Film Festivals

This was, I think, a metaphor for the state of sports in Boston after the first two New England Patriots Super Bowl victories. The All Out High baseball team is of course the Red Sox, doomed to never win (at least in the eyes of the city). The All Out High soccer team, successful and snooty and possessed of innumerable chicks in miniskirts, is the Patriots. The struggle of the baseball team to make the Nationals under a goofy laconic manager is the struggle of the Red Sox to make the World Series under Terry Francona. ...

No clever titles this trip. It’s gonna be a long one. The drive up was nice, excepting the insane Big Dig traffic in Boston. Taking 89 up through Vermont is a win from an aesthetic standpoint; it was a bit late for much of a view of the islands, but on the way back S. and I expect to be able to bask in natural beauty. Customs happened. This year, our maps were accurate and we found our Montreal domicile without trouble. ...

Really, the festival is pretty much what I’m thinking about right now. The links here go to IMDB, rather than the Fantasia site (like the ones in the last post). Saturday Three Mighty Men: bad Turkish 70s flicks are really hot on the festival circuit right now, and I kinda wish I was kidding, but I kinda don’t because if I was kidding I wouldn’t have the chance to see this one. This is also the only movie I’ll see at this year’s festival with a masked wrestler, unless someone else holds a surprise for me. ...

It looks like this: Three Mighty Men (original) All-Out Nine: Field of Nightmares Hell (original) Shinobi (original) Arthouse Ultraman Vampire Cop Ricky Samurai Commando 1549 (original) Train Man (original) Junk (original) Wilderness (original) Red Shoes (original) Isolation Synesthesia (original) The Gravedancers (original) The Kovak Box (original) Storm Pusher 3 (original) The Echo Subject Two (original) The Descendant Reincarnation (original) DJ XL5 Zappin’ Party Cavalcade Ressonances (original) Evil Aliens (original) The Order of One (original) Five Deadly Venoms (original) Aziris Nuna (original) The Great Yokai War Executive Koala (original) Arcanum My Dead Girlfriend (original) Kebab Connection (original) Commentary perhaps later.

It looks like this: Three Mighty Men All-Out Nine: Field of Nightmares Hell Shinobi Arthouse Ultraman Vampire Cop Ricky Samurai Commando 1549 Train Man Junk Wilderness Red Shoes Isolation Synesthesia The Gravedancers The Kovak Box Storm Pusher 3 The Echo Subject Two The Descendant Reincarnation DJ XL5 Zappin’ Party Cavalcade Ressonances Evil Aliens The Order of One Five Deadly Venoms Aziris Nuna The Great Yokai War Executive Koala Arcanum My Dead Girlfriend Kebab Connection

The Fantasia schedule (original) is up!

My current schedule for the 2006 Independent Film Festival of Boston (original), which I will have the pleasure of sharing with my sweetie: Friday 4/21 Edmond, Somerville 1, 8 PM Mamet, William H. Macy. That does it for me. District B13, Somerville 5, 11 PM Cool as crap French sci-fi action flick with tons of martial arts. Saturday 4/22 Shadow Company, Somerville 3, 12:45 PM This is a maybe due to timing, but it’s an interesting-looking documentary. See also Kathryn Cramer’s writing on this subject (original). ...

Creep is pretty much your standard nouveau horror flick (see also Cabin Fever, Cube, etc.). Franka Potente is trapped in the London Underground late at night, and must flee a scary homicidal creature who kills and eats for reasons never exactly explained. It’s pared down, tense throughout, self-aware, and so forth. I left feeling sort of apathetic, though. I was scared — Christopher Smith is a dab hand with the jump scare. He’s also really good at using the well-lit Underground in contrast with dank side tunnels for effect; light is not a significator for “safe” in this movie. Perhaps in accordance with this, the monster is fully revealed about two thirds of the way through — no shadows. That worked fairly well, I thought. It means the movie was working without a net, however. ...

The Boston Fantastic Film Festival schedule (original) is out. It’s what you might call slightly heavy on the horror; they’re also showing The Muppet Movie. Intriguing contrast — since they showed Five Children and It last year, I’m assuming there’s a tradition of having a children’s movie. Hm. Thursday night looks good, with Creep and the inevitable Miike. Friday, likewise, for Marebito and R-Point. More the latter. I could miss Friday night without shedding too many tears. ...

Take one on a possible Fantasia schedule. Times are rough and not completely accurate. The 5:20 Sunday slot is probably a rest slot, since my tolerance for goofy doesn’t necessarily extend to bad Turkish movies… although damn. Tempting. Note that I’m also assuming a Thursday arrival, since I’m thinking about that, but the two Thursday movies aren’t essential. 7/21 7:30 El Lobo (original) 9:30 Ghost House 7/22 5:00 All Babes Want To Kill Me (original) ...