Fantastic Fest 2010 – The Life And Death Of A Porno Gang/Nevermore/Troll Hunter/Redline
Take thy beak from out my heart.
BARCELONA VENECIA (2009)
Directed by: David Muñoz
When you accidentally find a portal from your home to another country, what can you do? Hopefully find someone who can explain how to get back…and hopefully actually get back.
Not a bad little short, but it had a pretty obvious punchline.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG (2009)
Directed by: Mladen Djordjevic
Written by: Mladen Djordjevic
I actually don’t know how I feel about this movie. It’s the story of a group of people who were going from small town to small town in Serbia putting on a porn play and getting chased out of each town. They did it to shake things up and do something that their country had never seen. Eventually, they get caught up with a guy who makes snuff films.
That’s where things start to get really bleak. They’re making more money than they ever have and are still putting on their plays and having some fun, but things are just getting darker and darker.
The film is obviously a political statement about what’s been going on in Serbia for the last 15 years. They’re barely making it until they’re willing to sell their souls and the world that they’re in is dreary and not really getting any better. It is a good film, but it’s very hard to recommend because of how horribly depressing it is. It has its moments of being very funny…near the beginning. After that, it’s all downhill.
Directed by: Stuart Gordon
Written by: Dennis Paoli
Stuart Gordon and Jeffrey Combs are, as I’ve basically said before, pretty much the perfect pair for B-grade horror. Add their frequent writer, Dennis Paoli, and you have the set.
Which is why I had no problem passing up the new Bruce Willis comic book adaptation, Red, to see Combs in a one-man show about Edgar Allan Poe directed by Gordon and written by Paoli.
Poe was a pretty tortured soul. As a little boy, he lost both his mother and father (one to death, the other just left) and was set up with a foster family apart from his brother and sister. After a stint at West Pointe, he started the writing poetry and short stories that he would become known for. Then, of course, he would lose his young wife and, not long after that, die in a gutter, supposedly of alcoholism.
The play is set up as a one-man show with Poe reciting his most popular pieces and talk a little bit about his life. Of course, as he gets drunker, he reveals more than just his surface.
Take all of the performances that you’ve seen Combs give and throw them against the wall. His Edgar Allan Poe is a consummate showman and a giant ham. He loves his audience, but he loves his drink even more. He’s also a pitiful man that you can’t help but feel sorry for. Combs breaths so much humanity into this character that he’s almost painful to watch at the same time that you’re laughing at some of the things he says.
By the time he gets to Annabel Lee, there probably wasn’t a dry eye in the house. And this comes not long after a hilariously drunken recitation of Bells where he is nearly dancing the twist while screaming the poem!
There really was not a mis-step in the entire play and it was one of the best things that I saw at the Festival. The only criticism that I heard (and can kind of agree with) was that he started out a little bit big. If he had started less animated and gotten more so as he drank more, it would have worked just a tiny bit better. But that’s really a small quibble. The play was excellent in every way and I’m very glad that I went. It’s been a LONG time since I’ve seen live theatre and I kind of miss it.
After the Festival, the play is being staged two more times at the Alamo South Lamar. I HIGHLY suggest you swing the $28 and go see it. It absolutely made me want to delve into Poe’s work again…or at least listen to the Alan Parsons album for the 1857th time.
Directed by: Andre Ovredal
(There’s no information about this movie on IMDb. I had to do a Google search to find the director!)
In Norway, trolls are real…and they’ve escaped their mountain lairs and are starting to invade the countryside!
This mockumentary revolves around three film students who find a troll hunter and start following him around. Eventually, he relents and lets them tag along on a real-life troll hunt! But when they finally see one in real life, they realize that they’re in over their heads.
Oh yeah, and this is all based on the “found footage” conceit. ‘Cause that hasn’t been done to death, lately.
Actually, this movie does it right. Unlike Blair Witch or Paranormal Activity, this is almost played for laughs. There are some pretty freaky parts (especially just before we ever see an actual troll) and it’s mostly serious, but you can tell that the filmmakers were really having a good time with the whole troll myth. They use bits and pieces of the lore from fairy tales and turn them on their heads. Every time the troll hunter broke out another piece of equipment, he got another small laugh.
Troll Hunter barely even has a release date yet. It’s about 98% finished and only got that far about three days ago. The producers were calling people at midnight to get it finished so it could be shown tonight. Hopefully it will get some decent release here in the States. It’s a pretty fun movie, even if it feels a bit long. It’s nearly two hours long and probably could have been trimmed by half an hour and been even better, so it’s a little draggy. Still, it’s worth checking out.
Directed by: thedownlowconcept
A 48 Hour Film Project that made VERY good. It’s won all kinds of awards all over New Zealand and is now making the rounds in America.
A young man’s beloved father recently died…but he just won’t leave his son alone. He follows him around all the time, giving him advice on everything. (“Time for a wank?”)
Pretty damn funny, especially when the son starts to try to live his own life. It’s almost hard to tell that it was made in 48 hours.
Directed by: Takeshi Koike
Written by: Katsuhito Ishii/Yoji Enokido/Yoshiki Sakurai
In a future world where tires are outlawed, races still go on. There are no rules because it’s all illegal anyway. Every five years, the big championship, Redline, is held. People come from all over the universe to participate. JP and Sonoshee are two such racers. They’re about the only humanoids to be in the race so, of course, they’re going to hook up…but they start out as rivals.
Koike has created a pretty interesting world, but it was almost TOO silly. It was so weird that it ceased to make much sense about five minutes in. And, at 12:30am, that’s not really a good thing. I fell asleep a lot and didn’t care much after about half an hour.
Oh well. Better luck next time. The animation was…not bad, though.
