Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I don’t have my exact dates yet, but I think a week from now, I’m going to be in Montreal, and if the films they’re showing are as good as I think they will be, my mind should be well and truly blown by that point already.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the FanTasia Film Festival, don’t feel bad. I really didn’t know much about it before I got summoned by the one and only Anthony Timpson two summers ago. Timpson’s one of the most dedicated film freaks I have ever met, a New Zealander who spends much of the year traveling the globe in search of strange and disturbing movies, a cinematic nomad of sorts. I first met him in line for a flight at LAX several years ago. He recognized me and introduced himself. Since then, I’ve learned that he’s one of those guys like Jeff “The Dude” Dowd. When they call, you answer, because there’s probably a heck of an adventure waiting on the other end of the line.
It was about this time in 2001 when I got that call from Timpson asking me if I could get away for ten days or so. At that point, ten days was no problem for me, especially if I thought there was some fun to be had. Arrangements were made quickly, and I was flown up to Montreal to attend the very end of what I learned is one of the best festivals of its type in the world. Pierre Corbeil is the head organizer of the fest, but he depends on an eclectic and remarkable group of programmers, each with particular tastes, who assemble the best sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films from around the world in order to spend almost a month mainlining these movies.
If all goes according to plan, I should see 32 films in nine days. And of those 32 films, I’ve seen 3 of them already. THE EYE. ICHI THE KILLER. And BUBBA HO-TEP. Wouldn’t complain about seeing any of them again, either, especially with the kind of crowd you find at this particular festival.
And make no mistake... I’m giddy at the prospect. I’ve been working incredibly hard all year so far. I don’t care what business you’re in... you know the feeling when you really dig into a project or a set of projects, and you just get wrapped up in it, and every time you look up, it seems like another week has just slipped away? Well, that’s been 2003 for me. I can’t imagine that it’s really July already, and that August is almost upon us. It doesn’t seem possible. I’m just glad that this year, nothing’s stopping the festival from happening. Last year, problems with the Imperial Cinema, the amazing venue where the festival typically takes place, forced a last-minute cancellation of the entire program. The Imperial’s still not ready to welcome the festival back, so they were forced to locate a new venue this year, and I’m dying to see what the Concordia Hall Cinema has to offer viewers.
What sort of stuff am I looking forward to seeing? Well, at the 2001 festival, I got my first introduction to the work of Takashi Miike when, my first night in town, I got hit full-force with DEAD OR ALIVE 2. At the end of that movie, I was ready for anything. It was like a palette cleansing. Seeing this many off-mainstream films in one fell swoop tends to skew your perceptions. I left Montreal feeling like I wanted to burn Hollywood to the ground. Considering what my year so far has been like, I think a cinema enema may be just the thing to get me back to my sarcastic, disdainful, know-it-all self, and I can’t wait to get started.
There’s a special collection of Miike films showing, as well as a tribute to the Shaw Brothers featuring COME DRINK WITH ME, a film I’ve wanted to see for years now. I’m dying to see the Richard Stanley films they’re showing, and I’m bummed that I may miss THE SECRET GLORY, which sounds amazing. There’s plenty of Asian horror and action films that I haven’t seen yet, like PHONE, ARAGAMI, SO CLOSE, MUSA THE WARRIOR, PUBLIC ENEMY, and RETURNER. I’m ecstatic about seeing OLD MEN IN NEW CARS, which is the sequel to IN CHINA THEY EAT DOGS, one of the great mindfucks I’ve seen in recent years, and I’m just about out of my mind with anticipation for RESURRECTION OF THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL and SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE.
Because it’s been two years since the last festival, where they showed JEEPERS CREEPERS, they’ll be playing JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 here. It’ll be after I leave, but that’s okay. I can vouch (without actually reviewing it yet) that JC2 is a superlative monster movie, better than the original in every way, and it should be interesting for Ray Wise fans to see this and DEAD END back-to-back. I’d love to see exactly what KAENA THE PROPHECY is, but if I could pick just one of the films that’s showing during days I’m not scheduled to be in town and move it so I could see it, I’d bet right now on TAMALA 2010: A PUNK CAT IN SPACE, which sounds to me like one of those instant favorite “how did I ever live without this film?” sort of cult classics. Of course, the fun part of a festival like this is when you get blindsided by something you never see coming. I’m familiar with many of these filmmakers, like Kim Ki-Duk, whose THE ISLE horrified viewers at both Sundance and FanTasia when I went in 2001, and I’m curious to see if his BAD GUY is the same kind of transgressive assault, or if he’s got something totally different up his sleeve this time. I’m excited because there are two GODZILLA films for me to choose from... GODZILLA X MEGAGUIRUS and GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK (GMK), both of which sound like they’d drive Grande Rojo into a full-blown “MAN IN SUIT!!” frenzy.
And, finally, I’m looking forward to Montreal itself. I found the city to be incredibly welcoming and appealing last time, and I’m looking forward to several of those remarkable smoked meat sandwiches at Schwartz’s. I’m looking forward to conversations with guys like Don May and Johnny Butane and the GirlCreature and Timpson and Mitch Davis and the various filmmakers and film fans who you end up running into at an event like this. I’m looking forward to the entire madcap circus that I remember from last time, and I’m excited that my co-writer is going to be joining me up there so I can finally show him what it is that I’ve been raving about for the last two years.
If you want to look back at my coverage for the 2001 festival, you can follow these links:
BRUCE LAW: MY STUNTS, DEAD OR ALIVE 2: BIRDS, DEAD CREATURES!!
OTAKU, FUCCON FAMILY, LEGION OF THE DEAD, NEKOJIRU-SO!!
ST. JOHN’S WORT, WENDIGO, A LIVING HELL!!
CASTLE IN THE SKY, NEKOJIRU-SO, MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, JEEPERS CREEPERS, CITIZEN TOXIE!!
METROPOLIS, LYLIA, TELL ME SOMETHING!!
JOINT SECURITY AREA, WILD ZERO!!
EL CELO, THE OTHERS, HEART OF THE WARRIOR!!
Once I know where I’ll be staying, I’ll post my contact info so that readers can get in touch with me again. I had a great time meeting everyone in Montreal last time, and I’m counting the hours down right now till I can hop on the plane and get the party started for this year. Until then...
"Moriarty" out.
