Hola all. Massawyrm here.
It’s here! It’s finally here! My very favorite 8 days of the year: Fantastic Fest! Until you’ve attended for yourself, you have no idea why those of us in love with it are so dedicated. It’s not like a normal film festival; in fact, it is its own beast entirely. But for me, it is especially so. Every year I endeavor to see every single film that shows, and every year I fail – but I get damn close. This year I waded through over two dozen screeners to accomplish my goal. Here is part one of the very best of what I saw.
Every year, one part of the world seems to mysteriously dominate the fest. Year 2 was the British Invasion, with a large number of great Brit films ruling the day. Year 3 was the Spanish Inquisition (which no one expected) with fistfuls of brilliant films spilling out onto the genre scene. Last year was all about the Nordic films, with LET THE RIGHT ONE IN taking the fests top spot. This year, the Asians rule the day – especially the Japanese. And while there is always a strong showing of Asian films every year, this year has possibly the strongest crop yet. This, the first installment of three, will introduce you to the MUST NOT MISS Asian films at the fest this year. Here goes!
FISH STORY
Okay, I’m laying my cards out on the table now. Screw saving my pick of the festival for last. I’m putting it first. If you see one non-event screening at Fantastic Fest, if you are coming down and buying tickets without a badge, if you are going to anything at all this year: SEE THIS MOVIE. It is a film that I not only found to be the best of the stack, it very well might find its way into my top 10 this year. Holy crap do I love the hell out of this movie.
Can a punk song really save the world? That’s what FISH STORY asks you early on.
If someone were to make a film that is the very definition of a Fantastic Fest movie, this would be it. It’s got a little bit of everything, perfectly stewed together to perfection in a genre gumbo that will captivate you from minute one. FISH STORY feels like the Japanese version of Richard Kelly doing his rendition of MAGNOLIA – if you can imagine such a thing. Set in the last few hours before an imminent comet strike that will cause a Tsunami wiping out Japan in one fell swoop, an angry man wanders about an abandoned Tokyo knocking over anything not nailed down. But when he discovers a record store still open for business, he can’t help himself but wander in to ask what the hell a record shop is doing open at the end of the world. There he meets a man convinced that someone will save the earth.
What follows is a collection of moments from Five different time periods: 1975, 1982, 1999, 2009 and of course 2012, all of which play into the events that will either save the human race…or condemn it once and for all. As the stories unfold and we see the connections each of the record shops inhabitants has to the past, we begin to understand what it is that is exactly going on. And once the film’s final notes have played out to the film’s self-titled theme song, you begin to finally understand the entire through-line of what led to this perfect, melodic and absolutely magnificent ending. FISH STORY is a tale about the interconnectivity of all of our lives – how simple things we all do alters forever the fate of those we only tangentially interact with. About an hour into this I was firmly in love with it, and once it had completely played out, I almost hit repeat in order to watch it again.
It is one of those rare gems that hits everything it is aiming for. Even its title song – which like the film THAT THING YOU DO is repeated about a dozen times throughout – gets better and better each time you hear it and its importance and meaning takes shape. By the time it plays in its entirety at the end of the film, just try not to rock out to it, tapping your foot, nodding your head or air-guitaring all the way through to the credits. I love this movie. Love, love, love it and encourage everyone and anyone to track this down any way you can.
CRAZY RACER
If FISH STORY is a perfect Richard Kelly movie, CRAZY RACER is a classic Guy Richie film – if Guy Richie made films in Hong Kong. This Chinese crime comedy is about as stylish as they come – if you’ve watched any of the FF Trailers this year, you’ve seen a few of this movie’s money shots. It is the story of a professional cyclist who is disgraced and loses his ability to compete. When his coach discovers the man behind the swindle, the racer vows to get recompense. Unfortunately for him, that swindler is caught up in some trouble of his own. Meanwhile, a team of gangsters are trying to make a new connect in the heroine business with a very professional but seemingly insane Thai cyclist. Add in cops, a pair of wannabe hitmen, an angry wife…and oh yeah, almost none of these characters is entirely competent in the ways of criminal activities…and you have CRAZY RACER, a high octane, ass kicker of a comedy.
This is a classic comedy of errors and mistaken identity farce of the LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELLS/SNATCH variety. Every detail of what occurs plays perfectly into the clusterfuck that follows, with each detail building and finally coming to a climax in the same sort of way all of these films always do: very badly. For some that is.
The movie is visually stunning, easily one of the very best looking things you’ll see all year – and I’m not just talking about at the festival. There are a number of very stylish flourishes that make this stand out just on looks alone. But fortunately it is also a tightly paced, well written, funny comedy that compliments those visuals. Easily one of the best things playing this year, this is another DO NOT MISS film.
YATTERMAN
I only need two words to get you into a theater showing this: Takashi Miike. If I need more than that, what the hell are you doing at Fantastic Fest? Miike is like…one of our patron fucking saints. And here he’s got a new film that exactly the kind of delightfully fucked up that is exactly what you wouldn’t expect out of him. This isn’t a perverse, deranged mindfuck of a movie. It is a hypercolor, high energy, sugar coated Saturday morning breakfast cereal of a movie made for kids; albeit Japanese kids (meaning there’s sex jokes.)
What you need to know going in is that this is a live action remake of a 70’s era cartoon show. It is their GI JOE, taking a silly, toy selling property of the past and repackaging it for nostalgia’s sake and retooling it for mass consumption. The result is a two-hour episode of MIGHTY MORPHIN’ POWER RANGERS with a much better budget. There are songs complete with silly dance moves, bad facial prosthetics, nonsensical sequences that are clearly straight of out a cartoon; but most of all, almost every character in the film takes their reality VERY SERIOUSLY. Even though that reality is completely whacked.
The story is about a team of superheroes known as Yatterman. Yatterman 1 and 2 are a boyfriend/girlfriend team who transform into Yatterman every Saturday evening at 6:30 (when their show aired) and fight alongside their nearly useless flying toy robot and their giant mech shaped like Clifford the Big Red Dog against the forces of darkness, three immortal thieves whose goal in life is to battle Yatterman every Saturday evening in hopes of one day winning – even though they know they never will.
The film is incredibly repetitive, with the villains and heroes facing off no less than four times in almost the exact same manner; the film really comprising four episodes into one narrative. And while at first this might seem like a mistake, Miike uses it to full effect, creating jokes involving the repetition and ultimately serving up a beautiful final message in the film’s epilogue, tying the whole thing together.
Miike seems painfully aware of the show’s goofiness and complete unoriginality – and both openly celebrates and mocks it for these traits. And when the villainess delivers her final monologue, the film comes to an awkwardly perfect close as if it says “Did you like reliving your childhood? Great. Now it’s time to put the toys away and return to the real world.” With one speech Miike turns two hours of senseless whimsy into an ironic commentary on childhood and what it means to finally grow up. But make no mistake, it takes nearly two hours before you get there – so your resilience to bright colors, strange music and nearly nonsensical ploting will be put to the ultimate test. Definitely recommended, but only for those who know full well that they are in for two hours of a Pixie Stick and Jolt Cola induced Japanese fever dream.
VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL
Okay, thus far I’ve talked about films you can’t miss. You can miss this film. It’s not for everyone. Those who it is for will no doubt relish its existence at the festival and the ability to see it with an audience. VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL is at its heart a Japanese Troma movie that would make Lloyd Kaufman proud. But it is a very hard movie to get a bead on at first. A strange, almost nonsensical story brings together an unlikely cast of misfits in a reality that won’t make any sense until the second act. But once it gets started, it becomes a bloody, goofy affair that is all fun and frolic.
There’s not much you can say about the story, many of the effects are cheesy and the acting is subpar at best – even in a foreign language. So why see it? Because it has the single most offensive series of scenes you will see in all of fantastic fest. No, I know I haven’t seen everything yet, and I’ll bet famr on the fact that NOTHING will outdo how offensive VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL gets in a few of its scenes. One of the many high school cliques is so absurd, so over the top, so…unspeakably politically incorrect that words alone could not convey to you what you will see. Needless to say, when this film offers up what it does, there will no doubt be an audible series of gasps and murmurs that will be heard two theaters over. Not for the meek or easily offended, VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL is cheesy, stupid fun that demands to be watched late, with beer and an Alamo drafthouse audience. Seriously – think SGT KABUKIMAN NYPD or one of the TOXIC AVENGER sequels and you begin to get an idea what this is.
BREATHLESS
Ah, nihilism, sweet nihilism. It wouldn’t be a Fantastic fest without you.
Breathless is one of the few dramas playing this year. Technically it qualifies for FFs genre requirements as its main character is a brutal, nearly mindless thug – a professional enforcer who makes his living shaking down debtors for the mafia – but make no mistake, it is a beautiful, lyrical film about forgiveness, love and loss. But man, oh man, is the main character one of the biggest fucking assholes you will see all year. Beginning almost entirely soulless, we slowly get to see why the film’s protagonist, Sang-Hoon Kim, is as he is, as we watch him slowly regain his humanity through the attention of a young schoolgirl and a family he wishes to reconnect with.
The film is mean, cruel and occasionally heartbreaking, broken up with occasional moments of violence. I quite liked this film and dug all the places it wanted to go – but sadly the ending is a little forced and drags on a little longer than it should, taking this from being one of the best films showing to being one of the better films showing. Once you’ve had your fill of the first 150 or so onscreen kills at the fest, perhaps this will be the perfect way to reconnect with your own humanity…once you get past the first, hateful, angry 45 or so minutes. Definitely Recommended.
Alright gang. I’ll be back tomorrow with another half dozen or so picks of the fest.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
Got something for the Wyrm? Mail it here.
Or follow my further zany adventures on Twitter.
CRAZY RACER
If FISH STORY is a perfect Richard Kelly movie, CRAZY RACER is a classic Guy Richie film – if Guy Richie made films in Hong Kong. This Chinese crime comedy is about as stylish as they come – if you’ve watched any of the FF Trailers this year, you’ve seen a few of this movie’s money shots. It is the story of a professional cyclist who is disgraced and loses his ability to compete. When his coach discovers the man behind the swindle, the racer vows to get recompense. Unfortunately for him, that swindler is caught up in some trouble of his own. Meanwhile, a team of gangsters are trying to make a new connect in the heroine business with a very professional but seemingly insane Thai cyclist. Add in cops, a pair of wannabe hitmen, an angry wife…and oh yeah, almost none of these characters is entirely competent in the ways of criminal activities…and you have CRAZY RACER, a high octane, ass kicker of a comedy.
This is a classic comedy of errors and mistaken identity farce of the LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELLS/SNATCH variety. Every detail of what occurs plays perfectly into the clusterfuck that follows, with each detail building and finally coming to a climax in the same sort of way all of these films always do: very badly. For some that is.
The movie is visually stunning, easily one of the very best looking things you’ll see all year – and I’m not just talking about at the festival. There are a number of very stylish flourishes that make this stand out just on looks alone. But fortunately it is also a tightly paced, well written, funny comedy that compliments those visuals. Easily one of the best things playing this year, this is another DO NOT MISS film.
YATTERMAN
I only need two words to get you into a theater showing this: Takashi Miike. If I need more than that, what the hell are you doing at Fantastic Fest? Miike is like…one of our patron fucking saints. And here he’s got a new film that exactly the kind of delightfully fucked up that is exactly what you wouldn’t expect out of him. This isn’t a perverse, deranged mindfuck of a movie. It is a hypercolor, high energy, sugar coated Saturday morning breakfast cereal of a movie made for kids; albeit Japanese kids (meaning there’s sex jokes.)
What you need to know going in is that this is a live action remake of a 70’s era cartoon show. It is their GI JOE, taking a silly, toy selling property of the past and repackaging it for nostalgia’s sake and retooling it for mass consumption. The result is a two-hour episode of MIGHTY MORPHIN’ POWER RANGERS with a much better budget. There are songs complete with silly dance moves, bad facial prosthetics, nonsensical sequences that are clearly straight of out a cartoon; but most of all, almost every character in the film takes their reality VERY SERIOUSLY. Even though that reality is completely whacked.
The story is about a team of superheroes known as Yatterman. Yatterman 1 and 2 are a boyfriend/girlfriend team who transform into Yatterman every Saturday evening at 6:30 (when their show aired) and fight alongside their nearly useless flying toy robot and their giant mech shaped like Clifford the Big Red Dog against the forces of darkness, three immortal thieves whose goal in life is to battle Yatterman every Saturday evening in hopes of one day winning – even though they know they never will.
The film is incredibly repetitive, with the villains and heroes facing off no less than four times in almost the exact same manner; the film really comprising four episodes into one narrative. And while at first this might seem like a mistake, Miike uses it to full effect, creating jokes involving the repetition and ultimately serving up a beautiful final message in the film’s epilogue, tying the whole thing together.
Miike seems painfully aware of the show’s goofiness and complete unoriginality – and both openly celebrates and mocks it for these traits. And when the villainess delivers her final monologue, the film comes to an awkwardly perfect close as if it says “Did you like reliving your childhood? Great. Now it’s time to put the toys away and return to the real world.” With one speech Miike turns two hours of senseless whimsy into an ironic commentary on childhood and what it means to finally grow up. But make no mistake, it takes nearly two hours before you get there – so your resilience to bright colors, strange music and nearly nonsensical ploting will be put to the ultimate test. Definitely recommended, but only for those who know full well that they are in for two hours of a Pixie Stick and Jolt Cola induced Japanese fever dream.
VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL
Okay, thus far I’ve talked about films you can’t miss. You can miss this film. It’s not for everyone. Those who it is for will no doubt relish its existence at the festival and the ability to see it with an audience. VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL is at its heart a Japanese Troma movie that would make Lloyd Kaufman proud. But it is a very hard movie to get a bead on at first. A strange, almost nonsensical story brings together an unlikely cast of misfits in a reality that won’t make any sense until the second act. But once it gets started, it becomes a bloody, goofy affair that is all fun and frolic.
There’s not much you can say about the story, many of the effects are cheesy and the acting is subpar at best – even in a foreign language. So why see it? Because it has the single most offensive series of scenes you will see in all of fantastic fest. No, I know I haven’t seen everything yet, and I’ll bet famr on the fact that NOTHING will outdo how offensive VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL gets in a few of its scenes. One of the many high school cliques is so absurd, so over the top, so…unspeakably politically incorrect that words alone could not convey to you what you will see. Needless to say, when this film offers up what it does, there will no doubt be an audible series of gasps and murmurs that will be heard two theaters over. Not for the meek or easily offended, VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL is cheesy, stupid fun that demands to be watched late, with beer and an Alamo drafthouse audience. Seriously – think SGT KABUKIMAN NYPD or one of the TOXIC AVENGER sequels and you begin to get an idea what this is.
BREATHLESS
Ah, nihilism, sweet nihilism. It wouldn’t be a Fantastic fest without you.
Breathless is one of the few dramas playing this year. Technically it qualifies for FFs genre requirements as its main character is a brutal, nearly mindless thug – a professional enforcer who makes his living shaking down debtors for the mafia – but make no mistake, it is a beautiful, lyrical film about forgiveness, love and loss. But man, oh man, is the main character one of the biggest fucking assholes you will see all year. Beginning almost entirely soulless, we slowly get to see why the film’s protagonist, Sang-Hoon Kim, is as he is, as we watch him slowly regain his humanity through the attention of a young schoolgirl and a family he wishes to reconnect with.
The film is mean, cruel and occasionally heartbreaking, broken up with occasional moments of violence. I quite liked this film and dug all the places it wanted to go – but sadly the ending is a little forced and drags on a little longer than it should, taking this from being one of the best films showing to being one of the better films showing. Once you’ve had your fill of the first 150 or so onscreen kills at the fest, perhaps this will be the perfect way to reconnect with your own humanity…once you get past the first, hateful, angry 45 or so minutes. Definitely Recommended.
Alright gang. I’ll be back tomorrow with another half dozen or so picks of the fest.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
Got something for the Wyrm? Mail it here.
Or follow my further zany adventures on Twitter.
VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL
Okay, thus far I’ve talked about films you can’t miss. You can miss this film. It’s not for everyone. Those who it is for will no doubt relish its existence at the festival and the ability to see it with an audience. VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL is at its heart a Japanese Troma movie that would make Lloyd Kaufman proud. But it is a very hard movie to get a bead on at first. A strange, almost nonsensical story brings together an unlikely cast of misfits in a reality that won’t make any sense until the second act. But once it gets started, it becomes a bloody, goofy affair that is all fun and frolic.
There’s not much you can say about the story, many of the effects are cheesy and the acting is subpar at best – even in a foreign language. So why see it? Because it has the single most offensive series of scenes you will see in all of fantastic fest. No, I know I haven’t seen everything yet, and I’ll bet famr on the fact that NOTHING will outdo how offensive VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL gets in a few of its scenes. One of the many high school cliques is so absurd, so over the top, so…unspeakably politically incorrect that words alone could not convey to you what you will see. Needless to say, when this film offers up what it does, there will no doubt be an audible series of gasps and murmurs that will be heard two theaters over. Not for the meek or easily offended, VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL is cheesy, stupid fun that demands to be watched late, with beer and an Alamo drafthouse audience. Seriously – think SGT KABUKIMAN NYPD or one of the TOXIC AVENGER sequels and you begin to get an idea what this is.
BREATHLESS
Ah, nihilism, sweet nihilism. It wouldn’t be a Fantastic fest without you.
Breathless is one of the few dramas playing this year. Technically it qualifies for FFs genre requirements as its main character is a brutal, nearly mindless thug – a professional enforcer who makes his living shaking down debtors for the mafia – but make no mistake, it is a beautiful, lyrical film about forgiveness, love and loss. But man, oh man, is the main character one of the biggest fucking assholes you will see all year. Beginning almost entirely soulless, we slowly get to see why the film’s protagonist, Sang-Hoon Kim, is as he is, as we watch him slowly regain his humanity through the attention of a young schoolgirl and a family he wishes to reconnect with.
The film is mean, cruel and occasionally heartbreaking, broken up with occasional moments of violence. I quite liked this film and dug all the places it wanted to go – but sadly the ending is a little forced and drags on a little longer than it should, taking this from being one of the best films showing to being one of the better films showing. Once you’ve had your fill of the first 150 or so onscreen kills at the fest, perhaps this will be the perfect way to reconnect with your own humanity…once you get past the first, hateful, angry 45 or so minutes. Definitely Recommended.
Alright gang. I’ll be back tomorrow with another half dozen or so picks of the fest.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
Got something for the Wyrm? Mail it here.
Or follow my further zany adventures on Twitter.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em. Massawyrm
