At the Meet the Japanese Party, we recreated the Samurai Call competition as seen in the Fantastic Fest film TOKYO ONLYPICS 2008. The competition is, well….see for yourself. Here’s a highlight reel:
Also, check out these other awesome videos from the party:
Sake, Shochu and Karaoke: Meet the Japanese! party w/ the Tengu Twins
Samurai Call Contest
SAAAAMMMMUUUUURRRAAIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!1!!
The Fantastic Debates are always some of the most fun moments of the festival. This year was no different, as we got to see Alamo founder Tim League beat up director Uwe Boll in a series of rounds that left the German filmmaker begging for mercy. Check out these videos for proof.
And a little bonus:
On Monday, we went out shooting guns. No, not lame shotguns, although we did spend a day last week spraying the old buckshot. This time we stepped it up, and performed one of Texas’ greatest, and most dangerous, past times. We went out shooting fully-automatic machine guns. And Lord was it glorious.
As Woody Harrelson said in ZOMBIELAND, “Thank God for Rednecks.”
Check here for evidence of the insanity.
We were especially excited to have G4 on board at Fantastic Fest this year, not only as sponsors of the festival, but also to cover the fest and as our partners in the “Uwe Boll Totally Awesome Videogames Filmmaking Competition presented by G4 and Fantastic Fest” (entries are now available to view online). G4 spent much of the festival covering the special events, secret screenings and outright craziness that is Fantastic Fest, and on Monday night, they even brought in “Attack of the Show” hosts Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira (along with Uwe Boll himself) to present Joseph Graham, the winner of the “Totally Awesome Videogames Competition” with their trophy/beer mug; Olivia Munn also did double duty by sitting on the jury for Best Animated Short (which went to Don Hertzfeld’s I AM SO PROUD OF YOU), and allowed Graham to hump her leg. All in all, their visit was a raging success.
Check out the footage below, and watch “Attack of the Show” tonight for more on Fantastic Fest 2009!
Thanks to all our friends at G4 for their support of Fantastic Fest!
The Bare Breasted Countess Wed, Sep 30, 6:45 PM
The screen action, such as it is, is a pas de deux between Lina Romay’s Countess Irina Karlstein, a vampire who extracts the love juice of her victims, and Franco regular Jack Taylor’s Baron von Rathony, who feels imperceptibly drawn to the Countess until they are finally together in the most intimate way possible. Structured as a surreal tone poem accompanied by the unforgettable music of Daniel White, this is a film like no other.
A limited number of tickets are available to the general public. Click here to buy.
New Wave – Best Feature Winner: Down Terrace Wed, Sep 30, 9:15 PM
In 2007, the people behind the venerable Mondo Macabro DVD label released their first feature film production: a Pakistani gore film called HELL’S GROUND. Now, Mondo Macabro Movies has made a 180 degree turn with DOWN TERRACE, a darkly comedic drama from Britain about the daily travails of a family of crooks trying to keep their criminal enterprise from falling apart.
Click here for tix
Avatar Sneak Preview Footage Wed, Sep 30, 9:45 PM
One of the highlights of the Fantastic Fest 3D program will be a screening of exclusive footage from James Cameron’s AVATAR with producer Jon Landau in person to participate in a Q&A with Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News. AVATAR footage courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox.
Click here for tix
Human Centipede (First Sequence) Wed, Sep 30, 11:55 PM
Tom Six’s The Human Centipede (First Sequence) is an insane biological horror film that enthusiastically explores territory that few filmmakers dare to tread. In The Human Centipede, Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser) is a leering, sepulchral surgeon from Germany whose specialty is separating Siamese twins. Dr. Heiter decides to evolve his craft by sewing together living beings together at the “mucous-cutaneous zone” (guess) in order to create Siamese triplets with a single digestive system.
Click here to buy tix
The Double 3D Dance Party Wed, Sep 30, 11:55 PM at The Highball
Following the AVATAR presentation, Fantastic Fest will present a groundbreaking 3-D Film & Interactive Party, presented by RealD and 3DFF. The event will feature multiple 3-D displays and projection screens that will showcase 3-D interactive experiences, in addition to a 3-D Dance Floor Exhibit. By the end of this party, your senses will be completely ravaged.
Also be sure to check out Fantastic 2009 photos on Flickr and videos on YouTube.
Last night, following the FF Awards show, we were witness to the ultimate display of mental prowess and physical power. The second installment in a long-standing tradition, the FF Debates shook Austin, TX to its very foundations with earth-shattering waves of power. Contestants included industry superstars (Devin Faraci, Scott Weinberg), Fantastic Fest familiars (Tim League, Chivonn Anderson) and Michael Bay enthusiast Scott Mossman!! Also on hand for the final Blood Match was world-renowned pugilist auteur Uwe Boll, who taught the crowd a thing or two about independent filmmaking before teaching Tim League a thing or two about being punched in the face.
If you are taking pictures and video at Fantastic Fest, we encourage you to tag and share. You can upload photos to our Fantastic Fest Flickr Group, and if you are uploading video to Youtube, please tag the video with #fantasticfest so other folks can find it quickly.
We hope everyone is enjoying themselves this week, I most certainly am!
Last night’s awards ceremony brought cheers, tears and many, many beers. Host Tim League was joined onstage by the elite filmmaking and shakeyface visionaries that make FF the most widely discussed festival in the United States of the WORLD. Check out the photos HERE!!
And here are the WINNERS!:
HORROR FEATURES
Best Picture: HUMAN CENTIPEDE
Best Director: Kerry Prior (REVENANT)
Best Actor: Dieter Laser (HUMAN CENTIPEDE)
Best Actress: Neve McIntosh (SALVAGE)
FANTASTIC FEATURES
Best Picture: MANDRILL
Best Director: Kim Nguyen (TRUFFE)
Best Screenplay: Tamio Hayashi adapted from Kotaro Isaka (FISH STORY)
Best Actor: Marko Zaror (MANDRILL)
Best Actress: Chiaki Kuriyama(KAMOGAWA HORUMO)
NEXT WAVE FEATURES
Best Picture: DOWN TERRACE
Best Director: Yang Ik-Joon (BREATHLESS)
Best Screenplay: Robin Hill, Ben Wheatley DOWN TERRACE
Best Actor: Jeong-min Hwang, PRIVATE EYE
Best Actress: Shera Bechard, SWEET KARMA
AUDIENCE AWARDS PRIZE: A Town Called Panic
AUDIENCE AWARDS HONARABLE MENTION:
Special Mention - Fish Story
Special Mention – Breathless
Special Mention – The Reverant
Special Mention – Merantau
Jury results – SHORTS Awards Ceremony
ANIMATED:
BEST PICTURE – I AM SO PROUD OF YOU (Don Hertzfeldt)
Special Mention – ALMA (Rodrigo Blaas)
FANTASTIC:
BEST PICTURE – TERMINUS
HORROR:
BEST PICTURE – FULL EMPLOYMENT
Special Mention – EXCISION (Richard Bates, Jr)
I received this video from Henri in my inbox about a week ago and just now had the chance to get to check it out. After having watched THOUSANDS of Fantastic Fest submissions over the last few years, Karrie and I are keenly aware of how the issue of cellphones are covered in modern horror movies. If you are being chased by an axe-wielding maniac, then why don’t you just call for help? Handling the problem in the standard fashion (shit – no signal) has become one of our biggest pet peeves of ours. Check out the video above for an awesome compile of dozens of shots from Hollywood films all falling prey to the easy solution.
One of the most insane nights at every FF is the colossal face-off at the FANTASTIC FEUD! This year was a true rager, with 10 of America’s finest going to toe-to-toe with the rest of the globe’s mightiest nerds in a vicious test of useless movie knowledge. It was a whirlwind, and the pics are HERE to prove it!
