's some good sequences in here (the opening moments, for instance, and a not-bad building paranoia) in among the messiness.