Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...

Well, we’ve been hearing rumors for a little while about what would be playing at this year’s FanTasia Film Festival in Montreal, but now it’s official, and the line-up is pretty freakin’ great.

CHECK IT OUT RIGHT HERE!!

This is the first year where I’ve already seen several of the movies playing, but really... just a sampling. Julien Richards sent me a copy of THE LAST HORROR FILM, which Fangoria is releasing in the US, and it’s a strong dramatic piece that reminded me of MAN BITES DOG, featuring a great lead performance and some unnerving observations about the reasons we watch extreme imagery. And there’s so much that I’m curious about where I have no idea what to expect. For example, I haven’t seen any of the movies on the Thai Showcase list, and I’m curious about every one of them. I think this is the first year for Thai films to end up in the mix, and it’s always exciting to sample a new film scene.

The Korean Cinema spotlight should be really exciting. I’ve got MEMORIES OF MURDER, SAVE THE GREEN PLANET, WONDERFUL DAYS, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, and NATURAL CITY here at the labs. MEMORIES is particularly strong, a naturalistic procedural piece about a hunt for a killer that focuses almost entirely on the policemen who have no idea what to do with this sort of case. Based on a true story, it’s a great mix of humor, tension, and human observation. I reviewed WONDERFUL DAYS, SAVE THE GREEN PLANET, and NATURAL CITY recently in my DVD column, and even if DAYS and CITY are both a bit thin narratively, they’ll be beautiful to see on that big screen at the Concordia Hall. GREEN PLANET, on the other hand, is the sort of film that absolutely demands to be seen in a packed theater. It’s a wild ride that should have that crowd absolutely ecstatic by the time it wraps up. I haven’t seen A TALE OF TWO SISTERS yet, and now I’m tempted to wait so I can see it theatrically first, especially since I hear it’s so damn good. The rest of the films in the Korean showcase are new to me, and I’m looking forward to each and every one of them.

One of the cornerstones of the festival is always the Godzilla films that show up, so it’s no surprise to see the Japanese Cinema spotlight features not only the restored 1954 original GODZILLA, but also GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA and GODZILLA TOKYO SOS. The other Japanese films features include Takashi Miike’s ONE MISSED CALL, which Quint adored, and CUTIE HONEY, a live-action version of the anime that looks completely insane. Personally, I’m frothing at the idea of seeing Satoshi Kon’s PARANOIA AGENT and AZUMI and the bizarre CGI feature MALICE@DOLL, as well as DOPPLEGANGER and BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL and NINE SOULS, the pre-requisite Miike films (including GOZU) and DEAD LEAVES, a new bit of madness from the FLCL team. Top that off with a chance to see PORCO ROSSO on the bigscreen as well as a screening of the utterly charming PING PONG, and it just sounds too good to be true.

Fans of Paul Naschy’s work will be well-represented, and Shaw Brothers fanatics owe it to themselves to be there for the films that will be shown. People who are outraged that the San Diego ComiCon won’t be showing fan films based on established characters should head north instead for the Square Jaw Theater spotlight, featuring Hulk, Batman, Daredevil, Wonder Woman, and more.

And there are dozens of other cool films that aren’t even part of a specific spotlight or showcase, movies that I’d love to get a look at like IMMORTEL or Argento’s THE CARD PLAYER or Tobe Hooper’s THE TOOLBOX MURDERS or THE GOOD COP (which may just turn out to be the thing I am most anticipating, based on how much I love Kim Bodina’s other films with this director). Mick Garris is going to be there with RIDING THE BULLET. I’m hearing great things about FREAK OUT and SHALLOW GROUND and NOTHING. I’d love to see Jan Kounen’s BLUEBERRY. I’d love to see the Moebius film ARZAK RHAPSODY. Animation. Martial arts. Horror. Sci-fi. Bizarro films that fit no genre. All of it is playing there this year.

Do yourself the favor... follow the link above. Check out the website. Spend some time browsing all the titles, even if you’re not going to make it to the festival. It’ll give you an idea of just what sort of genre films are out there right now, and maybe you can start a list of things you want to track down in the future. For those of us who are going to be in Montreal this month, it’s going to be one hell of a party, and I can’t wait to see my old friends once again and overdose on these incredible movies from around the world.