Fantastic Fest 2010: The Most Fantastic Things We Saw
We watched, partied and ate all Fantastic Fest had to offer to bring you this report.
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By Jordan Hoffman October 4, 2010 |
Quentin Dupieux's Rubber
Without question, the movie that rocked me to my very core was the absurdist anti-movie Rubber.
It is a movie about a tire that kills people for no reason, but it is also about what audiences expect from art and, by extention, how art changes our lives. It sounds really heavy - and it kinda is - but it is also hilarious and completely absurd.
Check out my review from the fest.
The Second Half of The Trollhunter
One of the great gimmicks of Fantastic Fest is the "secret screening." Four different times, audience members line up and have no idea what they are about to see.
One of the secret screenings was for the "still wet" faux-doc from Norway called The Trollhunter. The place lost their mind for this somewhat goofy but still terrifying Blair Witch-esque tail of man vs. mythological beast.
I took a somewhat controversial stand by saying I didn't much care for it at first, but once it got rolling it was terrific. Indeed, the second half of The Trollhunter is still on my best of fest list.
Steve-O Lighting His Head on Fire
Jackass 3D was NOT one of the secret screenings at Fantastic Fest, but Steve-O did show up to introduce the footage that was shown at San Diego Comic-Con. Then he lit his head on fire.
For real. Take a look.
Takashi Miilke's 13 Assassins
The closing night film of Fantastic Fest was a surprisingly (for him) straight telling of a classic samurai tale by Takashi Miike.
It is filled with honor, duty and a forty-minute battle siege sequence that made the entirety of the Alamo Drafthouse stand up and cheer.
Check out my full review in which I spill my guys. (Ha!)
Let Me In Proves Its Worth
I was just like the rest of the film snobs when I first heard about the remake to the Swedish film Let The Right One In. I had flashes of Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan ruining Wings of Desire with that piece of dross City of Angels.
Matt Reeves came to Fantastic Fest, however, and proved he was the right man for the job. Read (and watch) my review from right after the screening.
